Gin Glymes; from a former member of the military called the Grey Moon to a married man with his wife Melenna Goldart, who currently goes by the name Enna Glymes, and who was also a former member of the military, and gave birth to two children: a son and a daughter, Jakki and Gina.

Throughout their entire life, spending their years being together, taking care of each other, as a family, they had been living in peace without any trouble. But if they had, Gin would step up and fend for his family, risking his life to achieve their happiness until death, and hopefully pass his history to his kin—or their childrens’ kin—to learn from their family that came before them for generations to come.

They are one big happy family and, if not, the best family that you could hope for.

—Of course that was before the chaos started. What is happening now, however, is different.

“—”

Both Shouya and Jakki have witnessed something that had become a part of their nightmare.

The experienced wolfman lay in a pool of his own blood, beaten and damaged all over his body, and the color of blood was stained on his soft, bright lavender fur.

The little child quietly says “Papa…,” hopefully that the sound of his son would get him to get up and face off the one who beat him up.

But he never did. He is nothing but a husk of his former self.

Shouya’s hope of saving Vincilos, and all of its people that are in it, has been diminished drastically and was replaced with despair.

“It is sad to see that the one who will ‘try to stop me’ is now nothing but a dead pup. I must admit, he did pull up a fight. But it wasn’t as much as I hoped for. He has all of that power, all of that volition, that’s what it takes to survive! With all that strength that he has, he could’ve taken charge and become a leader and lead the world to a better future!”

As they whitnessed a brutal murder, destroying the chances of saving everyone, Vikov began to speak.

He was the sole reason why Vincilos is in this state; causing havoc to the city, harming innocent lives, and will kill anyone who rebels against him. He did all of this…just to start a revolution, against a kingdom no less.

“However, Korovin said that he had Guyun Tatorra on him, he said that he’s the strongest. Guess he’s wrong. And for a student of Griumo, it was rather…underwhelming.”

Sharing his disappointment, Vikov gave out a quiet sigh. Even though he had beaten Gin, he couldn’t help but find dissatisfaction with the outcome. He thought to himself that he wanted to find out the reason why, though he quickly dismissed it and shrugged it off as “whatever”.

However, he does have a point. Why didn't Gin use that ability? If he had done it earlier during his fight against Vikov, he wouldn’t be in that grotesque state. Even Shouya had thought about it before fighting against him. But at the same time, with Vikov’s lightning fast speed, it was impossible to land a hit on him.

But it was already too late. His fate has already been sealed.

“…Why?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you need to go this far just to kill?! That man was a father that wanted to save his son! Don’t you feel bad for any of these people for the things that you have done? For those who wanted peace instead of violence? Have you had no sympathy?!”

Lips shaking and filled with horror, Shouya blasted his words at the murderer.

One of the things to be human—or at the very least, feel like one—was to feel human emotions. Joy, sorrow, rage, sympathy, fear, doubt, compassion, and all else, those are the things that make us feel human, what makes us feel alive. Without them, people would’ve just become mindless drones with no soul; without any feeling within one’s self would make them feel empty. Alone. Questioning themself as to why they exist in the first place.

“…Sympathy?”

Hearing that made a frown on Vikov’s face. He slowly approaches them, his giant feet stamping hard on the ground with each step.

“There is no sympathy on the battlefield, this is the rule of survival! Society has undergone a process of devolution throughout the years and forgotten the ways of battle! People with such emotions make people weak! Fragile! Or even killed! They’re the reason why we lost the battle, and things like that are not needed in our war!”

He continued to approach closer and closer and he raised his arm high over his head, wanting to slam his fist in front of them.

“Haa!”

“—!

But before he could do that, Vikov blocked an oncoming warhammer and he was pushed to the side from that attack.

“Gunther!”

“Took me a while to find you. I thought that you had died from the explosion. So this is the big man in charge, huh?”

