The Grand Duelist

Inside a City perpetually hidden from the sun.

Both twins, Julie and Hulie sat cross-legged above an elevated platform. The platform was decorated with all sorts of colorful flowers and lights. But in contrast to the lively colors, the people in front of the twins wore solemn expressions on their faces.

Their eyes radiated grief, some of them even crying.

"It's such a pity... Both sisters could've had a great future ahead of them..."

"Yeah... If not for the Curse of the Condemned. Both would've been great figures in the city. But sadly, there's nothing that we could do anymore other than accept this irreversible reality and wish them a great journey to the yellow springs." 

The elders in the surroundings whispered to each other. Their eyes stared pitifully at the two sisters.

Yes, that's right. 

In this place, perpetually hidden from the sun.

Once afflicted with the Curse of the Condemned...

There was no future for them anymore.

"Grandpa... Is there really no cure for the Curse?" A young man who looked to be at the same age as both twins mumbled in grief and indignance.

The elderly man whom he nudged merely shook his head in resignation.

"Why... Why are we condemned to kill ourselves the moment that the curse manifests? Is there really no cure..." The young man uttered in despair.

Everyone in the area turned silent.

Since all of them lived in the same city and basically knew each other.

They knew that the young man had feelings towards one of the twins. 

"Julie... Hulie... We will... miss you..." A young woman cried out, tears never stopped flowing down her cheeks.

"Erika!" 

In the end, she collapsed and had to be supported by her mother who was also here to witness the upcoming honorable suicide by the twin sisters. 

"Jacob... Erika..." Hulie stretched her hand out towards her friends. Her eyes widened in resignation and grief.

She didn't want to die... She was far too young to die!

She was destined to achieve greater heights with her talent and hard work, yet just because of a single curse, they were supposed to kill themselves? Why has everything come to this?

Hulie turned to look at the City Chief, the Elder who has the highest authority in this City.

If she pleaded with him, there may be a chance that she and her sister would be spared from such a cruel end.

But before Hulie could even say something.

The Elder seemed to have read her thoughts as he shook his head, closed his eyes as if reminiscing of the past before saying: "This is our destiny ever since we are born in this abandoned land, this is also the curse that we must bear... This is the will of God...

When the Elder finished his sentence, the wrinkles on his face deepened and the circles around his eyes darkened. It was as if he had aged for ten years in an instant.

But when everyone thought that the twin sisters finally understood their inevitable fate and their cruel destiny.

Julie, who kept her silence all this while suddenly spoke up.

"This is the will of God?"

"What kind of God wills the death of his believers? That kind of God... No- He's not a God... He's a Demon! He's not a God!"  Julie shook her head rapidly in the midst of her despair until she finally let out an ear-piercing scream.

Bang!

"Impudent! You blasphemous brat!" Another Elder who kept a solemn expression all this while suddenly erupted in anger.

His ears continuously trembled as he struck down the ground with his staff and his incredible might shook the land, astonishing everyone and awakening them from their trance.

"You should know that even cursed criminals like us may have been abandoned by God. We must never blaspheme him! He is the Creator of Everything that Moves and Exists! Even though we are doomed to live in this forsaken place that is perpetually hidden from the sun in our entire life, we are promised prosperity in our next!"

"Dying in this place and while under the Curse of the Condemned is a blessing!"

"You must not be afraid of it!"

"Ending your life under the Curse meant that you will be released from the debt of blood that our ancestors incurred, so in other words. You will be free in your next lifetime! Why are you so afraid of death? Death is not the end!"

"You will only return to the embrace of the Creator!"

The Elder's words seemed to transform into a spell that pierced through the souls of everyone who heard it with the exception of the two sisters.

"Yes... That's right..." The young man named Jacob, who pleaded for the release of the twin sisters and was also considered as the suitor of Julie suddenly stopped crying and stared at Julie in excitement. 

"Yes... That's right! Even if the two of us didn't become lovers in this lifetime! We can meet once again in our next lives and there, I can fall in love with you once again... Court you once again, and then marry you eventually! Hah! Yes! Glory be to the Creator!"

The young man collapsed on his knees and raised his arms towards the skies.

The grief within his eyes couldn't be seen anymore. Instead, there was a fanatical look on his face.

"Ja-Jacob...?" Hulie stared wide-eyed at what was happening. 

"What is going on... Julie, I'm scared..." Hulie squirmed closer to her twin sister Julie and displayed a terrified look on her face.

But Julie didn't reply. Instead, she also stared wide-eyed at the two middle-aged couple at the side.

"Mama? Papa? What are..."

Before Julie could even complete her sentence...

Her mother moved and gave her a tight embrace.

"Julie, Hulie... Both of you are good kids, so I know that the two of you understand that this is not the end, all right?"

"Even though Mama and Papa will not be with you anymore, I know that both of you are stronger together, so I will pray to the Creator and wish that the two of you will still be together in your next lives, okay?" 

She also gave Hulie a tight embrace before sweetly smiling at the two. Afterwards, what came next was their father.

The same smile could also be seen on his face, but in his hands were two incredibly sharp daggers. 

He placed it in front of the two sisters and said.

"Papa and Mama will miss you both, we will pray that the two of you will have a fine journey to the yellow springs."

"Also, Julie..."

