Bursting out from the guildhouse’s doors, Minoru, Petra, and Milo were met with the sight of the burning city as fire rained down from the crumbling canopy above. People were screaming, yelling at each other, pushing and shoving and falling to the ground as they were chased. The insectoid monsters that the three had encountered in the destroyed village were here too, joined by other beasts of similar make and appearance. Pink and fleshy, looking cobbled together from muscle and sinew. Some look vaguely mammalian, others in the suggested shape of aquatic life that flew through the air, and others still were bipedal and humanoid, the shape of man corrupted and distorted as they shambled about.
Civilians fought desperately against the beasts, trying to fend them off as best they could as they ran away, screams filling the air as some were slain. A man’s chest was pierced right through, a woman’s torso was removed from her legs, another man’s head disappeared, leaving only a bare pair of shoulders. Others, joined by soldiers and guards stationed around the city, valiantly fought against the monsters, slaying them as they attempted their advance.
Petra and Milo recoiled from the sights, eyes opened wide as a nauseating sickness gripped their hearts.
“This is… awful.” Minoru managed to squeeze out of his throat, before finally drawing his arms. “We have to help them!” He called, to which Petra and Milo, fighting against their trembling hands, managed to draw their weapons, quickly running past the crowds of people, greeting the beasts with fierce strikes and blows.
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“Ghh–!” Dedrick grunted as he was forced back by a fearsome strike from the monster before him against his sword, the blade catching on the monster’s fist as he held it up against the beast with both hands. Gritting his teeth, he glared up at the monster as it towered over him. He could practically see the grin hidden behind its armored face.
“Aww, what’s the matter, eh? Realizing you’re nothing but a weak little rat? Face it, Dedrick, you’re powerless against me!” The beast boasted as it reared its leg back, swinging it forwards.
Dedrick eased up off his sword, leaning back as far as he could to dodge the kick, only for the beast to follow up by swinging its other fist right for him, to which Dedrick deflected with a swing of his sword.
“Dammit, what is with this thing!? How is it so strong? I can’t even match the strength of its punches!”
“You’re gonna have to try harder than that to get me. Come on! What’s a noble like you good for if you can’t even scratch me, eh? And here I thought you would’ve been trained in combat, but I guess that sword’s just for show!” It mocked in its horrid voice, posturing itself confidently.
Dedrick let out a huff, before beginning to channel mana in his free hand, a deep blue color taking form as it traced out the shape of his hand, before he pointed forwards with his index and middle finger.
“Faerie Fire!”
In an instant, the color dissipated from his hand, shooting towards the beast and being absorbed into its body, which then became outlined in the same ethereal, deep blue. It observed itself curiously, before giving a heavy huff.
“Needing spells to try and get an advantage? And here I thought this was going to be fun!” It stated, shrugging in an exaggerated tone, before it suddenly rushed right towards Dedrick.
As it attempted to strike with its fist once more, the blue outline glowed brighter, before projecting a predictive visage of the creature. Copying its moves, the image seemed to predict its attack before it even made it, moving just an instant faster.
Dedrick read this, and quickly dodged, following up with a fierce slash into the monster’s side, in-between the plates of its armor, finally scoring a clean hit and drawing blood, which was a deep magenta as it spilled out and coated Dedrick’s blade.
This sequence played out multiple times afterwards, Dedrick using his spell to dodge the monster’s attacks and get clean hits in, even dodging one punch and managing to land on the beast’s arm, to which he leapt off and brought his sword down in a heavy slash that ran down its back, the cut cresting down from between its shoulders to the base of its tail.
Jumping just out of range of another attack, Dedrick stood poised to respond to whatever move the monster would make next, as it stood up tall and looked down at him.
“Hah, cheeky little shit. Needed a little handicap like that to get some good hits in?” It seemed to praise, before rolling its shoulder. “Okay, how about this: an even bigger handicap!” It said as it hid one of its hands behind its back. “Come on, like this, I should be even easier to hit– RIGHT!?” It suddenly yelled its last word as it stomped its foot into the ground, causing cracks that bled an orange glow to spread out from there, eventually overtaking an enormous area on the earth.
Dedrick felt the ground rumble, when a sudden force caused a piece of the ground to rocket upwards and strike him in the stomach, pushing him slightly into the air as the wind was knocked from his lungs.
In a flash, the monster rushed in, jamming its elbow into Dedrick, knocking him into the ground. It quickly picked him up with its tail, proceeding to slam him into the ground around itself over and over, before using it like a limb to throw him, sending him flying into a nearby tree– its trunk bending in response to the impact.
“GAHAUGH–!” Dedrick yelled out in pain as he trembled, gasping empty breaths for air as he shakily tried to pull himself up.
“Hey hey hey, what’s with you!? I give you another handicap, and you lose even faster than you were before!” The monster complained, gesturing its sarcastic frustration with its hands. “Aaaahh- Here I was hoping to have some fun before getting to the slaughter. Ah well, it’s always like this, nothing new, I ‘spose.” It waved off the situation before rubbing the back of its head, seemingly disappointed.
“You foul, horrendous… Nngh–!” Dedrick choked out, falling back down to the ground as he clutched his stomach in pain.
“Hey now! Don’t you go struggling. Wouldn’t want to accidentally snuff you out. Orders from on high, you see, can’t go letting you die.” It rattled off, walking over and squatting down right next to Dedrick, seeming to grin at his state as its huge hand grabbed his hair. “Although, they never did say anything about not hurting you. So if I leave you on the brink, but you never actually die, I’m in the clear, wouldn’t you say?”
Dedrick glared at him, teeth grit in rage, before his head was suddenly slammed into the ground below, the monster repeatedly yanking his head down, blood beginning to splatter across the earth as his features were broken.