Gunther darted his eyes at the leader of the Blue Sharks. Shouya was lucky that Gunther saved them just before Vikov could crush them.

“—!”

He took a quick look at Gin’s mangled corpse and Gunther made a heavy frown. He wasn’t able to witness their fight firsthand, but that bloody body clearly says it all.

“Hmm…that hammer… So you must be the Warlord that everyone’s talking about. I’ve only heard rumors, but I’ve never had any interest in your small stories from nobody like you.”

“Well that’s a first! One of your crew members was a big fan of mine. Also, ‘nobody’? Now that just breaks my heart. I’ve fought a number of wars, you know!”

“Spare me the talk. Your story will end quickly right here.”

With his lightning speed, Vikov charges at the hammer-wielding Gunther. Gunther managed to block his attack with his warhammer and countered him with a swing of his hammer, but Vikov immediately blocked it.

Gunther’s strength may be powerful, but in terms of swinging speed, unlike neither Gin nor Vikov, he is the slowest due to the weight and size of the hammer. Despite wielding the large warhammer with ease, this gives him a huge disadvantage compared to Vikov’s fast strikes and quick reaction.

They trade blows onto each other and even though Gunther does his best to defend the attacks that’s coming toward him, he is no match for him. Gunther’s weapon isn’t meant for defending himself; the handle of the warhammer is too slender to cover his entire body. His weapon is meant for offensive attacks and offensive only.

Vikov’s fists struck his body and pushed Gunther away from him, sending him crashing into the debris of scraps.

“Haaa!”

Shouya takes out a pair of Magi-gems—blue and green—from the bag and slaps them hard on the ground as pillars of ice dashed towards Vikov. But, unlike before, he jumped over the ice and landed in front of Shouya. Shouya didn’t know how to use the Magi-gem before and it successfully hurt Vikov. Now that he finally learned it, he’d thought that he would do it to him again. But Vikov isn’t dumb. He’s not going to fall for the same trick a second time.

That’s a big mistake on Shouya’s part. He should’ve thought ahead of time.

“Eek!”

“Nice try.”

“Gah!”

The tiger’s giant hand grabs Shouya’s small body and slams him on the hard, solid floor of the docks. His body felt like it’s been shattered to hundreds of pieces.

“—But truly pathetic.”

He then kicked the boy with fierce strength, sending him rolling several feet across the ground. He can feel the surface of the pavement scratching his body as he is being dragged. Then, he immediately hit the wall behind him.

“Gahaaah!”

But when he hit the wall, he felt something sharp. He looks down and sees something that he didn’t want to believe

I-Is this my blood?!

An iron rod pierced through the waistline of his body. His eyes widened in shock as he made a terrified look on his face.

Oh god! Oh god it hurts! It hurts really bad!

“Guk!”

Seeing the blood and his own body that was pierced by a long sharp object made Shouya vomit blood. He wanted to get himself unstuck from the iron rod. But he couldn’t do it—no, more like he’s scared to do it. He’s scared of what would happen if he got loose. Would he die slowly from the amount of blood lost, or would he die instantly if he shifted his body the wrong way? Either way, he has met with an unfortunate predicament.

While he is painfully impaled and stuck on a rod, his suffering doesn’t end there.

“Aaagggaaaahhhh!”

Shouya screamed as Vikov twisted the rod and dug deeper into his body. The feeling of cold and hard metal grinding him from the inside, like knives cutting deep into his flesh.

He wanted to get out. He wanted to be free. He wanted to stand and fight the person who did this to him. But he can’t. He’s too weak; too scared, he doesn’t have the strength to push himself off of. All he can do is scream until his throat is dry.

“Is this really what you are? How pathetic. You only gain strength from others, but when you’re by yourself, you’re hopeless. You can never achieve true strength by relying on others.”

He wanted to hear what Vikov was saying, but the sound of his own screams drowned his hearing.

I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out! I want to get out!

