1

It wasn't a good idea to fight.

She'd been itching to kill Ryan long before she'd arrived on the island. And now she not only could, but had to, her opinion was irrelevant. So part of her thought it was a shame to pass up this opportunity. She had easily taken care of him when she was still human, but transformed into a Lunar Remnant things could go irrevocably awry.

Even if she killed him, there would be all the other creatures left in her path. She didn't understand how there could be so many on this island, or maybe she didn't want to understand. So it simply wasn't a good idea to fight. She should run and look for Sylvester. That should have been her priority from the beginning.

Cynthia hoped it wasn't too late to correct her mistakes yet, that was the only thing she could do.

So that's what she did.

Cynthia ran away shamelessly " why should she be ashamed? She wasn't the kind of idiot who would chase a hopeless fight over useless things like pride. She knew her limits as well as her strengths.

The transformed Ryan jumped behind her. He had just been born, so right now he was little more than an animal. He had no will of his own, nor was it possible to make him cooperate. Right now he just wanted to quench his bloodlust.

Cynthia managed to dodge the attack. The monster's claws only grazed the wall to her right, leaving deep holes in the metal.

She kept running.

She didn't have to worry about Ryan alone, she was surrounded by enemies. A few hours ago she fought a lion. Now she felt like she had fallen into a cage full of wild animals.

She could be in bigger trouble than she already was. Many of the creatures, instead of zeroing in on her, had been moving away. She didn't really know why, but they weren't swooping down on her, the nearest human.

She didn't know why, but she didn't care. The thing was, thanks to that she had a chance.

One foot in front of the other, a simple repetition. She had walked a long way to get here. She wasn't going to die in a place like this after all that hardship. Then her sacrifices and aspirations would mean nothing. She was meant for something bigger than this.

Deep down, she knew she was.

Cynthia slid under the table, leapt over the rubble. She dodged bits of the ceiling that nearly crushed her and kept going without wasting a second. Now that she had gotten moving, the pain of her nearly ripped arm didn't drain her. That is, it still hurt like hell, but it had transformed into a background noise. Maybe it was an adrenaline thing. In any case, she was grateful for it, it was an unnecessary distraction.

Two creatures were blocking the entrance. That is, the only way out. She could go through one of the holes in the ceiling, but not if she wanted to quickly rejoin Sylvester. Therefore...

She pulled out the rope launcher. She aimed between those two things and fired.

The rope slipped between those two writhing masses of rotting flesh and made its way down the hallway. It was hard to hear anything with all this ruckus, but the rope went taut, so it must have caught on something. She had no room for doubt. Cynthia set the mechanism in motion. The rope began to retract, dragging her towards wherever it had reached at great speed.

Dragging her through the enemies. Furious, hungry. But she wasn't caught.

She escaped magnificently from their claws. Metaphorical claws, because they had other things that were not so easy to name. Once on the other side...

"Maybe I was too reckless? That could have ended badly."

No. Cynthia could have that kind of despairing thought while those monsters were tearing her to shreds, but not before. She had succeeded, so she hadn't made a mistake. The most important thing in the worst situations was to believe in yourself.

It didn't take long to find Sylvester after that. He was in the middle of a dining room so wrecked that it took her a few seconds to recognize it as such. The moon was shining down on him like a spotlight just for him as he laughed like a child, enjoying this. Maybe it was the loss of blood, the adrenaline of the situation or the sheer relief of having found him.

In any case, that was the first time Cynthia thought her boss was attractive.

When he saw her, his expression changed. She had done her best to not look too closely at the state of her arm, but she could tell it was barely holding on. She staggered toward him. Relief had also weakened her.

He got there first, naturally, and caught her when she fell. She had come this far, but not a step further. Even staying conscious had been a struggle. She should be impressed with herself for having pulled this off.

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"What happened?"

Right. There was something he didn't know. Breathing heavily, she tried to form the words necessary to warn him. All that came out of her throat was a cough as if she were choking.

The dining hall was emptying out and they were being left alone for the moment. Maybe the monsters were just looking for the ones who had done this to them. But now there was one different from all the others. She heard him enter.

"I should have known you'd end up like this," Sylvester said, somehow recognizing him instantly. "You said you wanted me to kill you, didn't you? Then come here, we've both been looking forward to this."

The thing Ryan had transformed into howled as if to try to intimidate the enemy. It sounded more like the screams of someone in agony as they suffered a violent death.

"Stay here."

Where did he think he was going? Seconds later, she realized what he meant. He deployed a barrier around her. It should take a few blows, though not many. So...

Now could she close her eyes? She could stop fighting the fatigue and pain? Giving up. No, never. Never.

If she was the type to give up, she would have died seconds after she was born. She'd had to fight even to take her first breath, but that wasn't really so strange.

Life was a war and she was determined to survive and win.

