Crimes Of Eregor I ✓

29: Goodbye❇️

[A/N: Thanks for 4.9k views, I hope we'll hit 5k soon! I might be ending this story in a couple of chapters, I don't know...
We hit #228 on Comedy recently, but recently the series of events haven't been so funny, have they? Hmm...
Also, should I do a sequel of Life after Eregor? Or a prequel of Daniel's life before Eregor? Let me know in the comments below!
Song: Lost - ILLENIUM, Emilie Brandt | Awake]

If anything, seeing her friends or family lay down their life for her was a heartbreaking nightmare that Gwen wished she could get up from.

Sheila ran over to Elaine and clutched her slender fingers tightly.

"I'm so sorry..." Sheila looked so lost and her voice was shaky. "This...this is my fault..."

"The settings..." Gwen began, "please...don't tell me..." Gwen shook her head furiously.

No. No way. No way that Elaine wasn't under the same settings as the rest of the gangs excluding Siege, Winged Assassins and Sanctuary.

The look of helplessness on Sheila's face confirmed Gwen's worst fears.

"She's a solo player, Gwen..." tears rolled down Sheila's cheeks, and Gwen was overcome with anger, and guilt.

"You...how could you!" Gwen got on her feet and kicked the gun away from Daniel's hands, keeping him at point blank from her M249.

"No, Gwen!" Justin's voice called as they got to the roof. "Don't shoot him! All our efforts will be for nought!"

Gwen's index finger quivered in trepidation over the trigger like a worm squirming about.

Her eyes were filled with tears and her cheeks were hot.

"You don't deserve to live..." Gwen muttered between breaths, "you're not fit to be called my father..."

"Heh," Daniel smirked, licking the blood smeared around his lips. "Getting too big for your shoes now, aren't you?"

"You never were a father to me, and you never will be." Gwen clicked the trigger slightly.

"Gwen! No!" Justin yanked the M249 away from Gwen from behind and she fell into his arms.

All they could do was to await the impending apocalypse.

"Five minutes...till the birth of a new world..." Daniel chuckled. "You fools..."

His incessant nonsensical talk was driving Gwen crazy and it was hard for Justin to restrain her from killing him.

The very man who raised Gwen took everything away from her.

Including her best friend.

"G-Gwen..." Elaine choked and coughed a little.

Gwen turned around to face Elaine and grasped her hands tightly.

"I'm here, okay?" Gwen nodded frantically, tears welling up in her eyes. The last person she'd ever want to witness getting hurt because of her was now lying on the ground, blood oozing out of her side as she pressed a palm against the gunshot wound. "I won't leave you..."

"I'm sorry..." she spoke in soft, inaudible whispers. "I..should have told you...earlier..."

She coughed a little, and Gwen reassured her that everything would be fine.

"We'll get you back to a hospital in reality asap, okay? Just hang in there a little!" Gwen's hands trembled as she looked into Elaine's eyes. Elaine blinked slowly as if to reassure Gwen that she would be okay.

In the meantime, Justin and Robin had busied themselves handcuffing Daniel and tying up his legs.

"2 minutes till the hyperdimension portal opens up, guys!" Glen's sudden roar over the communicator startled all of them.

"Winged Assassins and Sanctuary have taken down the rest of the Laurelai squads! It's just us and Daniel now!" Sheila bellowed, and everyone's eyes were fixated on the overcast sky as the grey clouds parted, making a whirlpool of lightning that lit up the abyss of darkness.

They were finally going home, and they would finally end this war.

Or, would they?

The disdainful smile that parted Daniel's lips wasn't assuring at all.

"You wretched fools..." His pompous tone that brimmed with confidence caused fear to linger in the very depths of Gwen's heart.

What tricks did this man have up his sleeve?

"It's time for us to meet again, Emilia..." Daniel closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Emilia? The woman in the paintings I saw...

"My dearest, Emilia...all these sacrifices, and now, you'll finally return into my arms..."

The gang was utterly confused. Clearly, Daniel wasn't a simpleton to be trifled with.

"1 minute!" Glen exclaimed. The portal was opening in the sky, and the members of Sanctuary and Winged Assassins, one by one, made their way back to their world.

They would soon be home, and they could subdue Daniel and destroy the world he created.

Or, could they not?

The time passed in Gwen's head. Seconds ticked by like an eternity. To think she'd have to actually say goodbye to the very place that made her the fearsome Elfleda whom she had been known for.

And now it was time to part ways with the persona she created for herself.

And to live as Gwen and Elfleda, in the same body.

Soon before Gwen knew it, they had 30 seconds on the clock.

"Gwen, we have to leave now!" Sheila snapped Gwen out of her thoughts as she yanked Gwen's sleeve, urging her to enter the hyper dimension portal as well.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

What fazed Gwen the most was that the bomb seemingly did not go off...or at least they convinced her that it did.

They never witnessed the blast anyway.

As they left Eregor, forever, with Daniel subdued in hand. Gwen clutched all the memories of this dreadful place in her heart, and she prayed that they would never have to return again.

And now, only one secret remained.

Who on earth was Emilia?