The Sleeping Elf Princess, Part 10
"Falco! Billy!"
Returning to the Great Forest of the physical world, Yohan immediately called out his companions' names.
"Yo—Yohan!"
Fortunately, Falco's voice rang out almost instantly. Yohan grinned and turned his head toward the sound.
"Oh, for fuck's sake."
The grin vanished, replaced by a string of curses. Falco wasn't the only one standing in that direction. The Guardian Deity stood directly in front of Falco, who was slumped on the ground.
"You... how on earth did you escape?" the Guardian Deity asked, her face twisted in sheer shock. She looked utterly incredulous that he had broken out of her pocket dimension—her ultimate trump card.
But Yohan had absolutely no intention of answering her. If anything, he was the one who wanted some goddamn answers.
"Hey, you pathetic excuse for a god! You used the souls of your own believers just to tie down one guy?" Yohan roared at the Guardian Deity.
"What of it? In the end, it was all to protect my tribe. The children who died would have gladly rejoiced!" the Guardian Deity retorted, looking thoroughly displeased by his accusation.
"Did you forget what I said earlier? I am the Guardian Deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe. And I will do whatever it takes to protect them."
"Protecting the tribe, my ass. You're just a demon desecrating the dead."
As expected, getting through to her was impossible. No matter how much vitriol he spat, it wouldn't register with a creature like this.
"Alright, Falco is right there. But where the hell is Billy? Answer me before I crack your skull open."
He had confirmed Falco was safe for now. But for some reason, Billy was nowhere to be seen.
"He didn't know his place and tried to crawl up to me, so I taught him a little lesson. He probably flew off in that direction," the Guardian Deity replied, casually glancing over her shoulder toward the distance in response to Yohan's threat.
"Now, let's get this started."
"Start what?" Yohan demanded, glaring back at her.
"What else? A negotiation."
"Ha."
Yohan let out a hollow laugh. What kind of nonsense was this crazy bitch spouting now? He genuinely couldn't fathom what was going on inside her head.
"Ugh!"
In that instant, the Guardian Deity suddenly slipped behind Falco, twisting her arm behind her back to pin her down.
"Hey!"
As if that wasn't enough, she summoned a sharp dagger out of thin air and pressed it against the back of Falco's neck. The blade gleamed with an eerie, cold light, hovering a hair's breadth away from her skin.
"Now. Do you feel a bit more inclined to negotiate?"
"You absolute psycho..." Yohan growled, his voice dropping to a low, menacing register.
She had desecrated the corpses and souls of her deceased followers, and now she was holding her sole surviving believer hostage.
"Ha. Fine. What do you want?" Yohan asked, letting out another dry chuckle.
The moment she took a hostage, it was obvious she was going to make demands. And those demands were well within his expectations. He just found it hilarious and ironic that the hostage she held for leverage was the very last survivor of the tribe she was so desperately trying to preserve.
"Remove the blessing inside Peony right now. Then, get the hell out of my sight."
As expected, the Guardian Deity's terms were clear. And they were terms Yohan could never agree to.
"Like I said, that's not going to—"
Flash!
Just as he was about to snap back, the Unnamed Goddess materialized. She stepped forward without a hint of hesitation, walking right up to stand before the Guardian Deity.
"You bluff even at the very end. We already know that your divinity is on the verge of fading completely."
The Goddess's assessment was spot on. The Guardian Deity had expended a massive amount of divine power in a short span of time just to fend off Yohan and the Goddess. Consequently, her already fading existence was now at a point where she could vanish at any second.
"Yes. You're absolutely right."
The Guardian Deity curled her lips into a twisted smirk, not bothering to deny it. She replied to the Goddess with a voice laced with amusement.
"But you see..."
Her amusement vanished in an instant, her expression turning cold. The blade of her dagger bit slightly into Falco's neck.
"Hey!"
Falco squeezed her eyes shut, and Yohan, consumed by rage, roared and lunged forward. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to throw a punch. If he made a move now, Falco's life would be forfeit.
"Just as my great senior said, my days are numbered. Even by mortal standards, I don't have much time left."
A thin trickle of blood ran down Falco's neck, tracing the edge of the dagger. Even if she was on the brink of fading from depleting her divine power, a god was still a god. Snuffing out a single elf was child's play to her. Just as a starving man on the verge of death could easily crush a passing bug under his foot. That was the fundamental gap between a mere mortal and a divine being.
"In this state, what is there that I wouldn't do? Wouldn't you agree?" the Guardian Deity sneered.
She literally had nothing left to lose. She was prepared to commit any atrocity, and she had already proven she would follow through.
"But it's fine. As long as this child, Peony, remains alive, I can keep living. And then, our tribe will be rebuilt once more."
"Who... said... you could rebuild anything?"
The moment the Guardian Deity finished speaking, Falco, who had remained silent all this time, forced the words out. She had just witnessed the corpses of her fellow tribesmen being puppeted by this deity. There was absolutely no way she would ever willingly serve her again.
"I have absolutely no intention of carrying on the lineage under you."
Even with the sharp blade gleaming against her throat, Falco refused to back down.
"Fufu. What you think doesn't matter. What matters is what I want," the Guardian Deity replied, completely unfazed.
"Yes. My desires are what matter. As long as the bloodline continues. A disobedient child can simply be..."
