The shadows filled the alley, only to vanish a moment later, along with that strange, black-haired woman and the kid she had in her arms.

In a single instant, my mind was freed from the overwhelming compulsion. It intensified a bit as my body nearly jumped to follow the mark of the main plot… Only to then weaken and finally snap, returning the control of my actions back to my own mind.

Still…

There were mercenaries in front of me. Even after losing quite a lot of their companions, their leader and then being burdened with scores of wounded… they were still just a moment away from swarming me again.

Between my struggle to even remain upright and their fury at all the death and suffering, they went through for nothing so far… It was only a matter of time before one of them would step up to finish the job.

Too much blood sank into the stones of this alley for either of the sides to just wave their hand and forget about the matter.

'There's no way out. They are in front, they are to my sides, they are to my…'

I glanced over my shoulder, only for my thoughts to waver and stop.

Because all of the mercenaries that blocked my way back towards the port… have all died under the onslaught of the shadows, falling prey to their stealthy weapons as the black-haired woman made her escape.

'A way out!'

Still…

As I glanced backward, I also got a short look at how easily that woman's shadows were slaughtering all those who stood in their path.

And all out of nowhere, I suddenly realized I wasn't all that interested in getting near those people.

After all, by facing the mercenaries, I would at least go down fighting rather than being cut down like a mere pest on the side of the road.

I took one more deep breath… Before changing my already destroyed weapon to one of the blades formerly owned by the corpses of my making. And rather than taking even more time to rest, I cut the protests off my body before throwing myself at the mercenaries.

A less professional and disciplined group would long be routed by my vicious attack. But not those guys. Even after losing so many of their friends, even their leader, they were just about to regain their morale and pick up the fight!

So, with no other choice, I struck at them before they could reorganize.

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'I guess the reward is so great, they are all willing to risk their lives to get their hands on it!' I realized as I cut down two more, inevitably raising the morale of all the others as I just removed two more people to share the reward between.

'Just where the hell is Nay?!' My thoughts turned desperate when I cut down two more, only to be sent back with a powerful kick to my left thigh. Immobilized even further, I have now started yielding the ground.

The mere whiff of strength I regained burned out in a single instant, once again leaving me at the very end of the rope.

Yet, I gritted my teeth and kept on going, striking the enemy attacks away and yielding more and more ground with each passing moment.

'I need to detach myself from them,' I thought, desperately looking for a way out.

Even by ignoring my limits, I could only go so far. And as for now, this 'far' only meant a few more steps.

Then, one more kick found its way across my guard, knocking me off my feet and throwing me down to the ground.

I didn't have the strength to stand up. I couldn't swing my sword even for one last time.

'It's over,' I thought, accepting my fate.

I did all I could. There was nothing that I held back, and thus I was now ready to close my eyes and rest with no regrets.

And just as the mercenaries rushed to seal their victory, a new party arrived on the scene, cutting them down from behind in lazy slashes of their perfectly pristine, white lances and swords.

The white-clad knights pushed their way into the alley while riding on massive war horses, clearly not minding how narrow the streets and alleys were in this city.

I readied myself for a mercy strike, even went as far as to force myself up on one knee before lowering my head, making for an easy execution cut…

A cut that never came through.

The knights showed no desire to kill anyone at all. If a mercenary would simply stand away, they would pass without any killing intent. Only those that refused to yield the way would end up cut down into stripes by the swift strikes of the white blades.

'What?' I thought, taking a single breath to regain just enough strength to turn my eyes back towards the entrance of the valley…

Because the feeling that I thought to be gone, has now returned with an even greater strength than before.

The black-haired woman… She has returned to the alley, with all of her shadows in tow, while pushed by even more white knights.

Sensing that this battle no longer involved me, I gladly took the chance to get some proper rest. I plummeted down to the street, resting my back against the wall of some building while breathing as heavily as I did breathe rapidly.

Then, I looked back towards the woman again… Only to see that the kid in her arms finally achieved its purpose, freeing itself from her hold and instantly bolting forward.

With each step the red-haired kid took, I could feel the sense of compulsion grow exponentially, now reaching the level of outright robbing me of my free will.

A pull stronger than anything I've experienced in any other mind-dive games I played in the past.

Yet, before this strange kid could reach more than just a few steps, one of the white knights stepped up and grabbed her, raising her off the ground to stop any further attempts at escaping.

I was dead tired. There was no strength left in my body. Every part of my flesh was used way past its limits.

No logical rationale could push me to as much as nod my head anymore, not to speak about intervening with the fate of this strange, young kid.

And yet, when her eyes moved and locked on my face only for the whites of her eyes to turn black while her irises exploded in red…

My free will vanished. All the logic and laws of physics no longer had me in their control.

With a sense of holy wrath exploding in my soul, the infinite suppression of that kid's eyes took over.

And by using some kind of strength I was not aware of, my body moved up.,