Gacha Kingdom Building

--This chapter is written using Mia's POV--

I was feeling lonely that day.

You were busy, so I did as usual and trained until I couldn't anymore.

But for some reason, I couldn't distract myself.

There was this emptiness in me, and I didn't understand why.

When you finally came back, the words that left my mouth...

Mia: "...What was he like?"

My memories of him had started to fade.

I couldn't remember his voice or his face well.

And that scared me a little.

Melissa: "...Your father? Well..."

The expression you wore that day...

It was filled with a melancholy I will never forget.

I know you didn't want to show it to me.

That you didn't want me to worry.

But even though I was young, I wasn't naive enough to not understand...

I had hurt you, right?

For the first time ever, I had hurt the person I loved the most.

I couldn't forgive myself.

After all you had done for me...

I didn't want to hurt you.

Anna: "Mia!"

A loud shout invaded my ears.

Not even my alarm bells were as annoying.

Nor were they as effective.

I woke up, partially.

My mind was still numb.

It took me a second to understand what was happening around me.

Moving an arm... Caused me unbearable pain.

I instinctively bit my lip because of it.

Lying on the ground with my back supported by the leftovers of a wall behind me, I tried again to stand up by pushing with my arms against the ground.

My eyes fell upon Anna as she shouted for me.

Angelica was holding her arm, desperately trying to make her stay in place.

Beatrice had her staff pointed at the space between me and...

The previous leader of the Snow White Wolves, the Undead White Knight of Hamperlon's King.

Melissa, my mother.

Mia: "Ngh... Huff... Hnhg..."

I had been knocked out.

The hot blood pouring out of my head, making my body unusually warm, was proof that she had beaten me close to death.

Anna: "Let me go! It's over-"

Mia: "It's not!"

She was the strongest.

As a child, I wanted to be as strong as her.

Actually, before I was faced with the cold and harsh reality, my dream was to be even stronger.

I wanted to help Mom.

I thought that I could one day drive away our enemies and make everything better for her.

I wanted to make her happy. Proud...

I wanted to protect her, and above all...

I wanted us to stay together forever.

You were everything I had.

I was afraid of losing you.

And I didn't want to see you hurt.

Yet, I raised my fists against you and we exchanged hundreds of blows before you knocked me out.

You even collapsed a section of the palace alongside my consciousness...

It hurts, you know?

It hurt when you left me alone.

And it hurts now that I have to hurt you.

But what choice do I have?

You're being used as a tool to cause pain and misery to others by the people who hurt us so much in the past.

I know how you'd hate it. How disgusting it would feel for you.

Even death would be better than a fate like this, right?

But I can't let anyone else do this to you.

I couldn't live with myself if I failed you again.

So, I came as prepared as I could.

I thought that with the skills I got from Miwen, the recent level-ups, and the [Mark Of The Beast Lord], I could face you, but... I was wrong.

I was aware of the abyss that separated us.

I felt it whenever I trained.

I understood it whenever I heard about your past.

But I thought... I prided myself on believing that I knew just how strong you were, better than anyone else.

Ridiculous, right?

I had no idea of its true extent.

Even with my Gift active at full power, when our fists collided, yours were so much heavier.

For every blow I landed on you, you landed three or four on me.

I could barely keep up, so I had to disregard my defenses and hope I could outperform you, but... Hahaha...

In a way, you made me feel like a kid again.

While your punches cut my skin, drew blood and even made me feel my bones starting to crack, mine were barely strong enough to take off the paint of this damned armor they made you wear.

I wasn't even strong enough to see your face again.

Mia: "...!"

My rest was over.

You dashed forward, and all I could do was raise my guard.

Mia: "Ack..."

The first punch was the heaviest.

I tried to block it, but the impact made my right arm twist, and my body turned with the momentum.

Mia: "Gh...!"

I had left an opening. Many, in fact.

You took advantage of my broken guard to hit my guts.

All the air I had left me, and I became disoriented.

Mia: "Kuh!"

You didn't give me a chance to recover, grabbed my head, and threw me to the ground.

You followed it up by kicking me away to the other side of the hall.

Claire: "...We should stop it. She'll die."

I was too focused on our fight to hear Claire and Licia approaching, so I was surprised to hear their voices.

