I Became My Healer Elf Character-Chapter 126: The Acolyte of Despair

The elven goddess stared at the masked dark elf in confusion. She watched red tears flow down the girl's mask. With her Despair, the air seemed to become thicker. An unexpected savior came in the form of Lord Dominix.

He sighed at the woman. "I prefer that you leave such displays at home. I'm afraid you might sour my drink. I don't like to see a lady cry."

To the surprise of everyone, that actually worked. Kanashimi's tears stopped flowing, and she went completely silent. Instead, her head turned towards the largest seat in the room.

Hikari could not see beyond the mask, yet she was certain that the girl smiled at her.

As more gods began to fill the room, more strange figures started surrounding the table. There was a giant, human gods, and even a goblin. In total, all 20 seats were filled.

One of the human gods who had eye bags under her eyes and dark rings around them looked towards Hikari. The slumped over goddess sighed and spoke slowly. "Finally...the leader of the council...shows up."

Hikari stood up and tapped her staff against the ground. The moment she did, walls and a ceiling seemed to surround them on all sides. A floor graced the ground beneath their feet. The obsidian stone surrounded them on all sides, creating an audience chamber.

All of the gods and goddesses went silent. Even the more raucous of the bunch didn't dare to say anything. Watching them all go quiet, the elf finally completely understood her role. It's one thing to hear everyone say you are the strongest, but it's another thing to see it in action.

There was only one problem with this. Hikari had no idea what to say. What should she tell the gods and goddesses that have joined her on this day? Hey, I lost my memory. It's nice to meet all of you for the first time…

No, something like that wouldn't do, but they needed a reason to be summoned, right?

As if Mortia could sense her plight, the fairy stood up. "I've called you all here to greet the queen. Do not forget your role in the pantheon, and never forget the one who presides over everything."

The rat snake goddess jumped to her feet and shook her head. "I came here to see if she's really back, but how can we be certain that…"

Mortia cut the girl off. "Do you want to test if she's the real deal?"

Vermille—the rat snake goddess—laughed and took her seat. "No, I can sense her magic power from here. Can't you take a joke? This is why I hate you order brats."

A human god slammed his fist on the table. "I am not okay with this arrangement at all." He pointed towards Hikari in disbelief. "Who put you in charge? For the last years, nobody even spoke of you, but all of the sudden, you're some big shot?"

The radiant lion pointed his warhammer towards the man. "You're new to the pantheon, yes?"

"What does that have to do with anything? I'm still an Elder God at this point, and I amassed this strength in far less time than you did, old man."

Demon Lord Dominix looked at the young god, and then he turned his head towards Kurayami. "I'm surprised you've not flown off the handle yet. Though, this place would be far more interesting if you did."

The human god looked towards the dragon and pointed at her as well. "Nobody is afraid of some dragon goddess. Why are we acting like things have changed because these two showed up? You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Scared to descend upon a world yet letting this woman do it all on her own."

Dominix chuckled. "You are aiming for my pride throne right now, young man." Though, the demon lord narrowed his eyes. "However, I hate your style. There is absolutely no charm in your Pride. Where is your grace?"

"Are you going to fight me, old man?"

The Demon Lord simply raised his palm towards the god, and everything was over. A red shock wave flew so fast from the center of the demon lord's palm that even Hikari could barely see it.

It flew at the human god like a large scythe and cut cleanly through his arm, severing it at the shoulder. Blood squirted onto the table, and the arm fell down, landing on the ground with a thud.

The human god looked to his arm in disbelief. His eyes widened, and his whole body shook with rage. He pointed at the demon lord with his remaining hand. "You fucking bastard! I'm going to kill you!"

Demon Lord Dominix shook his head. "One should not disrespect their elders. The next limb you lose will be the one that keeps spewing such venom at me. Do you not have a sliver of shame?" The demon lord bowed towards the head of the table. "I have violated the rules of this place, so I will see myself out."

A blood red portal appeared behind him, and the demon lord turned and walked through it.

Amelia walked over to the boy and shook her head. "Why would you go and do something like provoking that man?" She channeled her vibrant hot pink magic into his arm, and the thing repaired itself, forming into an entirely new limb.

The man shook his head. "I don't understand. You're new to the council as well…"

"I'm not. I've just been...occupied." The pink-haired goddess looked intentionally towards the rat. "There are far more important things than listening to all of you bicker. Why must you align yourselves with chaos? And more importantly…"

Amelia pointed towards the masked woman. "Why are you here?"

Vermille answered for the girl. "I invited her here. Don't give me those looks. I was just sad to see Kana all by herself. Besides, I thought it would be more interesting this way."

Hikari observed the masked girl. There was too much she didn't know, but the familiarity of this woman was the one thing she could feel. She understood it. When Hikari channeled magic into her eyes, she could see a ring of purple surrounding the woman like a soft glow.

It was the hue of Despair. She was truly Despair's Acolyte, but what did it mean? There was a magic in Hikari's body calling to her, wanting to be used, and needing to claim this Despair for herself.

The masked girl stood up. She tuned out the arguments going on around her and walked towards Hikari.

Her frail and cold body reached out to touch the Goddess of Hope, and she did. The dark elf wrapped her arms around the light elf and gave her a hug.

Tears fell from under the mask. These were not the same red tears as before but something more normal. The girl finally found her voice. She spoke quietly, but it was unmistakable. It was the exact same voice as Hikari's.

"Thank you, Mother."

Hikari watched as the girl's mask fell away, slowly revealing her face. The mask hitting the ground was a distant sound, compared to what Hikari saw in front of her. She was staring at her mirror image.

Only, this girl was truly a dark elf. Her body's color was completely different. She had a grey tint to her, but those purple eyes were unmistakable, and the black robes the girl wore were the antithesis of Hikari's own.

Kana's tears flowed freely, and she clutched the woman she called mother even tighter. Her body began turning translucent, and the purple hue was dimming. The more that Hikari observed the phenomenon, the more she understood.

This girl, Kanashimi, was ceasing to exist. The light was slowly fading from her eyes.

Hikari wrapped her arms around and enveloped the girl completely. "You do not have to Despair anymore. I will take on that burden for you."

The Acolyte of Despair smiled. In her final moments, she had felt more Hope than she had in centuries. The girl vanished into wisps of magic particles that flowed slowly into Hikari.

Hikari felt thousands of years of sorrow and hopelessness flow into her. She felt a magic well inside of her filling up. Her purple eyes glowed, and her body emanated the same purple glow.

A void called to her in her mind, growing ever closer. Now, the void felt more like her domain. Something that was lost became recaptured, yet this power came with a price.

An entire life was lost, and Hikari felt warm tears flowing from her eyes. Thousands of memories began flowing into her mind, yet the world around her appeared completely frozen. All of the chaos from the meeting was gone, and all of it slowly melted away into a purple-tinted darkness. The darkness around her was endlessly swirling. It was like a whirlpool of Despair, flowing towards the depths of her soul.

Yet, two arms wrapped around her. A familiar voice called out to her.

The first person to ever give her comfort. The dragon that had stood beside her since she was unsure of herself pulled her away from that strange place.

"I love you."