Chapter 285: Edmund, The Protector of Avalon
Becky could only stare in shock as she felt the Dragonoid's nails scraping her back. Its attack managed to go through two sets of protection from Ed's special jewelry and the heart of Edmund as well.
Bard and Audun couldn't move either, they saw the degree of damage that Edmund took, and deep in their hearts, they realized that he was too far gone to come back from such an injury. They wanted to attack the Dragonoid, but their aching hearts dulled their movements and blocked their senses.
The raging winds burst forth into the streets of the city, mad at the despicable Dragonoid and its actions. Yet, the monster in question continued to snigger. This time, it thought, I've finally killed him. It could feel the sensation as it crushed Edmund's heart over and over; its expression grew more disgusting by the second.
The Dragonoid slid its hand out of Edmund's chest slowly, as if it wanted him to suffer more. However, its snigger turned into panic once it felt his chest muscles tighten.
"And where do you think you're going?" Edmund said as he coughed up all the blood that had built up in his throat.
Becky and the other two snapped out of their dark thoughts and tried to help him, but they stopped in their tracks. He raised his hand in protest and switched his attention back to the Dragonoid. He caught the hand that pierced him with his right hand, so hard, that his nails punctured the tough scales of the Dragonoid, while his left hand caught on to the shoulder of the monster.
"This thing here is smart, it waited for us to come back and ambushed us," he explained. "I don't know where it came from, or who sent it, but it targeted the castle, the king."
Bard wanted Edmund to stop talking. He saw the amount of blood he was losing and wanted to do nothing except help his old friend, but he held his tongue and chose to listen to the final words carefully instead of interrupting him.
"However, he was no match for Edward Avalon after all!" Edmund smiled from ear to ear, his bloody teeth reflected deep into the eyes of the Dragonoid. "The king isn't even in this city, you dumb lizard. We already foresaw this sort of attack coming, and only the weaklings were left in this city to handle the trap that leads to the black dragon. The king and the strongest fighters spread all over the world to stop you idiots from doing more damages."
The raging winds calmed down as Edmund's roaring laughter broke the Dragonoid's self-confidence. It could understand the speech of humans, although it was incapable of conversing itself, and thus it knew that the mission it was sent to fulfill was not going to work from the moment it set its foot into the city.
"What's wrong?" Edmund asked it. "Never thought you were going to be outsmarted by 'humans'?! How does it feel, that even though you brought millions of monster, you only managed to kill one human from this city?!"
Edmund pressed hard on the Dragonoid and forced it onto its knees. The monster could do but stare in awe, as it couldn't understand how a dead human could have so much strength! It could feel every cell in its body screaming in fear, as it struggled to break free from his clutches, but to no avail.
"Becky, listen closely to me." Edmund seemed to be out of strength as he started to talk. Becky, whose face was watery due to tears jolted as she didn't expect Edmund to call out to her.
"You've been with Edward the longest. You know how he is, and you'll know how to let him know my final words. I've never told you all how he and I met. He saved me when I was a prisoner in the Tower of Origin. And to be honest, until I met him, my life had been useless."
The three fellow Elders listened in shock to Edmund. The whole time they knew him, they only knew of his strength and wisdom, but that he was a prisoner before, they couldn't fathom the idea.
"I've found purpose in my journey, and someone became a protector of Avalon as I waited for his return. I've only been here for a few years, but I've never laughed more in my life, I've never cried more, I've never eaten more, and I've never thought of wanting to live longer more than at this very moment. The fact that this world is a cruel one is something I knew since my birth, but it truly is regrettable. It's not every life that you meet an 'Edward Avalon'.
"I wish that I could continue to watch over the path he chose in life, but since it's him I know that it'll be full of danger, laughter, and good food. I would have loved to see his and Miss Emilia's children. Just the thought of them calling Grandpa is filling with strength at this very moment, even though I no longer have a heart, I can feel it ache, hahaha..."
"Tell my king that I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep everyone alive and tell my savior that I will go on ahead to meet Arthur and sir Vortigern," Edmund said as he raised his remaining Qi to the maximum. "Farewell, my dear friends."
Edmund's Qi turned into a pillar of light that surrounded him and the Dragonoid. He looked at the monster that was devoid from life and said, "So, you've used up your Qi to regenerate from just your tail, and you can't even escape. It's a shame that I must end my life to take you with me, but I would rather not leave my body behind for others to see. It would only make them sadder."
The Dragonoid stared deep into Edmund's eyes, and for the first time, it looked as though it was its own person, and not a puppet sent to do its master's biddings.
"Your eyes tell me that you don't understand why I'm doing this. Sadly, you will never understand. A monster that only follows orders can never understand why people care for others. It's a shame, you see, you would have learned so much from Ed's monsters. Now then, let's not waste any more time."
As Edmund uttered his final words, the pillar of light grew stronger, larger, until it reached the black smoke covering the sky. A second later, everything turned back to normal, a blue sky and a silent city. The only thing missing was Edmund, the protector of Avalon, who had left his precious black spear, given to him by Edward Avalon, behind.