Kagami unleashed her fury on my entire body, strikes sending ripples of pain through my entire body so fast it was impossible to process. Even when I desperately used 「Illusionist」to hide my presence, she swung her limbs wildly to aimlessly slam my ailing body with every ounce of anger she had.
I desperately scrambled away, leaving her to thrash wildly at the thin air. After a few more seconds, her speed returned to normal as Time Dilation ended.
“Dammit, you coward, show yourself!” She shouted directionlessly.
She was on tilt, unaware and open to attack. I watched her desperately stalk around the room, with one thought in my mind: ‘I could end this here and now.’
My hands gripped my axes. I had little magic left after so much use, but I had more than enough to conceal myself for one fatal attack. All it would take was one clean cut and the trial would be over.
No. That’s not the way.
I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had to believe she was till saveable. Not for any grand noble reason like belief in the inherent goodness of humanity. She just reminded me too much of myself. If she could be pushed past the point of redemption, who’s to say I couldn’t too?
“You wanna take your anger out? I’m right here. Hit me.” I dispelled my concealment and holstered my axes, holding my arms out to invite whatever was coming to me.
“You… what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I won’t fight you. You wanna hit me? Hit me. I won’t fight back.”
“Bastard… you’re still saying that shit…” she clenched her fist and looked at me with hatred in her eyes. “You want me to hit you? I’ll hit you. Again and again until you have no choice but to fight back!”
She leaped at me with an animalistic fury, tackling me to the ground in one quick motion. She showered me with punches, bruising every part of my face. But even still, something about the way she was fighting felt… off.
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“Why. Won’t. You. Fight. Me.” She gritted her teeth as she continued hounding me with hits, but it seemed like her heart wasn’t in it. Despite the pain in my face I could tell she was holding back.
“I’m not… gonna… hurt you…” I said through the hits. Blood was filling my vision, but I was clinging to consciousness.
“Just fight me!” She said, though her punches started to slow. She was crying out in anguish, her strikes continually more and more desperate. Through the blood covering my eyes, I could see her face rapidly flickering between her real face, my face, the director’s face, and one that was covered in shadow. She was on the verge of complete mental breakdown, losing all control of her power. “Please! Please… just… kill me…” tears started to stream down her face, and she resorted to just hitting my chest weakly. It was as if she had completely given up on everything.
I finally understood. She didn’t volunteer so she could stop me. She wanted me to stop her.
She wasn’t lashing out at me. She wanted to force me to kill her.
I wiped the blood from my eyes and looked up at her, now crying her eyes out and no longer hitting me at all. It was a pitiful sight.
“I can’t kill you,” I said, spitting the blood from my mouth, “but I can try to fix this whole mess. The situation is bad, but it’s not lost. If you really want to pay for your crimes, let me pass. It’s the only way.”
She didn’t reply immediately, instead continuing to cry. She did sit far back enough that I was able to stand, extending a hand to her on the floor.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at my hand in disbelief, as if she couldn’t comprehend the simple kindness I was extending to her after everything she had done. But it was the truth. Even after every awful thing she had done, I didn’t hate her or wish her dead. I just wanted to help.
Tentatively, she took my hand and rose to her feet. Almost immediately, she collapsed into my arms as if she physically couldn’t hold her own weight anymore. By the sounds of her ragged breathing, she was completely physically exhausted. A closer look at her face revealed bags under her eyes from sleep deprivation. She must have been moving around by sheer drive and willpower, and now the adrenaline had died out she was barely staying conscious.
“You son of a bitch… couldn’t even do me this one solid, huh?” Her voice was weak, as if her entire body was trying to shut down.
“Sorry, Kagami. That’s not how I roll.”
“Still tryna save me? What a hero…”
She trailed off at the end of her sentence, finally succumbing to the sleep that had been slowly overtaking her body. Judging by how exhausted she seemed, she needed it.
The same moment she fell asleep, a loud noise came from the back of the trial room. The lock on the door had turned itself, and the enormous door itself had slowly begun to open. The signal that I had passed the trial.
“Thank you, Kagami. I’ll make good on my promise when I get back.”
Letting the sleeping girl down gently on the floor, I wiped the rest of the blood off my face and made for the door, my final trial complete.