“HUUUH!? I’M RIGHT, AREN’T I? AREN’T IIIIIIIIII~??” It yelled, before smashing Dedrick’s head against the ground one final time, leaving him near-unconscious as it stood up, dusting its hands off before sighing. “Whew… Stay down there in the ground, will you? Suits you Villesians more than it does us.” It laughed in its horrible voice. “See ya, nobleboy! Try not to get yourself killed before you come trying to find us again, eh!?” It mocked, before turning and forcefully jumping away, soaring through the air as it disappeared into the blazing inferno consuming the city.
In the moments following, Dedrick’s gaze hazed up, blurring as his consciousness slipped, but not before he heard heavy, metallic footsteps approaching him.
“Sir Dedrick… We need to get him out of here, quickly–!” A muffled voice said, before everything went black.
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“Everything’s going to be okay, it’ll be okay sweetie, don’t cry, don’t cry…” A woman whispered out frantically to her crying child, her voice shaking as she tried to hide in the underbrush surrounding a tree. Her frantic comforting turned into a panicked scream, as a rustling behind her grew into a monstrous hissing as she was assaulted by a monster that went for the kill, the woman holding her baby close and squeezing her eyes shut tight..
Her death never came, however, as Petra’s blade cleaved right through the monster, cleanly cutting it in half, causing it to sputter and croak before dying quickly. Looking up, the woman gazed at her with wide open, fearful eyes.
“Go on, get out of here! We’ve got a path open!” Petra commanded, to which the woman nodded, quickly scrambling with her baby to the direction she was pointed.
Whipping back around, Petra narrowly noticed the approach of another monster, its attack almost striking her, only for Petra to dodge as she flipped backwards, backflipping onto her feet and going almost directly into a fierce strike, driving her sword right through her attacker. Gripping it with her other hand, she pulled it upwards, its blade cutting and running through its body before it ripped right through, bursting out of their shoulder and leaving an enormous, blood spurting gash before giving it a forceful kick, knocking it over as it died as well.
Petra’s eyes were opened wide, her ears laid flat onto her head as her tail bristled fiercely. She quickly dashed forwards towards more screams, following whatever was closest.
Following shortly behind were Minoru and Milo, who ran through the burning streets, striking down any and all monsters along the way. Milo firing an icicle that ran right through one that was attacking a soldier, Minoru using his shield to bash one before driving his sword deep into it, and Petra cleaving right through whatever monster stood in her way.
Stopping her advance, Petra called out into the burning city when she could see no more people.
“DEDRICK! DEDRIIIIICK–!!” She screamed out desperately.
“Any sign of him!?” Minoru asked as he regrouped with her, his head on a swivel as he scanned the area frantically.
“No…! Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit! This can’t be happening…!” Petra cursed, squeezing her sword tight in her hand.
“Calm down, Petra, we’ll find him! We need to focus on getting the townsfolk to safety first!” Milo called.
“Shut up!! Do you think I don’t know that!?” Petra retorted.
“Don’t get mad at me! You’re going to get yourself killed before long if you keep running around everywhere! We have no idea where he even is right now!”
“So!? We’re his friends! We need to find him or else he’s toast out here!”
“Get ahold of yourself! Do you think he’d like it if you went and got yourself killed trying to save him!?”
“Who cares what happens to me!?” She suddenly screamed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but Dedrick’s my friend! I’m not going to let him die out here–!”
“Guys! Now’s not the time to be arguing!!” Minoru suddenly shouted, interrupting the two of them. “We’re going to be killed if we don’t have our heads on straight. We need to keep cool and clear out as many monsters as we can before they kill anyone else! We don’t have the time to afford to bitch like this!” He ordered.
As the three spoke, a monster loomed over them on a nearby rooftop, poised to strike. Almost silently, it leapt off the building, diving down towards them, Petra’s ears standing to attention as it did so, looking up and seeing it flying directly at Minoru.
“MINORU–!” She shouted, shoving him out of the way in order to swing at it, only for it to suddenly be knocked off its trajectory, as a bullet ripped right through its head, blasting it open.
Looking to the direction the shot came from, the three saw Sahar, armed with a smoking rifle with an incredibly long barrel and a saber sheathed at his side, who lowered his weapon and sighed, scratching his head.
“Honestly, you kids gotta cool off.” He remarked with a small smirk as he slung the gun over his shoulder and put his hand on his hip. “You guys go on ahead and find your friend. Boss is evacuating people and I’m doing cleanup.”
“Will you be okay on your own?” Minoru asked, before the three noticed a monster approaching from behind Sahar. They were prepared to warn him, only for him to let loose another loud, hefty shot from his gun that tore through the air, striking the monster without even looking. Unsheathing his sword in a fluid motion, the arm was loosed from his hand, flying through the air only for the blade to embed itself in the beast’s head, causing it to fall over limply.
“That answer your question?” He asked with a little smile. “Go on now, Boss and I have things handled over here.” He urged, to which they nodded, running off, before he went and retrieved his sword from the monster corpse behind him.
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“Remain calm, everyone! Follow the soldiers and you’ll make it out okay! I repeat, remain calm and follow–”
Voice magnified by a magic sigil held before his mouth, a soldier spoke to the fleeing civilians from atop a small tower, directing them onwards. However, his voice was cut short as a foreboding tremor shook the earth, accompanied by a heavy impact, one that caught not only his attention, but the attention of the other soldiers and civilians as well, all looking behind him to see the huge, imposing figure of the same beast that had beaten Dedrick.
