Chapter 23 - 23: The Creator(1)
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In the room full of gold and jewelry laid on the floor like the mountain, Marinette dragged the prince's collar to the corner and walked along the hallway with the row of white statues standing between the hallway facing toward them.
At the end of the hallway, a big white statue of a man holding the sword with both of his hands, his eyes seemed to be cold as it looked like it could kill anyone approaching the statue.
Among all the statue which was covered with moss and plant wrapped around it but the big statue which its head reached the top of the cavern seemed to be new as it was built recently.
Marinette tied her hair in a ponytail and approached the statue slowly looking for what she came for, the light magic.
There wasn't any magic energy surrounding the room, so she turned back to the door trying to make it open from the inside but it didn't barge even an inch.
She walked to the place where the seawater was on the side of the room, she got an idea of how she got to the room.
She took off her clothes again.
The water current might take her here, she dived into the water looking for any entrance but there was only a door, she tried to push it but it was also the same as the big door she tried to push a moment ago.
The room needed light magic to get access. She swam back to the surface.
She put on her clothes again, but then a rattling sound of the door reached her ear.
At first, she thought it was Herod but seeing the white magic surrounding the door, she rushed to the prince's side and hid together with him behind the mountain of gold coins.
The prince's cold breathe reached her face as the space between them was small, she tried to not make a sound even when her body was shivering as her leg kept touching the prince's wet pants.
A step of someone walking inside and the door was immediately closed after that person stepped in.
Was it prince Richard or the emperor?? Those two were the only light magic users remaining in the empire.
"I hope I'll die for real in my next life." the voice was a woman's. Marinette was surprised by the voice she heard from the woman standing in front of the statue.
Marinette took a look at her back sneakily, that woman had long blonde hair laying down to her knees and her clothes were just simple like some commoner wore daily, but her beauty and elegance made the simple clothes turn to a dress for a princess.
She turned her head looking at the face of the big statue.
"Lucas, I'm really tired..." her voice was heartbreaking, soon after her sobbing was heard and it echoed throughout the room as she put her head on the edge of the knight's statue.
Boommmm!!!
The door was broken, Marinette's heart almost stopped because of the explosion but the woman was calm as she looked at the man who destroyed the door.
"Anastasia, it's our old friend!!!" the black-haired man walked in, Marinette started to feel suffocated due to the lack of air because of the dark aura coming from that guy.
She didn't have time to think about why that man called the woman Anastasia, the name of the goddess in the world, and the name of the world itself.
"Lucifer, how many times have I told you not to break the door???!!" she yelled at that man who had the name Lucifer, the name of the demon king of the world.
Marinette believed it was the real demon king by looking at the dark magic energy surrounding him.
Marinette moved her hand to Prince Philip's lip to cover his sleeping sound, she couldn't afford to let those people notice them there.
Her eyes became wide when the white-haired woman stood up on top of the broken door with her head bleeding and the blood stained the end of her white hair.
"It's been two thousand years, huh?? An old friend...or should I call you Herod??" Lucifer was grinning as he approached the indifferent Herod staring at him with icy eyes.
"Herod weren't you a man back then??" the woman asked jokingly at Herod who clenched his hands with the killing intent running wild all over the room.
"Why are both of you here, especially you...goddess Anastasia??" Herod glanced at the woman and asked her the question in a calming tone even after facing two of the creators of the world.
"I wanted to see his face one last time before I die." her saddened voice replied back to Herod's question.
"Oho...Lucifer, don't tell me you still haven't got her love even after all this time--"
"Shut up before I'll kill you!!" the demon king cut Herod who was grinning at him with an angry expression.
"What about you, Herod?? What are you doing here...? And it seemed like you didn't come alone..."
"I came here to get the light magic."
"What for?? Are you planning something evil again??" The demon king frowned crossing his arm and asked Herod looking down at him since he was way taller than Herod as Herod was a woman.
"I'm not!!! I need it to heal someone."
"You?? A murderer like you want to heal someone??" the goddess asked Herod in a serious tone, even her pure aura turned dark and the barrier surrounding the statue was created in a second.
The demon king lifted the door with one hand and put it back to the original place and with a bit of his magic, the door looked like it wasn't broken in the first place.
"What is this??" Herod asked in a scary manner, the magic energy started to become terrified.
"We won't give you. Anastasia will need it in her new life to do her mission."
"I don't give a f*ck about your mission, just accept it that you fail."
Herod was slapped by the demon king, he should be blown away to the other empire but goddess Anastasia stopped the impact with one hand supporting Herod's back.
"I also don't want to continue this f*cking mission either, I'm sick of it."
"So give up!!"
"If I give up, I won't get away from this stupid loop. I'm tired of this world, so I have to complete my mission in my next life."
"Hmm...you should be the one who knows clearly...about why you always failed for these past four thousand years..."
Goddess clenched her hand knowing the answer, the demon king stepped back a few steps.
"...it was because of the knight Lucas, at that time...if you didn't persuade your love and choose Lucifer instead...you would already defeat the destruction then. Lucifer decided to be killed by me than letting your lover die...you're the most selfish one here."
