Fall of seven Beasts

The fox

[CHAPTER 51: THE FOX]

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not regret any of that, and I do," Amba muttered weakly, his eyebrows knitted together as though trying to suppress an unspoken pain. "And I beg for your mercy so I will not have to go through this anymore..."

Please forgive me... Just let me die a quick death. Yes, you could have deserved better.

The great wave had washed away everything. Literally everything. The houses, the buildings... All the other beastmen...

He was all alone. Wounded, but still alive. Yet, alone.

There might still be few others that survived. Those who went to hide from him in the high mountains, very far from the sea, where the wave could not reach.

But he wasn't sure how many were left of them.

Amba dragged himself across the muddy ground. He could no longer feel bis legs. How did he survive all that, when Tus and all the others were swallowed by the enormous splash of seawater in the middle of their battle?

The severely injured fox weakly raised his head to glance around the mud-covered carcasses of beastman soldiers lying here and there. Dehydrated and starving, yet in his mind was nothing but regret and sorrow. Amba raised his head when a snow flake landed right in front of him. The Snow Day is here... But he couldn't feel the cold. His greyish pale skin felt so numb that he felt nothing at all. Shia's face suddenly appeared in his mind. Her cheerful laughter, her sweet smile... She was the only one he had ever wanted.

And what had he done to her...?

Amba's lips parted open as he let out a dry chuckle,

"You went to him... This all happened because you went to him!"

No, you chased her away. You chased her away because she made us vulnerable, and it frightened you.

"Yes, she weakens us! We cannot have that, can we?" Amba cracked again. He started hearing the voices again and was responding to it. He must be losing his mind. No, he had lost his mind decades ago when he decided to assassinate Shia because he believed Shia was his weakness. It was Tus who saved Shia and took her away from the Fox Fortress.

Oh, you pathetic little beast. What is left of you now? Are you still that all mighty?

"Shut up, shut up! This would not have happened if it were not for Tus! He took her from me! He-"

We lost her. We lost the battle. We lost everything.

"No, I have won. Tus is dead and I am still alive. I shall be the ruler of this land... Ha... Hahaha..."

Look around, there is nothing left. And we are dying.

"Haha... Hahaha... Hahahahaaa...!!"

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Amba laughed hysterically at the sight of his own lower body.

There was no lower body left.

His body was shredded from the waist down and he had no legs. His upper body had begun to rot and he could see his own insides scattered on the muddy ground. He was still moving because of the secret potion he consumed during the war. The potion that he developed to enhance his body and strengthen his body's resistance as well as to increase his inner strength. The potion that intensified his ability each time he consumed it. The potion that kept his body alive even when he was supposed to be dead.

Shia, my dearest... Are you seeing this? If you are... Have mercy, and let me die.

*****

Bella watched as Gaharu steered Paas out of his given chamber. Gaharu had a habit of training every morning and evening on days when he's got nothing to do and he insisted on Paas to do the same.