Instead of removing the damned black blade from his neck, the crazy lady pressed it deeper in. At this point, it was a single mistake away from beheading Leonidas, and despite all his...quirks, he didn't want to be beheaded.
As such, he jerked his head slightly, but the blade followed him as if glued. A frown spawned on the woman's face; she seemed... appalled...?
"Did you not hear me when I gave you a warning? Or are you that eager to die?" Her confusion deepened as she spoke, brows lifting slightly.
Leonidas raised his left arm, bringing it to eye level. He opened his palm, pushing it out front. Leonidas did everything slowly, careful not to startle the raven-haired girl.
"Woman. Have you ever been threatened with a sword resting on your neck? Because let me tell you, it ain't the best feeling."
She tilted her head, then answered in an even tone. "I have been threatened like that before, yes."
A smile graced her lips, but the smile wasn't nice or kind; instead, it was evil, as if a devil were smiling at a dying angel.
If it wasn't clear, the angel was Leonidas, while the devil was...now that he thought about it, what was her name?
Should I ask? No, but she might kill me if I do. But I guess I should.
"Yes, that sounds terrific, but it's hard to keep calling you crazy girl or woman, so tell me your name."
She seemed to have been about to say something, but paused, mouth hung slightly open. For a good few seconds, she just stood there, staring at Leonidas with murderous intensity.
She eventually gave in, a misty breath escaping her lips.
"I'm Willow, and my last name...you don't need to know it. I won't cut off your head, so stop staring at me like that, it's creepy."
Only after her words registered did Leonidas put himself in her shoes. Willow had probably seen a one-armed guy in tattered clothes walking towards certain death while talking to himself.
What would I have done if I saw a scene like that?
He didn't exactly have an answer for that, but he probably wouldn't have flipped them over and threatened to cut off their head. At most, he would have taken an arm or two.
Tearing himself away from his thoughts, Leonidas looked at Willow again and answered without thinking.
"My dearest Willow, do tell me, is it my fault that I'm glaring at someone who stopped me from losing another arm? I was going there willingly, you know. You're lucky I'm not a deranged scientist; otherwise, I would have killed you by now."
"Also, get that damn sword off my neck, it's more annoying than a mosquito."
The sword pushed slightly deeper into his neck, then the pressure disappeared all at once. Before he could even be relieved, the sharp edge of something cold and wet touched his chest, right below his heart.
"Happy now? Answer a few more questions of mine, and I will let you go. Firstly, how strong are you? Can you wield that pink blade or the silver one on your back? How long have you been in the Realm of Madness? And finally, what the hell happened to your arm?"
Did she seriously ask me that? How rude she is!
Instead of answering her, Leonidas slowly got out of the small crater that had formed around him. His lower body was covered in mud and dust.
Willow's sword instantly pressed harder into his chest, but Leonidas didn't mind. He ignored the feeling entirely and stood.
Leonidas turned his body a full 180 degrees, back facing Willow, while he stared ahead at the gash. He took a few tentative steps that barely covered any distance and walked closer to it once more.
Somewhere along the way, Seridius's sword had taken its place in his hand. A dozen steps later, Leonidas stood in front of the gigantic mouth, well within striking range.
Neither the mouth nor Willow had made an attempt to eat or stab him, for which Leonidas was grateful.
Moment of truth.
Leonidas flexed his shoulders and closed his eyes. The world around him was completely dark, the ideal environment for his...experiment.
Roses, roses. Red roses.
He kept repeating the words as an image formed in his mind.
The world around him slowly disappeared, and Leonidas now stood in a dark, desolate landscape of scorched sand and burnt bones. A pair of burnt carriage wheels lay on the ground. It was as if a tornado of fire had incinerated a wandering caravan.
Time passed, and nothing happened until, eventually, a hooded woman passed by the destruction. Her face was hidden, and only her emerald eyes peeked through the mask. Long dark hair fell from underneath her hood, spilling over her chest.
The woman stopped over the two cart wheels and took something out of her hood. With a wave of her hand, a patch of dirt disappeared, and she placed something in it.
She waved once more, and the ground was refilled, as if nothing had ever happened. Leonidas tried walking forward, but he seemed not to exist as anything other than a ball of senses.
The woman dusted her clothes and walked away, leaving behind a secret hidden beneath sand.
Night fell shortly afterwards, and Leonidas still stood there, and then day arrived, bringing with it golden rays of light. An instant later, the moon came up again, and the sun followed. Dozens of days passed in a matter of seconds until something moved in the lifeless world.
A thin, almost hair-like stalk burst from the ground where the woman had performed her magic.
The woman, whom Leonidas assumed to be Bloom, had planted a seed.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the shriveling stem had turned into a mighty plant. Vibrant green leaves swayed lightly in the wind, with long roots spreading across the ground, sucking in nutrients like a pump.
More importantly, right at the crown of the plant grew a beautiful crystalline flower, shining and reflecting light.
A single drop of life in a dead world.
Time moved again, and Leonidas saw...evolution. The plant grew taller and grander with each passing day, and eventually started reproducing. There was no longer burned soil or lifeless lands; instead, a forest of ruby roses stretched in every direction, with the original plant standing at the very center.
Leonidas shifted his gaze from his surroundings to his immediate front and gazed blankly at the once small plant. It was titanic, easily hundreds of thousands of meters tall, dwarfing everything. Millions of roses grew on its stem, while its roots spread everywhere, altering the very landscape.
He was about to look at its crown, but then the world simply... dissolved, leaving nothing but the black void.
What did I just see...
Leonidas was quite shaken, but at least he understood what he had to do.
Time to become a glorified bloodsucker.