Pain. Absolute pain. Astonishing pain. One isn’t well prepared—both mentally and physically—to endure this kind of suffering.

He screamed so loud that if someone could hear him, they would’ve rescued him.

But no one is coming to help him.

His scream started to deteriorate as his mind started to feel light. His consciousness is slowly fading and the ounce of his strength is leaving his body.

“Hmm?”

Vikov paused and turned around when he saw Jakki throw a small rock at him. Of course, given the size of the rock, it doesn't practically hurt him. It only got his attention.

“L-Leave him alone, you big meanie!”

The little child throws another rock at him, but Vikov doesn’t seem to flinch when the small rock hits him. Instead, he was a bit annoyed.

He turns his body and walks towards the little boy. Jakki tries his best to slowly keep his distance only for him to trip and fall on the ground. Now the big white tigerman stands in front of him.

“Foolish child. Just like your father.”

“G…Getaway… Run…”

“It’s too bad that I had to shed blood on a young child. You would make a suitable apprentice.”

He wanted to run. He wanted to run as far as possible and go to where his mother and sister are and out of this chaos and destruction and away from this killer—.

But he couldn’t; his legs wouldn’t respond to him as Jakki’s body was frozen in place. He was frozen in fear.

Unable to move, Vikov stopped in front of the child.

“But do not worry. You won’t have to be alone anymore. You’ll meet with your father in the afterlife.”

Vikov raised his fist high in the sky and he brought it down on top of Jakki.

There was no one that could save him; Gin was murdered, Gunther was knocked out, and Shouya could only do nothing but watch.

If he had the strength, he could stop Vikov. If he had the speed, he could’ve saved Jakki and run away from this city.

If he had been given any kind of ability that can make him overpowered, he could’ve saved everyone and become a hero. He would’ve met and fallen in love with a princess, become royalty, and live happily ever after. If only he had all of this from the beginning.

—Of course that was just a fairy tale. When he came to another world, he was given nothing: No magic, no special weapon, or any sort of divine protection. He’s not living in a dream, he’s trapped in some sort of a simulation of a video game or an anime. This is real.

All he is is an ordinary and worthless boy, and all he could do is witness a murder of a child.

“…!”

Or so he thought.

“—! What!?”

In the eyes of Vikov, what he saw was impossible.

Blocking Vikov’s attack, a man stepped in between the tigerman and the wolf child and he stopped it using his sword. But that isn’t just an ordinary sword, it’s Gin’s greatsword. And the man standing between them was…

“I won’t let you touch my son.”

For a miraculous reason, even Vikov was surprised, Gin is still alive. This was not casted by some sort of illusion magic or a doppelganger look-alike. He is actually standing, alive and well—well, barely.

Even though Gin is standing in front of them, he is hanging on for his dear life. Blood dripping out from his body and his muscles showed tense as veins popped from his short lavender-colored fur. Cuts, gashes, bruises, everything that he had endured in that fight, and yet he is still alive.

Vikov took a giant leap back, distancing himself from Gin.

“That’s impossible! That attack should’ve killed you!”

“You’re not the first person to say that. But man, that was really painful! It hurts like hell. Worse than the other fights I’ve fought in the war. You’re a hard hitter, I must admit. That really knocked the lights out of me. I was sure that I was gonna die.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“P-Papa!”

“Don’t worry Jak, your big ol’ man is here to save you! Oh, but I guess you were already freed. That’s one problem that we can cross off.”

“How did you survive?”

“That’s an old secret that I never tell. Wahahaha!”

Without taking this situation seriously, Gin replied to Shouya as he laughed nonchalantly, wiping away any worries.

How can he laugh at a time like this? No normal being could’ve survived with all of these severe wounds on them. How is this possible? What’s the secret? Neither Shouya, Vikov, or even his son Jakki, couldn’t figure out how.