Reaching down, the man was easily grasped in the monster’s enormous palm, being lifted up near its face. The mask that covered its mouth retracted, revealing a dense jungle of sharp, needlelike teeth lining its grinning maw. Grabbing the hand that projected out the magnifying sigil, it raised it up to its own mouth before speaking
“HEL-LO ONE AND ALL, PEOPLE OF LUDMILIA! HANG ONTO YOUR SEATS, LADIES AND GENTS, BECAUSE TONIGHT ALL OF YOU SPECIAL LITTLE VILLESIANS HAVE FRONT-ROW SEATS TO OUR GREATEST SHOWING YET, A SHOW THAT YOU WON’T GET THE CHANCE TO SEE AGAIN! DON’T BOTHER SITTING DOWN BECAUSE THOSE LEGS CERTAINLY WON’T BE GETTING A CHANCE TO REST AS WE PRESENT OUR EX-CLUSIVE PERFORMANCE, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, AND FOR ONLY ONCE IN HISTORY! GIVE IT UP FOOOOR:”
The beast suddenly extended one of its glowing claws and ran it right through the soldier in his grasp, impaling him through the abdomen before wrenching it upwards, cutting the man cleanly in half from the waist up as it spoke.
“THE SLAUGHTER OF LUDMILIAAAAAAAA!!”
On cue, a rumbling was heard all around the crowds, before multiple stone walls of various buildings surrounding them suddenly burst open, crushed bricks and splintered wood flying every which way as various beasts flooded out from the buildings, instantly setting upon the townsfolk.
A cacophony of screams filled the air as the crowd fled in fear, yet numerous people were beset by the monsters, their overwhelming numbers packing everyone tightly together. In seconds, scores of people were swiftly, mercilessly killed. Soldiers rushed to the scene, fighting against the influx of monsters as best they could, cutting down dozens of them while lucky individuals managed to escape to safety.
Gunshots rang out as Sahar’s shots ripped through lines of monsters. Slinging his firearm over his shoulder once more, he rushed in and swiftly cut down multiple beasts that were encroaching on him. Another shot of his gun– imbued with a green glow– pierced into the ground, to which multiple thorns suddenly jolted out of the ground, piercing and impaling the various beasts all around the scene, stopping their attacks as he called out.
“Get out of here, now! We’ll hold them back, so save yourselves!” He commanded, to which people immediately went running past him. Letting a heavy breath go, he cursed the situation. “I told those kids I’d handle things, but this whole situation is fucked. We’re in real shit now…” He mused, before dashing forwards, loosing shot after shot from his rifle as he rushed in close, slashing through various monsters in quick, precise motions. “No use bitching now, can only keep my word.” He mused.
Grinning down at his handiwork, the mysterious beast let his arms rest at his sides before leaping off the building, satisfied with the destruction he had caused here. Now, though…
“Those kids that killed Carne must still be here. Didn’t see them leave…” It let out a sinister chuckle. “Looks like I still have some rats to kill.”
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Rushing through the streets, Minoru, Petra, and Milo encountered not much of anything as they headed north through the city. It was almost eerie how empty it was now, abandoned even by the monsters that attacked, all that was left was fire and the crumbling buildings that it burned to ash.
“He went this way, right!?” Petra asked desperately. “DEDRIIIICK–!!” She called out yet again.
“Hang on, let me head up and see if I can find anything.” Milo urged, stopping the group as he channeled a silver wind around his feet before lifting off high into the air. Now with a vantage point above the buildings, he could see somewhat better, but the raging infernos and smoke limited his visibility. Towering over and illuminated by the flames, however, was the shape of a large tower, a huge flower-shaped clock on its side. Quickly hovering back down, Milo pointed towards it.
“I remember seeing that tower in the direction Dedrick went, let’s head for it and see if we can’t find anything!” He declared, to which the other two followed, the three running for the tower looming in the distance.
Soon enough, they made their way into the small plaza right outside the tower. Looking around, all that was present was the destroyed remains of the infrastructure that once stood there, crumbled statues and pillars littering the ground.
Petra called out for Dedrick once again to no response, the three scouring the area as they looked for their friend, without any sense of where he might be, although there was no sign of anyone around.
Suddenly, however, Minoru heard something strange, as the sound of a haggard, almost choking coughing resounded out nearby. Scrambling over, he quickly rounded a corner of the tower to find the source, only to be greeted with a stumbling man, leaned up against the building for support as he seemed to drag himself forwards.
Quickly moving to support him, Minoru held him up. “Are you okay, sir!?” He asked.
Hacking and coughing some more, the man looked up at Minoru with a sullen expression. “P-Please… I need to get out of here… Would you please help me…?”
“Of course!” Minoru affirmed, walking the man over as he called out to Petra and Milo. “Hey guys, someone was here after all, we need to get him out!”
Petra and Milo soon joined his side, looking the man over, Milo mused. “He doesn’t look hurt… But he might have breathed in too much smoke… We need to get him out of here, quick!” He commanded, although a detail caught his eye as he looked closer. Around the man’s chest was a necklace, and another, identical one was in his hand.
Silver, with the unmistakable symbol of the Harnewentian Church hanging from the chains.
Almost forcing Minoru and Petra away from the man, he was dropped and fell to the ground as Milo cautiously pointed his staff right at him. “You… What are you doing with that necklace!?” He asked quickly, before looking to his friends. “Minoru! Petra! This guy’s definitely with the church here, and he has the necklace I took off of Carne!”
“What!? But… Dedrick had that necklace! Then…” Petra cut herself off as she let out a little gasp of realization as she quickly drew her sword, pointing it directly at the man. “You…! Where’s Dedrick!?” She asked forcefully.
Letting out an angered huff, the man looked up at her scornfully. “You… despicable Villesians… You were the ones that killed Carne… And now you threaten me for the sake of that horrid Dedrick? Still your tongues, you beasts, as if you have any right!”
“Shut it!” Petra retorted, almost jabbing his throat with her sword. “I’ll ask one more time: Where. Is. Dedrick?”
“As if I would know! That man is as good as dead fighting this battle, I have no idea where he went!”
“Cut the shit! You’re with the church and Dedrick went there to investigate you! Tell us where he is, now!”
