Rise of The Strongest Monarch-Chapter 80: The Struggle

Sounds of Zeno’s guns firing are really all I can hear, besides the occasional screech from the Zierel. But still we have been waiting around for a little while now.

"It feels pointless to keep standing here like this," I speak up, breaking the silence.

"Charging in blind is also pointless," Amelia responds calmly.

I wish I could say she is wrong, but she’s not. We don’t have a single idea of where Airi and Zeno are, especially not in the darkness ahead of us.

The darkness covering everything is a lot different than usual. I’ve already figured out that much since the light doesn’t show for either of them.

I take a few glances around, trying to find any differences that I can. Everything around just looks normal... Or as normal as it’ll get in a pit like this.

Wriggle. Wriggle. Wriggle.

I look down towards my arm and notice that the black veins are a bit bigger than usual.

"Don’t panic, I’m doing okay," Celeste assures me.

I wouldn’t really panic about anything but that is a bit odd. I’ve never seen my veins look that big before.

Then again I guess there’s no real way of telling since it is underneath my skin.

"I’m actually pretty calm right now," Celeste says with a bit of shock in her voice.

I’ll take it, considering the fact that we are face to face with the monster causing all the pressure. I’d say it is a pretty good thing for you to be calm like you are.

BANG!!!!!! BANG!!!!!!!!

The gunshots are even louder than before as a burst of light comes out from the darkness.

In the hole ahead I can see a brief face of the zierel that has been causing all of these issues. A giant head that looks like a pimple about to pop with a broken lower jaw, razor sharp teeth coming out from the top, and it looks like the eyes aren’t even there.

"It is quite ugly," Amelia says while staring ahead.

"I definitely agree with that," I reply.

She draws her bow back and immediately lets an arrow fly towards it.

Fwoosh!

I watch patiently as the arrow pierces through the opening and into its face. Blood drips down its face, but yet its attention remains on Airi and Zeno.

"It didn’t even look my way after taking one of my weeks to the face," Amelia says with a bit of confusion in her voice.

"I think it’s about time I—" I get cut off before I can finish.

"Stay back you two!!" Airi shouts with a serious tone.

I don’t understand why she wants us to stay back when we both can help out a great deal in this fight. They don’t have to do it all on their own.

Then again, who am I to argue with that when I like fighting on my own as well. Hard for me to even say much because of that.

"I guess they really don’t want our help in this fight yet," Amelia says softly.

"It feels weird to leave us out when it can be something that takes all of our strength," I reply while gripping onto my sword.

"Best to just have faith in them," Amelia says while her bow disappears.

"You aren’t bothered in the slightest by this?" I ask with a bit of curiosity.

"They don’t want our help yet, no use getting stressed over it," Amelia answers without any hesitation.

"Maybe you are right," I say softly.

Getting worked up over any of this is dumb when they can handle the fight anyway. They are light bearers with way more experience fighting the zierel.

I’m just a kid who started fighting them recently so I don’t compare in the slightest huh.

I just hate the idea of sitting back, that’s probably why it bothers me so much. Sitting back watching all of this happen is definitely not my thing.

"They might be working something out in there without us realizing it," Amelia says softly.

"It wouldn’t surprise me at this point," I reply with a calm tone.

"Light bearers are definitely strong enough to handle a problem like this on their own," Amelia speaks with confidence.

The same thing I already know is told to me again by her. I don’t really mind hearing it since I was just thinking it before, but this is a bit boring.

My sword disappears as I cross my arms, keeping my attention on the fight ahead.

But everything suddenly disappears as I find myself standing in the middle of nowhere again. The same place that I met with Aether in the past.

"Getting you here isn’t easy in the slightest. I just want you to know that," A familiar voice speaks up.

I turn around to see Aether standing there with his arms crossed.

"What’s the point of bringing me here?" I question.

"The zierel you’re against is giving me a bad taste in my mouth. Something about it is really off," Aether answers with a disgusted look on his face.

This is the first time I’ve seen him look disgusted since I don’t really see him often. It has been a rare occurrence for me to end up here with him.

There’s something I’m curious about with this whole abyss like place. It doesn’t really make sense for a light bearer to be here, especially if it is his soul.

"What’s the problem with it then?" I question with a serious tone.

"I think there’s more to it, something that none of you know. I think the body isn’t real," Aether responds while scratching his head with one hand.

"Like a puppet?" I ask curiously.

"A body within a body," Aether answers immediately.

A body within a body?! What the f*ck does that even mean. I can understand a puppet but that doesn’t make any sense to me,not in the slightest.

RUMBLE!!! RUMBLE!!!!!

Everything around me begins to shake as I manage to steady myself.

"It seems like they are getting closer to bringing out the real body," Aether mentions calmly.

"Are you positive they don’t know?" I ask.

"Very slim chance," Aether responds.

"Also what do you mean by a body within a body?!" I question with confusion obvious in my voice.

"Zierel are capable of all sorts of tricks. In this instance I’m thinking that a hybrid is hiding within the body of a variant," Aether answers calmly, a serious look in his eyes.

What could a hybrid possibly benefit from in that situation? I feel like it could be a complete waste of time for them to hide like that.

Unless it is going to use it as an opportunity to get a surprise attack on a light bearer... But that would mean that they expect a light bearer to show up.

I don’t see them leaving it to sheer chance.

Tap. Tap.

My thoughts disappear briefly as I notice Aether standing right in front of me now.

"The struggle is something we all deal with Liam, this is just part of your struggle," Aether says while staring right at me. "Don’t let anything happen to the girl."

"What is so special about Amelia?" I ask while trying to keep calm.

"You’ll understand when the time comes," Aether answers without wasting any time.

Everything begins to disappear around me again, bringing me back to where everything is happening. Gunshots, sounds of slashing, and occasionally bursts of light.

He really went out of his way to tell me to keep her safe basically. But he did give some insight on the zierel we are up against.

Even if it is just an educated guess at the moment. A body within a body is something I never would’ve expected, but how to go about the situation.

I definitely can’t handle a fight against a hybrid but there are two of them so maybe it won’t be a big deal after all.

"Are you okay Liam?" Amelia asks with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I just zoned out for a moment," I answer while staring ahead.

I look down for a moment, my arms still crossed. But now I can understand the strange thing that Aether mentioned back there.

The taste of something foul is all I can pay attention to now.

Spit!!

After spitting I still taste it.

Usually it is just a metaphor when someone says something about a bad taste being left in their mouth. He wasn’t just using a metaphor it seems.

Something about the air down here is foul and I think that might contribute to something worse with the fight.

"The air here is absolutely foul, I have a bad feeling about the zierel they are up against," I say with disgust. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"It is probably just normal for this kind of place," Amelia responds.

She doesn’t even sound like she believes that in the slightest.

"We should help them out anyway," I suggest while pulling my sword back out.