“…”

As Gin was distracted by his own cheerful banter, Vikov squinted and narrowed his cat-like eyes, peering into Gin’s chest. Something has been bothering him, but what? He was sure that his move should’ve killed him. No one has been able to withstand and survive. Unless…

“—!”

He figured it out; he knows Gin’s secret. The secret to his survival.

Vikov, after figuring out his secret, chuckled.

“I see… Illabalel.”

“Hm?”

“‘Art of Skinned Shield: Illabalel.’ That’s what you used.”

“So you know that one too? How did you figure it out?”

“Your fur.”

Vikov pointed at him and Gin looked down to see little fragments of metal stuck on his fur. Beastmen have very excellent eyesight compared to other races such as elves and dwarfs. They can see as little below than 20/20 vision. That is something that even Shouya couldn’t handle. He can only go as far as 20/20, but no lower than that.

“But it doesn't matter. I’ll just have to rip out your heart if I have to, then you won’t be able to use that move again.”

“Pah! I’d like to see you try!”

Both Gin and Vikov as they prepared for a standoff. Meanwhile, Jakki moved away from his father and didn't want to be close to the action.

Tension filled the atmosphere. The cold wind brushed their fur in the air. The two of them stared at each other eye-to-eye for a moment, seeing which one of them would survive. And then…

“Hah!”

“Hua!”

Both of them, at the same time, took a giant leap towards each other and unleashed their final blow.

Both Shouya and Jakki had witnessed an unbelievable sight. Vikov punched straight towards Gin, but the moment he was about to punch him, Gin strafe to the left. However…

“—!”

He dodged the attack, but not completely as Vikov punched his left arm. Vikov punched his arm so hard, so powerful, that it was ripped off of his body, flying so high in the air.

But it doesn’t stop Gin.

He stomped on the ground hard and he continued to push forward. Then, using his remaining arm, he pierced Vikov’s abdomen with his sword.

“Gn—! W-What?!”

He couldn’t believe it, but it is true. Both Shouya and Jakki couldn’t believe their eyes either. The sword punctured Vikov’s thick hide.

“—!”

That’s when he sees it; a small faint glow coming out of his sword. He can recognize it. It’s—

“GGGGGUUUAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Before he could even think—or even say anything—Gin put all of his strength into his remaining arm and pushed the sword deep, climbing into Vikov’s body. His mind began to race as he couldn’t fathom something that was impossible—at least to him.

He was the powerful, he was the indestructible, he was the strongest beastman there is in the Blue Sharks.

Everyone feared him not just in appearance or intimidation, but his strength as well. He was the very core of what the Blue Sharks was; a leader.

—At least, not anymore.

“HAAAAA—!”

With his sheer strength that he has left, he kept pushing and then, the leader of the Blue Sharks, Vikov, was decapitated from the torso, splitting him into two. Both halves of his body fell and collapsed on the ground, followed up with Gin’s severed arm, landing it with a dull thud.

Two equally strong beastmen went toe-to-toe with each other. One was obviously stronger than the other, but the other managed to overpower him and came out as the true victor of the fight.

That was the outcome of the fight. Gin defeated the leader of the Blue Sharks.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

“You guys!”

“Ah! Little miss! Ack!”

With all of his strength left from his body, Gin’s legs gave out and collapsed on the floor.

“Here, let me help!”

Alisa rushed towards him and pulled out green and yellow Magi-gem from her pocket. She wanted to use them to heal him, but he waved his hand.

“Don’t worry about me. Ugh… Try to help him first.”

“Are you sure?”

“This is just a flesh wound, so I’ll be fine. Now go help him. I’ll be with ya for a sec.”

“A-Alright!”

Having listened to Gin’s command, Alisa heads towards Shouya and tries to deal with the situation. But first, they need to loosen the iron rod from his body.

“Alisa…”

“Don’t waste your energy. Can you help me, little one?”

“O-Okay.”

With Jakki’s help, they tried to get him out of the rod that is in his shoulder, but it wouldn’t budge, and Shouya screamed in pain as they tried to get him out, even a single inch of movement could hurt him.

