Fate lifted his mask a little and spat out a bit of blood. Taking a potion out of his cloak, he downed the thing and tossed the empty bottle to the side, breathing a sigh of relief as his broken ribs began to mend.

“Nine more times, huh?” he muttered.

There was no way this battle was winnable. His mind was in shambles from the hit he’d just taken, and his stamina was nearing its limits. It felt like a sort of fog was seeping into his mind, obscuring his train of thought. His body ached and felt sore all over, as if he’d been trampled by a herd of bulldozers.

It would be easier to stop here. To give up and die.

“No.”

But he couldn’t do that. Not here. Not now.

“There… has to be a way.”

He slowly raised his sword, but his movement felt dull. He wanted a chance to analyze, observe and react. Something, anything that would give him an advantage in this uphill battle. But what? What was there to analyze? This thing wasn’t changing its attacks. He’d been fighting it without break, and for what?

Dodge, cut, parry, block. Over and over, four moves repeated in various patterns, broken up only by the occasional spell cast by Fate. He was slower than before, though, and it was a miracle that he hadn’t been hit a second time.

It wasn’t working. There had to be something different he could do. He wouldn’t win like this.

There was Albert. He could call on Albert.

But… no. He had to do this on his own. If he couldn’t win this on his own, then how could he get any further? He was the hero. He was supposed to defeat the demon king. If he couldn’t beat some stupid chimera, how could he defeat anything else?

Was he going to lose to some monster? No. That was impossible. He hadn’t been given a second chance at life just to lose here. The fog in his brain was slowly melting away. He’d push through this. He’d push through it and grow, he’d win and get stronger.

As Ten charged at him again, he slid in between Ten’s legs and thrust upwards, plunging his sword into the chimera’s groin. He twisted the blade and continued to slide, then reached out, calling his blade back to him. Apparently, the chimera could still feel because it roared in pain, momentarily staggered. Fate didn’t miss the opportunity to leap up and plunge his sword into Ten’s neck, taking yet another soul.

He was launched into the air as the beast shook him off, but he was starting to believe.

This was doable. It was strong, fast, powerful and could throw out insane magic, but it wasn’t all that smart. It only smashed and shot. Thank god it didn’t have the intelligence of a person because Fate would’ve been dead long ago if that were the case. In this kind of battle, the enemy wouldn’t dodge or block. Ten would take hit after hit, simly because it could. Fate, however, was down in just two shots, maybe even one. But whether he got hit or not was up to him.

So he just had to be better than his opponent. That was all.

[Sword of the gods has been activated: 12%]

The cuts were a little deeper. The magic was a little harsher. The movement was just a bit quicker. Fate was growing stronger, even during the battle. They weren’t significant changes.

But they were there.

Again and again, Fate dodged and weaved, continuing to leave cuts all over Ten’s body. Blows dodged by a hair, movements predicted and avoided, then a soul taken, and yet then yet another.

Fate was counting. Six left.

He’d noticed that the beast was getting slower, too. If the beast truly was powered by souls, then it made sense that the more souls he took, the slower it’d move. However, that probably wasn’t the whole story. Ten’s wounds were all healing naturally. It looked like he’d taken no damage at all, although that clearly wasn’t true. However, such regeneration wasn’t natural. Ten must’ve been using its souls to regenerate. At this rate, it was possible that it had five souls instead of six.

He wasn’t going to consider that to be the truth, though. It was too risky.

Another dodge. Another cut. Using a bit more mana to cast an earth spell to launch him out of the way, using a bit of wind magic to propel him just enough to get out of the way. His brain was slowly turning off. His body was nearing its limits, but he couldn’t give up.

Five souls. Four. Three.

Around that point, Fate took his one hit. Ten was apparently also capable of using ice magic, something that had caught Fate off guard. The magic slowed his movements down and caused a bit of damage, enough to cause Fate to stagger.

It was just a second, but that second was incredibly fatal. While Fate had been dodging and attacking for a solid thirty minutes of strenuous combat, all Ten needed was one hit. One hit led to another, and Fate was picked up by the legs and tossed into a tree like a sack of potatoes.

“Kah- dammit!” Fate gasped, throwing up a mouthful of blood. His vision went blurry, but he didn’t have time to stop and feel sorry for himself. His whole body trembled as he got back up, downing another potion, then followed it up with a mana potion.