“You fucking Villesians, always acting like you’re better than us! You rats don’t know anything, not a thing! Wipe those pretentious glares from your faces!” He ranted. “Dedrick is dead, there’s not a thing he could do against my partner! And it won’t be long until he comes after you rats, too!”
“‘Partner…?’” Milo repeated. “So you’re saying there’s someone else behind this attack, too? Where is he!?”
“Hah! As if I’d tell you! He’s probably ripping through crowds of you shitty rats right now, and he probably did the same to your friend, too! None of you are a match for him, so don’t hold your breath!”
“This guy’s really starting to get on my nerves…” Milo muttered out, his brow furrowing in anger as he reared his staff back, gathering ice around its tip once again.
Just then, Petra’s ears stood up to attention as a strange feeling gripped her heart, making her stomach twist causing her to develop a cold sweat. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes scanned her surroundings, and yet she couldn’t tell where this odd dread was coming from. She had no clue what was going on, but her tail bristled with seemingly no rhyme or reason for doing so. Something was setting her instincts off, and her heart pounded like mad in response, the edges of her vision pulsing as her blood pressure spiked and caused an aching pounding in her head.
“Come on, what’s the hold up!?” Called a voice that echoed all around, one that made Petra’s mind go into overdrive.
Looking up, she saw a figure rocketing towards them from the sky, and in the next instant she threw herself into Milo and Minoru, knocking them aside as the three narrowly escaped it as it catapulted right into their location mere seconds afterwards, slamming into the ground with such force that it caused a huge crater to form, chunks of brick and earth flying into the air as it landed.
Recoiling from the impact, the three dragged themselves up, each recovering from the sudden dodge they had to perform as they looked towards the massive cloud of dust kicked up by the landing. Each of them felt a feeling of terror wash over them, as whatever was behind that cloud radiated nothing but pure malice as it stood up.
The only thing they could see of it were its four yellow, glowing eyes that shone through the dust.
With a single swipe of its hand, it cleared the dust out of the way effortlessly as the three stood up, readying their weapons. They could see, hanging from one of its glowing claws, was the man they were interrogating, who had seemingly died instantly from the impact. The beast casually tossed his corpse aside. “Useless old fool.”
Petra’s hands began trembling as she beheld its form. Her knees felt weak and she had to readjust her stance in order to steady herself once again. Her tail stood rigid and straight, bristled in fear and rage, every one of the thousands of hairs across its length stood up. Her ears laid flat against her head as her chest felt tight and cramped, forcing her into breathing heavy, labored breaths, her mouth opened wide enough to show her canines.
This feeling of terror. Of dread. Of absolute unbridled evil that stood in front of them.
She recognized it.
And as the figure showed itself, the cloud of dust around it dispersed to reveal its huge, hulking, monstrous form.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks.
“You… Y-You…!” She growled, her voice rough and hoarse as she had to force the words out from behind her teeth.
“Ah… That look… That rage…” The being mused as it spoke in its horrible voice when its eyes gazed upon her. “Have we met before?” It seemed perplexed.
“You piece of SHIT!” Petra suddenly yelled, her voice cracking. “You’re the one–! The one who destroyed my home, destroyed my life!” Milo and Minoru looked at her with a surprised look on their faces.
Its only response was an exasperated sigh and an annoyed shrug. “Honestly, you’re going to have to be more specific. This body isn’t just for show, I’ve destroyed way more homes and lives than just yours, little girl.”
“Petra, you don’t mean…” Minoru uttered.
Milo grit his teeth as he looked towards the being before them. “Then… This guy is…!”
“Yeah…” Petra continued. “He’s the one who led the attack on Wesgrave… Our home!”
“Wesgrave, eh? That old hovel back in Lemuria? Yeah, I remember that place. Tore the whole thing up and burnt it to the ground, and we didn’t even find what we were looking for! Hah! Fat lotta good that shithole was!”
“What do you mean!? What on earth could you have been looking for!?” Petra retorted, pointing her sword fiercely at it. “All you did was attack us for no reason, no reason at all!”
“Humm… Hang on a minute, that sword…” It seemed to study the blade in her hand closely, before grinning, raising its hand to its face and breaking out into horrible, warped laughter, seemingly unable to control it, it laughed and laughed, deep from its stomach, before finally calming down again.
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“So you’re the little girl of those miserable old smiths, eh? You know, I remember when your father took out that pathetic little toothpick against me. Put up a real struggle, a rare good fight for me. Well, before I crushed his skull in anyways.” Petra grit her teeth tighter together, her eyes almost shaking as her pupils turned to pinpricks.
“You… You’re the one who killed them!?”
“Never saw you there, but those two did keep prattling on about you. Oh! Great idea. Y’see, I got a pretty good memory up in this old noggin of mine, you wanna know what your folks were sayin’ before I killed ‘em? I’ll give you a lil taste!” It declared in a mocking tone, raising a hand up to its chest as it cleared its throat, before giving a twisted grin as it began to speak.
“I’ll protect my family, and our home! You won’t have your way, demon!” It spoke in a deep, mocking tone.
“A beast like you has no place in our world! Return from where you came!” It then said in a nasally, high-pitched voice.
“I’ll never let you touch my family, not once!”
“You haven’t the slightest idea what Villesians are capable of!”
“No… How could I have… You’ll pay for this!!”
“Dear, please no! He’s too strong!”
“Petra… I’m so sorry… Daddy’s not gonna… make it–”
It had cut itself off with its own horrible laughter once again, returning to its normal voice. “Ahahah–! Man, talk about dramatic, am I right? Who actually says those things?” It mocked as it continued laughing.
Petra, meanwhile, was nearly hunched over, her vision going blurry, as the air around her grew hotter and hotter, distorting like flames as she growled like a rabid animal again and again. “Mom… Dad…!” The green lines of her mana streams appeared across her body, as she almost appeared to glow. Like a match being struck, the light of a burning fire appeared across her hair, as it rose up into the air like flames.