“Want me to try out my way?”

“Ah, Gunther!”

Gunther raised his warhammer and he destroyed the wall that was behind Shouya. The only thing that remained was the rod.

“Now then, on the count of three, I’ll pull this out. So Alisa, do you mind holding his hand?”

“Certainly!”

Alisa, as commanded, reached out her arm to Shouya and he gripped her arm tightly while she and Jakki held him down. Gunther grabbed the rod and looked at him.

“On the count of three, I’ll pull. You’re ready?”

Without a single word, Shouya nodded to his question. Gunther gripped it tightly with both of his hands.

“One… Two…”

“Gaaaaaaaahhhh!!”

Then, the moment that he said three, Shouya let out an ear-piercing scream as Gunther swiftly pulled the rod out of his body with all of his might and tossed it to the side.

“Hold still.”

Alisa began rubbing the green and yellow Magi-gems and a sprinkle of small lights landed on top of the wound.

His scream slowly died down and took a breather as the pain inflicted on him left his body.

“T...Thank you. All of you.”

“Hey, it’s no problem. But, whew, glad that’s over with.”

They look around and see the aftermath of the battle. Warehouses destroyed, supplies scattered, and the docks are filled with debris from the destroyed warehouses. And also…

“…”

Shouya looks on the ground and sees a severed body of the Blue Sharks’s leader.

It was a strong and powerful cut that was caused by the man who killed him, Gin. There was no man—no, no mortal being—that could ever survive that attack. However, you could be the same for Gin’s case. If he had contacted with his fist directly or completely missed the cut, he would’ve been killed instead. But luckily, none of that happened. It was in Gin’s favor.

Speaking of which…

“—! Gin!”

Shouya dashed towards the wolfman, who was sitting on the ground, with his hand on his bloody arm. Pints of blood and bits of his flesh fall out from the missing arm.

The tradeoff for killing the leader was to sacrifice his own arm in order to survive. It was a dangerous and risky move on his part, but he survived, and the sacrifice was worth it.

“You’re badly hurt! We need to heal you, quick!”

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about little ol’ me! I’ll be alright.”

“But your arm…!”

“It’s no big deal. This is nothing compared to other fights I had fought in my time. Trust me, I’ve bit off more than I can handle. Besides, losing an arm or an leg can’t stop the great Gin Glymes! Wahahaha!”

Despite losing an arm, Gin shrugged it off and laughed proudly.

But how can he laugh and act like nothing happened? He lost a major part of himself, and yet, he laughs it off as if he didn’t care.

—Instead, he kept his chin up and held his pride.

“Papa!”

“Woah!”

Jakki cries out and pounces towards the injured Gin, causing both of them to fall on the floor, with Jakki on top of him. He didn’t have any strength to even brace himself, so his body just gave in just like that.

“Papa! Y-You died! And all bloody! And…and…”

“Don’t worry, my boy. Your old man won’t go off and die that easily. Don’t forget, I will protect you and this family at all cost.”

“W-W-Waaaaahhhh!”

After listening to his words, Jakki bawled his eyes out on Gin’s chest, sticking the child’s tears and snot onto his fur.

The little boy witnessed so many events that have been going on in just one day. People came to their home and invaded their property, captured by the Blue Sharks, and watched his father’s mangled corpse just one time.

He is just a small child. His life has been brutal and harsh in just one day. Even though he had been saved by his father, this moment will be engraved into his brain for the rest of his life.

Gin used his remaining arm to gently pat his son on the head.

“Now then, I guess we’re gonna give a signal to the Inquisitor to call off the attack. How much time do we have left?”

“Like roughly about a minute or so. In the meantime, do you mind taking care of him for me?”

“Oh! Sure.”

Shouya accepted Gin’s request and held the child’s small hand. His hand was just the size of his thumb, but it felt like a puppy pawed on his hand. It was so adorable that it brought warmth to his heart.

