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Cleave

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Riding a striding spider, I race towards my destination. Gripping the saddle tightly, I read over the report again.

One of the monster slaying squads ran into a large camp of Zlevfs when one ran out of the woods chasing a small lizard. Once the squad had pushed their way into the camp, they saw another group of Slevs already in combat. The second group was engaged with a small boy covered in ice. Once the squad saw the child, they sent one knight back to inform me immediately.

It has to be Iota, no other child could hold off multiple Zlevfs alone. I grip the saddle tighter, causing my knuckles to creak. Pulling my body closer to the arachnid, I spur it to go even faster.

As I close in on the forest indicated in the report, a massive pillar of black flame covers the sky. My mount instinctively stops, no longer heeding my commands. The flickering dark covers the sun, casting only a dim light over everything. After ten minutes the flames cut off suddenly. In a daze, I stare up at the now cloudless sky. Eventually I get my wits about me and kick the side of my spider. Luckily it responds this time.

I soon reach the edge of the indicated woods. With a grunt I hop off the arachnid. After getting my footing I walk slowly towards the forest — remains of a forest would be more accurate. The entire area is scorched to char. I walk up to the edge of the destruction, noticing that there's a clean line where the forest once met the grass. Outside the clean cut outer edge of the destruction not a single blade of grass is even singed, let alone turned to ash.

I slowly walk through the ashen ground, stepping over the corpses of Zlevfs as I go. The only remains of the monsters are the bones of their upper bodies, their flesh and chitin burned away completely. As I get deeper into the forest, I see small black flames still smoldering on burnt wood.

Soon more corpses appear, this time not Zlevfs. I walk around the burnt skeletons of my knights, still in their gear. The godsteel armor they’re wearing is still glowing red with an intense heat. What the hell happened here? What could cause such a devastating explosion, or almost melt godsteel? Not even a dragon can make a flame like that.

I finally reach the epicenter of the carnage. The amount of bodies is the highest here. As I walk towards a crater in the center, I notice all the corpses look as if they were facing the center, Zlevfs and knights alike. Were they fighting together in the end?

I stop at the edge of the crater, looking down into the still-burning pit. I feel my heart drop when I see the cause of this disaster.

Sleeping in the ash and flame of this catastrophe is my small son.

】〓〓〓〓【

Scarlet

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For the first time in what feels like years, I wake up in the comfort of a bed. Sitting up in a light panic, I find myself in my own room, no giant crabs in sight. My gaze sweeps the familiar space. It looks like it's been untouched since I was last here. How did I even get home? What was I doing last?

Trying to think back, the image of a large monster flashes into my mind. Right, I was fighting that thing. I had just killed the damn thing, and I must’ve passed out. I pull the blanket off myself, seeing a new, clean, dress. Someone dressed me in my sleep. I feel my face flush in embarrassment. I really hope it wasn’t Emma.

With a small hop, I jump out of my bed. The second I hit the floor I hear movement from under my bed. What now!? Dashing to the far side of my room, I put my back to the door. I give the door a shove, but it doesn’t budge. For some reason I’m locked inside my own bedroom.

Just as I look back at my bed, I see familiar tentacles emerge from the dark space. I let out a sigh, realizing what all the sounds are.

“Scarlet? Pim? Awake… now?” The gentle but stilted voice of Emerald calls out from under my bed. My laughter makes her arms pull back under the bed.

“Yeah, Emerald, it’s me.” At my words the limbs reemerge, along with a pair of green ones. Sea is under there too, huh? I can’t help but smile at my friends.

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I sit down on the floor near my bed and watch the two Unraks pull themselves out from the cramped space. Once the two of them have fully escaped the void under my bed, I ask them what happened.

Surprisingly, Sea takes the initiative. “Scarlet… collapse. Iota collapse. Wight finish fight. Emerald… dying. I… injured. Wight heal with… black fire. Then went into forest. Forest… gone.” Sea’s voice is trembling. What did Wight do? His ability is a purely defensive one, he couldn’t have been able to heal, or create an explosion.

