Chapter 26 “Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.”

One day before the arrival of the young man to this world.

On a sunny day with the sun still floating in the blue sky, the teenage Cecilia was running in the middle of dry and barren cliffs to escape from a large and burly orc who was still chasing her.

“Aaaah! Why are you so stubborn! I only took this piece of your ancestor's skull! After all, how could a brainless orc like you still need it, right!?” Cecilia snapped while continuing to climb and run on the steep cliffs.

“GROOOAAARRR!!!” The orc who was behind her shouted as if answering Cecilia's words.

“Tch! There's no way I'm going to fail here! I am the best freelancer in this world! There's no way I'm going to let Marie laugh at my failure!”

While continuing to grumble in her heart, Cecilia continued to climb until finally one of the rows of stones she stepped on collapsed and fell.

Immediately Cecilia jumped forward and caught the other part of the rock so that she would not fall straight down where the orc was waiting and chasing her.

“Damn! I can't possibly die like this can I!” Cecilia snapped while hanging onto a steep rock using her right hand.

Then suddenly at such a crucial moment her brain felt like it was pierced by a hot spear that was so thin and sharp like a knife.

“Khk! It hurts!” Screamed Cecilia who unconsciously released her grip on the steep rock.

And finally Cecilia fell off the cliff towards the Orc who had been chasing her.

“Damn! I can't possibly die like this!” Snapped Cecilia who then turned back and faced the Orc and darted so fast that red lightning appeared throughout her body and then she kicked the Orc's face with all her might until they both fell to the dry and barren ground below the cliff.

“BOOOM!”

The smoke and dust blown in caused a reddish-brown puff.

“Hah, hah, hah...” Cecilia panted to catch her breath.

She looked down at her feet where the huge and terrifying orc lay unconscious.

“How... Could... I become this... strong?” Cecilia asked.

But before Cecilia could savor her victory, the pain suddenly appeared once again.

“Khk! Damn it! This pain that appears in my head! Why!? Damn it!”

“But... Think later about this stupid pain, first I have to quickly go away from this crazy orc...” Said Cecilia who then got off the Orc's body and walked sluggishly away from him.

But before she could really get away from the Orc, her body suddenly weakened until she finally fell and fainted on the barren ground.

********

Several minutes passed since Cecilia lay for a moment on the dusty barren ground.

Cecilia, who had now regained consciousness, immediately stood up and looked at the Orc who was still lying and breathing.

“Good, it looks like all the plans for my preparations have now been completed, now I just need to give this skull to Yzak and then wait for nightfall in the holy city.” Muttered Cecilia who then dashed using her power and left the barren plain.

********

At this time the moon has risen and replaced the sun's duty to shine brightly in the night sky.

Now the night awaited by Cecilia has arrived, after she previously handed over the Orc skull head to Yzak and received her payment. Cecilia now stood in one of the building towers while waiting for her prey to come out of his nest.

“Wallace, although at this time your death can be granted, but fate will always provide a replacement for you. Therefore I... No, we will risk everything for our plan! So quickly appear Wallace, the hero of prophecy!” Cecilia said in her heart.

While continuing to hide on top of the tower and wait for her prey, Cecilia recalled all the lives she had lived in the past.

Her rivalry and friendship with Marie, her student named Adel, and her family that she had left behind in her previous life.

“I will try to enjoy this life...” Cecilia muttered.

After her wait, the prey she had been waiting for finally showed itself.

Wallace who was alone came out of one of his acquaintance's house and walked alone at night to go home.

“This is it!”

Cecilia immediately stood up and then tied a black cloth to cover her eyes.

“Wallace! Prepare to meet your destiny!”

While announcing her intentions in her heart, Cecilia immediately darted very quickly like a red comet towards Wallace.

Wallace who realized that immediately turned back and prepared his magic wand to attack Cecilia using his blue flame, but before Wallace finished casting the spell, Cecilia immediately grabbed Wallace's mouth and then darted once again away from that place.

“Who the hell is this woman!? How can she have this much power!?” Wallace thought while trying to release Cecilia's hand grip.

But Cecilia continued to increase her speed without the slightest regard for Wallace's resistance.

Due to the faster pace, Wallace finally began to lose consciousness and fainted.

“BRUK!”