That crazy bastard. She was planning to brainwash Falco and turn her into a literal puppet. Realizing this, Yohan's fury reached a boiling point. Pushed past his limit, he prepared to summon his Light Sword.
"Don't move! Take even a single step, and I will slit her throat right here!"
Sensing his intent, the Guardian Deity shrieked at Yohan with venomous rage. Her voice carried a heavy, divine pressure that no ordinary human could withstand, freezing even Yohan, an Apostle, in his tracks for a brief moment.
Just as a tense silence settled over the clearing—
"Just do it and kill me already!"
Falco screamed, her voice even louder than when she had yelled in front of the villagers.
"Wh-what?"
Has she finally lost her mind? Yohan stared at Falco, utterly dumbfounded.
"It's bad enough that a piece of shit like you is my tribe's guardian deity! And now you're using my life to play dirty tricks? Cut the crap and just stab me, you bastard!"
Falco exploded, venting all her pent-up resentment at the deity. Her sheer, furious momentum was so terrifying that the startled Guardian Deity instinctively pulled the dagger back a fraction.
Stab me! Go on, stab me!
And there was someone who didn't miss the opening she created.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a massive green blur hurtled out from the bushes. In the blink of an eye, it snatched Falco right out of the Guardian Deity's grasp and landed heavily next to Yohan.
Thud!
"Y-you..." Falco stammered in surprise as she realized the green mass holding her was Billy.
"Are you alright?"
"I-I should be asking you that! Look at you..." Falco snapped back, though her anger was born of worry.
And she had every right to be worried. Billy was covered in cuts and bruises, blood dripping from his entire body. One of his eyes was so swollen he could barely open it. To make matters worse, one of his arms was twisted at a bizarre, unnatural angle as if it had been broken. It was easy to guess just how much force the Guardian Deity had used when she threw him.
"Aaaargh!"
Belatedly snapping out of her shock, the Guardian Deity let out a screeching wail and lunged toward Falco.
"Where do you think you're going!"
But Yohan instantly materialized his Shield of Light, stepping in front of Falco and cutting off the deity's path.
"Hold still. I shall mend you in a trice."
Crack!
"Yes, please—argh!"
"I told you to bear with it, even if it hurts!"
While they bickered, the Goddess approached Billy and began healing his wounds. Yohan let Billy's groans of pain slide in one ear and out the other as he kept his eyes locked on the Guardian Deity over his shield.
Slumped on the dirt, her complexion had turned deathly pale. It wasn't just a bad expression; she looked utterly exhausted. Having burned through so much divine power in such a short time, she clearly lacked the strength to drag anyone into a pocket dimension or summon another horde of skeletons. She wouldn't be able to take any more hostages, either.
Yohan glared down at her with that conviction. Anyone could see the battle was already decided. The Guardian Deity had lost.
"You have run out of options," the Goddess said, stepping forward after finishing Billy's treatment. Yohan silently stepped aside to clear a path for her.
"I shall grant you one final opportunity to recant your decision. Submit to me as my subordinate."
Yohan could tell that despite her calm words, the Goddess was absolutely furious. Having spent so much time together, he could read her emotions just by looking at her face. The only reason she was offering this last chance despite her anger was because she was, at her core, a deity of justice.
"You and I both know well that if a deity perishes, their blessings fade along with them."
Yohan's intuition was correct. If she wanted to, the Goddess could easily end the Guardian Deity's life right here and now.
"No. No, it's not."
"Tsk."
Despite the Goddess's mercy, the Guardian Deity refused to accept it.
"Peony. Please, become my Apostle."
Then, she uttered words that even Yohan hadn't anticipated.
"If you believe in me once more and become my Apostle, we can live on together."
"This crazy bitch..."
Yohan grimaced. It was sickening how she could hold a knife to Falco's throat just moments ago out of sheer desperation, only to turn around and beg her to hold hands now.
Yohan glanced over at Falco. Knowing her usual temperament... she would probably look perfectly calm on the outside while doing something incredibly reckless. She'd likely unleash another torrent of abuse on the deity, just like she did a moment ago.
"I can't do that," Falco replied, her voice quiet but firm.
"I apologize for holding the blade to you just now. So please, reconsider," the Guardian Deity pleaded.
Seeing her beg, Yohan was suddenly reminded of when he had first met the Unnamed Goddess. A dying deity who had lost all her believers. And the one, final chance that had presented itself before her.
"Hmm."
It seemed the Goddess was sharing the exact same memory. Her anger softened, replaced by a complicated, melancholic expression.
"If you are with me, you can do anything. That is what it means to be a deity's Apostle. So... please?"
Falco suddenly began walking toward the Guardian Deity. Yohan instinctively raised his shield to protect her, but Falco quietly shook her head.
"It is fine. Let Falco do as she wishes."
Since even the Goddess respected her choice, Yohan had no option but to let Falco step forward. He kept his guard up, fully prepared to drive his sword through the Guardian Deity's heart if she tried anything.
Falco stopped right in front of the deity, looking down at her in silence.
"Come, quickly. Form a contract with me..." the Guardian Deity wheezed, reaching out a trembling hand.
"I will never be your Apostle," Falco replied, coldly rejecting her desperate plea.