Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush
Chapter 32: Maia

Chapter 32: Maia

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One slammed into Gaea with enough force to send her flying across the courtyard. She hit the ground hard, skidding across the stone with a grunt of pain.

"Gaea!" Vimea shouted, rushing toward her.

The other minotaur charged Eli’s purple ward and shattered it with a single blow. The protective dome cracked like glass, and Eli stumbled back, coughing blood.

Jinx spun in place, arms outstretched like she was dancing through the chaos.

"Ah~this is even better!" she sang. "It’s almost poetic."

Xander’s grip on the Aurex Blade tightened. "You talk too much."

’Its obvious she controls these beasts, what if I attack her instead? Will the beasts still keep fighting?’ he thought.

Jinx giggled. "And you’re hot too."

She raised a hand, and one of the minotaurs turned toward him, snorting steam. "Let’s see how dying looks on you," then she glanced at Alyhana, "and her!"

One of the minotaurs broke through the line again, eyes locked on Alyhana like a predator spotting its prey. She stood frozen, her aura flickering around her hands, too slow to react.

"ALYHANA!" Maia’s voice rang out like a bell.

And then she moved and she threw herself in front of Alyhana, arms outstretched, her hands glowing with pale blue light as she cast a final shield thin and fragile, but radiant nonetheless.

The minotaur’s axe came down like an executioner’s, the shield cracked and then it shattered.

And blood sprayed across the stone and Maia gasped and crumpled to the ground.

"MAIA!" Alyhana screamed, catching her before she hit the floor completely. Her hands were already slick with blood, her voice breaking. "No, no, no—please—"

Everything stopped, the fighting the bursts of light and aura, even minotaur stepped back, snorting as its rage spent for now.

The only sound was the sound of Jinx giggling.

Xander turned slowly, the Aurex Blade trembling in his grip, his eyes locked on Maia’s body and his breath caught.

"No..." he whispered.

Maia’s white robes were soaked in red due to the large gash on her stomach Her eyes fluttered, barely open. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Alyhana sobbed, cradling her like a child. "...Stay with me, Mistress. P–please, stay with me—".

"Please," she whispered. "Please don’t go, I...I’ll heal you, please—"

Xander’s throat tightened. His chest felt too small and hollow. He took a step forward, then stopped, he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know how to fix this.

Jinx stood a few feet away, watching it all unfold like a child watching a puppet show. Her yellow eyes gleamed with amusement, her smile sharp and cruel.

"Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to cry," she said, tilting her head. "How boring!"

She took a step closer, her boots crunching over broken stone.

"I mean, I get it," she continued, voice sing-song and mocking. "But I can tell she lived with nothing but guilt and regret for years after what she did to Iasora...You all should fall on your knees and thank me, after all I’m putting her out of her misery."

Xander didn’t answer...the blade in his hand pulsed again even brighter this time.

Jinx paused, her smile faltered...Xander’s eyes were still locked on Maia, but the light around him was growing, spreading like a ripple through the courtyard.

The wind picked up, swirling ash and embers around him in slow, deliberate spirals.

Jinx’s gaze narrowed. "W–what... are you?"

His aura expanded in a sudden burst, flaring outward like a shockwave. The wind howled. The ground trembled. The fires bent toward him like they knew who he was.

The remaining minotaur turned toward him, snarling, but it was already too late as Xander didn’t even feel his feet hit the ground. Didn’t feel the weight of the blade in his hands. He was moving faster than he should’ve been able to, once again with inhuman speed.

The minotaur swung its axe and Xander ducked low, slid beneath the blow, and came up with the Aurex Blade arcing through the air in a clean, perfect strike.

The beast didn’t even have time to scream, it collapsed in a heap of blood and smoke, its body split clean through the chest.

Jinx staggered back, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open.

"No..." she whispered. "No, t–that’s not possible."