Emerald speaks up as well. “Wight found… by man. Man took Wight away. We… grab on… no lose Wight. Man brought us… here.” I can’t help but giggle at the idea of the two of them latching onto some poor guy trying to save Wight. I’m surprised that they didn’t attack the couple. I touch the braided necklace around my neck nervously.

I stand, deciding it’s time to try the door again. After another push doesn’t work, I try knocking. Not long after I hit the dark wood, I get a response.

“Yes, My Lord?” The voice isn’t a maid, maybe a butler or knight.

“Actually, it's Scarlet.” I speak with poise befitting a noble, like I’ve practiced. Shuffling sounds come from the other side of the door.

“Hold on My Lady, I must get the Count.” Pounding moves away from the door as the person sprints down the hall. What happened that necessitates that we be confined? I give my necklace another nervous touch.

I look back at my two companions, realizing they’ve been sleeping under my bed for who knows how long. “Have the two of you eaten since we got here?” The long silence I receive gives me my answer. I feel anger begin to well up in the pit of my stomach.

I understand locking them in here with me, they probably assumed they were some animals that got attached to me. But why did they not give the two of them any food!?

The door creaks open behind me, followed by a familiar voice.

“Scarlet?” I turn around to see my father standing in the doorway. I feel tears begin to well in my eyes. He’s really safe! Part of me didn’t believe that he got away. I give my father a watery smile. His hand touches my shoulder with a comforting squeeze. “We have much to discuss, girl.”

【〓〓〓〓】

The couch in my father’s office is surprisingly soft, just like him. I try to not sink into the plush surface while Father gathers papers into a somewhat neat pile. I give Emerald and Sea a glance. The couple is sitting comfortably on the couch next to me. Emerald keeps smacking Sea’s tendril as they reach for the candies in a bowl on the low table in front of us. Their two part act distracts me until Father sits opposite us.

His usually smiling face is instead dominated by a worried frown. Even his publicly cold demeanor doesn’t go as far as frowning. My nerves start to squirm.

“Scarlet, do you know where I found you?” I give Father a shake of my head. He lets out a sigh before continuing. “I found you in the remains of a forest. The woods had just been completely annihilated and nothing survived, except Wight.” I notice the dark circles under his eyes are much more pronounced than normal. “Wight destroyed that forest, Scarlet, the forest full of knights fighting monsters for our people.” He rubs his eyes with his fingers. “The kid was sleeping in the center of all that ash and death.”

After a few seconds of shocked silence, I press him for more. “Father, how could Wight do that? His blessing is invincibility, not destruction. He would have to manually crash through every trunk, they wouldn’t be burned.” My voice is full of confidence as I defend my younger sibling. Father silently pulls out a status stone and places it on the table.

“I would normally agree with you, but with how I found him and the change to his status, I can’t.” Before I can ask him what he means, he projects the status stone into the air. Wight’s status screen floats in front of me.

〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙 Wight Mutatio Holdings Draconic (Human) 5 Male Medium of the Archdemon Demonic and Draconic Affinities Extreme Mana, High Speed, Otherwise Low Blessing of the Archdemon 〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙

The light blue words floating before me fill my stomach with dread. Not only his class changed, but his race and affinities too? How did that even happen? I bury my head in my hands.

“I don’t know what happened, but we need to make sure he’s safe to be in public.” Father’s voice rolls over me. Before I can start to panic, I feel a warmth on my shoulder. Looking up, I see the familiar blue tentacle of Emerald resting on me. She gives me a pat before guiding me back into my seat. I notice Father eyeing my two companions with intense curiosity.

“Father, have you ever seen something like this?” I gesture to Sea and Emerald. Father gives me a shake of his head. I smile. “These two are Unraks, they’re a race that lives in our territory.”

His eyes go wide and dart between the two colorful shells. “Race? Are you saying those are people?” I give him a slightly smug nod. Emerald extends a tendril towards the table, miming a drawing motion. Father quickly catches on and gives her a pen and paper.

Emerald quickly sketches out the shape of an Unrak standing next to a stick figure. She adds a tendril from the Unrak to the hand of the stick figure and then gives the drawing to Father.

Father cautiously takes the sketch, seemingly still unsure of the strange appendage. He gives the sketch a once over, and cracks into explosive laughter.

I smile, finally feeling like I made it home.