Fantasy System

Chapter 223: Too Late

Ellie, taking the chance that Eric created, broke a castle wall and entered inside. Unlike what she had planned before, she ended up heading towards the underground prison cells. She knew about the interior of the castle, as she had visited it many times before. But, she had never visited the prison before. A strong smell of blood assaulted her sensitive nose, causing her stomach to churn. The walls were tainted with a red color, seemingly from the blood of whoever was inside.

As she descended further, the smell intensified, causing her to feel like vomiting. Still, she held on and pushed further inside.

'Not here' a saddened, or more accurately horrified, look emerged on her face. The cells were all empty, and whatever she was looking for, was not there. Ellie retraced her steps, appearing outside of the cells. Her horrified look turned into one full of rage. Her face turned redder, and veins started to pop at the side of her head. Her tiger ears flattened on her head, while her tail hardened. In one fell swoop, she breached the floors above her, all the way to the throne room. There, a figure sat on a chair, while another one stood next to it.

"I've been wondering about who was making so much noise in my capital, and it turns out it is the ungrateful daughter of the ungrateful duke." The seated figure rose up and walked down a couple of stairs that were in front of the throne. The king of the beastmen, Gazef, was rather skinny, yet tall. His skin carried a greenish color, as if he was a sick cartoon character, while his neck and some parts of his head were covered by scales. His eyes were green as well and looked like a cat's.

"I came here for two things. One of them is to kill you, but that comes a little later. Now, I only want to ask you one thing" Ellie said as she clenched her arms. She was still wearing her gauntlets, causing a screeching metal sound to be heard. "WHERE ARE MY PARENTS!"

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Just outside of the castle walls, a gruesome battle was taking place. Eric was doing his best to stop the five royal guards from following Ellie. All of them lost interest in Eric after noticing Ellie's presence inside of the throne room. They acted like a machine, whose sole purpose was to reach the king.

'TchAll of them are so strong! It doesn't seem like I can take it easy after all' Eric thought to himself as he flew from one area to another, engaging the five enemies.

"Haah!" Eric shouted as released a QI wave, sending the five of them back. He retreated and looked back at the castle, as he thrust his hand toward it.

"Take this, Wind Cage!" Eric muttered as he manipulated his QI. A huge tornado surrounded the castle as it picked up its speed. After a couple of seconds, the wind was so fast that it managed to grind rocks into dust.

"For now, no one is getting inside. Unless I dispel the magic or die, that is." Eric's words caught the attention of the royal guards. Their objective switched from getting to the king, to killing Eric. Each one of them understood just how dangerous Eric's technique was. None of them wanted to try their luck, and try to get past it.

"You might have bit more than you could chew, brat!" The leader of the guards, the leopard, said as he rushed towards Eric. He used his claws to attack Eric but was stopped by his sword.

"Unlike a foolish beast like you, I'm a person that knows etiquette and manners, I only bite what I can eat!"

The two of them clashed dozens of time, sending one shockwave after the other. If it wasn't for the Wind Cage, the castle's walls would have crumbled by now. However, these same shockwaves saved Eric some headaches, as they stopped the other guards from interfering.

"You're nothing, kid!" The leopard increased the intensity of his attacks. He was using both of his hands, giving his a bit of an edge compared to Eric. Once he noticed a slight opening Eric made during a slash, he kicked at his side. However, he felt as if his leg was stuck in a viscous liquid.

"That wasn't an opening, you little kitten!" Eric shouted as a gust of wind blew the leopard beastman. 'Do you think I'll make such a stupid opening when I've been training with monsters?' Eric thought to himself as he kicked the beastman to the ground.

"Now, this is better. Since we're getting out of time, I'm going to ask all of you to attack me at once. That'll make it easier, and it'll push me to use my all. Don't disappoint me now, you useless guards." Eric said as he drove his sword into the ground and leaned on it. The leopard beastman got up as the other four joined him. All of them incensed with rage.

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Beyond the cage of wind, the castle had crumbled into the ground. The battle taking place inside of it was enough to rival the one happening outside. The three people that were inside the castle were now outside of it. The third person was the wife of Gazef, but she didn't get involved in the battle. As a matter of fact, she secretly wished for her husband to die, as she knew the atrocities he had committed during his reign. She was always by his side after all.

Gazef was currently holding Ellie's neck with his arm. Not his hand, but his arm. His arm became like a snake, coiling around Ellie's neck and constricting her breathing.

"You asked me where your parents were, but you should know exactly what happened to them. After all, they smuggled you out of the country right after you slandered me, didn't they?!" Gazef shouted as he noticed some tears forming on Ellie's eyes.

Ellie had told everyone that her parents had disowned her. But, that wasn't the case. They loved her from birth and didn't teach her any techniques since they didn't want her to become a soldier under the rule of Gazef. The day she rebelled against Gazef, they drugged her and smuggled her to Avalon, where her previous teammate, Ed, was. She had told them about what happened in the academy, and they judged it was best for her to be away.

"YouBASTARD!" Ellie bellowed as she tore away Gazef's arm. The thought of losing her parents haunted her ever since she found herself in Avalon, but believed they would be spared since her father was a duke. She waited until she gained strength, but it was too late.

"I WILL MAKE SURE NOTHING WILL REMAIN OF YOU!"