But it was a quick moment that ended quickly.

“You bastards!”

“—!”

It wasn’t just Shouya, but everyone around him heard it. They looked at the source to who had called them out. Standing on top of the pile of debris was a familiar catman with black fur around his body.

“—It’s you!”

“How dare you…

“Hm?”

“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you, HOW DARE YOU!! You killed our leader, you have destroyed our freedom! And you’re going to walk away just like that?! I will not stand by and allow that!”

He screamed out at them with his bloodshot eyes and wanting to avenge his leader, he extended his arm in the sky and shouted “Zum Tamun” and shards of ice were created in midair. It wasn’t just one, but a multitude of spear-shaped blocks of ice in front of him.

“Grr… Dammit!”

“Papa, no!”

Gin tries to get up from the ground, but he struggles to even stand, let alone moving his legs. All of his strength and stamina was used up with his fight against Vikov. The only part of his body that could move was his arm.

“I have to protect them! I have to do this for her! I must give them a future, even if I have to die to achieve it!”

With the swing of his arm, he fired the icey projectiles towards them, and both Gin and Gunther deflected the incoming shots. While Gunther is physically capable to deflect his shots with a twirl of his warhammer, Gin can barely keep up with the stamina he has left. The fight left him incapacitated and can barely move. The only way to defend himself was to sit in place while using half of his sword to cut the upcoming projectiles.

While Gin and Gunther held their ground, Shouya, Alisa, and Jakki went behind them. The three of them have no fighting capabilities and they don’t have anything to protect them. So the only thing to keep themselves safe was to become their shields.

“Damnit, we need to stop him!”

“Yeah! I don’t think we’re going to last long! —Gah!”

“Papa!”

Jakki cried out to his father as the large wolfman got hit by one of the ice shards. A projectile that is so sharp that he got stabbed and stuck onto his shoulder.

What do I do…what do I do?

Shouya tries to come up with an idea of how to stop him. But with what, exactly? Surely there isn’t anything that could help him in a situation like this, can he?

“Ah!”

He looks into his packet of Magi-gems and sees that he has a few remaining Magi-gems inside.

“Alisa, do you know how you use these things to attack them?”

“Just swing it at the enemy. Why—”

“I’m going to distract him from you guys.”

“Huh? Wait!”

Before Alisa could even warn him, Shouya immediately jumps straight into danger. He didn’t have the time to give them the plan; he must end it quickly before time runs out.

I just hope this works.

“Gnah!”

Shouya slammed both the green and blue Magi-gems on the ground and pillars of spikes appeared on the ground and headed straight towards the catman.

“—!”

The ice went under the debris and raised beneath him, sending the catman flying and landed on the ground on all fours across Shouya.

“Damn you!”

The catman extended his arm and aimed it, with the ice spear in hand, at the boy who caused him to fall.

I must not be afraid. I must not be afraid. I have to protect everyone. We have come so far! I can’t afford to lose here! I must…not…be…afraid!

Shouya grips the blue Magi-gem tightly and he swings his arm wide. As he swung it, an ice spears magically appeared and fired at the catman, but they missed him.

“Crap! How do you aim it right?”

He doesn’t know how to fully control a singular Magi-gem before, so shooting with it is going to be difficult. He’s going to have to rely on luck to beat him.

“—Oh!”

Shouya looks down on the ground and sees an iron rod in the middle, between him and the catman. It’s the same rod that had stabbed Shouya once and then had been freed by Gunther. Even after being removed from his body, it still has his blood on the tip of the rod.

I guess I’ve got no choice.

He decides and begins doing the most dangerous thing yet. He started to run towards the rod, attempting to grab it and use it as a weapon.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

As he ran, the catman fired magical ice spears from his hand, but the courageous Shouya dodged them with only one spear grazing his cheek, and he quickly grabbed the bloodstained rod. Then, he started to run towards the catman with the rod in hand.