2

The Lunar Remnant howled as it clasped its hands together to crush him. It was like the blow of a giant hammer. No, much worse. Even though he leapt away, the ground filled with cracks and even sank a few inches.

"You're a lot stronger than your boss, huh?"

Even though they had both been newborns.

In any case, he didn't just dodge the attack.

Sylvester landed on one of its arms and dashed through it toward the beast's neck. He swung his katana as if it were an executioner's ax. The metal bit into the beast's neck, he felt and smelled the blood begin to flow. But it was far from a decapitation even with all the force he had put behind the swing.

He could do this, though. He just needed time.

Time he didn't get. The beast howled, with more rage than pain still, and that was enough to knock him off its back. The force of his scream sent him flying backwards. Sylvester back hit the barrier protecting Cynthia, and his whole body bounced against it.

Good thing that didn't count as a hit. The barrier was technology, not one of his many skills. It wouldn't withstand more than a few hits from a Lunar Remnant, though it had been specifically crafted for that. If he had weakened it by hitting it, Cynthia would be unprotected faster. He could fight and cover her at the same time, but her chances of survival would drop significantly.

Ryan wasted no time in pouncing on him, making a leap that left the ground beneath his feet cracking. He possessed monstrous strength despite his skeletal body. It was nothing more than a decoration. The workings of the Lunar Remnants had little to do with logic, or at least the logic of this world. They were monsters beyond that.

Sylvester ran to collide with the enemy in the middle. In any case, he had to get it away from Cynthia and the barrier. He was its target now, but it could shatter the barrier by accident while trying to kill him. Then, like an animal smelling blood, it would pounce on her.

Now Ryan possessed nothing like a will. He only wished to kill everyone who got in his way.

Sylvester collided with the huge beast in midair. He wasn't the one repelled. He drove the beast back, even though it was about four times as big as he was.

Of course, he hadn't gotten away with it without a hitch. His arms were shaking. They ached as if he had broken glass stuck in every millimeter of his skin. But that was all. It could be much worse.

Subjecting your body to that pressure was the minimum price to pay if you wanted to fight monsters.

Its claws attacked him so fast that before his eyes there were only silver flashes. He couldn't afford to give ground, so Sylvester stepped forward to meet the attack.

The blade sank between the creature's fingers deeply. The claw that had attacked was stopped because of that a short distance from his eyeball. But the other claw was still free. Free to change trajectory and try to crush him.

Sylvester's body flew along with the debris and dust raised by the impact.

He hadn't been hit. He had dodged once again. As he said, he had no intention of retreating a single step. No, for his partner's sake, he couldn't afford to lose a millimeter of ground. So that was not what the jump was for. He hadn't changed his mind as soon as he judged that he had no other choice.

The leap brought him to the beast's eye level.

He thrust one hand forward like a jackhammer, grabbing its head. Then, he slammed the beast's head into the ground with all his might...! It was like a real earthquake. He was surprised that the ground held.

Sylvester slashed its stomach as it tried to stand up. A part of its guts slid out through the wound. He grabbed onto that and pulled it up with his free hand. His guts weren't warm, but quite the opposite. It was as if that creature was already dead. Or as if it had never lived in the first place.

"I'm not going to enjoy this. But this was meant to end this way from the beginning, I feel."

The flesh coiled in on itself, curling into a ball. The beast howled again and lunged for him with its jaws open and claws ready to tear him apart. But it didn't bite Sylvester, it bit the ball of flesh made of his own intestines. It had been a good throw. As soon as the monster's teeth closed on it, biting down hard....

It exploded.

It fell to the ground again, but that wasn't all. It wasn't intact. The explosion had taken more than half of its jaw and a chunk of its face, left eye included.

He had defeated the beast and now all that was left was to inflict the coup de grace. He wouldn't have a chance to get up. Sylvester lifted the sword above his head with both hands, he was going to put all his strength, the weight of his body and his spirit in

Sylvester raised the sword above his head with both hands, he was going to put all his strength, the weight of his body and his spirit into the blow.

Yes, he wasn't going to enjoy this. So, if it had to be done, he'd rather it be done quickly. Unlike Cynthia, she didn't hate him anymore, although he didn't like the man either. The important thing was that if he'd wanted him dead, he wouldn't have made it to this island in the first place.

Maybe it would have been best for everyone involved, though.

But the attack didn't connect.

Sylvester stopped his sword blade mere millimeters from a human neck.

"That's not possible."

But he had the truth right in front of his eyes. On the verge of death, Ryan had become a human being again. That shouldn't be possible, but he couldn't deny it, and it went without saying how important it was.

Without exaggeration, it changed everything.

"Well, well. Looks like you're going to be staying with us for the rest of your life."

Sylvester lowered the katana.

"Whether it's long or short."