I was also glad that they had defeated their opponent.

That man felt incredibly dangerous.

Although I also became a little worried... Just how long had we been fighting for?

Licia: "...Mia?"

Mia: "I can still win..."

Licia's voice was the softest among theirs, but at the same time, it felt like the most concerned.

Licia: "..Sure. I believe in you."

I was afraid that she would tell me to stop.

She has as much authority as Miwen, so if she said it, all of them would jump on you, and our fight would be over.

I would have forever lost my chance to do something for you.

Not that you cared, though.

You kept overwhelming me, and it took all I had to fight back just enough for my friends not to give up and interfere.

Still, I couldn't help but smile.

After so much trouble, with the few hits I got in, your helmet fell off.

I could finally see your face again.

It was completely different from what I remembered.

Too much time had already passed, and any semblance of a living being was already gone.

You were just a zombie.

But I was still happy.

It was little, but it was progress.

Maybe it didn't mean much, but throughout my life, while chasing after your shadow, small things like this were all I could hope for.

Mia: "...Finally taking it seriously?"

You never cared for magic.

But you often used it to separate dangerous opponents.

Of course, you'd say it was to enjoy your prey, but I knew better.

You wanted to protect us, and this was your way of doing it.

You were always willing to sacrifice yourself, and you always preferred to do it secretly so that no one could impede you.

I wonder if wanting to meet Dad again had something to do with it.

Mia: "Haah... Unfortunately... Magic is... Haff..."

On the island, there weren't many mages and sorcerers.

To us, magic had always been a way to enhance our strengths.

For the longest time, I used it the way you taught me.

By extending an ice blade from my arms, I could meet your fists as an equal.

By binding your feet to the ground, I could slow you down enough to move around you.

And whenever you powered through it all, with an ice block, I could create a barrier between the two of us to buy time and think about my next move.

Before, I could never have hoped to match you like this.

Even your magic was stronger than mine.

But since meeting an ice princess, an evil witch, and a perfectionist devil, I ended up learning more than I could have ever imagined.

You were much more used to fighting in the dark than me, and your senses were far better than mine, so the earth dome only helped you.

I knew I had to break it, but I was also aware of how difficult it can be when fighting you, so I used your own strength against it.

With the ground covered in ice, it became harder for you to move as you pleased, and by using the dome walls to move, you were forced to jump a little too much.

In one of these jumps, I created an ice pillar beneath your feet, slamming you against the dome's inner ceiling.

The impact wasn't nearly enough to cause any real damage to you, but the dome's walls were thick and resistant, as was my ice pillar.

In the position you were in, there was no hope for you to break the pillar, so your only choice was the dome itself.

Especially since destroying it with magic would allow you to keep your hands free for a possible follow-up.

This was very much like you, so I knew right away to prepare myself.

When you jumped from the pillar, your kick was strong enough to shake the ground around us.

Even though I managed to dodge it, I still lost balance, so I could only imagine what would have happened had you managed to connect.

And I guess it must have been frustrating, right?

You were definitely faster, but just now, I reacted too quickly for you to keep up.

Were you alive, aware of who you are fighting with, the answer would be obvious, but in this state, how could you hope to understand that the person you were fighting against knew you well enough to predict your movements?

This was the key for me to fight you.

Even though you were always holding back, I had seen and tasted all of your moves.

You were the one I had trained the most with...

And while the same was true for you as well...

You were using the exact amount of power needed to kill the old me.

But I grew a little, somewhere far beyond your reach, and you had no way of measuring that growth.

The version of me that your undead self knew how to fight no longer existed.

That gave me the chance to surprise you once again.

Mia: "You all should get farther away..."

I allowed my fangs and nails to grow alongside my fur.

My eyes and every one of my senses became sharper.

It had been a while since I had used my Beastification, but I knew that if I wanted to defeat you, I'd have to push every single one of my limits.

Of course, you answered in kind, your body growing bigger and stronger as mine did.

You told me never to do this against someone I cherished, but...

This was my goodbye to you.

With the two of us having lost ourselves to our instincts, no matter our feelings, only one would stand at the end.

This was the only way I could bring myself to end your suffering.

The only way I could live with being responsible for your death again.