The catman fired more icey spears towards him, forcing Shouya to stop in his tracks and dodge it. He swayed and zig-zag left and right, avoiding making contact with the projectiles and getting closer to the attacker at the same time.

He can see that the catman is starting to sweat and breathing heavily. This could mean that his Mana was almost depleted from his body. Usually in an RPG, the amount of magic that the player has cast, the amount of Mana that the character has to spend.

Luckily for Shouya, he doesn’t need Mana to cast any kind of magic. He’s got Magi-gems to use. But even if it were the case, it would’ve helped him significantly more than the limited use of Magi-gems.

The catman stopped firing his magic and took a breather, leaving him wide open. This gives Shouya the opportunity to charge at him straight on.

“I will not die here!”

The catman extended both of his arms forward and a magic circle was summoned in front of him.

“Oh no you don’t!”

“Guh!”

Before the catman could even cast his magic, Gunther picked up a piece of debris that was the size of a soccer ball and used his warhammer to bat at the catman. The piece of debris hit him square in the temple of the forehead, causing him to flinch, and the circle in front of him disappeared.

This is it! It’s do or die!

“Haaaa!”

Shouya gave out a cry as he was close enough and was about to stab him with the rod. The catman wanted to recast the spell, but he didn’t have enough time to do it.

And this is what his fate had led him to.

“—!”

With a thrust of the rod, Shouya had pierced the catman’s chest. The man’s bloodshot eyes widened and coughed out blood as he felt his heart was pierced from one end to another.

“…”

The catman’s arms flopped, dangling in the air as he lost the strength to lift them. He then looks at Shouya, with the light he has left.

“…What…is your name?”

“It’s...Shouya.”

“Shouya…”

With little strength that he has left, he slowly begins to walk towards Shouya and places his mouth close to his ears and whispers to him.

“Tell Karri…forgive…my…sins…”

Giving his last message to Shouya, drawing his final breath, he dropped to the ground facedown.

Shouya doesn’t know who Karri is or what they are. But he promises to deliver it if he gets a chance to see them.

“Hah…hah…”

He slowly walks backwards, pacing himself away from the body. And just as he was about to trip and to the floor, Alisa catches him from the back and catches him from the shoulders.

“Easy there! You’ve done quite a lot!”

“…”

“I’m actually surprised, Sho! You’ve managed to pull this off! But tell me the plan next time!”

“…”

“Anyways, let’s head back. Once we tell the Grand Inquisitor to call off the attack, we can make a big party and have everyone invited—”

“Alisa…”

“Hm?”

His voice interrupted Alisa’s cheerful attitude. She wanted to celebrate their victory for defeating the Blue Sharks and saving the city with everyone’s friends and families. There were casualties in the process; many had sacrificed their lives in order to protect their family, their friends, or even their home.

They have contributed everything that they can hope for. Their sacrifices won’t be in vain.

“What is it, Sho?”

“Did…the temperature got cold?”

“Huh? I mean, the weather does get cold at night, if that’s what you’re saying.”

She didn’t understand what he was saying. Sure the temperature did get cold in the night, but that’s an odd thing to ask the obvious question.

“Huh, that’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“Why is my body feeling cold?”

“What are you talking—”

About if that's what she was going to say before his body dropped backwards on the floor.

“—!”

She didn’t understand it at first, but now she does.

She took a quick gasp as she saw that Shouya got an ice shard stuck on his chest. It was due to the trade off that he got when he stabbed the catman. He knew the risks that he’s going to take, now this is his punishment.

Am I…going to die?

He can feel his body cold and shivering; his hot blood turning cold.

He wanted to scream, but his voice was used up. He wanted to cry, but his eyes were all dried up. He wanted to hear Alisa calling for help, but their voices became muffled as his hearing was drifting away.

All he could see was a comet passing through the night sky before his vision faded black.