CHAPTER 77: GETTING OVER IT

[A/N- I have headache so I’m using my stockpiled Chapters, but they’re unedited. I’m sorry. I’ll see when I can edit them]

Max didn’t have a traumatic backstory as he came from a middle-class loving family. Things weren’t always good, but they tried found joy in everything.

His life was simple and was supposed to be like that.

Sadly, fate had other plans.

In a car accident, he lost his parents when he was 10 years old. It took a lot of him to get over that fact and a major part of it was played by his grandmother.

She had adopted him after the accident and brought him up all by herself. She was the sole pillar of his existence.

Without her, he didn’t know if could have even get over his parents’ death.

Because of that, Max wasn’t surprised when the monsters used her image to attack him.

There she stood just as he remembered her. She was a head or two shorter than him, with short grey hair and eyes tight shut due to her wrinkles.

She was using a cane for support and while it seemed like she couldn’t see probably, she had noticed his clothes.

There it was, the familiar concerned look on her face she had everytime Max got into a fight. Most of the time, he would get beaten so she was always worrying about him.

He gripped his sword tightly, thinking, ’I have never wanted to slap myself more than now.’

[It’s a illusion!]

’I know. But I really wrote some fucked up shit, huh,’ Max smiled wryly and thought. ’Its easy to say you can kill your loved ones knowing they’re illusion but when it comes.’

[True. Are you giving up?]

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he grinned and said, "My grandma was always worried about me getting in fights and she would always scold me but she never stopped me. Do you know why?"

[Why?]

"Because she wanted me to stand up for myself even if the danger is high," Max spoke, his voice turning colder by every second.

"She taught me to overcome anything the world throws at me to slow me down, to push me down. It doesn’t matter if the obstacles before me is a illusion of her."

He pointed the dark sword at her and said, "This is what you also wish for, right, grandma?"

His grandmother stayed silent for a moment, before a happy smile formed on her old lips as she said, "So it!"

Max steeled his heart and shot forward. In just one clean strike, he sliced off her head from the torso.

He could have done it better but he wanted to remind himself that this was just one of the many obstacles he had to face to reach the top.

This time, it was just an illusion but what if next time it was a real person? What if his loved ones betrayed him? Would he able to kill them?

"I will!" He declared before raised his head to see the monsters who had been playing with everyone’s feelings for who knows how long.

As the illusion shattered around him, the monsters were revealed.

It was a humanoid monster with long white hairs floating all around it like a vast river of milk. It was both a mesmerizing sight and also a reminder how such monster had killed so many people.

It was clutching a pine tree’s trunk tightly and shivering, as if afraid of letting the world see it’s face.

Max took a step forward to end it’s life, but he had not even taken second step when he felt the temperature of his surroundings rising.

In the next second, a figure blurred past him, leaving a crimson trail behind. Under his surprised gaze, itslammed a powerful blow to the monster with the might of a flaming lion.

The monster was very weak physically so it couldn’t handle the impact and was thrown like a rag.

It’s screech filled the silent forest as the flames from the figure began to burn it’s long flowing hair.

Who else could it be but Stelle?

Still, Max was surprised to see such a pained look on her face and there were even signs of dried up tears on her cheeks.

Crimson flames bubbled around her hammer as she took a step forward and muttered, "This one is mine."

As much as Max wanted to kill the monsters, he couldn’t say no after seeing the pain in her eyes.

It was the first time he had seen her crying and even from the novel he knew very well that Stelle almost never cried.

She was a strong woman, yet this monster had managed to bring those tears out of her.

"Alright! Just make sure it doesn’t get away," Max paused before adding. "Be careful of other monsters."

Stelle stopped and turned to look at him. For a moment, he wondered if he saw it right, or was it really the deep affection in her eyes?

"I will!"

Saying that, she dashed towards the monsters. He could see that her hatred wouldn’t calm down unless she butchered that monsters.

"I’m letting go of my EXP so you better be grateful, brat," Max whispered to himself.

Just then, he heard a light thump behind him, forcing him to turn his eyes away from the beating Stelle was giving to the monster.

His chest instantly grew heavy when he noticed Charlotte sitting on the dried up ground.

She was looking down so he couldn’t see her expression properly but her body language gave it away.

’She failed, huh,’ Max sighed.

He could understand her as even he has hesitated and even now he was feeling a strange sadness in doing that.

Charlotte was different than him and Stelle.

He went towards her and crouched down to her level. Taking her hand, he said, "You’re really a kind soul, Char."

"What’s the point of it when I’m so pathetic?" Charlotte struggled to keep her emotions in check as she responded.

Her upbringing told her to keep quite, to keep her weakness to herself but strangely she found peace and warmth in Max’s presence.

That peace made her speak out the words she would have Usually kept to herself.

"I’m supposed to be a Clan Leader and stuff like this will definitely happen. I knew what to do, yet I couldn’t do it. I...I.."

"I don’t see any problems with it."