Suddenly, she let out a roar as tears streamed down her cheeks and evaporated almost instantly from the heat surrounding her, as a blaze of flames appeared all around her, engulfing her entire body, blowing Minoru and Milo back with the sheer force of the wind all around her, both of them grunting as they were pushed back.
“Oh? Well now, this is new.” The beast mused as it stared Petra down, who was silhouetted in complete black as the magic, blood red fire raged around her. The only thing that could be made out was the outline of her piercing eyes as they glowed brightly through the flames. Shaking off its hand, the monster suddenly extended both of the glowing claws on its arms. “A flair for the dramatic, huh? Well come on then! Let’s see if you can avenge your parents and your home!” It called, beckoning Petra towards itself.
In an instant, moving like an explosion, Petra launched herself directly towards the beast, swinging her blazing blade at it, which it caught in its palm, bringing up its knee and striking her with it. In an instant, though, she recovered from the hit, and grabbed onto its leg, using it as leverage to swing around and launch herself into it with a kick in the abdomen, which caused it to recoil.
Stamping her other foot into it, she kicked off it, launching it back as she flipped through the air before landing on the ground. Another explosion of fire blasted out from behind her, launching her forwards at incredible speeds, catching up to the beast as it flew through the air and striking it from below with her blade, the sheer force behind her strike redirecting its trajectory, sending it launched upwards at an angle.
Aiming her blade directly at it, she produced and blasted an enormous torrent of flames aimed into the sky directly at it. Reorienting itself, the monster landed against a tower it was launched towards, jumping off just as the flames were about to hit their mark. Bounding over buildings upon buildings below that Petra’s fire ripped through, it suddenly leapt into the air, Petra attempting to reorient her stream of flames to follow its trajectory.
However, it quickly landed behind her, to which she dispelled the blast of fire and immediately spun around for a strike from her sword. However, she was a step too slow, and was swept off her feet by a sweeping kick across the ground.
From one move to another, the monster swung its fist up, striking the vulnerable seraut and bringing her up into the air, to which it struck at her with another kick, sending her barreling directly into a building, the infrastructure crumbling around her as she impacted it.
“PETRA!!” Minoru and Milo called out to her. However, a deep rumbling in the ground stopped them both, as suddenly another scream was loosed from her lungs as a towering pillar of infernal flames was jettisoned into the air, annihilating the building around her, before she rocketed towards the monster once again.
Swiftly dodging another strike from it, Petra curled around through the air and leapt towards it as it was still recovering from its attack, swinging her sword fiercely into it, knocking it off balance. In a flash and another explosive burst of movement, she repeated this motion again and again, striking it rapidly with extreme ferocity and rage, letting out a fearsome war cry as she repeatedly struck at it.
With a forceful slash upwards, she leapt into the air. An explosion of fire behind her, she was then catapulted down directly towards it, aiming her sword for its head as she let loose a roar.
“DIE–!!”
Her sword plunged down, only for it to miss the beast by a hair. In an instant, its tail was wrapped around her waist, tossing her into the air as she was met with a devastating punch to her side, launching her away, crashing through another building.
In another instant– not slowed down at all– Petra rose up again, leaping over the building in a flaming arc as she rocketed towards the monster like a blazing serpent.
Pulling themselves to their feet, Minoru and Milo gazed upwards at the clash between the two. Milo had his fists clenched, his face taut with an unreadable expression.
“That idiot…! She’s going to get herself killed if she keeps this up!”
“What’s happening to her!?”
“Petra… She’s a sorcerer, elemental mages born with the ability to use magic from birth… They only occur among the natives of Villesia. Deep down, the structure of their mana streams is fundamentally different from others’, she’s infusing her inner flame into her own body, but…” He breathed in and hesitated. “She’s pushing herself too hard. If her mana streams snap while she’s in that state, it’ll do way worse damage than simply snapping them would normally.” Clenching his teeth, his voice wavered. “She could even die…”
Looking back at the fight before him with wide eyes, Minoru could only imagine the scenario Milo had described, a scene that made him clench his eyes tightly and shake his head.
“We have to help her, then!”
“I agree. We need to act, now! Try and snap her out of it while keeping that thing from getting her!”
The beast, catching Petra’s blade, glanced over curiously at the two running towards him, scoffing as they did so. “Joining the fight, eh? Bring it on then! Give me a real challenge!” It demanded as it gripped her sword, whipping her around and sending her bowling through the air away from itself, before quickly kicking off the ground and launching towards the two.
Milo, gathering ice around his staff, attempted to strike at the monster, only to be struck with the back of its hand and batted away, just barely recovering in the air with his wind magic.
Holding up his shield, Minoru took a direct strike from the monster, its fist punching right into the barrier, causing him to slide across the ground from the force pushing him back. He just barely held firm. Craning its neck closer, the monster studied him curiously.
“Never seen you before. You ain’t from around here, are you?” It mused against Minoru’s strained grunts as he held his shield fiercely against the attack. “Pfeh– No matter, wherever you’re from, I’ll kill ya all the same!” It said as it grasped the shield in its hand, slowly crushing and denting the iron it was made from, before yanking its hand downwards, such that the top half of the shield ended up bent at a near ninety degree angle, the iron mangled and warped from its grasp.
Raising its arm back, it prepared to strike Minoru with its claw. In a burst of magic, a green arrow was loosed and slammed right into it just before it struck, pushing the beast back a sizable distance. Small, almost miniscule cracks appearing in its chest armor, the arrow just barely managed to shallowly embed itself.
Scoffing as it looked down at itself, the beast casually flicked the arrow right out from its chest, before leaping into the air directly at Milo. In a burst of air, the halfling launched himself out of the way, swinging his staff to the side and releasing a torrent of sharpened icicles, all of which seemed to bounce right off of the monster’s body as it pounced from a building it had landed against.