Marinette gasped hearing the conversation, even prince Philip's eyelashes seemed to shake hearing Herod talking.
"Herod...you only knew from two thousand years ago, I came to this world two thousand years before you were born...did you know how was it back then??"
"I understand you but I really need your light magic, my descendant was the one who requested it after all."
"Take her out, I will give it to her." Marinette was grabbed by the demon king with one hand, and the other hand of the demon king grabbed the prince.
The demon king tossed Marinette to Herod and flew away with prince Philip to the sky making a hole on his way out.
"Don't worry...he won't kill him." the goddess gave Marinette a reassuring smile and took her hand to the statue.
"Goddess...is it true the demon king did that...?" Marinette asked her hesitantly.
"Yes, it was all true."
"Why did you choose love above your duty back then...if you didn't--"
"One day, you will have to stand between that line too...I hope you will choose it wisely." the goddess's tone seemed to be lighter, her eyes didn't shed tears as she spoke in a heartbreaking way. She wondered...was there any tears left for her to shed??
Four thousand years, just how many lives and deaths she had been experienced?
For her, it was one death. But what about the goddess??
In history, her love story was so wonderful as the first emperor of the world named the world itself by her name, for the token of her love for the emperor, she gave all her magic to the emperor without leaving any for herself.
Was it true?? Was it real that their love story was wonderful??
And was it believable that the goddess gave up all her magic to the emperor?
But the last part was wrong, Marinette knew for sure when she looked at the overpowered magic energy surrounding the statue of the knight.
The grip of the sword was loosened, and the face of the knight was seen when the statue lowered the sword.
It was the first knight Lucas, the goddess's knight from when she first descended on the world.
"Are you ready...?"
Marinette nodded, "I'm ready."
The light magic was sucked into Marinette's body, the power was overwhelmed, her body seemed to feel lighter. Not just the light magic she was feeling, the pain of the goddess was also felt inside her body.
She laid down on the floor in agony, it was unbearable to the point she couldn't even get up. It was only physical pain too in the magic.
A moment later after all the magic was in her body, she got back up. Herod was smiling walking to Marinette and tapping on her shoulder, "Good job, kid."
He moved to look at Marinette's face, blood coming out of her nose, Herod was startled seeing such a thing even goddess Anastasia.
"Herod, what's happening???"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Marinette stared blankly couldn't see anything, even her eyes were filled with red blood.
Blood kept falling and dripping on the floor.
"Brat, just how many magics are there inside your body??"
"Memory magic, death roses magic...that's all I have."
"This girl already mastered the memory magic?!"
"That's not important, there's one more magic inside her body." Herod was in a panic, he grabbed Marinette's shoulder trying to help her.
The goddess used her magic to heal her stopping the bleeding but it kept flowing.
Herod opened his eyes widely when he saw the black aura coming from Marinette, he gritted his teeth and shouted angrily, "Lucifer!!!! You scumbag!!!!"
The goddess took a closer look, the one magic Marinette didn't know she have was..."Dark magic??"
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Upon the sky of the sea, lightning was everywhere, Lucifer was bleeding at his stomach looking smug at the first prince who glared at him coldly.
"If I didn't take you away, you will ruin my plan."
"I don't care who you are, take back your magic spell a moment ago." the prince clenched his hand which was covered in the demon king's blood ready to deal another punch at the demon king.
"You mean the dark magic extension??" the demon king laughed and a moment later, he appeared behind Philip's back and put his hand on his shoulder smiling in a friendly manner.
"If that girl is Herod's descendant, you're also part of my descendant...Prince."
The demon king opened his eyes widely seeing the amount of magic energy coming from Philip, he took many steps back.
The prince cast the lost magic spell and walked to the demon king on the cloud one step at a time.
"Take back the magic spell..."
"She will be the new seed of the destruction of this world if I leave her alive."
"Then let's see who will die today, her or you??"
"Pfft, kid...did you really underestimate me that much??" a shadow dragon made from black cloud appeared with its mouth ready to devour the prince.
"You're just a clone right now...do you think I'm afraid of you??" the dragon shattered burning into ashes dropping on the ocean.
"She will die sooner or later with four powerful magics inside her, I was considerate enough to make it faster."
"Three..."
"She was born from a cursed person, she got that dark magic inside her body in the first place."
"Two...I know that you want to be with the goddess in her last moment, so take back that magic spell."
"Young people these days..."
"One."
The demon king flicked his finger, and the magic circle around him vanished in an instant.
"Good, now take me back." the prince went back to sleep as nothing happened on top of the soft cloud.
"You brat, you can also go by yourself...and why are you sleeping??"
"I was under the sleeping magic, so I can't be seen woken up." the prince replied bluntly.
"She will die sooner or later, idiot...*sigh* why are we royalty have to be poor in such thing as love??" the demon king sighed and grabbed the prince taking him back to the cavern.
"She won't die that easily..." the prince muttered.
To be continued....!