End Of World Marriage

Resolve

Kate felt the tingle of energy running through her body even as she tried and failed to get some sleep. Two hours wasn't a lot of time to rest—she wanted to make the best of it. But the increase to all her stats had left her body buzzing with energy the likes of which she'd never felt before. Unfortunately, it was throwing everything into overdrive, including her mind. There was no space for sleep as things stood.

She sighed, trying her hardest to quiet her thoughts, but she couldn't.

She turned onto her back, laying on the ruined mess of her wedding gown. The sky beyond was awash with colors and lights. She could see a massive bright moon peeking out from behind the clouds—a sign that dusk was approaching. But the skies themselves were completely bare. No birds, just that massive moon hidden behind fluffy white clouds.

She sighed and turned to her side. Kenan was sitting in front of the pylon with his back to her. She scoffed.

Was this his idea of giving her privacy? Well, if that was the case, it wasn't working. She felt a lance of anger surge through her and had to physically fight back the urge to go strangle him where he sat. She groaned softly and turned onto her back again. She heard Kenan shift to look at her, but she ignored him and his fumbling attempt to find something to say. She wanted to be left alone, but apparently that was a bad idea. She had no idea what to do. She didn't want to think about the wedding that was ruined, or what had ruined it.

The world had ended—somewhat. Her sister had been killed. It was far better than what that snake deserved. Kate remembered a time when she was excluded from activities as a child. She remembered waking up with gum in her hair, or massive clumps of her hair cut and glued back onto her scalp. Those years had been hell, all because her mother died, leaving her with a monster of a father who didn't care about the extra burden his late wife left behind.

To this day, Kate had never understood why her sister hated her so much. For one, they actually shared blood. She was born as a result of an affair, her father had with Kate's mother. Her sister's mother had moved on after finding out about the infidelity, so naturally her father married Kate's mom. The significant boost to his career that marriage offered meant that for the first few years, he had to pretend quite convincingly that he cared—that he loved his new wife and their daughter, and not just the fortune he now had access to.

Guess all fairy tales must come to an end eventually. And for Kate, it was at nine years old. She lost her mother, and then it was years of abuse and mistreatment. Just as well that bitch was dead... because Kate would have gotten even, sooner rather than later. She was no helpless little girl, not anymore. Yet it seemed her sister had still found another way to hurt Kate where it hurt the most, and then went and got herself killed before Kate could hurt her back just as hard.

Now who was she going to hurt? What was she supposed to do with all this anger and rage in her heart?

"The pylon is rather intuitive, bab—Kate."

She was drawn out of her thoughts as she turned a glare in Kenan's direction. He flinched, then raised his hand in a placating gesture. Her thoughts were a mess right now—she didn't have time to talk to him about idle nonsense. She shifted her eyes to the screen above the pylon. It was showing a description of his skills.

[Basic Wind Bullet (Active): Fire a condensed bullet of wind for 3 meters.]

[Basic Weapons Handling (Passive): Have basic understanding of handling weapons]

There wasn't much of a difference from her own skills. Her Basic Magic Mastery had said something along the lines of having a basic understanding of magic. All of the explanations were bland, but ultimately, as long as they did what they said they did, then perhaps there was hope.

"I know you don't want to talk to me right now, especially about what happened at our wedding. I don't blame you, and I'm not going to push. I'll wait until you're ready." Kenan paused, then raised his head to check if Kate was still listening to him. She was, and a relieved look crossed his features. "Just think of me right now as a work colleague. We need to make plans. We need to be able to trust each other if we're going to survive this place. I don't even know what's really going on. This tiny pylon in the ground says it's holding Earth hostage, even though we pretty much saw the whole world—or just the church, I guess—getting destroyed."

He sucked air through his teeth, frustration etched across his face. "What I'm saying is, I just need you by my side. Even if it's not as a wife or my fiancée, but as a partner, so we can survive this thing together. You keep fighting me at every turn, and I can't do what's most important."

Kate rolled her eyes. "And what is this thing that's so important to you?" She asked it in a mocking tone.

But Kenan didn't let that phase him. He looked her straight in the eye and said, "Getting you home."

The clearing fell silent for a few moments as they held each other's gaze.

"I can take care of myself, Kenan," Kate said in an emotionless tone.

"I don't doubt that. But I love you. Whether you believe me or not." His voice was steady, unwavering. "And I'll die before I let anything happen to you. You're literally the only thing in this world—wherever the fuck this is—that I care about. So please... just work with me here. When you're ready to listen to me, then I'll tell you everything that went down with your sister. Just know that I'm really sorry, Kate. I never wanted to hurt you, and I hope you'll find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me."

Kate turned away, moving her face from Kenan even as her eyes filled with tears. That voice of his was neither extremely loud nor imposing. But it was safety—calmness in a way she'd never experienced before. He took all of her pain away. Even now, when he was the biggest cause of her hurt, he still found a way to make her feel like nothing but her mattered to him.

*But he cheated on you.*

The voice was sinister, crawling up from the depths of her mind, reminding her of his sin and his betrayal. She said nothing else, just held herself tight as exhaustion finally pulled her under. She fell into a fitful sleep, leaving a despondent-looking Kenan to sit by himself in vigil.

He watched her for a few more minutes, then pulled his attention away when he was sure she was asleep.

He was feeling exhausted, if he was being honest. All his life, he'd never been one to be overly worried or held up by emotions. Not with the kind of family he was born into. For them, marriage was a convenience—it was politics. And he was the only one who'd been stupid enough to want to do it for love... the only one who'd actually fallen in love.

How could he not? Kate had swept into his life almost five years ago. Her red hair always seemed to catch fire in the light of the rising and setting sun, making waking up beside her every morning one of the best highlights of his life. Kenan clenched his fist. He couldn't lose that. He couldn't lose her. She kept the darkness at bay—the monster became a fading memory every time he was with her. Hurting her was the last thing he'd ever wanted, and now it seemed he'd done exactly that.

He didn't have much of a choice anymore. All he knew was that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure she survived this... apocalypse? Isekai? Whatever the hell it was, Kate would live—even if he had to go to the darkness within and let the monster out.

He got up and went to the corner, stripping off his ruined suit and changing into the so-called basic adventurer clothes. Again, it was just jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and sneakers. Nothing that offered any sort of protection, but at least it was a change of clothes and easier to fight in. He tossed the wedding suit aside and turned to the area where he'd gathered their weapons. He'd lost three of his ten arrows after using them multiple times.

He would have preferred a Glock or an automatic rifle, but for now, bows would do. He was trained. The spear seemed to be a good fit for Kate. He'd given it to her because they'd developed a gardening hobby about a year ago. Well, he'd developed a gardening hobby—Kate had loved to help around and was rather handy with a rake. Not that using a rake translated to combat acumen, but he'd felt she'd be more comfortable with it.

The spear was still sturdy, its blade sharp. It would keep her safe in case anything got past him. Then he shifted his attention to the gladius. His hand shook for a second as his eyes took on a haunted look. He shook his head, grabbed the blade, and pulled it from its sheath, pointing it straight out in front of him.

Using skills leveled them up. He wanted to see how far he could raise both skills before the timer ran out.

This new world, Horta, was dangerous. So Kenan had to become the most dangerous thing here in order to keep the love of his life safe.

He owed her that much.