Chapter 33 : So I Awakened The Sleeping Hero

Nirva, The lady hero says, "So you are the leader of black demons! I heard about you, King Agni. In the daytime you put on a mask of a kind king, and at night you hunt innocent noble women. You even work with those disgusting demons. Demons! Whose only goal is to harm humans, elves, and dwarves. You, a human, stand with those pathetic creatures? Shame on you. Have you ever thought about your actions? I can tell that you don't. Now, as the hero of this world, my duty is to punish you and your kind in the name of justice. Now prepare yourself." She points her sword at me.

I can't control myself any longer. I start laughing. My stomach starts hurting from the laughing. But I can't stop the laughter. 

Nirva says, "Is he...is he mad? He can't do the evil laughter. Can he?" Vaelya says with anger, "That woman just insulted both of us, and you are laughing, Agni!"

I somehow stop the laughter. I wipe my tears and say, "That was a good laugh. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much." Vaelya says with anger, "Agni!" I say, "What? You can't blame me after the speech she gave. I mean, seriously! Can you imagine the IQ level of this airhead woman? No...no...the hero of this world. Right?" Nirva says, "What did you..." I say, "Please shut your mouth. The more you talk, the more you lower your value as a living being. I don't even want to explain anything to you. You know, I really feel pity for you. Now stand aside and live in your fantasy world, little girl." 

Nirva shouts, "What did you say!" Vaelya says, "Agni, let me have this fight." I say, "Sure. Just avoid her sword and don't kill her." Vaelya says, "I'll try." Vaelya attacks Nirva with her sword, and Nirva blocks that with her sword. The fight begins. 

I have to say both of them are quite good. Vaelya has improved a lot. And Nirva is not half bad. She is actually giving Vaelya a serious fight. The sounds of two swords clashing are echoing in the hallway. I and the Holy Knights are watching the fight without blinking. 

Suddenly Nirva's sword breaks into pieces. Vaelya almost beheads her. I say loudly, "No, Vaelya. Don't kill her." Vaelya pauses and looks at me. Then she kicked Nirva on her belly. Nirva gets slammed on the wall and falls on the floor. 

Vaelya looks at the holy knights. They turn around and run away. Leaving their unarmed hero in danger.

I say, "You had your fun, Vaelya. Let's go." We start walking. Nirva says with frustration, "How could I lose to an evil being like you? How did my holy sword break? Is that some kind of your evil illusion? It must be."

Seriously, this immature girl! 

I turn around and walk to her. Then I bend down to her. She says, "Don't touch me with your evil hand." I say, "I am not going to, you brainless doll." 

She shouts, "What did you..." I say, "Shut up. Just shut up. I am not obligated to pull you from the manipulated reality the Sanctus Dominion put you in. I just feel pity for you, that's all. Listen, if you want to be the one who walks on the path of justice, then don't cover your eyes or ears. Justice cannot be served blindly. Judge everyone very carefully before thinking about doing justice. You didn't even leave this fortress. Then how could you know what's going on in the real world? I am asking you, HERO." 

Nirva hesitantly says, "The Sanctus Dominion told...." I say, "And you believed. Did you ever validate the information they feed you? Suppose what you heard about me is true. Then why shouldn't you start an investigation about those crimes I've done? Did you ever talk to the families of the victims? Forget about investigating; you should have started searching for me. A hero never has time for his own. He always remains busy to protect innocents and fight the evil. How could you sleep peacefully when there was a man hunting innocent women? Some hero you are. No, you're not a hero. You were only given the title "hero." You never accepted being the hero. You're just a pathetic person who wants to believe that she is on the right path, but in truth, she never even set a foot on any kind of path. People all over the world trusted you. They believed that now that there is a hero for them, they will be saved from the unbearable pain that they are receiving every single day. And what did you do? What did you do? Nothing! You just did nothing! When the hero does nothing to save innocent people from the evil, the hero himself becomes the greatest villain of the world. I don't want to hurt women and children. But God, I want to punch you so much, you hypocrite." 

Vaelya places a hand on my shoulder and says, "Agni, that's enough." 

Nirva's eyes are wide, and tears are falling nonstop. I say, "You, the lady hero, didn't even wipe a single suffering person's tears, and now you have the audacity to shed tears!" 

Nirva barely speaks, "I...The Sanctus Dominion..." "Did you verify their information? Tell me, did you verify their information?" I shout. Nirva says, "No...I..." I say, "Let's do some verification now." 