Cecilia threw the unconscious Wallace near an orc that had been lying on the dry ground since noon.

“All my preparations have been completed, now I just need to start the exchange ritual.” Cecilia muttered.

Cecilia then climbed up the cliff and removed the black cloth that was tied over her eyes.

Using her slender right hand, Cecilia tried to reach out to the stars that were scattered in the night sky.

“For now, let me burn the entire view of the night sky into my eyeballs.” Cecilia whispered.

After a few moments of gazing pensively at the stars, Cecilia then dropped her blindfold to the ground and began to chant.

“O' our caged horned god. O' god who is kind and once ruled this world. Know who I am, know what my intentions are! If you understand, answer me using your magic!”

Then immediately a blue light forming a pair of horns appeared floating above Cecilia's head.

And in her right eye a blue flame burned brightly as if it was burning her right eyeball.

“Good, now on to the second stage.”

Cecilia took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Anyone who is satisfied with his life! Whoever gives up on his life! I invite you to come to my world! So that you who come will be able to become a foundation to change this world!”

Then a black sphere burning with blue-colored flames appeared beside her.

“Open up!”

Suddenly, the black orb spun so fast that it transformed into a mirror-like black disk that was adorned on all sides by swirling, smoldering blue flames.

One minute...

Two minutes...

Five minutes...

But no one wanted to answer Cecilia's call.

Fresh red blood oozed out of one of her noses, her eye sockets were slowly getting blacker, and her thin lips kept getting paler.

“How much longer do I have to endure it! Hurry up! Whoever you are, hurry up! The pressure from this portal... I can't hold it in any longer!”

Suddenly a man's voice appeared from within the portal.

“Is that world better than mine?” Asked the male voice.

“You... Who?” While enduring all her pain and fatigue Cecilia asked the voice that appeared from inside the portal.

Then the black portal brought up many images from a world that Cecilia did not recognize, but she understood all the images.

Suffering, hunger, hatred, fame, war, slander, torture, massacre, domination, deprivation, threats, gossip, humiliation, utilization, ignorance, and all other disgusting images.

“Is your world better than mine?” Asked the male voice once again.

“Yes! My world is better than yours!” Cecilia replied.

“Will I get a second chance in your world?”

“....... Yes! You will definitely get it!”

“Will I get all the things I never had before?”

“Yes! You will! So come here, because I can't bear this dimensional portal anymore!” Cecilia snapped.

Then a human spirit appeared and came out of that dimension. He hovered around Cecilia who still had to cast the spell once again.

“Alright now the last stage!”

While pointing her right hand towards the portal, and her left hand towards the bodies of the Orcs and Wallace who were still unconscious, as before now Cecilia's left eye was also burning like her right eye.

Ignoring what was happening, Cecilia immediately began to chant the next spell.”

“Your soul is your soul but your body is a loan from him! Listen to my words, and follow my orders! At this very moment, come out of your bodies!”

Then from the bodies of Orc and Wallace emerged a pair of spirits that floated towards Cecilia.

Cecilia quickly caught the Orc's spirit head and threw it into the dimensional portal that had been beside her.

“Khk! My eyes!”

Along with the pain that appeared in her right eye, the portal that had been open earlier had now closed tightly without leaving a mark.

“Hah... Hah... Hah... It's okay... I still can...”

Then Cecilia captured the two spirits belonging to Wallace and the man from the other dimension and then threw their spirits into the bodies they didn't have before.

Wallace's spirit entered the body of the big and burly Orc, and the spirit of the man from the other dimension entered the body that previously belonged to Wallace.

“Finally... It's done...” Cecilia muttered.

Due to the fatigue she experienced, finally Cecilia's body collapsed and lay on the high cliff.

Slowly her pair of blue horns disappeared like embers in the wind.

“So... This is the last time I can see huh? Huh, it feels like I'm still not ready to lose my sight.” Cecilia said with a small smile.

Along with the extinguishing of the blue flame that had been burning her one remaining eye, Cecilia's vision slowly disappeared into the darkness of the night.

In the midst of the darkness of the night, after all the mesmerizing magic happened, there was a heart-wrenching sobbing sound of a teenage girl.

This was their choice, this was the hope of the Cecilia's, therefore this choice must be right.

“Yes... it must be right, I'm sure of it.”

