Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 935: Hero/Saviour

"I’m here to wipe out the Zenia family." Alice admitted.

Why else would she be in Extalia? If the Zenia family hadn’t bunkered down in this nation, she wouldn’t even care.

Hell, she would probably avoid it like a plague considering her bad memories. She’d rather not interact with anything that has a connection to the Zenia family if possible.

And yet she was here because she had a job to do.

"If it was just for the Zenia family, your previous journeys doesn’t make sense. Attaining power could’ve been done in the Abyss without much risk compared to the North or the East." Miki wasn’t convinced while Alice rolled her eyes.

"Damn girl, can’t a cutie get distracted every now and then? Can’t control the fact that I got spat out the Inverted World into the North. Since it was in danger I helped out. I went East to look for a few things and now I’m here."

"Whimsical or not, there’s always a certain goal to your actions. Something bigger than just the Nightmare." Miki continued to push as Alice was starting to get annoyed by this questioning.

Snapping her finger, Alice teleported a chair in front of Miki then teleported herself onto it.

Staring at Miki dead in the eyes, Alice made her annoyance clear.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Simply gathering information. The Nightmare is simply a coincidental cover up for what you’re truly after. And... Whatever that was, it probably caused the North to be destroyed." Miki countered, tapping her fingers on the desk.

"I’d rather not have that kind of danger looming over this city. So whatever you’re after in this city, you better tell me."

Alice narrowed her eyes. This commanding tone... this demand. Had she asked nicely, Alice wouldn’t have minded telling her a little.

But now...

"You know, you were a lot more fun before." Alice clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Fun has now place here." Miki stopped her tapping.

"You have no idea what I’ve had to go through to get to where I am today. What I’ve seen. You don’t know the feeling of being truly weak and out of options. The sacrifices that everyone in this city has had to make. There is no leeway for fun.

"My responsibility is to ensure the survival of as many people as possible in this city. And if accommodating you will cause its destruction like the North, I’ll have to ask you to leave." Miki glared, gesturing to the door.

"And if danger beyond what you’re capable of handling comes along? What if we’re not here to hel-"

"And that’s the root of it." Miki cut her off.

Alice paused.

"You assume you’re needed to handle this danger. That we’re just waiting for someone to save us, or that we can’t manage our own tragedy without a hero, you, swooping in to save the day."

"That’s not-"

"Savior complex, hero complex. Call it whatever. You’re not the answer to every problem we have." Miki cut her off again as a vein bulged on Alice’s neck.

She won’t deny it. In some corner of her heart, she thought things were like that.

She has the power so she has a responsibility to ’clean things up’. To deal with the danger that Nyer brought into this world.

But Miki didn’t want that.

Even if the city is facing something beyond their capabilities, she didn’t want the extra variable that Alice brought.

Alice didn’t know how to respond.

Lash out? Call her foolish?

How can she help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?

Why did she accept Suyin’s help but not hers? What’s the difference between them?

’I’m taking over.’ Alyss cut in, surprising Alice as golden chains snapped around the limbs.

Miki watched as Alice’s aura shift. The change in her gaze.

"She might not be the answer to every problem you have but she’s an answer that f*cken showed up. She doesn’t know what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard or what you’ve experienced. But you don’t know what she had to go through either." Alyss stood up, slamming her foot against the table in an aggressive manner.

"The North she helped. If she didn’t, it could’ve been a lot worst than what it is now. The first invasion with the Zenias. If she wasn’t there, there will be countless who are bedridden due to side effects. The destruction that happened after might’ve occurred even without Alice being there.

"The East? She helped drive off the Eclipse. She fought against the Outer Gods that tried to consume and corrupt everything and everyone. Her presence allowed Suyin to harness the power of Eldritch energy and even counter it to some degree.

"She has a saviour complex? A hero complex? Maybe. But that’s because she has the power to help. She has the power to make things better. Would you rather her sit by and watch as this city burns to the ground even though she has the power to help?

"Why? Just because you guys never asked for it? Would you be happier watching the people around you burn and die when something could’ve been done?"

*BANG!!!

Miki slammed her fist into the desk.

"And what happens when you drown people in hope? When they forget how to solve issues on their own? When something can be done but they don’t do it since they’re waiting for someone to come save them?

"What happens to a city when a hero has left and doesn’t look back?" Miki retorted.

"When every single expectation is thrown onto the back of one person, what about the burden they feel? The stress of carrying on their hope? When the people they’re trying to save become lazy?

"When the hero fails, they’re blamed for the mistakes. For letting everyone down. This hope that heroes give to people is a cancer. How many heroes can remain positive after being berated, blamed and punished for a single mistake? After keeping the peace time and time again?"

"And when that happens, when the hero snaps. They cause destruction far greater than any danger that would’ve befallen us. Tell me this Alice. After you avert whatever destruction is coming our way, after you save the world.

"What is your choice when the whole world turns its back against you? When they kill the ones you love, when they torture the ones you care about. When the people you bled your own blood to protect destroys everything you hold dear. Can you still protect them?

"Can you say you wouldn’t regret saving them?" Miki asked.

Alyss was silent.

Her answer was clear.

She’s not a good person. She’s selfish. She would indeed cause them destruction a hundred times greater than the pain she’ll feel in her chest. A futile attempt to fill the void they ripped open.

But Alice... She probably never thought about this.

What happens when the people she save kill others or more importantly, kill the one she loves.

What happens then?

Alyss looked inward and saw Alice staring at the ground.

Her pupils trembling at the thought.

Alyss gritted her teeth, she wanted to counter but she saw pity in Miki’s eyes. It was brief but Alyss wasn’t mistaken.

Miki was feeling pity for Alice.

But that pity was short lived before it was replaced by a stern gaze.

"Already, we are protecting parasites that sit upon the sacrifices of others. The upper layer who do nothing to defend the city yet berate, scream and cry whenever an accident happens. Before you think about whether or not you can help this place. You should sort out your own thoughts.

"Don’t come pushing your ideals onto me, onto this city."

Alice turned around, taking control of her own body once more.

"And if you fail? If you cannot defend the walls that protect this place. Would you call out for help? For God? When it all comes crumbling down?"

Miki turned around and looked out at the city.

"Then all I can do is blame myself. Blame myself for not trying harder, for not finding a better way out of the situation. I don’t want a hero or a god to swoop in to save us. To make us lazy. Because once they do that, they become the outlet for our frustrations.

"They become the excuse we give when we don’t put in the effort. It may seem foolish for someone with power like you. That I’m willing to doom the people in this city over this selfish ideal.

"Hypocritical considering what I had said earlier. But I stand by my point and I will die by it. I don’t want Heroes or gods to become our excuse. Because after a certain point, they will become our worst nightmare."

Pausing for a moment, Miki revealed a bitter smile.

"People are flawed. We’re not ready for icons such as heroes or gods. We never are."

"And if tomorrow comes, the city is in danger, you would still refuse my help? Even as the people you are protecting call out for salvation?" Alice asked.

Miki didn’t answer immediately.

She took a deep breath.

"Yes. The future of this city should be created by the hands of man. Our fate should be ours to pave, not on the blood of heroes or gods. They are icons of worship, an ideal. But they should never become slaves to our weakness.

"Once they do, people become arrogant. They forget where they walk and soar to the skies. And once they do, they’ll plunge to the ground and die a horrific death.

"My father told me a story once and a line stuck with me." Miki smiled.

"No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise.

"Henceforth, he shall walk.’"