No one expected to see their queen being stopped while mid-talking by this winged human. It shocked them so much that they all sucked a cold breath. They even looked at Kye with pity in their eyes so much that they were sure he would be beheaded, even though he was supposed to be Aria's friend.
"A-Aria, please don't do anything to them," Kye managed to say after he muster the will do to so. Aria's real form was so intimidating that just looking at her made him scared to no end. And at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder about the future. A future where he would surely fight such strong monsters to continue leveling up.
"And why would I?" Aria raised what looked like her eyebrow. "They are supposed to be my subordinates, yet couldn't even protect you from death. You wouldn't even be here if I didn't come in time to save you. And yet you want me to let them unscathed?" She couldn't help but feel perplexed seeing the begging expression on his face. It didn't match his cute yet handsome face.
"Y-yes, please. Even though they could have helped me or stopped the fight, I can't blame them for something I brought upon myself."
"What do you mean by you brought upon yourself?"
"This whale," Kye showed the woman he was fighting still a minute prior with his finger. "I fought her when she still didn't have any intelligence. I pierced her two eyes at that time, and that is surely why she wanted to take revenge by killing me."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAria squinted her eyes when she heard that. She wasn't surprised by the story behind this situation since she couldn't care less about it. However, what surprised her was that Kye fought against the whale when he was even less strong than he was now. Sure the whale had improved a lot since then since she had gained intelligence, but still.
And it only made Aria smile internally knowing that trusting Kye with something as important as a friend seal wasn't a bad decision. On the contrary, it was probably one of the best she could have made.
"Then I will spare the spectators since you asked me so," Aria compiled for his earlier request. "However, I won't let her go just like this."
"I never asked you to do so," Kye said with a serious tone and determination shining in his eyes. "She was ready to take my life, and even though I would like to think I'm someone with goodwill, I won't let someone who aimed for my life live peacefully," Kye's statement made Aria surprised a little, yet she knew that sooner or later, Kye would become like this. The kind with his friends, yet ruthless with his fies. "So please, let me kill her myself."
Kye asked this out of nowhere. He knew that what he asked was risky since the whale could still kill him the moment he tried to do the same. However, he was under Aria's watch right now, so if she couldn't protect him, no one could.
Moreover, he still hadn't forgotten his earlier quest. He didn't receive the 40,000 EXP points, even though it was clear that she wouldn't be able to harm him anymore. And this only reinforced his resolve to kill her instead of waiting for the quest's reward. He was sure that if he were to kill her, he would not only get the 40,000 EXP but probably another valuable thing that he would be able to use sooner or later.
"Would you be able to kill someone with a human appearance?" Aria didn't doubt Kye's ability in taking someone else's life. However, even though he wasn't fully human anymore, he grew up as one, meaning that taking someone's life wasn't an easy feat. Especially for someone like Kye who still hadn't bathed in blood and flesh yet.
"Yes, I will be able to take her life," He said with a resolute voice. "I know it will be hard now that I can think clearly, but if I do not get used to it now, I will have to later anyway. So I might as well get used to it now."
He indeed killed someone in the past. But he wasn't in his right mind at that time. He was too scared to die because of his quest's penalty or die because of his carelessness. Not to add that the later situations that came after he had killed his bully made him forget about him.
However, he still knew that he had killed someone. Just not how he reacted.
During their entire conversation, not only were the spectators got shocked by how Kye was talking to their queen, but also those who came after to greet her. Not to add that without this little boy who vouched for them, they would have probably faced severe consequences that they couldn't even fathom.
Aria was a kind ruler, but she was probably the most ruthless one as well. So no one wanted to face her wrath.
And because of that, everyone began to see Kye in a new light.
Everyone except the whale.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe was biting her lips so hard that she bled from it. However, she couldn't care less about it. She didn't manage to take her revenge for what Kye has done to her, nor could she accept the fact that she would be killed by him. She was gifted with intelligence a few days ago. And even though she was extremely happy because of that, deep down, she couldn't help but curse Kye because she couldn't observe the world freely.
So once she saw that he was the guest that her new queen wanted her to bring to her, she couldn't help but be drowned in the rage and anger he felt toward him and decided to attack him. Aria had promised to heal her later once she wouldn't be busy anymore, so, in one way, she could have just let go of her lingering feelings. But when she saw Kye, the diminished flame re-heated up, giving her new vigor and determination that just wanted to see Kye dead.
And yet, everything failed her. She wouldn't get her eyes back, nor was she able to take revenge. On the contrary, the one she wanted to kill was the one who was about to kill her. 'How ironic. It seems that strength isn't the only thing important in life,' As still a normal monster not long ago, it was normal for the whale to think like that.
And she was right because strength was indeed nothing in such situations.
So Aria transformed back to her humanoid form to not make Kye faint the moment he will step out of the water sphere. The latter then took his sword in his hand and take a look at his HP bar.
[10/55 HP]
Seeing that, he smiled because he at least wouldn't die from a simple hit. And so after that, he glared at the whale coldly, as if he was ready to give the whale her judgment.
Aria seeing that couldn't help but think of someone, especially since Kye has the same sword.