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Chapter 119: A Fool’s Last Dance

Chapter 119: A Fool’s Last Dance

"Hope?"

The individual pulled the sheet over himself upon hearing his name. Cid grabbed him and forced him to let out a single sigh.

"Hope?! Is it you? What are you doing here? Why are you here, you were supposed to be in the north with the council members, how are you here?!"

Hope frowned and pulled back his blanket.

"I didn’t go with them... Anyway, they sent a message about it in the group chat, if you were even remotely interested in the others you would have known."

"Interested...? With everything going on, do you think I would have been interested in a stupid group chat?"

Hope gritted his teeth and stood up angrily.

"Yes! I know, I already know, stop thinking you’re the center of the world! I was in town too, I saw the Rift, you’re nothing special!"

A vein popped on Cid’s forehead.

"Oi, watch your mouth, I’m in a very bad mood today, don’t test me."

Hope shrugged her shoulders provocatively.

"Hope? Is it really you?" Mercy started him.

"My... Hm... Mercy? So you’re here..."

"Hope, this is so good to see ya... you’re alive... thanks God..."

Hope let go of his sheet and massaged his shoulder.

"Yeah, I’m alive... Uh... Got some rough stuff on the way."

"You look very fine." Cid groaned.

"If you keep bothering me, you won’t look very good!" Hope said as he released his energy.

Cid frowned and surprisingly walked away. Hope, with a grind, put his hands on his hip and shook his head.

"Though so, I’m used to people provoking me and running away, but at least the others put on a fight."

Cid didn’t slow down and answered.

"I’m done wasting my time on a clown who tried to be someone else."

Hope flinched and started walking toward him.

"Hey?! What did you say? Come tell me that in the face!"

"Hope, stop now... even in times like this you still want to pick a fight?"

"Uh! He provoked me first, like usual... and since when are you giving me orders? I do things my way now."

"Forget it... Are ya all alone by the way? Is there another student with ya?"

"No, I’m not the kind of whim who ran away, I went to the train station to say goodbye but I stayed for the battle... By the way, why are you guys here? You... You didn’t fight it seems."

Mercy lowered her head and bit her lips.

"Things... got rough for us too... but I’m just happy to see ya alive."

"Ah... Not a big deal, but tell me more, weren’t you guys the chosen one? The fabulous heroes? I heard no one talking about you anymore, and the Rift is open... the one time I’m not around. Don’t tell me you guys ran away."

He crossed his hands, looking away mockingly.

Mercy looked at him with confused eyes. She wanted to reprimand him but she had no more willpower, the only thing she was sure of was that Hope wasn’t aware of the situation.

"Wait, ya said ya were at the cap’tal, how did ya get there then?"

"Um... Well... it’s not that big of a deal, I wasn’t chosen in the first place, but I wanted to help a little so I stayed behind but..."

He started scratching his shoulder in embarrassment.

"Well, I just thought that it was my role to protect the people on the train, so I came back and took another train. I huh... I didn’t tell anyone since I trusted you, so honestly I’m a little surprised you guys ran away, I thought Dora was the man, what is he doing?"

A wind gently caressed his cheek, as Mercy’s fist stopped before hitting him.

Hope flinched, surprised not to be able to see the attack.

Mercy, her fist shaking, was murmuring to herself, eyes closed.

"For Elizabeth... For Elizabeth..."

She pulled her fist back, catching her breath, and looked at Hope with disdain.

"Dora was right, it’s really hard to kick yer ass, you’re a trash carried by a diamond."

She turned her back and walked away too. Hope put a hand on his cheek and gritted his teeth.

"I told you that I wouldn’t allow this bullshit anymore! Who gave you permission to threaten me?! Hey, listen! I’m talking to you!"

He marched furiously towards her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Peters, Dora, and Elizabeth are probably dead, you piece of shit," Mercy declared without turning to face him.

She strode past Iris and entered the building. At her declaration, murmurs arose among the refugees.

"Elizabeth is dead? Who’s Elizabeth? Which Elizabeth?" they asked in confusion.

"Isn’t this girl one of those people from the news? The ones who were about to carry out the raid?" Someone else speculated.

"Wait, is she talking about Lady Elizabeth?! The legend?" another person asked incredulously. "It’s impossible... Wait, hey, little girl!"

The refugees stood up one by one and followed Mercy inside. Soon enough, the murmurs turned into words and then into exclamations.

Was Elizabeth Balder really dead? It sounded too unbelievable to be true.

They rushed towards the door to seek an explanation from Mercy, ignoring the boy standing frozen in the middle. Hope remained in the same position, with his hand stretched out, not moving. He had stopped breathing and appeared to be losing his brain functions with each passing second.

*

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*

In a region bordering the center of the Kingdom, a group of emissaries brought together the bodies of several monsters on one side and their comrades on the other.

Equipped with masks so as not to breathe the air filled with burning particles, they set the corpses on fire thanks to their magic.

A healer in his 40s was writing the names of the identifiable body among his comrades, black circles under his eyes.

"Is it the last? Wasn’t Foxy group composed of 50 people?"

"Eaten... The boars surrounded them... there are only..."

Suddenly, the wind rose and an explosion alarmed them.

"SHIT! Everyone, there’s more!"

They grabbed their weapons and rushed to the origin of the explosion, watching in disbelief.

"What... is that?"

In front of them, a white little Rift was sweeping the vegetation. They clung to their weapons in distress, and suddenly, the shadow of a little girl crossed the Rift.