Aiming one of its claws at Milo, a deep noise resounded out as it was shot out like a bullet, flying through the air directly at the halfling.
Propping up his shield of wind, Milo was just barely able to guard against it, deflecting it away to where it disappeared, another claw popping out of the beast’s arm as if reloaded.
Suddenly, its body spasmed, as a line of lightning suddenly shocked it. Originating from Minoru's fingers, he yanked his hand back, the lightning pulling the beast towards himself, sending it rolling through the air before it landed right before him.
About to strike back as it recovered from its landing, the beast struggled only to find it couldn't move.
"What–!?" It grunted out.
"Bind!" Milo called out, a distorted wave of magic radiating out from the tip of his staff, binding the beast in a magenta aura, stopping its movements.
"HAAAH–!!" Minoru ran up, his sword wreathed in a silvery light before being swung into the monster's side. Its body recoiled somewhat from the strike, but in the following instant it was wreathed in a bizarre, silver aura as Milo’s spell was broken.
“Pathetic, you little runts!” It taunted as it stepped forwards, only for its movements to begin unleashing a cacophony of piercing cracks and pops all around it from the aura surrounding it, resonating all around its form, so loud that it immediately brought its hands to its temples, trying to block the ceaseless noise. “AAUUGH–! DAMMIT–!!” It shouted.
In a flash, Petra appeared once more, rocketing forwards from where she was thrown to in order to strike at the beast with a kick, following up with another one to launch it into the air.
“Cheeky bugs–!” It let out with a bemused grunt as it righted itself in the air. Aiming one of its claws as Petra pursued, it grinned as it shouted. “NEEDLER!”
In an instant, the claw on its arm seemed to burst, spraying out towards Petra as a swarm of tiny needles, thousands of pins flying through the air directly at her as she pursued like a shooting star.
Shooting out another stream of lightning from his fingers, Minoru aimed to bring the beast down once more, as Milo used another burst of air to reposition himself, closer to a smaller tower, behind the monster as it fired at Petra.
The jolt of lightning shocked the monster again, yanking it through the air as Minoru pulled his hand back, allowing Milo to cast Bind yet again, freezing the monster in place as it impacted the ground.
With an explosive burst, Petra rocketed down towards it, landing on it with all her weight. Rearing her fist back, she then unleashed a storm of rapid, fiery punches into its chest, resounding out with deep, loud impacts bursting like explosions with each strike, so powerful the monster was beginning to slowly sink deeper into the ground with each strike.
As soon as it was able to break out of Milo’s spell, however, it kicked Petra off of itself, launching her into the air with force. Climbing out of the small crater that had formed, it leapt up and met Petra in the air, swinging its whole body around to slam its leg into her, launching her away with a forceful kick.
As soon as it landed, it then kicked off in Milo’s direction, shooting one of its claws at him, which the halfling quickly blocked with another shield, holding firm against it as sparks flew all around as it tried to pierce his barrier.
Minoru attempted to lash at the beast with another bolt of lightning, but it swiftly dodged behind the tower Milo was hovering near.
As Milo deflected the claw from his shield, a rumbling resounded out next to him, and in the instant it took for him to turn his head, he looked up and saw the tower beside him groaning as it leaned over, bearing over him as its structure was thrown off balance and began falling towards him.
With a quick blast of air, Milo rocketed to the side, out of the way of the falling monument, but out of the corner of his eye noticed the hulking figure jumping right towards him, perfectly timed with his attempt to dodge.
“BIND–!!” He yelled as he twisted his body in the air to aim his staff forwards, as the monster swung its claw down.
Before the shape of the falling tower obscured the two during its descent, there was a quick slash, as a severed arm went flying into the air, still gripping its staff.
In the next instant, the monster grabbed Milo’s face with its massive hand, holding firmly onto him as it fell from its leap, spiking the halfling into the ground with such force it formed a crater in the earth. Standing up, it held his limp body, only one arm hanging to his side, before throwing him away, fast enough to crater the brick wall of a building nearby.
The tower fell, an enormous, deep crash blasting through the whole area as an enormous cloud of dust burst into the air, obscuring the surroundings as Minoru shielded his face with his arm.
When the winds had passed, Minoru could just barely see the figure approaching him through the dust. In a desperate act, he threw forward another lash of lightning, which was deflected with a swing of the beast’s claws. In only a moment, it got close, ramming its fist right into Minoru’s stomach, so hard that even through his armor the force of the strike caused blood to be expelled from his mouth.
Falling to the ground, Minoru could hardly move as he trembled, it was as if the punch had completely scrambled all of his muscles, his arms kept slipping as he tried to get a solid grasp on the ground to push himself up with.
“Pfeh… That was fun for all of a few seconds, more than Dedrick could provide, that’s for certain. What now, though, eh? What’s this elite squad of yours gonna pull next to try and defeat me?” It mocked as it stood over Minoru’s trembling body.
“W-Why can’t I move…? P-Please…! If I don’t do something now… then Milo… and Petra will…!” Minoru thought desperately. “Please… Please move…!” He begged. And yet no matter how much he tried, his body failed him.
Milo fell forwards onto the ground from his own position, blood gushing out from the stump that was once his left arm. Grunting, he weakly pushed his hand onto the ground, pulling his bleeding head up, he looked at the scene of the beast standing over the struggling Minoru. Despite his best efforts, he fell to the ground again, his head feeling light as his vision blurred and darkened. He writhed on the ground, trying to reorient himself as he felt his senses failing him.
“Ever gonna make this worth my while? After all, that Petra girl still has to pay me back for all the time I wasted killing her family. Didn’t even find the sword I was looking for in that dump of a village!”
