Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 04- Goddess Of The Heaven, Lili-Pon!

Minutes became hours, two individuals could be seen walking and picking small scales across a huge area. There were some buildings around them but they were all deserted and in a horrible state because of monsters and zombies.

Rin didn't care if zombies attacked him at any moment, he was completely open to any sneaky attack. Maybe it was exhaustion and heavy injuries but there was also a far more horrible reason for that.

Finally, Rin was able to pick the last scale, he then looked at Elise silently and waited for her to finish her part. He didn't question why she helped him since his mind wasn't really in the right state to thinking about such things.

Elise then approached him and gave him the scales she picked. Her eyes didn't show any kind of emotion. However, in comparison to Rin's eyes, hers were filled with all kinds of emotions.

Rin's eyes were empty, hollow like a dead fish. The emptiness in his eyes could make anyone shudder. Those are the eyes of someone who had lost hope in life and could commit suicide at any given moment.

Looking at the bloody scales and the dead corpse of Mika, he felt his heart getting shredded to pieces, he held in the urge to break down into tears and looked at Elise.

"Thank you." There was no gratitude in his tone. Not out of ungratefulness but out of a horrible sadness that took over his mind and soul.

Elise opened her mouth to say something but she stopped and instead did something that shocked Rin. She pulled him in and embraced him tightly. His eyes widened slightly and he tried to wiggle out of her hug but she held him in with both hands.

"No one will blame you for crying. Don't hold it in."

Her cold voice, as apathetic as it sounded, was akin to an angelic melody in Rin's ears that opened something inside of his heart.

Then, as if a damn broke, he started crying loudly, her embrace felt so comforting for Rin. It was something that he didn't know he wanted but something he needed.

Tears fell down his cheek and soaked Elise's shoulder yet she didn't care at all. She just kept hugging him and giving him a shoulder to cry on.

In normal cases, hugging someone as beautiful as Elise would've made Rin feel as if his heart would explode with embarrassment, and something down there will probably rise. (It's not that hero we all know with his shield. Don't make that joke plz.)

But, now, all he felt was a warm feeling that filled his whole being as if it was telling him to just let himself loose.

After crying for a long time, he finally calmed down and pulled himself away from Elise. He felt slightly ashamed that he cried like a baby in a girl's embrace. Not to mention that girl was Elise so it could not be any more shameful for him.

"I-I… apologize for the disgusting sight you saw…" He looked down and said with a low tone.

"Having emotions is not something to be ashamed of." She replied with a forceful tone that was quite rare for her.

"You are a great person, Elise… Thanks for everything, I am grateful for every time you sided with me." He tried to make a natural smile but ended up looking like a sad smile rather than a grateful one.

Elise squinted her eyes for a second and asked.

"Are you going to kill yourself?"

Rin was slightly surprised by it but he still didn't try to deny it. To be honest with himself, he contemplated the idea in his mind as he picked the scales one by one. What was the point of living anymore? What was the point of trying to continue and experience this endless torture that's called life? A quick, painless death sounded more and more attractive to him.

He couldn't bear it anymore to look at a futureless life with no goals or ambitions. All he had was an empty shell of his old self and that was something that destroyed his soul slowly.

But…

"Honestly, I thought about it. But, I think I won't kill myself… yet. Mika wished for me to live and I will only be spitting at her sacrifice if I go and commit suicide. I know she's watching me now and she will be really sad if I don't follow her words." He said.

Elise didn't know what to say in his response. Even when he knew the painful life he had ahead of him but he still didn't run away like a coward and ended it here because of that.

A feeling welled up inside her chest… an indescribable feeling that she never felt before. It was not 'love' or anything like that but more like deep respect for the man in front of her.

However, that respect soon turned to a frown, she recalled her own life till now and all she could see was a coward who ran away from her fears and hid away from her insecurities instead of addressing them.

She could never see herself becoming like Rin and that made her loathe herself even more.

"I'm… not a good person." She murmured.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Good luck in your life, Rin. I saw how kind you are and I know for sure fate will always smile at those with pure hearts." She said.

"I don't know about that… But, thanks for the encouragement, nevertheless. But, if you allow me to say this. I don't know what you experienced in your life but that doesn't make 'not a good a person'. I can see that you are a kind soul and that's a fact I'm sure of. You always have time to fix things and become better."

After that, Rin turned around and started walking away. He had no idea where to go or what to do but he just allowed his legs to take him wherever.

'I should first bury Mika near my family's graves.' He thought as he changed his direction again and walked toward a vast plain west of the shelter. It was the place of a graveyard where he buried his father, mother, and sister.

Walking for almost an hour with a tired body made him feel as if he would lose consciousness at any moment but he still continued walking, slowly…. step by step.

Finally, he reached a small door that led to a big area filled with tombstones. He remembers this place like the palm of his hand since he came here every week without fail. He liked to just sit down and talk to them about his life, what he did and what his goals for the future were. It was a time he cherished very much as it made him feel as if his family is watching over him.

Soon, he was able to see 3 tombstones next to each other. He was already accustomed to this sight but it still hurts him greatly each time he takes a single glimpse at it.

"Hello, father, mother, sis." He said with a small smile.

After that, he dug a small hole beside them and put Mika inside of it ever-so-gently. He was treating her as if she was the most fragile thing in the world.