Three more. His heart was pounding. He could feel his blood pulsing through his body, up to his head and down to his toes.

Just a bit more.

He’d finish it here and now. His soul was crying out, his blade glowing even brighter than before. He was treading an insanely fine line between life and death, where a single mistake would push him over into the wrong side.

He closed his eyes as he focused. His heart calmed down as he felt the wind blow over his body. He’d probably pass out after this, but there was no other way to win.

With a fierce battle cry, he charged once more, sliding between the beast's legs again. It was prepared and stomped, disrupting Fate’s movements, but Fate was also ready.

He kicked up and back, twisting himself midair to face Ten’s back, then kicked off the back and launched himself into the air. Flipping himself, he dove down, sword first, plunging it into Ten’s neck for the eighth time. Using his momentum, he twisted around and wrapped his legs around the chimera’s neck, then pulled his sword out and plunged it in again.

Ten roared, but it couldn’t shake Fate off as he pulled the blade out one last time.

“Go to hell,” Fate panted, plunging the sword into the beast’s head one last time.

Fate kicked off one last time, finishing the deed for good. Ten fell to the ground with a massive thud, and it wouldn’t get back up. Raising his hand, Fate called his sword back and stared Birdie in the eyes.

“You’re next.”

Fate was supposed to win here. The [Protagonist] is always supposed to win a fight like this.

It’s their fight to win.

But unfortunately for Fate, this world wasn’t entirely his anymore.

“Sorry, but I have places to be,” Birdie shrugged. “I’ll be back for your body, though!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a vial, then fixed a syringe and plunged the needle into his neck. There was a giant glow that shot out from his body before a violent darkness began to swirl around Fate. It was total overkill, but it looked like Birdie wasn’t all that concerned about it.

“I can’t mangle your body up too much, but I hope you’ll understand that I can’t have a living puppet. Although that would be neat. Good look dealing with my Final Stand! I’ll be back for your body.”

“Your what-”