“Y-You…” Minoru choked out. “You won’t… Get away with this… AGH–!” He growled out defiantly, only to have his head pushed back down into the ground under the beast’s heel.
“Spare me your speeches. I ain’t interested. You don’t even have a stake in this fight, do you? You’re a nobody, caught here in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong group of people. What a rotten way to die, eh? At least your two friends are gonna lose their lives fighting for revenge. What reason do you have to fight me?”
“For… AGH– F-For them!”
“‘For them,’ eh? What trite reasoning. Someone should have told you what worthless sentimentality like that will get you before you went and put your life on the line for these worms.” Grinding his foot into Minoru’s head, the beast sighed exasperatedly. “This is getting boring! What’s taking that Petra girl so long? Think her mana streams have already been turned to dust?”
Almost as if on cue, an explosion filled the area, as Petra landed down into the center of the plaza. Looking up, her silhouetted form immediately bore witness to Milo’s near-unconscious body, arm severed, and then looked over to see her enemy standing over a defeated Minoru.
Her fire flaring to life and burning even brighter, so much mana was pouring out of Petra in the next few seconds that her mana streams shone so brightly to glow even through the fire that obscured her form, yet now they were glowing a bright, foreboding orange.
“Finally! Took you long enough, girlie!” It observed her for a few more moments. “Looks like you’re finally running out of steam, eh? Come on then! Let’s have one last go at each other and finish this!”
Simultaneously, the two launched themselves at each other, preparing to strike.
Just before they collided, however, the fire that raged all around Petra sputtered and flickered. Seconds before her strike, the fire died out, as the light of her mana streams died and turned a charred black.
“What’s… happening…?” Was the only thought she could get out in her mind, before the monster’s fist slammed into her, her hand going limp and letting go of her blade, which went flying through the air past the beast, clattering against the ground.
As the force of the strike landed, Petra’s limp body was sent flying back, skidding across the ground before gradually coming to a stop.
Raising his head up at the commotion, Milo reached his arm out as he saw his friend be thrown back, weakly croaking out. “Pe… tra…”
Walking into his field of view, the monster stepped with a callous confidence, letting a warped chuckle go. “Pathetic. You couldn’t even keep that up long enough to take me down? Now look at you, your mana streams are all charred! What can you hope to do in a state like that? I bet your arms and legs don’t even work now.”
Struggling, barely able to writhe around, Petra’s body wasn’t responding despite her desperate attempts to move again. It was as if her muscles were completely inert, unresponsive.
“Petra… No…” Milo coughed out. “Stand up, Petra… Petra…!”
“What a sad end. Couldn’t even die in a blaze of glory, and instead you die by having that flame of yours dying out pitifully.” He mocked, as he pulled his arm back, preparing to strike with his claw. “Lament in the afterlife that you were too weak to accomplish anything, Petra.”
“PETRA–!!” Milo shouted, as he produced an explosion of wind behind him, rocketing him forwards, just as the beast swung his arm.
With a deep, sickening noise, the claw was plunged right through.
Petra’s eyes went wide, as the burning, glowing claw– now coated in sizzling, steaming red– stopped just short of her face, as it burst out through Milo’s back.
A surge of blood expelled from his mouth, Milo hacked and grunted in pain as he was skewered. Slowly, struggling to move, he turned his head back, looking over his shoulder at his downed friend, who looked up at him with her pupils like pin pricks, as tears welled up in their corners.
“Milo…?”
“Milo… No…” Minoru choked out as he watched the scene unfold before him.
“I’m sorry… Petra… Guess this is where our journey together ends, huh…?”
“Hm.” The beast mused, as it yanked its claw out of the halfling, who fell backwards, landing near Petra.
Turning his head towards her, he coughed as blood leaked unendingly from the hole in his stomach, barely managing to speak. “I… didn’t want it to end like this… you know… I wanted to go back home with you… after this was all over… See everyone again…” He let out a rueful chuckle, coughing up more blood. “Guess… the stars had different plans for us… Huh?”
Petra tried to reach for him, tried to grasp his hand as he laid before her, but nothing was working. Her body wasn’t responding. “Milo, no! P-Please, don’t do this to me–”
“I always thought that… That I’d be content when this time came, you know?” His eyes becoming misty, he looked from her to the burning canopy above. “But… I’m not… I’m not ready… I’m not ready…” His voice cracked, sputtered, and hitched as the tears rolled down his face. “Feels like it’s been forever… since I last cried…” He breathed out, his chest rising and falling rapidly, faster and faster…
Until they agonizingly slowed to a crawl, turning from breaths to shallow wheezes, gasps for air.
And then slowed to nothing.
“Ah… Ahh…!” Petra gasped out. “MIIILOOOOOOOOOOOO–!!” She screamed. Through the pain of her numb, aching body, she screamed for her friend, for his soul to come back to her. All the sound she could make through her hoarse, aching, pained throat were small whimpers and gasps– she could hardly see through her tears.
As the corpse of her friend laid there, unresponsive, Petra’s body gradually grew weaker in its attempts to reach him, before it couldn’t muster to writhe anymore.
Her head fell to the ground, eyes wide open as still leaking tears fell as she breathed out quietly.
“Milo…” Was all that was said, as she laid limply on the ground, her body numb.
“How… How is this happening…!? No no no, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening–!” Minoru rattled off to himself, clutching his head as he turned his gaze to the ground below. “This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening–” He repeated again and again, so rapidly it left him out of breath. “This isn’t–!” He began again, before stopping, as he heard the distinct footsteps of the monster. Unable to keep his head turned away, he looked up, his eyes wide.
Stepping closer to the unresponsive Petra, the beast reached down, grabbing onto her arm before lifting her up into the air.
