Lord of The Karmic Armada
Chapter 74: What it means to be Alive?

Chapter 74: What it means to be Alive?

The back of the thunder fae was pierced straight through her back without her even realizing how it happened so fast—so she coughed out a mouthful of blood. His entire life flashed before her eyes. She felt regretful, extremely regretful. She was unwilling to die just like that without ever being able to see the outside world.

But there was also a hint of relief for not needing to continue this pointless struggle, then there was a hint of anger towards a certain person no it was not Valtar, she said her last words barely in a whisper, "Quee.n.....is...."

Valtar could barely make out her last words as queen but he thought that the Fae was likely begging to be saved by the queen which was understandable from his position but it was not the truth. Then Valtar went around the battlefield and collected 3 more source crystals from the Fae’s bodies. He swallowed them all at once. Like beforehand, there was no notification or no change, when he first swallowed Raelyn’s crystal the system notified him that he first needed all the 10 source crystals of the High Fae.

He did not understand the reason behind it and could only do as the system said. He then proceeded to activate his ghost summoner skill which generated 2 ghosts from the 2 high Fae’s body. Unfortunately, Shailyn’s body was fully cut in half so it was unusable now, and the body of the support Fae was melted down by the Shadow Snakes venom only her source crystal remained.

Two ghosts each entered opposite bodies from the ones they were summoned upon. The water fae and Thunder Fae were now added to his minions as ghostbounds. By this time none of the lesser Fae were moving, their fuel had run out. They all lay lifelessly on the ground, their corpses looked shriveled like dried mummies from which all the moisture and blood were sucked out.

The 5 Fae standing at the invisible platform created by the telekinesis ability of their Queen were looking at everything from the start with an apprehensive expression. One looked like they were enjoying everything, One had a trace of fear in them, one looked disgusted, one was expressionless another one was sad.

Yet, their minds were perhaps thinking more and less the same thing amid their insanity for escape. At this point, they were just caged beings who sought escape. Even if the escape was through death.

None of them were fools they all understood what their queen was doing and what she was planning to achieve by using this human. But they did not understand why. Was there a deeper meaning behind it? Or was it simply just that?

But now seeing how all the 30 lesser Fae were gone, then they were controlled like puppets to fight their sisters. Now only half of them remained. This was all done by a single human. Not a dark elf, not the shadow stealer not by one of their own but by a measly human who was supposed to be the weakest.

Valtar turned his gaze towards them, his shining red eyes glowed ominously from the small gap in his helmet and full body armor made of the purest darkness. They could not help but feel a tinge of fear in their hearts seeing that ominous crimson pattern.

At this moment, the enchanting voice of the queen could be heard which was accompanied by applause by her, "Not bad Valtar, not bad. I must say I am impressed by your performance. To think a human had such potential is unimaginable."

Valtar shifted his menacing gaze towards the queen but he still kept his vigilance. There was no saying what would happen now. After all, now he was at his weakest. Despite looking tough his enemies knew that he was utterly exhausted and all of his skills went on a cooldown. They could simply choose to change their minds and kill him now.

This is the reason he did not disperse his armor and kept his face and state inside hidden, he could not show weakness, and he could not show vulnerability. He could be killed in an instant if he did so.

As if, the queen could see through his thoughts as clear as daylight, she spoke in a reassuring voice, "Since you performed so well, it’s time for a short break for you. You have two days to rest."

She casually waved her hand and all signs of battle and destruction were swept away in an instant as if it had all vanished in thin air. New trees began to grow at an astonishing speed right in front of his eyes and everything returned to normal.

Valtar’s eyes widened in surprise, he did not understand in the slightest what she did or how she did it. She was on a whole other level compared to him which only increased his anxiety even more.

He clenched his fists without even realizing it, despite growing so strong he had no clue of the queen’s strength.

She pointed her fingers to a certain direction and said to Valtar in a soft tone, "There is a small wooden house at that place on top of the large tree, there is food, a bed, a shower, and everything necessary, I prepared it for you in advance."

He looked in that direction, it was about 300 meters away in a branch of a large tree. He then hopped onto the head of the snake and ordered it to go in that direction. His 2 ghostbounds followed him without needing to order them.

The queen and the 5 high Fae simply remained there hovering in the air just looking at Valtar going away. It wasn’t until he was halfway gone that one of them could not hold it in anymore and eventually spoke what was on her mind, as if she was suppressing her anger with a lot of effort.

"My QUEEN!! Why? Why do you want us all to die?"

All the others could not help turn towards her in shock and fear, no one ever dared to speak to their queen in such an outrageous manner but they calmed down in the next moments after all, they also had the same question and it was not a time for such formalities. Their queen hid the human’s real battle prowess and combat capabilities and probably even helped him on various occasions. This was not just a game anymore.

It was life and death. They all stared at the back of their queen, she did not respond to their question and simply kept looking at the human intently, her inner thoughts were unknown, and her face was expressionless. After a whole minute of piercing silence, she eventually let out a heavy sigh as she said,

"Are you even alive?"

Her words were like a thunderclap to the 5 high Fae who were like the daughters of the queen somewhat. An intense sadness washed over all of them and the one who asked the questions asked back in a trembling voice.

"w-What do you mean?"

There was even a trace of anger in her voice as their queen turned around and looked at them. For the first time in their life, they saw emotions in the eyes of their mighty queen. There was sadness, immense amounts of sadness.

"Is a bird born in a small cage unable to escape to the end of its life something that can be called alive?"

"If one cannot express their free will, can they be regarded as something alive? Even if it is, is such life worth anything?" she stated as her eyes filled with boundless sadness and looked at the heavens with deep sorrow and regret.

"Without freedom what is the worth of a life? What’s the point of having power? What’s the point of having an immense strength?"

"What’s the point of having it all if you cannot sour through the deep blue skies and venture into the unknown? Does a life without anything new mean anything?"

Her voice grew louder and louder as if she was venting all her emotions, all her frustration for the first time in her life. She then looked back at the one who asked her that question.

She asked her softly as two small tears fell from her face,

"So, let me ask you again little one, are you or we truly alive?"

All 5 Fae stared at their queen who for the first time showed any emotion, a glimpse of her true self. All of them bit their lips as their eyes became watery hearing the words of their queen. Yes, all of it was true. There was a time when all of them hid themselves in some corner of their area, in some dark place and silently cried for not ever being able to escape this cage ever.

They were all prideful beings who never wanted to show their weakness to another. They did not know where the pride came from, it was simply in their instinct, in their bloodline from the moment they were born.

Now seeing their queen like this, their hearts were bleeding with blood. But the words of their queen hurt them even more. None of them could hold in their tears, as a small trickle of tears fell from all of their faces in the sorrow of their sad fate.