"Take care of your sister, all right? You know about how much of a scaredy-cat Hulie is and how easily she can get swindled. You're the more sensible one, so you take care of her, all right?"

Julie gulped a mouthful of saliva. This thick-headed girl who seemed to not be afraid of anything was finally showing traces of fear. She couldn't believe what was happening.

Why were her mother and father abandoning her?

Why was Jacob, her long-time suitor also abandoning her?

Why was everyone doing this?

Do they really want us to die?

Julie's gaze wandered amidst her trance, and then it landed at Erika. Erika was a best friend of both sisters, and they were friends ever since they were babies.

If it was Erika...

She wouldn't abandon them, right?

Julie revealed a pleading look on her face, but then Erika revealed a kind smile on her face, the same smile that her parents had on their lips.

"Julie... Hulie... Both of you, don't worry... In the future, I will pray to the Creator to give me twin babies and I will give them the same name as the two of you. No matter what, both of you are still my best friends and I can't bear to part with you like this, but..."

"There's no way that we can fight against destiny... We can only accept it and live according to it." 

"In fact, we must even be grateful that the Creator gave us temporary life so we can enjoy this beautiful world that he had created for us, his lowly servants..." A fanatic look appeared on Erika's face.

One couldn't see any traces of her crying earlier anymore.

Instead, she was even looking forward to something.

"Grateful? Enjoy this beautiful world?" Julie hung her head low and uttered in despair. Ever since she was a child, she had been indoctrinated with the ways of the Creator of Everything that Moves and Exists.

Of course, she knew about the inevitable and pitiful end of those afflicted with the cruel curse.

However, now that it was her time to sacrifice herself before the curse could take hold in her body. She couldn't accept the cruel reality. 

Why?

It was because she was too young!

She was far too young!

She wanted to escape this place and travel across the lands that she didn't have any knowledge of...

She dreamt of visiting places that she only heard from books, such as the boundless salty water from the placed called "Sea", and experiencing how cold it was to live in a place covered in snow that wouldn't thaw for eternity. 

Yet, a single curse was enough to stop her from accomplishing her dreams?

A single curse made it so that she would be unable to achieve her desires?

Should she really just accept the machinations of fate and obediently kill herself and return to the embrace of the so-called Creator of Everything that Moves and Exists?

A creator that even she wasn't so sure if it really exists?

No!

Julie was indignant.

She wasn't willing!

Hulie shared the same sentiment as her sister.

But how can they escape from this place? The All-Encompassing Barrier of Spirituality Separation ensured that none of them would be able to escape from this place, but...

A determination that had never appeared within the two sisters surfaced in their eyes.

They have decided!

Each took a deep breath and hung their heads low.

Images flashed past their eyes.

Their stern father teaching them techniques to defend themselves, their father patting the dirt and dust on their clothes as he amiably smiled at them, their gentle mother mending their torn clothes, their brave mother who courageously protected them from an Enhanced Beast, and finally.

Their family huddling around a single flickering candle, sharing food and laughing with each other.

A faint sound croaked from their throats despite their strong suppression. With a low grunt, the twin sisters raised the daggers in front of them and stabbed the nearest person around them.

"AH!"

A blood-curdling scream came out, but both Julie and Hulie never stopped their movements. They knew that they must escape this place as fast as possible before the City Chief could react.

"TRAITORS! CAPTURE THOSE BRATS!" The City Chief finally reacted with an angry scream all while pointing a finger at the two sisters who moved agilely amidst the crowd.

The people who attended the event were awakened from their trance by the fierce scream and they angrily looked at the direction of the two sisters.

One of them even screamed.

"Come back here, you brats! Do both of you wish for the whole city to be buried along with you two?!" He then rushed towards the wilderness in pursuit of the two sisters.

But since the two sisters possessed unparalleled familiarity with the wilderness in the surrounding City. They soon managed to escape from their pursuers.

They stopped running away when they realized that they were only a few steps away from the All-Encompassing Barrier of Spirituality Separation.

"Julie... Did we really do the right thing..." Hulie turned to look at her sister, her figure continuously trembling in fear.

"Hulie... Don't be afraid, I am here with you." Julie revealed a smile and embraced her sister.

Her face turned serious when she saw that the darkness that tainted Hulie's silvery-hair, slowly squirmed as if it was alive. Threatening to swallow Hulie whole at any moment.

"It's all right... We'll be okay... It's fine if the Creator really exists. He will not abandon us like this."

Julie consoled her sister, but fear was also evident on her face, while her knees also continuously trembled like a sieve.

She was so afraid of what they have done to the extent that she consoled her sister with the name of the Creator whom she already abandoned and denounced.

Thankfully, her sister didn't seem to notice what she has said.

Instead, Hulie tightened her embrace around Julie...

It was as if she was afraid that if she was to loosen up her hold around Julie's body. Her sister may disappear and turn into a fanatic like what happened to both of their parents.

But just as the two sisters were calming down...

A fierce explosion rang out beside them, scaring them out of their wits as they subconsciously held each other in a tight embrace.

After a few moments of hesitation, the twin sisters finally had the courage to take a look at what crashed down beside them and their eyes widened in shock on what they had found...

They found a man wearing nothing but underwear and a stark-naked young woman wrapped around a black cloth!