The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

"This can't be…" Elisius muttered.

When the massive sphere of fire expanded, it ate away Zaos and Drannor's flesh at a terrifying speed. While it wasn't much, Thunder Armor granted them some protection since it the energy was basically a high concentration of heat. Not to mention, the extra speed granted them the chance to pass through the sphere as fast as possible.

Zaos and Drannor suffered severe burns to the point where half of their bodies had been burned. While Zaos had a higher magic defense, his body was in the worse state since his armor and clothes had completely melted, and some of his bones and muscles were completely visible. Drannor was supposed to be in the same state, but before his body could be damaged, his sword healed him. 

  Despite all that, their swords pierced Elisius' heart once again and began to drain his mana and blood. However, Elisius could assume a spiritual form and then wait for a suitable receptacle to appear. At the same time, he gathers some mana in that form. However, just when he thought of using that, Zaos used Evil Eyes on him. Using all the mana he was stealing from Elisius himself, Zaos made him see an illusion of time flowing extremely slowly. That was the answer that Zaos came up with, make the legendary weapons drain all his mana and blood while he is stuck in an illusion. Zaos thought that things would end pretty fast. Still, in the end, Elisius resisted for ten minutes… his mana had completely disappeared, and the legendary weapons began to shine. That was an obvious sign that they had completely sealed the demon god spirit and vitality in the two weapons. Once that happened, Zaos relaxed and collapsed unconscious on the ground… Two hundred meters below them. Fortunately, Drannor stopped Zaos' fall, and he endured the fall by using the blood that his sword had just absorbed.

"You look like crap…" Drannor said after he put the unconscious Zaos on the ground.

  Drannor didn't know if that would work, but he still let Zaos hold the king's sword. Much to his surprise, his wounds began to heal. Even after a while, when Drannor assumed that all the blood had been used, the king's sword still kept healing Zaos… he wondered if it was a new effect that was obtained after defeating Elisius. Drannor grabbed the Guardian's Heart, and he could feel a crazy supply of mana inside it. He used some spells just for fun dozens of times, and he didn't feel his mana running out… the legendary swords became even more legendary. In any case, he had to wait for six hours before Zaos could finally wake up, and his body wasn't even completely healed yet.

"Oh, shit…" Zaos said. "How many hours have passed?"

"... six hours, why do you ask?" Drannor asked.

"If a way out didn't show up until now, maybe we will be stuck here," Zaos said.

Drannor facepalmed. He had completely forgotten about that… maybe Zaos can copy what the demon god did, but it won't be something easy to learn. They will have to stay there for months without food and water... Despite what he said, Zaos got up and then grabbed his sword.

"I know that you are watching… it is time to take back those words," Zaos said. "In exchange for them, I want you to open a portal back home."

"... Who are you talking to?" Drannor asked while making a worried expression.

"You heard from Milliendra that someone talked with her… my guess is that this world has some sort of entity that created those swords to fight the demon god," Zaos said. "If you stop to think for a second, it is obvious that such convenient weapons wouldn't appear out of nowhere without a good reason. Besides, for a while, I have been thinking that this world has a goddess… one that doesn't want to be known by the people from here."

Drannor blinked his eyes several times, that affirmation came out of nowhere, but now that he thought about it… it made sense. The demon god mentioned the existence of another being that he wanted to fight… that being probably was the same as the one that talked with Milliendra and helped her. In any case, before he could think more about that, a portal appeared right in front of them, connecting to the top of that mountain where they found Milliendra. They tried to cross the portal without wasting time, but then Zaos almost fell to the ground… he suffered too much damage and lost too much blood. Fortunately, Drannor stopped his fall and gave him a shoulder to lean on.

"This is finally over… what do you have to say in your defense?" Drannor asked.

"Everything was your fault…" Zaos said while having a hard time keeping his eyes open. "Just kidding… you can blame me if you want for killing Ameria and for taking Milliendra away from you for ten years… it is my fault because I wasn't smart enough to find a better path."

"You are a dumbass… but unfortunately, the me from back then probably wouldn't believe in any part of this crazy story," Drannor sighed, and then they crossed the portal. "Nor would I be able to help Ameria or Milliendra… it hurts to admit it, but it is the painful truth."

Drannor bit his lips in exasperation because he really thought that… but after facing and defeating the mastermind that caused so much suffering to his family and to the whole world, he had a hard time trying to keep hating Zaos for what he had done. He didn't do anything perfectly, but from all the people that he knew, he was probably the one who would have made fewer mistakes… not to mention, he managed to raise Milliendra in a nice environment that gave her strength to withstand the words of the demon god.

After climbing down the mountain in total silence, they eventually found the camp that the others had set. Eventually, Milliendra saw them and ran toward them… Zaos and Drannor didn't know how to react since the situation might get awkward at any moment, but fortunately, Milliendra hugged both of them at the same time… referring to both of them as 'daddy.'