Perfect Avatar-Chapter 286: Preservation

Somewhere on a farm in the countryside, Mercy’s scythe hit the ground. She leaned against a wall, in opposition to the wall where the Nymphs and Solaria were lined up.

Solaria seemed feverish, breathing an orange mist with a few orange hairs mixed in with her golden highlights.

Vixen gave a slight nod, then looked at Mercy.

"At least untie her, she’s choking...and she’s too weak to try anything!"

But Mercy remained unfazed by his call, looking out the window at the scenery. Vixen groaned, leaning against the wall.

"If she dies, you will lose your only hostage, think about it! The Queen will know she is dead... then she will k..."

A gust of wind hit the wall next to her. A trail of blood ran down her left cheek revealing a cut.

"I don’t care if she dies or not, but if ya keep runnin’ yer maw, she will die alone."

Vixen looked in disbelief, the scythe hadn’t even moved an inch, so why would she attack?

She lowered her head, glancing at Solaria who was struggling to breathe.

(Why is this happening? She absorbed the soul stone, why isn’t she transforming? Did the Queen make a mistake? She wasn’t a candidate?)

Beside her, Artesis was grumbling.

"I warned you all... it was stupid to surrender... we should have fled when they arrived."

Outside the room, the Holy Knights and Lilith stood guard. The story took place only a few days ago, they had successfully appeared on the city where Gloria had sent them, and once there, they hurried to absorb the soul stone to save the Queen, however, instead of gaining power, Solaria’s body seemed to reject the soul, leaving her in incapacity and struggling for her life.

Later, the holy knights led by Mercy, passing by the town during their mission to reconquer Ambrosia, found the maids and the latter, too eager to know the fate of their queen, decided to surrender.

They expected to know what had happened, but were brought there to serve as hostages in case the Queen came after them.

In the same time, not too far from there, in the closest town, Gloria raised her tired gaze to the cloudy sky, her dead eyes drying up her tears. A slight smile formed on her lips, then she let out a very weak, dry laugh.

"Ah? Really? Save everyone and die? Wow...even a clown shouldn’t be so ridiculous."

Her smile slowly faded, she lowered her head and looked at the palms of her hands. She was stronger, stronger than ever. She mastered Gluttony’s blessings, and now that she possessed Wrath’s power and regeneration, she could feel the power building within her, but her destiny was to die.

"Where did I go wrong? I don’t understand... Was it because I didn’t kill him that day? Was it because I wasn’t scary enough to dominate them?... Was it because I allowed them into my domain before punishing them? What did I do wrong?"

She stood like that, watching her hand, perhaps waiting for a response. Freya looked at the ground, she knew the answer better than anyone.

"It’s because you got attached to people. You were invincible and you attracted so much hatred. You should never have attached yourself to people who couldn’t defend themselves as much as you. Your family caused your downfall."

"...So you mean if I sacrificed Solaria, I would survive?"

Freya shook her head and looked at her in disbelief, however, Gloria showed an amused face.

"It’s fascinating how it takes so little to terrify you, and yet I’m the one who’s in the bind."

She sat directly on the ground, an unimaginable sight for such an all-powerful being. She took a handful of sand and watched it fall.

"I hate everything in this world, from people to the smallest grain of sand... but I have an exception for my family. This world can go to hell, I don’t care, but if preserving it would gives a better life to my daughter, then I will gladly give up my life."

She looked at the remaining grain of sand in her hands, the others sighed in a sort of relief, they wouldn’t have to go through the hell of fighting against her, it was practically over, yet, this sight was hardly pleasant. The Queen was broken, barely recognizable.

Freya knelt in front of her, she took a handful of sand from the sand left by the Queen but kept it in her hands.

"I heard that even the meanest person can become a sheep in front of the people they care about. I’ve always heard stories about how terrifying you are, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but I also learned that monsters are not born, but created."

She opened her fingers, a little of the sand fell out, but more remained on her hands.

"Would you like to share your pain with me, so that I can preserve your legacy and one day convince Solaria to visit your grave?"

The Queen looked at the sand in Freya’s hands, each grain of sand radiated something that brought a little life to her eyes.

"...Preserve?"

She looked again at the few grains of sand in her hands, and without realizing it, a tear fell from her left eye.

"I see...I’m starting to understand this feeling...Why it hurts so much, why nothing tastes the same. I didn’t lose my family... I lost a part of me..."

She brought her hands to the sand on Freya’s hands, catching it delicately. Iris, Liliana, Hope, and Cid watched this scene without words. They had the feeling that there was a meaning behind this, but only Iris could get it.

"Girl, what’s your name?"

Freya lowered her head.

"Freya Astaroth."

"Freya, I don’t remember that name, well, I never cared about anyone in general. In my life I only cared about 3 people, but I will make an effort to make it 4. "

"...My honor."

She took some sand in her hand and looked at him with a small smile.

"My inheritance, I am ready to give it to you, but this is not a short story, are you sure that heaven will give us the time to finish it?"

"Heaven will have to wait, I won’t let you become the Devil if there was something else behind it."

She looked her firmly in the eyes. The wind picked up, Gloria held the sand with the same delicacy as with a baby. Around her, the others also sat down for what promised to be one of humanity’s greatest stories.

"Devils may be made, they are still devils, and it is easier to kill one than to see them become angels. You are rather intelligent for your age, I grant you that, yes. If we were born at the same time, I probably would have avoided you. I wasn’t as smart as you, or really interesting, but I had more freedom. After all, peasants never lacks free time."

Their eyes widened, as wide as their jaws dropped.

"...You...You were a peasant?"