********

In the middle of the day in the barren land between the steep and dry rock cliffs. A young man with blond hair and blue eyes was seen running away from the pursuit of a very scary orc.

“GROAAAARR!!!”

“Shit, Shit, Shit! What is this! God, I know you have good intentions for me, but why did you send me near such a terrifying giant!” The young man snapped.

And at the same time, among one of the steep cliffs, Cecilia slept soundly while enjoying the warm rays that enveloped her body.

Hearing the young man's scream, Cecilia's two pupils that had now turned silver suddenly opened to welcome the sunlight that could no longer be absorbed into her two eyeballs.

Cecilia woke up with her body feeling very heavy and very weak.

“Wooaah... Why is it so noisy at this time of night, do they think they want to take the rooster's job?” Cecilia asked while scratching her head.

Black.

Dark.

And there was not the slightest light around her.

“....... Oh yeah, I just remembered that from now on I can't see, right?” Cecilia joked while showing a bitter smile on her face.

Raising both hands, Cecilia looked up at the sky which seemed to calm the turmoil inside her.

“Feeling the warmth of the sun in the middle of the darkness feels so... depressing.” Cecilia whispered.

“GROAAAARR!!!”

There was the sound of a beast that was very frightening and could shake the entire soul of everyone who heard it.

“...It seems to have begun huh?” Cecilia muttered.

Immediately Cecilia lowered her head and placed her right palm on the ground to feel and observe the events currently happening below her.

“Damn it! Anyone, please help me! I'm not ready to die in this place!” The young man screamed.

“I'm sorry, but your death was predetermined when you came to this world.” Cecilia whispered.

From the beginning, Cecilia had known that there was no way the human she invited to this world would be able to fight Wallace, because from the beginning Cecilia's intention was only to sacrifice the human to trap Wallace in the Orc's body.

To keep destiny and prophecy on track, Wallace must first remain in this world. If Wallace dies, there will be successors like Kalina or Yzak, so Wallace must stay alive and in this world.

Secondly, in order for Wallace to return to his original body, he must first send the young man's soul to his world and return the Orc's soul to this world. Because it is to maintain balance and justice.

Third, why did Cecilia put Wallace's spirit into the Orc's body? It was because Wallace's soul was too big to be accommodated by other creatures, even an ordinary human body might refuse to accommodate a spirit full of arrogance.

And that Orc wasn't just any Orc either. The orc was the ruler of the Orc nation whose subjects had been slaughtered by the seven knights. That's why Yzak previously told Cecilia to take the skull of one of his predecessors.

Then suddenly the young man stopped his running steps and faced Wallace.

“... Has he given up?” Cecilia muttered.

But the young man stood with a foot stance that was not like someone who wanted to surrender.

The young man set up a stance and pointed his broken stick at Wallace.

“Hey, hey, hey... You must be joking, right? There's no way you can beat Wallace in your condition.” Cecilia muttered with cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.

“GROAAAARR!”

Wallace launched an attack using his giant hands and claws towards the young stranger.

“Good! Kill him!” Cecilia said in her heart while smiling widely with great happiness.

“STAB!”

The broken stick pierced deeply into Wallace's giant hand.

“Feel that! I've said it before, I don't want to die in this place!” The young man snapped.

“GROAAAAAA!!!!”

Sensing that his prey could put up a fight, Wallace quickly used his other hand to punch and knock the young man out of the way.

“BAAAMM!”

The young man slammed to the ground until there were several sounds of bones breaking and shifting.

“Aaaa! It hurts! Khk! It hurts! It hurts so much! Could it be that my ribs are broken? Shit! It hurts like hell! Please someone help me!” Moaned the young man who could now only lie limply on the dry ground.

“Grrrr...”

Staring at the wound on his hand, Wallace slowly walked over to the young stranger who was lying limp.

“What the hell is that? Why didn't Wallace kill that young man immediately? ... Is it possible that he has already realized my plan!?” Cecilia thought.

“This is dangerous! If Wallace does realize it and manages to capture that young man it's possible that he'll be able to restore all the results of my ritual as before! This cannot be allowed! I must stop it immediately!”

Cecilia with her frightened face immediately took and tied her blindfold, then she stood up from her hiding place to stop Wallace. But...

“Bruk!”

Her legs suddenly collapsed and forced Cecilia to stand up using one of her katanas.

