Overlord: The Demon Valkyrie Raid Boss

Chapter 11 - Induction into Nazarick (pt1)

Asta stood on the castle balcony. He could see many people far off in the heart of the city going about their evenings and hear many more all walking around. He'd managed to return one girl, but he felt sick whenever he remembered what he had seen in Nazarick.

He didn't think he was one for feeling this way. Had this been in the game he probably wouldn't have batted an eye but knowing that there were real people there, being tortured on a daily basis, he found it hard to stomach.

"You haven't seemed like yourself," Excella appeared next to him. "Feeling guilty?"

Asta wondered how she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and feeling half the time, but he guessed that she had silently been watching him for a long time.

"I feel like I should try and save more," Asta said slowly, clasping his hands together in front of him. They were trembling a little. "But..."

"Nazarick is not a force you can fight against," finished Excella.

"Nor do I want to fight Ainz. I can't feel happy about what he is doing but if I were in his situation, I might not be any different."

Excella placed her hand over his and smiled down at him. "I don't believe that. You saved me, Asta. And those feelings you are experiencing right now are what makes you better. Better than any of the other Supreme Beings."

She smiled sadly, unable to clasp his hand. "I wish I had met you before..."

"Do you...regret what you did, back in Yggdrasil?"

Excella looked outward for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "I already told you that I'm a heartless monster."

"Would a heartless monster try to make me feel better?"

"Only to you Master."

"Even if it is only me."

Excella's lips curled a little. "If I had a choice, I'd do it all again. Because getting revenge made me feel better but also because I met you. Even if I had to experience that unending hell again and again." She looked directly into Asta's eyes. "But had I met you earlier, then perhaps I might have felt differently." She gazed out over the kingdom. "Right now, I don't feel like any of it really mattered."

Asta's cheeks burned a little.

"Is that...a roundabout way of...confessing to me?"

"Do you need to ask?" she smiled at him.

"Well, it's just that I'm with Lakyus and...you're a Queen and..."

Excella suddenly burst out laughing.

"Sometimes even I don't believe it. The person that saved me can be cool from time to time. He can be intelligent and strategic when it matters and yet he is often cowardly when it comes to matters of love and times of uncertainty. I was perplexed when I watched you but...slowly...I began to find the musings of that man enamouring and what I had once thought of as a heart that would never thaw grew warm started to change."

Excella moved so close that her nose was almost touching his own.

"You are my hero, Asta. Not because you saved me from that prison but because you made me feel something I thought I would never feel. That is why I love you."

Asta's cheeks flourished many shades of red as he froze in place. Not even Lakyus had said something like that to him. There was so much emotion in Excella's voice and so much resolve that he could only imagine it.