Trying to Save my Favorite Character from His Tragic Fate

Chapter 186: The Queen's Sentence

Kyrie springs his legs up with a bust of adrenal energy. His mind runs blank, but he notes that his brain weighs heavy with thoughts. The mild headache surging on his temples hints at the number of thoughts that his mind cannot process simultaneously.

Kyrie and Ian reach the city in a hurry after Minister Nur informs them that the queen has gone to the city to protect her people.

When they arrive, innumerable heavenly soldiers swarm in the sky like a locust plague. They have come from the black hole in the sky.

They stop after approaching a certain distance, and the army splits in the middle, letting someone come forth to the front. The red and ominous clouds behind them scream to those standing on the ground that the soldiers came for more than just a random visit.

"Yue?" Kyrie recognizes the middle figure, who's slightly more adult-like. 

Yue holds herself with grace and dignity, unlike the lazy and easy-going aura she gives out while possessing the body of a porcupine. She wears red that blends with the sky, and the rows of clouds behind look like an extension of her, like wings - a pair of very twisted and disfigured wings.

Yue ignores Kyrie and Ian purposely and stares straight at Queen Annora.

"Queen of the fairies, Annora," Yue's voice rings on every inhabitant of the kingdom, "Do you know of your crime?"

The fairy queen kneels in the presence of the goddess Yue and replies, "Yes, I am aware."

"You have colluded with Eginhart, a fallen god. Although he perished in battle, it did not erase your sins. I am here for your debt, Queen of the fairies. Your head is the price. This debt has been long overdue."

After her voice settles back into silence, a roar of discontent blows up from the inhabitants of the kingdom. They curse and shout at the deity without single regard to the safety of their necks. 

The soldiers point their lances down at them with menacing glares; the sky looks like an installation of needle rain. 

The warning from the soldiers manages to shut the shouting like the pressing of a mute button, but soon, the fairies bark back many times louder. Yue frowns in discontent, and she takes the lance from the soldier beside her. 

The color of the lance turns in color from her essence. The queen cries for mercy, graining her throat from the exertion of her voice that it feels like it scraped through the sand. The fairies quiet down after their queen starts pleading. They look at each other, confused because Yue is only holding a lance. They have seen their queen do something much more powerful and overwhelming, so why is a simple lance making their queen almost go down on her knees?

Only two others pale at the sight. Kyrie looks back at the queen already on the ground. She pleads to take her but not her people. The princess tries to lift her mother, but the queen pushes her away. Nur grabs the princess from her arm and starts to take her away from the city despite the princess's constant protest.

Every soldier's weapons are on par with relics only found inside the gates. However, those lances are made rather plain. They look almost unthreatening in comparison to the flashy weapons powerful and famous warriors would carry. 

The fairies couldn't process that their queen can die instantly if she gets hit with one. 

"Yue!" Kyrie calls for her again, but this time, he yells. 

Kyrie has infused mana with his voice, and all the heavenly soldiers simultaneously shift their pupils at him. Their stares are sharp like the tip of their lances. How dare a mortal call one of their masters by her name!

Yue finally turns her sight to Kyrie.

"This is none of your business, Kyrie."

"Even though she is with sin, why now?"

"I will not repeat it, Kyrie. This is none of your business! Stay out of it if you want to be on good terms with the god realm."

Kyrie cannot comprehend the reason behind her actions, but he can sense the unease from Yue as well. Her body cramps from the tension, and she struggles with her own hesitations despite faking her act of grandiosity. Most likely, Yue has been ordered to do this.

Yet, the lance tells another story. 

The lance that Yue holds has combusted into a golden fire. The longer Yue holds the lance, the fiercer the fire becomes. The fairies begin to stand in front of the queen, shielding her from the doom, hoping that their act of courage can reach the deity. Yet, Yue lifts the lance for the throw, making the brave ones tear up in the face of their deaths.

"My children," The queen weeps, "Step aside. This is my sin to bear! You all have duties to your own self and family!"

However, no one steps away. Many of them have spent centuries with the queen, so their bonds are as tight as family. They are a family.

Yue knows the weapon will reach the queen, but the fairies are even catching the wind of her reluctance. How? Yue is taking too long to kill all of them. If Yue doesn't care, she would have just done it without wasting another second.

Nonetheless, her orders have nothing to do with what she felt. She tilts her body to get ready to throw the spear into the crowd. 

Ian's body starts leaning forward, but Kyrie soon catches his wrist to prevent him from walking into point-blank. They are not as strong to go against an entire army of heavenly soldiers armed with powerful weapons. Although Ian has become strong while venturing into the gates, Kyrie knows they are not enough. 

"Kyrie. I can't."

"Imogen has told me to go to Mount Melan."

Ian knows that Kyrie is trying to take his attention away from his current bubbling emotions for righteousness. He can sense the slight quivering from Kyrie's hand.

