"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters now. I don't know about this imperfect and now perfect. But what I know is, I need to defeat you." She held her spear and lunged at me.
Her spear was about to hit my lungs, but I deflected it with my fingers. She didn't stop and used her fist, but I held it and threw her forward.
(Her body feels very light.)
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Taylor Markson fired bullets at me, but they got devoured inside the void body. The revolver in his hand was the one Elisabeth had been holding before.
Elisabeth's bodyguards who were outside the barrier were looking inside and yelling at Taylor for holding their Queen's revolver. Sia was nowhere to be seen outside or inside, maybe she had gone after sending those messages.
Inside the barrier were only me and the hundred Dreamers.
Whoosh!
I went behind Taylor Markson and kicked his leg. He stumbled and the revolver dropped from his hand. Suddenly, the void body extended a hand-like shape and ate up the revolver.
[Exp: 520/10k]
I held Taylor Markson's head and went toward the barrier, then I pushed him against it. The barrier released current which started burning Taylor's whole body.
"Ahh!" He started screaming from the electric shock that was burning his skin.
Then I dropped him on the ground and turned back toward Elisabeth, who looked completely shocked.
"What are you trying to show me by doing such cruelty?" she asked, gritting her teeth. Her hand was trembling with the force she was applying on her spear.
(Cruelty?)
"He couldn't stand for a day or maybe more, his organs are damaged. Now we can continue our fight without anyone disturbing us." Then I turned my gaze at the other ninety-eight Dreamers who were trembling in fear.
"These people don't have the courage to attack me. Only you and Taylor are brave enough. That's why now it isn't one against a hundred. It's now one against one."
We both charged at each other and our weapons collided, fire-like particles jumping here and there from the impact.
But we didn't stop there. We continued the assault and attacked each other with everything we had.
My claws tore the armor protecting her left arm, then I formed a fist and punched her face, which she blocked with the spear's head.
Our Presence was having a different battle alongside ours. Because of the clash between our Presence, many Dreamers inside the barrier hit it and felt the shock.
***
Even after fighting for more than half an hour, she still stood up again. She had something I didn't. If I were in her place, I would tell myself it's my fate and die.
The ground beneath us had many cracks in it. Elisabeth was breathing hard, but I had no problem. It was because I wasn't exhausted, while she was completely exhausted.
The void clinging to my right arm disappeared because of her attacks. I put my right arm behind my back and extended my left claw. With that, I charged at Elisabeth.
She roared and defended herself from the claw, but her strength was nearly gone, so she lost her grip on the spear and stumbled back.
Her golden armor started fading away. She walked toward me and picked the spear up again. Her mouth was open, she was drooling. Her eyes were nearly closed.
(What is that? How can she still stand?)
I looked up at the time window in the sky.
[Time left: 56 Seconds]
"Why don't you give up? Time is about to be over. None of us would die if you do that." I asked her, my eyes looking straight into hers.
She opened her eyes wide and tried to form words. "B-becau-use, I am.."
She was exhausted enough that she couldn't even form words. But I stayed silent and unmoved. Maybe I wanted to hear her answer.
She leaned on her spear and took a deep breath, then said,
"Because.. I.. am.. a Queen. If I don't work hard.. to.. to protect my people, then who will? It doesn't matter if they belong to the United Kingdom or not. They were born alongside me on one earth. Even if they don't consider me queen, I am still there for them. As.. as a Queen!"
My eyes widened just a bit. I was shocked.
(Is she the righteous man the old man talked about? No... she isn't the righteous man. She is someone who has a meaning to her own life.)
***
"Yahh! Our Queen!"
"I love you, my lady!"
"I don't know why I am crying!"
I saw the Dreamers from outside shouting and cheering for Elisabeth. Some of them were smiling, some were proud, and some were crying.
I guess I know whom she is like. She is like the orphanage owner lady. One who has everything but still chooses a different path, one that makes them suffer, but creates a greater meaning.
I walked toward her. She instinctively held the spear toward me, but I threw it aside, and it disappeared into the air.
Then I hit a pressure point on her neck, and she fell onto my shoulder. This time the void didn't try to devour her. I carefully put her down on the ground.
My Influence slowly started fading. My horns shrunk, my eyes turned normal, my hair turned black again, and the scarf disappeared along with the void.
[Time limit: 0]
[Quest failed!]
[No punishment given!]
Slowly the barrier faded along with the windows that popped up. All the other Dreamers who were inside the barrier ran away.
[You are safe once again!]
[The Order likes to give you some unexpected gifts!]
[Achieved 'Dark Trench Coat'!]
[Achieved 'Better Trousers'!]
[The Order doesn't like your current outfit!]
[Change it or The Order warns you that it will puke!]
(Why is this thing so unprofessional with me?)
I opened my inventory and clicked on the new clothes, and in an instant, my clothes changed into new ones.
I was now wearing a dark trench coat and similar trousers. I stretched my body. Surprisingly, this new outfit was very comfortable.
I shifted my head around and saw many Dreamers looking at me. Most of them didn't look strong enough. Then I saw Elisabeth's bodyguards taking her with them.
"How can I leave this Summit?" I stared up at the sky and asked the Order.
[Are you sure?]
[YES] [NO]
"Yes."
[Teleportation starting...]
Suddenly my body felt like it was being dragged into another space. I felt like my body was breaking apart. It was a painful experience.
[Teleporting complete!]
I opened my eyes and found myself outside the colosseum. I gazed up at the colosseum, then at the world around me.
The ruined infrastructure all around, Dreams were crawling everywhere, sunlight was shining on my face. Inside the colosseum the sky was artificial, but here it's real.
Some of the Dreams looked like dinosaurs, some looked like fantasy monsters, some were distorted, some were shapeless, and some were even humanoid.
I could see some Dreamers around fighting with Dreams. Some were in groups, some were alone.
I walked forward without caring about the fights going on around me. Some Ephemera Class Dreams tried to attack me, but my Presence scared them.
(Should I go towards the train station? No, I don't think Sia would be there so early. She needs some time to create a team. Then I will try collecting some more Exp somewhere else.)
After traveling for a minute or two, I found myself standing in front of a subway. I could sense a strong Dream's Presence from inside.
(I shouldn't go there.)
With that thought I started walking away. I looked down at my hand, which was trembling and pale.
(Because of that battle, my body has grown weaker. Blood circulation is disturbed and my flesh looks whiter. I shouldn't get in another fight for days, otherwise I might die.)
"So then what should I do?" I asked myself as I settled down on a rubble.
[Ding! Ding!]
[The Order wants you to research a Temple!]
-
[Sub Quest]
[Description]:
To the north, there are Himalayan mountains. In the mountains there is an old abandoned temple. There lies an Indestructible Remain of old times.
[Objectives]:
• Find the Indestructible Remain and uncover its mystery.
[Additional Objectives]:
• Collect the golden statue of the temple's Deity (0/1)
[Time Limit]: None
[Rewards]:
• 350 Exp
• Knowledge from the Indestructible Remain
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Accept Quest?
[ YES ] [ NO ]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
-
"Exploring a temple in the Himalayas? Why are the Himalayas here?" I asked, but no answer came. Though the quest looked interesting. If I got knowledge about this world, then it would come in handy in the future.
"But how will I find a single temple in a whole mountain range?" I asked in confusion.
[That's your concern.]
[Would you like to accept the quest?]
[YES] [NO]
"Yes."