“Khk! Why!?” Cecilia snapped.

It turned out that at this moment almost all of her limbs were shaking violently.

“This... Is it possible that my body is still exhausted from the ritual I performed last night? Damn it! Why is my body so weak!”

Even though Cecilia felt let down by her young body, she still tried to stand up even though her limbs felt like a machine that lacked oil.

“There's no more time to waste! It's now or never!”

“With the root of life covering this land, bind it, heal it, give your followers the blessing to walk on this land!”

Immediately a stream of magic shaped like plant roots traveled from the ground to the feet and spread throughout Cecilia's body. And slowly Cecilia felt her strength returning.

While moving her palms and feet, Cecilia thought for a moment and returned her face to the young stranger who was now walking while dragging all the wounds.

“ It seems to be enough.”

In less than a second, Cecilia was already darting like a comet and lunged straight at the now large Wallace.

“GRAAA!?”

Feeling surprised Wallace immediately made a move to defend from Cecilia's attack.

But even though Wallace was currently defending, it was highly unlikely that with his large and slow body Wallace could stop all of Cecilia's attacks.

“Keep going! I must continue to make him retreat from this place!” Thought Cecilia while continuing to exert all her strength to give Wallace a non-fatal wound.

But Wallace, who had now calmed down from the surprise attack, began to stop his defensive position and immediately attacked Cecilia using his two pairs of giant claws.

The fight between the two of them was fierce with flashes of red lightning and exploding earth.

“Damn it! Why is he attacking even more fiercely!? Run away! Run away! Even though I hate you I swear to let you leave this place!” Cecilia said in her heart.

But unfortunately the longer the fight went on, the more Cecilia realized that her body condition was getting worse.

“Damn, if only I had my prime body, something like this would definitely not have been possible!” Cecilia thought.

Tiredness, pain, and unaccustomed to Cecilia fighting with both eyes blind, Cecilia continued to attack while continuing to hope that Wallace would retreat from that place.

“Please leave Wallace!” Cecilia hoped in her heart.

But amidst the constant battle that produced the sound of metal colliding with each other, Wallace still did not have the slightest intention of retreating from his position.

Probably because he realized that his position was getting worse, Wallace immediately jumped back to create distance from Cecilia.

Cecilia was surprised and happy to see that, but unfortunately Wallace jumped back not to escape as Cecilia expected, but now Wallace was taking a position to prepare an attack to change his situation.

“Fool! Why don't you retreat from this place! At this rate, all my strength will be completely depleted to the core! So hurry up and leave!” Cecilia snapped in her mind.

Despite her thoughts, Cecilia still immediately took the same position to counter the attack that Wallace would launch.

Silence...

Quiet...

They both took their positions and concentration very seriously.

“ Get back!”

As if she was sending a code to Wallace, Cecilia grasped her katana with all her might with a bloodthirsty feeling while continuing to threaten Wallace in her heart.

“...If not then I'll have to cut off both your legs!”

How many quiet and tense seconds finally passed, And finally either because of Cecilia's hopes and threats or because Wallace had been injured and exhausted, finally Wallace with his new large body jumped up and fled from that place.

Along with the trembling of the ground in that place, Cecilia smiled in relief.

“Fortunately... he finally retreated too.”

Happily, Cecilia turned her face towards the sky and thanked fate for answering her prayers.

“Help! Help me...!”

Suddenly the young stranger screamed towards Cecilia which caused Cecilia to turn her face towards the young stranger.

“So... Now what should I do to him?” Cecilia thought as she walked over to the young man.

“Please... Please help me...” Whimpered the young stranger.

Cecilia who was now standing in front of him was pensive for a moment while observing the young stranger.

“You...”

“He... Help... Me.” whimpered the young man.

Cecilia just stood and was still pensive before the young man who was lying down and in pain.

And a moment later she sighed and began to ask the young stranger.

“Are you okay?” Asked the woman.

Perhaps because of the pain, the young man ignored Cecilia's question and continued to whimper for help.

“Please... Help me...” whimpered the young stranger who finally fainted from the injuries and pain he was experiencing.

Feeling that the young man had really lost his consciousness, Cecilia then drew her katana until it touched the young man's neck.

“.........”

“......”

“....”

“Should I just kill him?”