After that, he caressed her face and muttered.

"Rest well, Mika. You deserve it."

After that, he started scooping dirt and putting it on top of her, scoop by scoop, her body vanished under the dirt and soon, the hole was completely covered.

After that, Rin just sat down and gazed emptily at the closed hole for a long time. He didn't feel the passing of time or the threats in his surroundings.

He also didn't notice the person that snuck behind him.

"For how long are you going to sit there?" A sweet yet cold voice spoke to him waking him up from his trance.

"Huh? Elise? Why are you here?" He looked behind him and sure enough, the cold beauty was standing there.

He was sure that it was the last time he will see her as their paths diverged completely but for some reason, she came up after him.

"I…" She tried to say something but then clicked her tongue slightly.

Whatever she was saying, she most likely felt embarrassed to say it or that's what Rin thought purely from looking at her abnormal behavior.

But, she finally resolved herself and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Do you want to partner up and leave this place?" She asked.

Rin was quite surprised by her request as he would never think she would want to stay with him. While she wasn't the type to show emotions at all, she was still one of Marcus's group so he thought she was in love with him as all the other girls are. But, it seemed he was gravely wrong about that.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes.." She nodded her head.

"I mean… I'm not really that strong or smart s-"

"I didn't want to go with you because of that." She said.

"Then why?"

"I'm fed up with Marcus and his contagious stupidity. I am sure that if I kept following his group then I will end up either dying or gravely injured. Besides…" Her voice trailed off to the end so Rin squinted his eyes at her.

"Besides?"

"You are a rational person and I'm sure that if we helped each other… We can do something. We can even end this apocalypse… The first rune tower we need to conquer is not that far from here."

Rin shook his head and looked at the graves in front of him.

"I don't think I can do that. I'm not strong nor ambitious enough to pull off such a feat. I can't put you to danger when you put your trust in me."

Rin just felt like pathetic trash that was not up to the trust Elise she wants to put in him. He failed in protecting his family, who guarantees he won't repeat the same mistakes again? No one can!

Elise stood silent for a few seconds before sighing and approaching Rin slowly. When she was barely one inch away from him…

*SLAP*

The crispy sound of a slap echoed in the whole graveyard. Rin was shocked beyond words because of the unexpected hit.

He held his cheek and looked at Elise.

"You need to wake up! Your family and your companion died and that was not your mistake! Do you really think they like to see you self-destruct like that?" Her voice had a tinge of anger and irritation in it.

But, Rin didn't feel any malicious intent behind her words, only pure concern which made him feel warm in his heart. The slap was most likely her way of making him erase these negative thoughts.

[Heheheheh! How romantic! You two are really a match made in heaven! Wait…I'm the goddess of heaven and I don't recall matching both of you. Huh? What am I even saying anymore?]

Alerting them was the weird and playful voice of a mysterious person. Both of them looked around them warily as they searched for this newcomer. But, no one was there.

[Fufufufu! I'm not there! Wait, let me change the place!]

Then, as if it was the most normal thing, the whole place changed completely. It was more like instant teleportation which sent them to a whole different area they had never seen before.

The place they are at now was an empty void made out of void as if worldly matter could basically not exist here. Their feet were also floating in mid-air as they didn't feel anything under them.

Rin was just purely flabbergasted by this occurrence to the point where his mind simply calmed down completely.

As for Elise, she was still wary as she held tightly to her weapon and looked around here.

[Heheheheh! I'm here… HERE!!]

The two looked up and much to their surprise, a gorgeous woman was floating above them. Her beauty was so mesmerizing that it took their breath away for a good 5 seconds.

Her features just simply didn't belong to their world. It was divine, scared, almost forbidden to look at by their mortal eyes.

She wore a white dress that reached her perfect thighs and hugged her perfect figure while leaving some for their imagination.

"Who… are you?" Rin asked as he shook his head.

[It's me, your cute, adorable, and fun goddess… Lili! Call me Lili-Pon!] She flew around them and made some gestures that he saw before in idol concerts in japan.

Her eyes glistened with amusement as she spoke to them.

For some reason, Rin was speechless but also somehow lost wariness from this weird person that claimed to be a goddess.

[Oh! So boring! Come on, at least clap at my beautiful and absolutely amazing moves! I trained a lot for this exact moment!]

She pouted and crossed her hands in front of her plump breasts which made them shake slightly.

"Why… did you get us here?" Elise finally uttered a question.

"Oh, you both are dead." She replied casually.

​ "WHAT?!!" They both screamed at the same time.

[Perfect sync! Ptff! Just get married, baka couple!]

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean we are dead? We were alive barely 1 minute ago!" Rin stopped her before she just moved on.

[So annoying, Rin. Not every death is done by truck-kun, I tell you. There is also just dying of…*cough*... natural causes without any 'external influence'.]

"Don't tell me… you killed us?!"

*Whistles*

The goddess Lili averted her eyes from them as she didn't know what to say. She acted like a small child that did a grave mistake.

"What in the actual hell?" Rin couldn't comprehend how he just simply died like that.

As ironic as it sounded, he didn't expect his death to be this quick and sudden without any prior notice.

[Ehem, don't worry though. I didn't kill you just for fun. I came here with an offer for both of you.]

Then she grinned widely and continued.

[How about you both reincarnate?]

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