Chapter 209 – The Price of Victory

Lilyth

Where the fuck am I? I thought as I found myself in a dark and very cold cave.

Was I Isekaid again?

It made no sense though. I had a heart attack. Wouldn't the isekai scenario involve reincarnation then? And didn't Ereshkigal still own my soul, anyway? Or was the obligation fulfilled upon my first death?

Shit… I am corpo and a linguist and not a… soulologist?

Luckily, I had a direct line to the management.

Ere?

No response.

ERE?!

Nothing.

Nyx.

She also wasn't picking up.

Well… fuck.

Luckily, the six months I had spent on Dwynveia taught me to just roll with the punches, so I tried summoning my emotional support sword of Death but, of course, it was also out for an early lunch.

I started this mess with nothing, so I guess this is also nothing new.

It took me maybe an hour to find the exit from the cave system I was in and discover that I was in a fairly narrow completely barren mountain passage and, as cold as the caverns were, they had nothing on the outside.

Fuck. Is it winter here too?

It was hard to tell as it was the middle of the night and despite my [Darksight] I didn't have that great of a visibility in either direction. So I picked one at random, and discovering it had been blocked off by a rock slide, picked the other. This one proved to be a winner and I emerged in a hilly area.

This is going to suck, I thought as I began climbing the nearest one.

By then, I was numb due to the cold and probably well on my way to developing hypothermia, so staying in place was not an option.

There was a light in the distance that I saw upon reaching the hilltop.

I have a destination now, it doth seemeth.

Going downhill was much easier, but I never reached the bottom, as suddenly my chest began to hurt and…

I was woken up by the feeling of Sav’s lips on my mouth. Then she started… massaging? my chest. It hurt.

Chest compressions, I realised.

‘Your lips feel nice,’ I croaked to let her know I was alive.

She gave me a smack on the head.

‘Not funny,’ she cried, tears streaking down her face. ‘Though if you are horny, you should be fine, stupid furball.’

She then gave me a very tight hug.

‘Please don’t scare me like this again.’

I hugged her back.

‘I’ll try.’

As my mind cleared, my thoughts returned to the shadowy and cold place I found myself in. What was that place? Was it even real or was it just a final dream of a dying brain?

The previous time I died that day that didn't happen, a realisation there was not enough therapy in the multiverse for, as one moment I was in Ror-Bhyk and the next with Ere. The serenity I experienced was also absent.

Also how much time really pass for me… Here, it has only been a few minutes, but there it was hours. Where the fuck was I?

Between Sav’s wounded leg, my heart attack and having to transport Deirdee’s body, it took us nearly an hour to return back to the surface, even though we gave our last Mana Potion to Caei, so that she could help us with her [Floating Disk] spell. We didn’t talk much during that time, as we were all too exhausted and too grief-stricken for that. Sure, we killed a god, saved the city and possibly the world, but at what cost? Dain, ‘Phone and Deirdee were dead, so were probably thousands of people in Ror-Bhyk, the city was too contaminated for people to be able to live in, we had a massive refugee crisis on our hands and…

Oh right… with the Blood dead we’ve doomed an entire species to extinction. Go us!

My spiralling was stopped by a massive and painful coughing fit.

‘Fuck,’ I groaned as I grew lightheaded and the attack pushed me to my knees.

My friends were instantly at my side.

‘What- What's wrong?’ Aki asked.

‘I’m fine,’ I tried to wave off the concerns. ‘Probably just water in my lu-’

Another coughing fit interrupted me. And this time I coughed up blood.

Well… fuck.

The next thing I can remember was waking up in our room in the keep. Jillyead and my friends, having changed into fresh clothes, were by my side.

What? How did we get here?

Fluffy, who lay next to my head, immediately began to vibrate and rub against my cheek.

I am a terrible slime mommy to keep him this worried all the time.

‘You gave your friends quite a scare, your Majesty,’ the Ashplanath said. ‘But you should be fine now.’

‘Sorry,’ Sav shook her head. ‘I thought I managed to stabilise you, but that cough was so bad, I knocked you out and we brought you here immediately. Especially after you tried to wave away a potential pulmonary oedema. Which you had, by the way.’

‘Don’t beat yourself up, Sav. You did your best. Especially with how difficult your patient is. Her condition was partially tied to an incomplete [Wither] curse on Queen Lilyth.’

[Wither]?

‘So the Blood wasn't bluffing,’ I said grimly, as the others gave me concerned looks.

‘I am afraid not. The good news is: the Blood died before it could finish the spell, so it was relatively easy to unbind. Especially since I had a bit of divine help.’

‘And the b…’ I began but broke into another, less painful, coughing fit.

‘Its barbs are still inside of you and will stay there for as long as you live. They won’t directly harm you, but will exacerbate any medical issues you may develop. The cough is likely here to stay though it should get better with time. What happened was that due to the lung damage caused by your heart attack the curse chose it as an “insertion point” and the barbs are strongest there.’

‘I… see…’ I tried to catch my breath.

‘What would have happened if the curse went into full effect?’ Aki asked.

‘Lilyth would be dead by now,’ Jillyead replied. ‘Though it probably wasn't the Blood's intention. The heart attack she suffered would be… much worse, and from what I’ve seen about that monster… it likes… liked…. to make people suffer.’

