On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

"Unbelievable… Though, I can't say I didn't see this coming."

As I walk to the entrance of the cave, the High Priest who is still coughing out blood tries to stand up and looks at me solemnly. The pendant he clutches close to his chest glows brightly, improving his condition with each passing second.

Although I don't see him being functional soon, I am tempted to destroy the pendant right before his eyes just to see his despair. On a second note, I think I should kill the bastard before he does a kamikaze inside this place.

As if hearing what I am thinking about, the High Priest smiles and fishes out a Cross Pendant out of his pocket. It instantly shines blindingly, coloring the surroundings white. Right before I take out my dagger, something cuts the air. I hear a 'thud' afterward and the light subsides. The High Priest's head rolls before my feet.

"You don't play too much with your prey—I thought my mistake had taught you a lot."

Someone passes me from behind, walking to the entrance of the cave. I know she has been here ever since Luxia killed the Legion Commander, so I am not surprised. I even let the High Priest live a little bit longer for her. I am not making excuses.

"Well, sometimes it is required to fish out the bigger prey, Millonia."

"Tsk. Here I thought my stealth was good enough."

"Maybe it was ten years ago."

Millonia stops in her tracks and then turns her body slightly to gaze at me from the corner of her eyes. Her expression is neutral, but I can tell she is nervous. It further supports my suspicion that she has something to do with what the cave contains. Otherwise, she won't be so concerned about how I will react.

Scoffing lightly, she continues walking. I immediately follow suit, catching up to her in three seconds. Those three seconds were needed to make sure she is still comfortable around me. She becomes slightly awkward, but she doesn't find it repulsive.

We can't see anything for quite some time. The lack of lighting is not the reason—there is simply nothing to see. We are walking down a tunnel, so we can only see cave walls on our side. It remains that way for another minute until we find the end of the tunnel.

There is a room at the end of the tunnel. It is dimly lit, but we can see everything inside it. Other than stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave, we can also see stalagmites standing straight on the ground. An underwhelming scene it is, yet I don't think it is everything.

"Have you ever been here?" I jokingly ask my partner.

Instead of answering, she becomes tense. I mentally slap myself on the back of the head while cursing my lacking social skills. Whatever she is thinking I am doing is not my intention. I am not pressuring her to tell everything.

"It is my first time here…" she whispers.

"What a coincidence. It is mine too."

"But I know what may be in here."

Unexpecting a clear answer from her, I quirk an eyebrow when I get it. The conversation is killed and we explore the room silently. The more we do it, the brighter the room gets. Soon, we can see what produces the light. It is the blue crystals poking out of the cave wall.

Since the air also gets moister, I wonder if the crystal also has something to do with it. I touch one of them to see if it contains any Water Element, but it doesn't. The crystal doesn't influence the element of the Mana in the air. Something else is possessing an incredibly strong Water Element.

Letting go of the crystal as I notice Millonia's gaze on me, I turn to her. She gestures her chin at the way ahead with a look saying 'this is not worth the time.' I shrug, walk to her side, and then follow her. We walk silently for a minute until we find a larger room with a pond with water shining faintly in blue.

Although the pond is worth paying attention to, it doesn't beat the lone skeleton leaning against the tall stalagmite in front of the pond. It is fully adorned in armor and it makes me wonder if it is the Relic that the cave is hiding.

Another thing that is worth noting is the note lying beside the armored skeleton. Surprisingly, Millonia also puts her attention on it. She doesn't show any intention to take it, so I pick it up from the ground. When I open it, Millonia immediately puts her hand on my arm.

"Let's read it together…"

Curious, I look at her from the corner of my eyes. I find her focused on the note, having a light frown on her face.

Turning to the worn-out note, I read the first sentence on the first page.

[To Shizuru whom we have wronged.]

It is a Japanese name. In other words, Shizuru was a Hero. Judging from its armor quality, I am sure the skeleton was a Hero too when it was still a breathing human. I am not sure if it was also Japanese since it might be summoned from another country.

That aside, I am curious about the content of the note. I flip the page and continue reading.

[When we were first summoned, what we had in mind was how lucky we were to be saved from that hell. Of course, living in hell made us wary of the sudden good thing that happened to us. When our Summoner told us to beat the Demon King, we thought we would live in another hell. It was wrong. We had power this time and it was unexpectedly fun.]

[The death of our comrade toned down the fun. Cold water washed us entirely, waking us up from the deceiving sweet dream. War—no matter where you are, it follows. We had never escaped hell. We just got ourselves into a new hell and our only saving grace was our power. From then on, we treated the Demon King's threat more seriously.]

[Shizuru was a quiet girl. We didn't know anything about her. She preferred to keep everything to herself and stayed away from the rest of us. It was highly likely that she was summoned from the feudal era. Life must have been rough for her, but I doubted if she knew the horror of seeing a soul-wiping bomb dropped on your homeland.]

As I flip another page, I stop reading and glance at Millonia. I expected it to be related to her, but it is not. I wonder what intrigues her so much. Does she know this Shizuru?

[I saw the Demon King just like how we saw the bastards that dropped the bomb on my homeland. I hated him with all my heart and so were the others. Unfortunately, Shizuru wasn't part of 'the others.' She was already suspicious from the beginning, but none of us expected her to collude with the Demon King.]

[Everyone was livid and none of us checked the truth of the information that the Temple gave us. I could never forget the look of disbelief in her eyes as I drove my sword into her back. It pained me, but I had no choice. I had had enough of hell. This world was far from a utopia, but I had fun. I didn't want her to ruin it.]

[It was much to our utter horror when we saw her standing on the side of the Demon King a couple of months later. I knew the moment I looked into her eyes that she would never let me go. I could see my death in her eyes. I knew she would take me out last. After all, I was the friend who betrayed her.]

[Our number was reduced at an alarming rate. The King looked older and older the more of his Heroes died and millions had been slain. Through my comrade's sacrifices, I managed to live for three years and got stronger. At this point, Shizuru already had another name under her. The Crimson Maiden, the lady who draws blood wherever she walks.]

Now, I know why Millonia is intrigued. This Shizuru is her, after all. I don't know why she changed her name and I bet this note won't tell me either. I am sure that she will tell me what hasn't been told by the time we finish reading it.

[I was full of confidence when I decided to take on her. I didn't plan to kill her, however; because I knew it would be impossible. I prepared myself to die in her hands. She must suffer every day seeing me alive and breathing. It must be hell for her and I wanted to end it.]

[I was, however, no more than a coward. When I saw her great sword being swung at my neck, I used the Relic that teleported me to the other side of the world. I wasn't prepared to die. I was scared. I wanted to live. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was already heavily injured. My time was coming soon and I was left in despair.]

[To comfort myself, therefore, I wrote this for you, Shizuru. I am sorry for not dying in your hands. It must hurt you not to be able to kill the person who put you into another hell after escaping one. I am sorry. I am not asking you to forgive me, but please live happily. There is more to life than exacting revenge.]

By the time I finished reading, Millonia kicks the skull of the skeleton, turning it to dust. "No wonder I couldn't find you. You sealed yourself in this fucking place," she mutters spitefully. Turning to me, she sighs before quirking an eyebrow. "Do you have anything to ask?"

Thus, the past is unveiled.

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