"To the demon queen's tomb?" Ian cooperates by responding, but his attention continues to stick to Yue and the fairies.

Kyrie nods, "We have another."

Kyrie knows that the conversation is going nowhere. His thoughts are fighting against his own emotions. His heart throbs for wanting to walk out of this one. He knows how much he wants to stand there to fight, but he can't simply just go against the will of the god realm. 

The god realm has every right to punish the queen, but that just makes the queen seem even more pitiful. The people that she wishes to protect are not backing away to save their backs. Plus, the queen has repented for her actions. She has been living in her own hell for so long.

"What do you want, Kyrie?" Ian asks simply.

Ian knows that Kyrie wants to remind them of their own objectives so that he could give up stepping into more problems when their basket is full.

"I want to save them," Kyrie whispers, "But I."

[... don't have the power to get what everyone wants.]

A sudden gentle breeze passes by Kyrie. The shadow of a running figure has registered in his peripheral vision. Laurel stands in front of the fairies, looking up at Yue, ready to annihilate everyone in her path.

"Goddess, is there really no other way? Another way to pay for her sins?"

Yue frowns when she sees Laurel.

She looks over to Kyrie and Ian and blurts, "Human, walk away when you can."

"Are you really going to kill everyone who wishes to protect her? Can't you also consider them?"

Yue sneers, "The queen of fairies never thought of the soldiers whom she murdered after accepting the deal with a fallen god. Yet, you expect me to? I am already kind enough to warn. I will not repeat; walk away when you can."

Laurel seems surprised when Yue mentions that the fairy queen has colluded with a fallen god. She turns her head to Kyrie, who has not moved an inch from where he stood, and she understands why Kyrie is so reluctant to dive into this. She knows Kyrie does not need another enemy when things are already so hard. 

However, Laurel can only smile sadly at herself. She does not have pure intentions either. She is not standing here for the sake of those behind her.

Kyrie gasps while holding his breath after seeing Laurel standing without any intention to move from her spot. 

[What is she trying to do?]

Kyrie can hear his heart drumming in his ears. Suddenly, Kyrie loses hold of Ian's arm, and he watches Ian propel to the crowd. He quickly catches Ian and holds him back. 

"Why are you stopping me? Laurel is your close confidant. Are you not saving her as well?"

Ian's words pierce Kyrie painfully. 

"Just wait."

Ian looks over to the crowd again. None of those standing in front of the queen can perfectly withstand their weakness from coming out. Their tears and snot are running down their faces. They are all facing death head-on even though common sense tells them to run away.

Yue releases the lance. The descending lance quakes the earth that the little pebble stones bounce like water drops on a scorching surface. 

Kyrie embraces Ian from moving forward. 

Laurel closes her eyes to handle the fear running through her spin.

A thundering crash of metal in the form of a blast resounds through the entire kingdom. The sound has sliced through the air and cut through nearby trees and buildings by its sheer force. 

Ian has quickly switched their positions and holds onto Kyrie, away from danger inside his embrace. They are wrapped around layers of shadows. Upon impact, most of the layers have turned to dust.

If Kyrie can choose, he wants to remain inside the shadow for eternity. What is done is done, but he is not sure if he can stomach the outcome. He really hopes he is right.

The shadow cascades down like waterfalls around them onto the floor. Kyrie lifts his gaze to see a familiar figure with her sword extended from her right arm. The sword starts to decompose into particles of light, and the wind is carrying them away.

She presses Laurel's head against her chest while her back faces Yue. 

The lance that Yue has launched toward Queen Annora has repelled back, piercing through her own hand after she shields against it. Yue smiles as she takes off the lance from her hand. Blood gushes out. The soldiers prepare to attack, but Yue lifts her bloody hand to signal them to remain in their place. The wound joins back as smoke comes out of the wound. After the time of a few breaths, the wound is nowhere to be found.

"Imogen." Yue whispers before the cloud of dust clears up to confirm her guess.

Laurel tears up as she senses Imogen's hand gently holding the back of her head. Her ponytail has got undone, and her hair cascades around her shoulders.

"Why do you like to test me?" Imogen whispers.

Laurel can hear her question through the vibrations coming from Imogen's body. She remains speechless because she cannot find the right words for her actions. She does so many things without thinking that she doesn't even know her own intentions.

Imogen lets her go while stepping back. Her hand runs through Laurel's hair to the tip, and she lifts the hair to kiss the tip.

"Wait for me," Imogen says softly before using her teleporting ability to get Laurel and the fairies to another place far from where they are.

Now, only the queen stands in front of Imogen. They look each other in the eye long enough to understand each other's intentions.

So, without a single word, Imogen launches toward the queen, piercing her sword of light into the queen's upper abdomen. The queen gasps an unfinished breath and slumps on Imogen's shoulder. 

Blood travels down on the materialized mana sword, staining Imogen's hand. A pool of blood emerges below them.