Chapter 2

Aiden stepped back, and Ethan swiftly leaped into the confrontation. The clash of swords sparked an intense battle between a vivid golden and purple glow.

"Not as impressive as last time..." Ethan remarked, recalling the sky from that day.

"I couldn't believe it when they told me..." the heroine whispered.

"Sorry?"

"I couldn't believe it when they told me that there's a human aiding these damn scums!" she exclaimed, putting even more force into her attack and pushing Ethan's sword backward.

"You may go," Ethan said in a serious tone, and the group of demons quickly passed by them. "...What's your name, girl?" he questioned.

"My name? You don't deserve to know something like that."

"Oh... just like demons don't deserve to live?"

With a swift movement, the heroine withdrew her sword, dodged Ethan's attack, and, in a quick kick, capitalized on the momentum to pursue the three demons heading towards the border.

"Huh?" for a moment, upon hearing a crash, Aiden looked back. "It's truly impressive; she doesn't let go." he commented, smiling.

"Focus." Clovis said, not even shifting his gaze. "Let's finish this quickly."

"Yes, let's finish and get back for dinner!" exclaimed Aiden.

A heroine pursued them at high speed, getting closer with every passing moment. However, something intriguing lingered in the air. Why did they not seem to care about the imminent threat? Why did they maintain such calm?

In a moment of paralysis, a strange tremor ran through the entire body of the knight. She turned around. "Hey," greeted Ethan, capturing the warrior's face with one hand, throwing her to the frozen ground, propelling her for a few meters. "That kick really hurt, you know... nobody?"

"Nobody?" questioned the heroine, trying to free herself from Ethan's grasp.

"Yes, isn't it obvious?" said Ethan, launching the knight against the roots on the other side of the canyon. "If a person doesn't have a name, she is nobody. No money, home, friends, or family. Just disposable and useless trash among... humans."

A crash echoed as the heroine freed herself from the roots and leaped toward Ethan. "Have you ever wondered why I help them, right?" he taunted. "But what's the difference between them and humans? Can you tell me that? If you can, I'll return to the demon realm and kill as many of them as I can myself."

"The difference? Are you comparing those scums to us!?"

The exchange of blows remained intense, but neither side yielded, at least not the two combatants. With each clash of their swords, the canyon walls around them cracked, leading to, after several strikes, a massive landslide over the heads of the two heroes.

Not just soil and rocks, but also trees and large ice boulders, along with a large amount of snow, all came down into the canyon at the moment of the landslide.

"Those two are simply monsters..." said Aiden, watching the fight from the top of the border-marking wall. "Now I understand why you chose to run, Clovis."

"I didn't run." Clovis stated, cleaning his sword, and around him, the bodies of the humans that were there before were burning. "It was an order. You should also learn to follow them."

"More importantly," said Riley, approaching Aiden. "Why hasn't Ethan finished this yet? Is he talking to her? Is he going to..."

"He wouldn't do that." Clovis affirmed, interrupting Riley.

"...propose to her?"

"What!?" exclaimed Clovis.

Aiden laughed, his laughter echoing through the canyon, causing even more snow to fall where the battle was taking place. "...Don't tell Ethan it was me. Are you hearing me? Clovis? Riley?"

"You still haven't answered me," said Ethan, sitting on a large block of ice that had descended during the landslide. "What's the difference?"

Dust spread across the canyon, obscuring everyone's view. The heroine, taking advantage of the confusion, searched for a suitable rock on the frozen ground. Finding a suitable one, she threw it in Ethan's direction, creating a loud sound as it hit the ice block near him. The rock and the noise served as a distraction, making Ethan turn to assess the origin of the sound.

Seizing the opportunity, the agile heroine circled the dust cloud, silently approaching Ethan from behind. With precision and speed, she delivered a precise blow, sending him towards the ground. The ice gave way under the impact, while the dust spread away thanks to the power of the attack.

"You know, I thought a lot about this. Even as I came here, it never left my mind. Do you know what answer I found?"

'What? How? I definitely hit him.' thought the heroine, incredulous, unable to comprehend how her attack didn't even scratch Ethan. While he rose unaffected from the small crater formed by the collision, an expression of disbelief settled on her face.

Ethan glanced up for a brief moment, and instead of retaliating, surprised the knight by grabbing her hand, deflecting it from his attack. In an unexpected move, he embraced her and, in a coordinated motion, threw himself into the snow covering the ground. A small avalanche of snow followed, falling over the two.

While Clovis and Riley faced the forces of the Kingdom of Camelot trying to reclaim the border at all costs, Aiden, who observed the fight between the heroes, was surprised by an event in the battle he was watching.

"Oh, maybe Riley wasn't so wrong after all," Aiden commented.