The darkness closed in around Fate, and he disappeared.

~~~

“You’re still trying? Really, it’s not going to work.”

Prota was still trying to absorb mana from Mise, but it wasn’t working. The dwarf seemed so amused that he simply stood still and looked at Prota, who was struggling with all her might.

“Are you out of mana or something? Why are you trying so hard?”

Prota just glared at Mise defiantly, still trying to absorb mana. Soul Steal could be blocked if your mental strength was strong enough. In other words, Prota’s Soul Steal was simply weaker than Mise’s mental strength. She didn’t understand what she needed to do. No matter how hard she focused, nothing was happening.

“Hm… well, if you’re not going to do anything, I might as well take a little break during work hours. Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime and all that.”

After saying that, Mise really did sit down.

Prota’s heart sank. The dwarf was openly mocking her. She squeezed her eyes and tried to focus harder, but there was no point in it. How was she supposed to solve a problem she knew nothing about?

Soul Steal. For the first time, it was working against her.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The inability to absorb mana was really kicking her in the ass right now. It wasn’t like regular mages could absorb mana all that quickly, but had she been a regular mage, she surely would’ve been able to cast a few more spells.

But she couldn’t absorb any mana from her surroundings. She didn’t naturally regenerate mana. She had to get it from other people. She’d be unable to cast any spells until that happened.

“On second thought, I should just get it over with. There’s one more I have to deal with, right?”

Prota froze.

John.

In the heat of the battle, she’d somehow forgotten what the whole point was. She was here to protect John, who was still fast asleep. If she fell here, even if she didn’t die, John wouldn’t be able to defend himself.

“Maybe I should just deal with that guy first. It doesn’t look like you’re a threat, but he might be.”

This man… was going to go after John first? Not her? What? There was no way she was that little of a threat. She was a “protector.” John’s protector. If the enemy perceived John as the bigger threat, then what kind of protector was she?

A flame was lit in her heart. An intense concentration burned in her mind. One thought roared. She couldn’t let this dwarf leave here. He couldn’t be allowed to move from this spot. Her brain began to pour all of its thoughts into a single stream, hyperfixating on a singular task that could not be ignored.

Protect John.

She wasn’t thinking it consciously, but her need to replenish her mana roared. Her willpower skyrocketed, completely ignoring anything in its way. The tendrils that had initially been blocked off now had the strength to completely shatter the mental barriers Mise had set up. A surge of mana poured into Prota’s core, replenishing it instantly. In the process, earth and water magic poured into her brain. It was just a bit of earth and water manipulation, but it was enough.

She didn’t need to use it right now anyway.

She cast mana recovery instantly, and her core refilled once more. She cast it again. And again.

“What the-” Mise gasped as he felt his energy drain. He’d been feeling pretty comfortable before, but Soul Steal was no joke. “You- you can’t do this!”

In a matter of seconds, he felt like he’d lost half the energy he’d originally had. Soul Siphon truly was a powerful ability. As befitting of one of the most powerful races in the world. He managed to recover and bolster his defenses even more, but the damage had been done. Even if Prota couldn’t take any more mana, she’d taken enough.

Draining Mise’s energy wasn’t the end goal, though. Prota summoned a flame and compressed it, turning it blue. It began to reshape itself, turning into an arrow before whistling through the air. A bolt of wind shot next to it, converging onto Mise’s location, oxygen combining with heat to create an explosion powerful enough to knock down some of the walls of the building next to it. No one was in it; everyone had long since run away, but even if there had been people in it, Prota wouldn’t have cared. She hadn’t even noticed the collateral damage she was causing.

She summoned another blue flame, feeding a bit of air into it. However, she didn’t throw it immediately as Mise had expected her to do. Instead, a pillar of flame erupted near his feet, forcing him to jump out of the way.

There was only one direction Mise could’ve dodged to, and Prota had seen it coming.

“Shit-!”

Mise stared as the blue fireball flew towards him, but there was nothing he could do about it. For the second time, an explosion blew a massive hole in the ground. Mise threw up a protection spell just in time, but he was still blown away by the sheer force of the impact. He grunted as he was violently thrown into a wall.

“I need to deal with you now,” he said, climbing out of the rubble. “You’ll regret messing with me.”

He closed his eyes and began to chant as all four of his elemental affinities began to gather. Water, earth, fire and wind, circling around. His eyes shot open as he finished his chant, creating a torrent of magic that spiralled its way toward Prota.

However, she, too, had an ultimate of sorts as well. Her Blossom of Ice was finished, and she flung it forwards. It came into contact with one of the elements and immediately exploded, freezing everything nearby. It wasn’t enough to stop Mise’s spell, but it could slow it down, just a bit.

She used that opportunity to rush in.

Mise hadn’t seen it coming. It wasn’t something anyone would have predicted. If you could throw spells, why get in close and personal? It was textbook standards for casters to stand back and fight from afar. It was the saner thing. It was the safer thing.

Unfortunately for Mise, Prota didn’t care about her own safety. And her teacher was definitely not sane.

“What the-” he started as Prota pushed a second Blossom up.

The dwarf dodged, but he didn’t escape unscathed. The spell hit his arm, freezing it until the flesh was completely dead. It fell off on its own, shattering as it hit the ground.

“Argh! Shit!” Mise yelled, but he was still a professional. He had the mind to burn his wound, cauterizing it and stopping the bleeding.

“You… I’m going to kill you…” Mise growled, panting heavily. He no longer had the carefree demeanor he had before.

Although Mise was heavily injured, Prota, too, was at her limits. The mental stress of casting two Blossoms and blue fire was seriously messing with her head. She could barely process a thought, let alone a sentence, but there was a feeling so deeply engrained into her that she didn’t need to think to know what she needed to do.

She couldn’t let the dwarf get to John.

Unfortunately, sheer will wasn’t enough to win her the battle. Her eyes widened as she saw a giant boulder flying her way, but her brain was too groggy for her to dodge in time. It caught her and carried her all the way into a wall, smashing through and shattering her bones. Despite her resistance to pain, she couldn’t help but cry out. It hurt. It hurt so much. When was the last time things had hurt this much?

Pain. She didn’t like pain. Her mind started to close up, to relapse back into its shell. Unpleasant memories were surfacing again.

“Yes. That’s it. Cry! Yell! Anguish!” Mise cackled. “Suffer. Just like me! That’s right, life is suffering! It’s a truth you stupid brats have to realize!”

Mise’s lunacy wasn’t reaching Prota’s ears. She couldn’t hear anything, actually. Memories of her times on the streets were flooding back. Surviving day by day. Not sure whether it was worth it to live or to die. Hated by everyone, hurt by everyone, incapable of reaching out to anyone…

That one year felt like an eternity. She was stuck in it. But there was a little crack in that memory. Something to pull her back up from the depths of her pain.

There was someone to go back to.

“I can’t… let you go.”

Tears poured from her eyes as she forced herself back up. She immediately fell back down. Her legs simply didn’t have the strength to let her stand back up. She tried again and managed to stay standing. She had to end things here.

It was ironic. Her specialty was prolonged fights with opponents that had mana in their bodies, but here, she had to finish things in one go. She didn’t have it in her to keep going.

“Pro… tect…” she mumbled. Her eyes glazed over as she let her body work for her.

She had enough for one more spell. Something, anything, as long as it took out Mise, it was fine. She just needed John to get back up. Surely, he could take care of the rest.

Somehow.

The training she’d done was really coming in handy. She was barely conscious, but her body knew what to do. The core thought that was buried in Prota’s mind was moving her body without her needing to think anything. She didn’t know what to do, though. The last bits of consciousness couldn’t decide. A Blossom of Ice? A powerful blue fireball? Something else?

In her stupor, both of her most powerful spells began to form, but not separately.

They began to form together.

[Creation levels up! Creation: level 2]

[You have succeeded in making a new spell!]

It was a Blossom of Ice with a blue fire swirling around inside. Somehow, the intense heat and intense cold didn’t cancel each other out. Somehow, despite all odds, they complimented each other. Polar opposites conforming into one spell.

She threw it forward weakly, and it floated through the air.

“What the-” Mise gasped. He reacted quickly. This wasn’t a spell he could take in his condition. He had to do something about it.

He didn’t like using it, but there was no other option. He quickly reached into his bag and pulled out a vial, plugging it into a syringe, just like Birdie had with Fate. A brilliant light flashed as he cast his own Final Stand.

His body was restored as a torrent of fire, water, earth and wind shot out in a giant beam, obliterating Prota’s spell and smashing through rows of buildings. Despite all that, somehow, Prota’s small spell managed to deflect the Final Stand.

“Jo…hn…” Prota mumbled as she fell unconscious.

It deflected a Final Stand. No matter how Mise looked at it, it was ridiculous. What kind of magic had been created? Granted, it had been a minor deflection that had just barely saved Prota, but still, to push a spell that cost a life to cast away…

How terrifying.

Mise hobbled over, looking at the girl. He was weakened, very much so, but it was his own fault. He’d been cocky. He’d gone way too easy. He should’ve ended the fight as soon as it started, but he wanted to take a break, to lie down. Was that such a sin? The girl wasn’t stronger than him. There was no way. But still, to find such an unexpected development…

“So she really did know how to use Soul Siphon. Doctor’s going to be mad.”

“She knew Soul Siphon?”

Birdie landed beside Mise, looking at Prota’s unconscious body with glee.

“She’s a little broken.”

“Since when has that stopped me?” Birdie grinned. “Such pretty girls don’t come along that often.”

Mise just sighed. He didn’t want to deal with Birdie’s perverted hobbies.

“What happened to Ten?” Fate had clearly been dealt with.

“It died.”

“Dead?!”

“Yeah, the kid was stronger than we thought. He’s gone now, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

Mise nodded uneasily. Well, a problem solved was a problem solved. He was already writing the report in his head. Why did he have to get stuck with a partner who never did his share of the work?

“Alright, how do I start?” Birdie said, licking his lips as he lifted Prota by the throat. “Right. Remove the blood. Nice and slow. It’s too bad she ain’t awake for this step.”

He started to pull his knives out but stopped as he felt a rather unusual amount of bloodlust behind him. It didn’t feel like normal bloodlust, though. There was something different about it. Birdie couldn’t quite place his finger on what, but it was definitely a threat. His heart began to race.

Birdie frowned. Him? Scared? What could possibly be behind him? He looked at Mise to see that the dwarf had also frozen up.

He turned around to see… nothing of importance. There was just an ordinary boy. He wasn’t large. He wasn’t buff, and he didn’t look like anyone with a large amount of mana. There was no sword on his waist, no staff on his back. Just a strange black cloak and red shirt of strange material, a long scarf wrapped around his face, hiding his expression. Only a red and black eye peeked out of the shadow cast by the hood.

The description felt familiar. Birdie was about to say something, but the young man spoke up first.

“...hey. What are you doing?”