Standing there, Arthur contemplated everything he experienced so far across this entire journey. His sharp memory replayed everything in his head in a few seconds. He tried to see where things seemed rather odd, and much to his surprise.
‘Everything about this goddamn trip had been weird… Searching for anything illogical in there is literally impossible.’ He mused with a sigh. Then, he looked up. The ship was still moving peacefully on the river, going on its loop.
‘So killing him didn’t do anything to break the loop. Great. What am I supposed to do now?’
“We lost two more… We lost two more…”
That was when Arthur’s attention shifted to the group of mercenaries standing around the dead corpses of their friends. Their expressions were ghastly pale and their aura was so subsided, it might as well not even be outside their bodies. They looked like a group of broken souls, standing silently as they waited for their demise.
That sight made Arthur pursed his lips. He couldn’t comprehend the level of grief they were experiencing. After all, it has been nothing but a disaster for hours now. What they thought would be their salvation had been an endless nightmare.
They tried to be hopeful and optimistic, they tried to keep their heads up and move forward to try and reach their homes. However, they have truly done nothing good so far. They were being plucked one by one like flowers and they couldn’t do much about it.
It wasn’t simply mourning the deaths of friends, it was the frustrating realization that they weren’t strong at all. They were Royal Mercenaries, supposedly the line of defense for humanity against abominations threatening to destroy it.
Yet, they were now just a bunch of desperate souls running for their lives from these monsters. How can they boast their status when it was as useless as any other made-up title?
‘Poor fellas…’ Arthur blinked before he decided to approach them. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say but he felt like he had to at least speak to them. When he got close enough, the trio stared at him with
They flinched visibly as if they didn’t expect Arthur to appear there but then they ignored him and looked down again. The boy didn’t mind that and simply eyed the dead corpse of their friend. He had a terrified look on his face the moment before he died.
“What was his name?” Arthur asked quietly as he kept staring at the dead man.
“…” The trio stared at him for a moment before they looked down again.
“Genov… His name is Genov.” One of the three men replied.
“Genov, huh?” Arthur asked. “He’s the married one, isn’t he?”
“… Yeah, he has a wife and three kids… He’s… was a family man through and through. Didn’t even care to go out drinking with us many times because he wanted to spend time with his family. That bastard… Hahaha, had nothing but those four people in his head.”
Arthur listened quietly to the mercenary describing his friend with a wry smile filled with sadness. The boy felt a sting in his heart learning that the man had a wife and kids to go back to. Nobody would’ve ever thought he would die at the hands of one of his comrades.
“To think he would die… By Sergi’s hands no less… Fuck…” Tears welled up in the man’s head. “This world ain’t fair… If someone had to die, it should’ve been me!”
“…”
The other two sobbed silently while looking down to hide their faces. The burning frustration only grew the more they thought about it.
“We had no one to call a family so our deaths would’ve been better! Why did it have to be him?!!” The anger and sadness mixed and the man could only yell at the top of his lungs at this unfairness.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Arthur muttered. “He seemed like a good guy.”
At that moment, the boy had completely forgotten that this was not real life and that it was merely a game. In fact, for the better part of his journey through the Divine Realm, Arthur never had the thought that he was playing a game.
The realism of everything was truly on a level he could never even imagine. The people weren’t mere NPCs that move and act according to scripts, they had feelings, thoughts, lives, and loved ones. They were humans and at that moment, it only further settled in his head that he wasn’t dealing with a bunch of code and graphics.
It didn’t feel right to him to see them as such. So, that apology came from the deepest parts of his heart. He truly felt their grief and their sadness for the loss of their friend.
“*Sniff* It’s fine… There is nothing we can do… Help me get him covered.” The mercenary wiped his tears and crouched down to take care of his buddy’s corpse.
The others nodded their heads and went to work in silence, not even looking up once. They didn’t even care to check their surroundings for any anomalies. At that moment, nothing truly mattered to them.
“Sigh…” Arthur exhaled a small breath as he watched them silently. ‘What a journey it has been so far… Nothing good happened. So this is why they feared the Akora River… This place is hellish.’
Arthur had underestimated this river’s ability to simply screw them over on so many different levels. He expected large monsters and perhaps a lot of hard battles. But, he never expected such a psychological and deliberate attack on the group’s spirit.
The monsters were thoroughly toying with them like mere insects. These constant jabs, slowly taking them one by one were some terrifying things he never experienced before.
“I don’t know if I can do much even now. The loop isn’t stopping.” He spoke to himself. Then, he walked to the edge and stared into the distance. He was a little wistful and in a sour mood.
“What should you do now Arthur? What could possibly be done now? You are stuck against these abominations while this ship just drifts into the unknown.
As if he were like that, he heard footsteps behind him. Looking up, he saw Deka stopping next to him. She leaned on the wooden rail and stared into the distance.
The boy raised an eyebrow for a moment before he turned to look away too.
“Are you going to bury him?” He asked calmly.
“… When we make it out of here.” She replied.
“Mm…” The boy hummed quietly.
“Sigh, I really don’t think I can continue on like this, Arthur,” Deka spoke. “I’m quickly losing my mind as everything unfolds. I don’t think I can lead this group to safety anymore… I’m not good enough for that.”
As she talked, her hands clenched visibly in frustration while her face darkened gradually. Arthur noticed all of that but didn’t comment on it and instead asked.
“What makes you think you’re not good enough?”
“I couldn’t protect this group… I couldn’t stop the monsters, and I couldn’t even make the right decisions. I should’ve not decided to bring us here to this river… It was clearly not a place we could pass. I have truly… failed as a leader.”
Everything Sergi said before he died was true, Deka was simply not the strong person she thought she was. She had been thriving to become a leader and completely ignored the fact that she didn’t have the characteristics of a good leader. Her personality was simply not cut out for this tough role.
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‘I hesitated when I had to take that decision and kill him. If Arthur hadn’t intercepted him, I would’ve been the one dead now.’ She bit her lower lip until it started bleeding. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Arthur watched the myriad of emotions passing through her expression. In a sense, Arthur could understand and relate to her doubt and frustration. Until recently, he was doubting himself. He felt like he wasn’t good enough to be friends with Isla and the others.
That feeling eats away at one consciousness and he cannot deny that it almost got him. So, when he saw that look on Deka’s face, he knew that he had to speak.
“Did you really believe what he said?” He asked. “I didn’t think you were that easily toyed with, Deka.”
“But I-“
“Are you even listening to yourself, Deka? Do you even understand what could’ve happened had you not been the one making decisions? This entire group would’ve either drowned in the flood or got eaten by those Yetis. The reason they are still alive is you… Weak? What? Did you truly expect everyone to survive? That’s nonsense. No true leader would think they failed because they lost comrades, a true leader would see that and still carry the rest into safety.”
“…”
“A true leader would only stop when his team reaches their intended goal. If you didn’t have what it takes to do this job, I would’ve not listened to you. But, you, Deka, can truly be a leader.”
The words Arthur said struck Deka in a rather odd spot. She stared at him, wide-eyed. All she could see in his eyes was a calm and unperturbed mind, as clear as the river beneath them and yet also as mysterious.
“I don’t know what you want to do, but… There are only two options here, either continue this task and bring them home or die trying. That’s how you prove that you are up to that leadership position.”
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!