I turn to Vaelya and say, "Give me a knife now." Vaelya hesitantly says, "What will you..." "Knife, now, Vaelya." Vaelya gives me a knife. I turn to Nirva and say, "They told you that you have the power to turn any weapon into a holy weapon, right?" Nirva looks at me and nods. I shout, "Speak!" "Yes. They told me to make their swords into holy weapons. I did that. And they killed the demon king, and the rest of the demons escaped." I say, "Alright then, take this knife and do the magic, please." 

Nirva hesitantly takes the knife and gives a kiss on its flat side. Seriously! They forced her to kiss all of their swords. Now I am feeling pity for her even more. 

I take the knife and say, "So that's all. This knife is a holy weapon now?" Nirva says, "Yes. Be careful. If it cuts you, you may...." I cut myself a bit on my left arm with that knife. Vaelya shouts, "What are you doing, Agni!" That stinks a bit. I say, "I am alright, Vaelya." I turn to Nirva and say, "Look carefully. See any difference, holy magic user?" Nirva says, "How could...!" I see; that means you are a good person. That's why this holy knife didn't hurt you." I laugh a bit. I say, "Let's test your statement." 

I go and bring a piece of Nirva's broken sword. I say, "Now look." Vaelya says, "What are you doing, Agni?" I cut myself a bit on my right arm with that piece of the sword. Instantly that cut wound becomes bright blue. I feel my arm getting numb, and my body is getting weaker. I am starting to sweat a lot. I fall on the floor. Vaelya holds my right hand and shouts while crying, "Why, Agni! How do I heal you? Brother! Yes, Brother must know something. Wait here, I'll get him." 

Vaelya is panicking. I smile. She cares that much for me! I quickly hold her right hand and say, "Don't worry, Vaelya. I'll be just fine. I've done this before." Vaelya looks at me with intense eyes. Then she hit me on my chest. My whole body feels that.

After a few minutes, I stand up. Nirva says with wide eyes, "How are you still alive?" I say, "That's not important right now. Have you noticed the important part?" Nirva says, "Yes. But I don't understand. If my holy sword works against you, then how didn't that holy knife work on you?" 

Then I tell her every truth of the Sanctus Dominion. Nirva is now traumatized. She says, "This...This can't be true." I say, "I'll leave it on you to find out. I've told you enough. Now do your part, which is figuring out what the truth is. You've stayed in the cage for more than enough time. Now see the world with your own eyes." 

I turn to Vaelya and say, "Let's go." We start walking forward. Nirva says, "Go to the end of the hallway. There will be a room on your right. Your friend is there." I say, "Thank you, Miss Nirva." Nirva doesn't say anything. 

We start walking forward. We find four old men wearing all white like Rodior near the end of the hallway. One of them says, "Stop right there, you evils. We are the high priest of the Sanctus..." I didn't let him finish the sentence. I grab his neck and slam him on the rest of the three. Behind them, Rodior is standing. Rodior shouts with fear, "I am warning you, King Agni. Don't take another...." Before he could finish his sentence, I grab the left side of his head with my right hand and slam him on the left wall. 

We find the room. We break the door and enter the room. Eriei is handcuffed to a wall with a white collar on her neck. Eriei looks at us and says, "My lord and princess?" Vaelya says, "Why did you sacrifice yourself to protect me, Eriei?" Eriei says with a smile, "You are the sister of my king, Princess. And more than that, you are the love of my lord Agni. I would sacrifice my life again and again for you, Princess." 

I stand before Eriei. I bow and say, "I am grateful to you, Eriei." Eriei says, "You shouldn't, my lord. I only did my duty." I burn the collar on her neck and free her from the handcuffs. 

I say, "Vaelya, open the portal." Vaelya says, "But what would they think if we just vanished in this room?" I say, "I don't care about their thoughts. Let's return home quickly." Vaelya says, "Alright." She opens a portal. We enter the portal.

When we return to Alnovir, everyone is very happy to see Eriei. Elyar has returned home with the army. Some of the soldiers got injured. But there is no death on our side. Nordial, Ferminaka, and the eight guards are better now. 

This day couldn't be any longer. I surrender myself to the bed. Maybe tomorrow will be free of chaos. I close my eyes. 

- "Agni! Agni!"

I wake up to Vaelya's shouting. I never saw her this scared. Before I can say anything, Vaelya says, "This world is about to end, and you are sleeping?" 

Oh God!