Ray and I walk into the castle, our soldiers line the sides of the halls, saluting to us. It is strange. I know we are great and all, but to see these people gathered together after carrying out my plan…
I feel a strange warmth bubbling up inside of me. Much different than the warmth of Ray’s arm against mine. I think this might be the concept known as pride. It is strange, I do not know if I like it.
Ray waves at the soldiers while holding my hand tightly. She will be the death of me some day. But today is not that day.
The smell of smoke and oil hangs in the air. As expected, since the castle was only cleared moments ago. We have fully secured the recovery bay, there is absolutely nothing that gets in our way as we enter the throne room.
It is the exact same as our own, though it seems they have spruced up the place with a few decorations. Those being statues of Luna of course. I take a closer look and one of the plaques it reads: ‘Visage of the All Knowing, All Powerful Empress.’
“Darling, I think Luna might just be a little bit arrogant.” Ray says while reading the same plaque.
“Indeed. It seems she has yet to learn the difference between confidence and arrogance. If only she had Initae to drill that lesson into her, perhaps this whole thing would’ve turned out differently.”
Several moments pass and then we burst out into laughter.
“Yeah, no.” Ray replies.
I slide my free hand into hers. “Well it is all because of you that we were able to succeed, darling.”
She blushes profusely. “Oh come on, without you the whole thing would’ve fallen apart instantly.” She ruffles my hair and turns it into a complete mess. “All that time playing videogames really came in clutch it seems.”
I stare into her eyes and get lost in them for several moments. “We did it together.” I whisper. I lean in for a quick kiss.
Emil coughs nearby, stopping us before we disappear to go cuddle in an empty room. Oh maybe he did help a bit too. We should make sure to put him in the end credits of the anime at least.
We turn back to the room and walk towards the flag room, it is our primary objective after all. The trial isn’t over until we take the flag and bring it back to our own castle.
We enter the room and Linda, Yuin and other high ranking officers are ready to greet us, smiles on their faces. Or well, whatever the Itokin version of a smile is at least. You wouldn’t think their face tentacles could be expressive, but they are actually quite animated, it's quite cool. Though I bet it makes it really hard for the animators to do. Oh well, they get paid enough to deal with it.
Ray and I step up to the flag’s holder and place our palms on the glass. Then I take my pistol and shoot it point blank. It takes several shots, but the glass eventually breaks.
“Heh, that is one way to do it, darling.” Ray comments. “Though you could’ve just used that button over there.” I look at a large red button that says ‘open’ that I didn’t see before.
“Well, that wouldn't be nearly as stylish would it? Style points are very important, you know.”
“Of course darling, now how about we actually, you know, win this trial?” She smiles and kisses me on the cheek. I am tempted to drag her in and make it a full kiss, but I resist the urge, this is an important moment after all.
I reach out and grab the flag, it is the same one meter disc as last time. Though I have gotten much stronger lately, I can carry it without any effort at all. I lift it high above my head and turn to look at the assembled crowd.
Cheers erupt and the mood of the room shifts from military order to chaotic celebration instantly. Alcohol bottles are opened and chaos ensues. Outside I can hear a similar celebration start.
I bet dancing and celebrating in your enemy’s castle earns a lot of style points. Especially after they were thoroughly trounced in combat.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A minor celebration later.
Ray insists on being carried in my arms, despite the fact that she can fly just as fast as I can. But I really am not going to complain about holding a super cute girl in my arms, it is probably the dream of every human ever.
The flag is strapped safely to my back as we zoom across the skies of the arena. The biomes pass beneath us, reminding us of all the fun times we had.
From our conquest across the desert and jungle. To the fight with Geoff the rock fella. Oh and not to forget Shadow, the queen of dragons and cutest cat ever.
Plus there was the whole fight with the Quartet. Not to mention fighting back after we lost to Regulus that one time.
We truly have had a lot of fun adventures during this trial. I think we have come quite a long way in the past almost two months. It feels like it has been years though, since so much has happened.
Ray cups my face in her hands. “Darling, I can feel you thinking intensely. What are you thinking about?”
I look down and kiss the top of her head. “Just how much fun this whole thing has been so far. Not just this trial, but all of them. I wonder what is in store next.”
“Whatever it is, we will simply have to tackle it together. After all, that is simply what we do.”
“Of course. Don’t forget all the headrubs too, those are super duper important. Wouldn’t want you getting lonely after all.”
She smiles a knowing smile at me. I can’t wait until the next moment we can be alone together. Many headrubs are sure to ensue.
I land us on one of the balconies of the castle and we take a quick stroll to the flag room. What few people are left salute us as we pass, large smiles of celebration on their faces. I sure hope this station has a lot of booze on standby.
I waste no time inserting the flag into its slot and it slides in nicely with a click. I take a step back and lean into Ray as we look at our collection. All three flags arranged nicely next to each other. Each of the faction’s emblems united together, and all it took was about two hundred thousand deaths. Good thing we had the vessel system.
Trumpets start playing, and tons of confetti falls from the ceiling, thoroughly burying us in it. Ray and I start laughing hysterically. It becomes hard to breathe as we are surrounded by it.
A voice that can only belong to The Gamekeeper speaks. “Congraulations contestants, you two have won first place in the Ruler’s Conquest. Please remain calm as we administer sedatives to extract you and all your companions from the arena.”
Before I can offer any objections, a nice smelling gas fills the air.
I fall unconscious.
It is said that the third trial was a pivotal turning point in the Great Ascension. From that point onwards, the trials seemed to change. They became not just a fun game to determine the ruler of humanity.
They transformed into something else.
Spearheaded by none other than Emperor Kovon and Empress Rayleigh, a change rippled through the universe. All those that felt the ripple were irrevocably changed at that moment.
Scholars are uncertain even to this day what it was that caused the change. Perhaps it was the quite frankly brutal conditions of the arena. Or perhaps it was something more fundamental.
But from the moment the contestants were brought out of the arena, something felt different. It was barely noticeable, but every being within the universe knew it. Though none spoke of it.
After all, if you suddenly feel what was felt, how can you bring yourself to speak about it? Most people would call you truly insane and send you to a psychological institution under normal circumstances.
Alas, that change propagated. For better or for worse.
- An Account of The Great Ascension, Kovon Ducker, 1 PH.
End of Chapter 145
Important Announcement: Hallo dear reader. I hope you have been enjoying the story thus far! Fear not, for there is still quite a bit to tell!
However, I will be taking a break in posting for about two weeks. Chapters will resume on 3/12. I want to take a bit of time to plot out more of the next story and really make it truly special. Plus, I have been writing this story without breaks for five months now, I think I could use a little bit of a break.
After all, it is Ray and Ko’s story, they are one special pair, thus their story should be as well.
I hope you are both excited and mournful at the trial’s end, it was a longer one. I promise not to lock them in any more arenas away from the universe again. After all, they would miss Initae quite a lot. Not to mention their new pet :)
I hope you won't forget about Ko and Ray’s story. If you have any comments/feedback/etc, now is the best time to leave them!
- Cathrix, The writer of stories
P.S.: In the meantime, if you haven't already, go check out my other fiction: