--- [Shin’s perspective]
“It’s because they’re the only ones who can truly save the weak and oppressed.” – Fei
I stop rushing towards her.
“Are you fucking serious?” – Shin
“It’s true. Without us, there would still be so many bad guys roaming free.” – Fei
“One of you motherfuckers killed my sister!” – Shin
“She obviously must have deserved it then!” – Fei
“Wha-!!...” – Shin
“If she didn’t deserve it, why would anyone pay large sums of money to get rid of her?” – Fei
“Lexa was the best person I’ve ever known! She kinder than anyone, and she did NOT deserve it…” – Shin
“Well, there must have been a good reason. Like I said, no one would pay that much to kill a good person. You clearly didn’t know her as well as you thought.” – Fei
“You’ve actually deluded yourself into thinking you’re the good guy… You’re not. The real ‘bad guys’ are not the innocent victims like my sister… They’re the ones who see good people like her as a threat… Something that needs to be eliminated… Money isn’t an issue to them. They do whatever the fuck they want. That includes hiring people like you, to kill people like her.” – Shin
“…” – Fei
“Reapers are scum.” – Shin
“That’s not true! I know the Reapers are the good guys. Without them, my entire town would still be run by a fucking power-hungry rapist!” – Fei
“Maybe they get some bad guys every now and then, I’m not going to deny that, but that doesn’t change the fact that they also kill plenty of innocent people. The Reapers are evil. There is no doubt about that.” – Shin
She gets visibly upset, it’s like she’s taken over by rage.
She stops speaking and she now charges at me.
Her movements are clunky, her broken ribs are holding her back a lot, but she’s not stopping.
It seems I’ve struck a nerve.
I don’t know anything about her life, but it seems like the Reapers helped her when she needed it the most.
She has properly convinced herself into thinking they’re good guys.
Be it a trauma response or brainwashing, she properly believes it…
If that belief is ever challenged and she starts to doubt herself, her entire worldview would crumble.
She can’t let that happen, so she responds with anger instead…
She gets within attack range, and throws a volley of wild blows, but I avoid them all.
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Her movements aren’t as slick as before.
I’m starting to lose a lot of blood though…
I need to knock her out quickly.
She continues to throw punches at me, and I continue to dodge, but she doesn’t stop.
She doesn’t stop, and she can’t stop.
She’s not herself right now.
There are no thought behind her attacks, it’s just pure rage.
I wait for an opportunity, then I throw my own punch.
It connects and she’s knocked down.
However, she immediately gets back up and continues to attack me.
I keep getting more and more dizzy.
I’m getting slower too.
I’m losing too much blood…
Some of her punches connect, and it just makes things worse.
It’s not looking good right now…
How do I put her down?
Every time I hit her; she shrugs it off.
Every time she hits me; I get one step closer to death.
This is bad…
I’ll try charging up an attack.
“Guah!” – Shin
She hit me in the face while I was charging, and it completely disrupts my concentration.
It’s no use.
She’s not letting me use charged attacks.
I have no choice but to end this with a normal attack.
We continue to exchange blows for a little while, but she’s with the upper hand.
It’s getting harder and harder by the second to stay awake.
Can I even do it?
Am I going to lose?
This would all be over if I just surrendered…
The healers would save me, and Alex could still pass if we win the next two matches…
Do I do it?
…
No…
I can’t give up yet…
As I thought that, she hits me in the jaw, and I fall over.
Before I’m able to get back up, she puts pressure on my shoulder, squeezing out blood.
“AAAAGHHHHH!!!” – Shin
“The Reapers aren’t evil!” – Fei
“AHHHGHGHHH!!!!” – Shin
It hurts so goddamn much!
I can’t do it anymore…
I have no choice; I need to surrender…
“Just surrender, Shin! It’s fine! Surrender!!” – Alex
Alex…
No…
What am I thinking?
I can’t give up just yet.
My team relies on me, if I lose here, their chances to pass will be significantly reduced.
I won’t let them down…
I grab her leg, and with all my remaining strength, I pull it.
I need to get her off me, otherwise I’ll pass out from the pain before the blood loss.
I pull it with everything I got.
But…
It doesn’t work…
I don’t have enough strength left in me.
Her leg doesn’t budge.
I can’t do it…
I’m actually going to lose…
…
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!” – Fei
Just as I thought that, something materializes in my hand.
It’s a…
Sword?
It’s a cold sword.
A sword made from ice materializes in my hand, and it pierces her stomach.
The area around the stab wound is frozen solid.
She steps off me, and she falls to the ground.
The impact of the fall shatters the ice and she’s left with a large hole in the stomach.
I get back up on my feet.
She doesn’t.
Before I know it, the sword is gone.
What was that…?
Was it…
My specialty?
Did I just use my SDM?
“The match is over, Shin won.” – Leanne
I won…
I did it…
“Healers go fix them up, quickly!” – Leanne
I really did it…
Just when I thought I was going to lose.
If it wasn’t for…
For…
…
…
…
---
“Wake up! Shin, wake up!” – Alex
“What’s going on? Where am I?” – Shin
“You’re finally awake!” – Alex
“What happened?” – Shin
“You passed out from blood loss, but the healers saved you. Apparently, they don’t have anyone who is capable of regrowing lost limbs here, so you’ll have to wait until we get back home before you get your arm back.” – Alex
I let out a sigh of relief.
I won, and I’m alive…
That’s all that matters.
So, what if I have to wait a few days to get my arm back…
Maybe I’ll even get a badass scar…
Wait, but…
“What happened to Fei?” – Shin
“She… She didn’t make it. The healers more or less restored her body, but it was too late… She was already dead. I know you didn’t mean to kill her, your specialty activated on its own. And if you hadn’t done it, she would have killed you. I’m just glad you’re alive.” – Alex
I killed her…
That’s the first person I’ve ever killed.
Why do I…
Feel fine?
I shouldn’t feel like this…
Just because she was a Reaper doesn’t mean she deserved to die.
She had obviously experienced some pretty traumatic things; she could have been saved…
Yet…
I feel fine.
I took a life and I feel fine.
…