The light from the blade reflected in her eyes, and for the first time, her smile cracked as she realized that the sword Xander had been holding all this time...was the Aurex blade all along, the sword was no longer gold and silver, but it was black and blue.

"The K–Kaelhi...?" she breathed, like the word itself hurt to say.

Xander turned toward her, the blade still glowing in his hand, his eyes dark and bloodshot as Jinx stared at him like she was seeing a ghost.

"Y–you’re not supposed to be here," she said, voice trembling. "You’re not supposed... to be real!"

She took one more step back, then vanished in a swirl of shadow and smoke, fleeing like a ghost who’d seen the sun.

The courtyard was quiet once again, It was the kind of silence that came after something horrifying had passed through.

Xander stood in the center of it all, the Aurex Blade humming softly in his grip, the light around him slowly fading.

And behind him, Maia was still dying she lay still in Alyhana’s arms as Alyhana tried her healing magic, her breath shallow, her robes soaked through with blood that no spell could stop. Her skin was pale now, her lips tinged with blue, but her eyes... her eyes were still warm.

Eli dropped to his knees beside them, his hands already glowing with healing light. "Alyhana," he whispered, voice cracking. "Let me help—"

Alyhana pressed her palms to Maia’s chest, her aura flaring yellow and frantic. "Please," she sobbed. "Please, please, please—"

But the wound was too deep.

Maia’s hand trembled as she reached up, brushing Alyhana’s cheek with fingers that barely held strength.

"It’s alright..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "It’s alright, my love..."

Alyhana shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No. No, it’s not. You can’t—d–on’t say that, I can— I can save you!"

"I’m so s...sorry..." Maia said, her smile soft and tired. "For leaving you so soon. But you must keep your faith. Follow your own path. N–not mine."

"I’m not ready!" Alyhana choked. "I’m not ready to... lose you!"

Maia’s fingers lingered against her skin. "You are," she said gently. "You always were."

Xander didn’t remember walking toward her. But suddenly, he was kneeling too and Maia turned her head toward him, her eyes glassy but focused.

"Xander..." she breathed. "You carry so... much. Too much."

"I could have helped," He swallowed hard, he was so pathetic. "I should’ve protected you."

She smiled faintly. "You did,...you gave us hope."

Iris knelt beside him, her hand on Maia’s arm. Her eyes were red, but she didn’t cry.

"I wish I could do more to guide you, Kaelhi...," Maia whispered. "But maybe... maybe I’ll be allowed to watch over you and Iris. As a spirit. If the gods are kind."

She turned her gaze to the two figures kneeling just behind them—Vimea and Gaea who were silent, their faces streaked with tears they didn’t try to hide.

Maia’s voice trembled. "Sisters, forgive me... for leaving you two alone. I hope... I’ll see you again. In the next life."

Vimea reached out and took her hand, pressing it to her forehead. "You will," she said softly. "We’ll find you again, we promise."

Gaea didn’t speak. She just bowed her head, her shoulders shaking.

Maia exhaled slowly, her chest rising one last time then light in her eyes dimmed.

And the world felt quieter than it had any right to be.

The sun rose, its light spilled over the broken courtyard like a soft, half assed apology, brushing against the scorched stone, the shattered pillars, the blood that hadn’t yet dried.

Xander stood over Maia’s body, the grieving, broken in different ways. Alyhana knelt beside Maia, her head bowed, her hands still wrapped around hers like she could hold her soul in place. Eli sat beside her, shoulders slumped, and his aged eyes empty. Iris stood a few paces back, her jaw clenched as kept wiping her tears silently.

’So...’ Xander thought, ’this was what she saw...’

The light touched Xander’s face, and he blinked slowly, like waking from a dream he didn’t want to be in.

"Jinx was afraid of me," he said quietly.

He looked toward the horizon, the sky painted in soft gold and rose, and his jaw tightened.

"Good."

There was a pause, then he added, softer this time, like a promise only the wind was meant to hear:

"If I ever see her again... I’ll make her pay."