"What!?" Clovis, flying with his black wings, questioned as he quickly ascended to the top of the wall. "What are you talking about?"

"Hey! Don't leave me here alone!" exclaimed Riley.

Ignoring Riley's concerns, Clovis approached Aiden and suddenly threw him down the wall, exactly where the fight was taking place.

"Clovis!"

Meanwhile, Ethan, embracing the heroine, reflected on the situation. "You know, I thought about this for some time," he said, feeling every movement of her, her rapid breath and warmth. "and the only plausible answer I could find was hypocrisy."

The knight constantly tried to break free from Ethan, but it was impossible. He was strong, as much as she was, maybe even more, and he wasn't allowing her to make any significant moves.

"Humans are too hypocritical. They are so hypocritical that they don't accept it when their roles in society are reversed, when they go from predator to prey," commented Ethan.

"Hah! What do you expect me to do? Shed rivers of tears because of that?"

It must have been some time since all that snow fell on them, but so far, the heroine felt nothing, not even the cold that she should feel thanks to the snow beneath them. Is he protecting us? ...No. He's protecting himself. She convinced herself of that; she had to convince herself.

"Of course not, after all, you lived as a 'human.'"

"I lived as a human? What are you talking about? Both of us are the same."

"The same?" Ethan tried to restrain himself but ended up giving in to the laughter forcing its way through his throat upon hearing that phrase, that little phrase. "We are the same...? Do you remember what I said before? What is a nobody? Without a name, parents, money, home, or food, that is being a nobody. That's what I was among... you, humans."

The heroine was visibly furious; her eyes sparked as she confronted Ethan. "So, is this merely revenge? Now that you have power, are you pouring your frustration onto a people who had nothing to do with your pain?"

"Revenge? I never thought of something like that. I came here because I wanted to see you."

"What?"

"The sky of that day... when you arrived, I wanted to know if something like that could happen again when our swords clashed. Unfortunately, it didn't. I also wanted to understand why you fight to protect them. If it's just because they're of the same species or if there's something more. Apparently, it seems to be the first option."

"Are you telling me..." the knight whispered, anger overflowing from her gaze. "You came here with the intention of killing them just because of that? Because of your damn curiosity!?"

"Huh? I don't understand," Ethan said ironically. "Tell me, why did you kill them?"

"What?"

"Why did you kill them, the demons guarding the border? They did no harm to anyone; they couldn't even leave that place. Why did you kill them?"

"They were demons."

"But they were still alive; they still had a life outside of that place. Does the fact that they are demons make their lives worth less?"

"Yes, that's obvious. You should think that way too; you are a human. You should feel disgusted for defending them."

"You really are... Look, killing humans wasn't my mission. My mission was just to deal with you. I like you, I think, and that's why I chose to do it this way, but..."

As Ethan began to rise, the snow above him fell to the sides as if a barrier were protecting them. The moment she felt that the force imposed on her had lessened, the heroine quickly broke free from Ethan's arms and stepped back.

She picked up her sword from the ground, watching Ethan's sword fly quickly into his hands. Something seemed wrong. She hadn't been able to escape even after giving her all, so why now? Did he let his guard down while getting up? Or is he plotting something?

The heroine leaped towards Ethan, who seemed to be stretching casually. A monstrous force placed itself under her belly, and in an instant, she was flying towards the sky.

What... what happened? How did he... Her mind became clouded; nothing seemed right, nothing seemed real, that glamorous view of the Great Forest and the Frozen Peaks, nothing, except for Ethan, who suddenly appeared at her side. Was he holding back all this time?

The impact of the heroine's body against the ground caused an explosion, raising a lot of dust. Meanwhile, Ethan hovered in the air, descending to the ground calmly. The sight of this scene made Camelot's soldiers sure they were facing an unstoppable monster. It was impossible to win against that being.

"Uff!" sighed Aiden, sitting on the ground and throwing himself backward. He briefly looked at the sky, just to witness Ethan flying at high speed towards the canyon. "What did she do to leave him like that?"

"Did she reject him?" Riley teased, smiling.

"Did she?"

The demons smiled, but their laughter was interrupted by a crash. The canyon collapsed, and they quickly soared into the sky to observe the bodies being crushed by rocks and Camelot soldiers trying to escape being buried alive in a pile of stones, trees, and ice.

"Isn't he exaggerating a bit?" said Aiden.

"Definitely," Riley agreed. "Do you want to go tell him that?"

"Not now... Maybe later."

Ethan emerged from under the rocks with something in his hands: the heroine's body. She was still alive, and he held her by the neck as he flew toward Camelot.

"I'm going to teach you to value other lives a little more, all forms of life."