‘Mission… accomplished…’

‘The curse causes the food to lose taste and stop providing nourishment. And that is on top of what you are suffering from. Basically, your body would slowly shut down, in your case lungs first, while you starved to death.’

‘I’ll take the bad cough.’

‘Good choice. Now… You have used Ereshkigal’s powers for the last time. Or rather… the next time you use them will be your last.’

‘I would listen to him,’ Ere said and entered the room. ‘The sword should be fine, as will be the occasional use of the Eyes. But the full transformation… No.’

So, I am completely powerless.

‘Don’t worry. We’ve got you.’

Three items appeared next to me, scaring poor Fluffy. A vial of fizzy liquid, a book and a large bag of NyxiePops-brand kibble. One of the stickers on the packaging promised a healthier and shinier coat in just fourteen days. There was also, apparently, a free toy inside, which knowing my patron could have meant anything. The final sticker mentioned the kibble being also perfect for children and had three cartoon characters, two of which looked like Aki and me and the third was a blue-furred Kitsune baby.

What the fuck is Nyx implying here? I am now sterile, aren’t I?

‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Ereshkigal giggled. ‘Persephone may have been operating with incomplete information regarding your biology. Sure… you won’t be a mother, but being a father is still on the table for you. So… use protection.’

That is….good to know.

‘Anyway, take it easy for now and focus on recovery. Toodles.’

Ere’s point was underscored by another fit of coughing wracking my body.

Once it subsided, I immediately drank Nyxie’s god juice and asked:

‘What about the city?’

‘Asha and Ireela are taking care of it for now,’ Sav said. ‘Like Nyxie promised we got some serious reinforcements. Akh’ret also sent some of his most powerful spellcasters, so we were able to save parts of the city, including our keep.’

That is actually good news.

Less acceptable news was that, if I agreed, I would be back being the main and only Witch Queen of Ror-Bhyk, with Aki and Caei my Viceroys/Coven Witches. The reason for that was simple. Basically, given the disaster that befell the land, people needed a popular figure to rally behind, and what was more powerful than the hero of the land, who despite being betrayed by the old Viscount, saved the city once again, slaying an evil god in the process?

‘You guys are acting fast,’ I noted. ‘Like… you put a very intricate plan in just a few hours.’

‘Lilyth…’ Aki said carefully. ‘You have been out for three days.’

I blinked in surprise.

‘Three days? But you said the curse was easy to unbind.’

‘“Relatively easy,”’ Jillyead repeated. ‘ I appreciate your faith in my skills, your Majesty, but we are talking about an insanely difficult-to-lift curse that was placed on you by a god. If I didn't have Lord Akh'ret's help this would have taken much longer and a good outcome would be less likely.’

Oh. Shit.

‘That makes me even more impressed,’ I said, and took Fluffy into my hands and pressed him tight to my chest.

My baby boy.

Fluffy vibrated happily.

After Jillyead left, I decided to examine my other quest rewards. First, I opened up my bag of kibble and gave it a try. It was actually pretty good. Tasted a bit like paprika-flavoured potato chips. The toy turned out to just be a simple blue-and-white ball with my name inscribed on it. I don’t know why, but the sight made me cry. Maybe because, through a simple gesture of affection, it showed me how much Nyx actually cared about me. It also made me realise, how much I missed my own mother and needed her to be with me. I mean three of my friends were dead, I also actually died twice and now I was expected to rule a country.

This is too much, I realised. I can't do this anymore. Nyx? Mom? Please take me to your palace.

Moments later, Fluffy and I were back home in the realm of Air in my room. Nyx was next to me and just held me until I calmed down and then she slowly rocked me to sleep.

Aki

‘We have to accept the likelihood that Lilyth is never coming back here,’ Sav sighed when the four of us were drinking wine in the council room. ‘I don’t blame her. Not after… you know…’

Dying twice, I thought. I think that would have been the final breaking point for me too.

‘So we are down to five,’ Ren sounded nonplussed.

‘Perhaps not,’ Caei said. ‘Laach and Veersavil said they wanted to help. Umeheet too.’

The reunion between Caei and her brother was weird. She first punched him on the face, giving him quite a black eye and then embraced him.

‘Asha also offered her sword to “protect her mother's paramour”,’ Sav said with a mix of indignation and amusement.

I knew that, deep down, Sav was grateful for that. The Children did their best to fix her leg, but she still ended up with a slight, likely permanent, limp.

‘You know, I think I just understood why we got grimoires for Deirdee, Phone and Dain,’ I added with a growing smile.

I was referring to the quest rewards we all got - books filled with Spells we could learn and Abilities we could purchase. We were confused as to why our fallen friends received those too.

I think Sav must have realised the same thing, as she also developed massive grin.

‘You know… after we all ended up sworn to Ere I began to wonder how much truth was there in stories about people rescuing their loved ones from the afterlife.’

Something must have then struck Caei as she ran out of the room and came back with the grimoire Lilyth got. She handed it to me with hope clear in her eyes.

I opened it and skimmed through it. As expected, a lot of the stuff inside were spells she could use as a battle mage, but there was also quite a lot of communication and farseeing spells.

The gods must have realised she would likely call it quits at some point. So they left her a window to contribute open.

‘Together till the end,’ I smiled. ‘And it is not the end yet. I think we have only just began.’