“And here I thought I’d never see such a noble sacrifice again ever since I killed that girl who was trying to protect Arthur.” It rattled off to itself. “At least that one paid off. This runt died trying to protect an already broken girl.” It remarked dismissively, bringing Petra closer when she didn’t respond. “What’s wrong? Too far gone? Nothing left to say now that your friend’s a corpse? Pfeh, you Villesians are no fun. Can’t even let you savor the pain of your own death when you’re all broken and numb like this.” It mused callously. “Might as well finish the job.” It commented plainly, as if this was nothing special to it as it raised its other hand up to her stomach, balling it into a fist.
“No… No please, not her, too!” Minoru pleaded, screaming desperately. “Don’t! Please! DON’T!” He begged as he pulled himself up out of desperation.
It pulled its arm back.
“NO! NOOOOOOOOO–!!”
And plunged it forward, its fist passing right through Petra’s abdomen, creating a gaping hole where her stomach was.
Hardly even registering the pain, Petra’s eyes drifted lifelessly downwards when she felt the force rip through her.
“Am I… dying…?” She thought. “That’s strange… I don’t feel anything…”
Pulling its fist out, the monster let go of Petra, her body falling to the ground, right next to Milo.
Her eyes rolled over to the side, looking at him emptily. “Milo… You didn’t tell me it’d be so… cold…” She would have smiled if she could. “You know… I always thought death was scary… but if someone’s waiting for you on the other side… maybe it isn’t… so bad…”
“Maybe… wherever we go next… will be kinder to us… That’d be nice…” Were the last thoughts that played in her dying mind.
Minoru laid helplessly on the ground, staring off into the distance as the scene before him played out. Nothing made sense anymore. All that was running through his mind was an unimaginable desire. A need. One that subsumed his entire being.
Revenge.
His vision red, against all sense, he pulled himself up, lifted himself from the ground, planting his sword into the earth below to force his body to stand. Gasping and grunting, he stood, despite his body screaming at him in its exhaustion.
Gritting his teeth tightly against each other, he looked at the monster, who turned around and looked back at him with an unamused, unmoving expression. His empty hand trembling before curling into a fist, as he drew his sword, his mouth opened on its own.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!”
Watching him, the beast simply stood there as Minoru charged at him. Raising his arms up, Minoru tried to bring his blade down onto it, only for it to be caught in the monster's hand, stopping him completely.
"Save your breath, kid." It stated plainly as it squeezed on the sword. In the next moment, the iron blade shattered from its grip, crumbling to pieces, leaving only a fragment poking out of the hilt. As it watched Minoru fall to the ground, dropping his sword, it seemed to hear something. "Hm? What's up?" It asked to something else, appearing to listen for a moment more. "What d'you mean? You saying the kid's special? …Well I'll be damned, never woulda guessed… Yeah, yeah, sure sure, whatever. I ain't got a problem with that, I've had my fill anyways." It finished its apparent conversation, looking down at the angered, glaring Minoru with a chuckle. "Looks like you're in luck, champ, you get to live another day. Orders from my superiors." It explained. "Still, never woulda taken you for someone from another world, but all that matters is that you're not a Villesian. You get to go free." It explained.
In a fit, Minoru stood up, trying to swing at it, only for it to swiftly dodge and slam him into the ground with its hand, pushing him into the dirt to immobilize him. "Slow down there, kid, I'm being generous here! Although– Hm… I probably should make sure you don't come after us, eh?" It mused, before raising its hand up and pointing its claw towards his back.
Minoru let out an agonized scream as he felt the hot, burning claw tear through his clothes and begin singing his bare back. It traced lines as it painfully ran through the top of his skin, with the monster intricately carving a specific design.
It felt like an eternity until its claw was pulled from his body, Minoru's vision blurring from the pain.
"There. Hope you enjoy." It mocked. "Consider it a prize from us– Ouroboros– for getting so far." It laughed as it pulled itself away from Minoru, standing up and walking away. "Well, my work here's done. Hope to see you again, Minoru. Try and live long enough so I can see that look of vengeance on your face again. I'll happily snuff it out." It finished ominously, before leaping away, out of sight in an instant.
Shambling to his feet, Minoru stood, looking for the monster, but soon found that nobody was left but him, standing in the burning plaza. He looked mournfully at the bodies of Petra and Milo, who laid together in the rubble. He knew nothing could be done, and yet the reality clawed at his heart, tearing it to shreds.
It took every ounce of will for him to turn around and slowly limp off, staggering as he did so.
A clanging caught his attention, and resting on the ground before him was Petra's sword.
Tears fell onto the blade as he grasped the handle, and took it with him as he left the scene. Nothing but his thoughts and the searing pain to accompany him, now.
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The struggle on the other end of the city had slowed, and Sahar stood up as he noticed the few remaining monsters suddenly seemed to lose interest in fighting, beginning to retreat, quickly disappearing from the streets, as if they were never there.
Sahar and the surrounding soldiers were compelled to follow, but it was as though they had completely vanished, as no trace of the hordes of monsters they were fighting just now remained.
As the fires began to die down among the rubble, and the fighters all concluded that there was nothing nearby left to fight, all of the remaining civilians were ushered forwards out of the city limits.
As Sahar guided the people around to safety, he looked off into the distance, towards the city center, where the fires still raged on.
"Where are those kids…?" He wondered, worriedly. With no time to go in and try and find them, though, he was stuck with his worries as he guided the civilians to safety.
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Dragging himself through the burning streets, Minoru eventually pulled himself to the northern exit of the city, the doors wide open. As he passed through, on either side of him were the burning bodies of the tree guardians, similar to those at the southern entrance.
Walking a bit further out, the cold wind of the night felt freezing after the hell he just walked out of. He couldn't help but look back at the city as it burned. The fire hadn't reached to the top of the canopy, leading to the outside being as dark as ever in the moonlight, with the blazing inferno inside shining through the open gates.
A profound feeling of emptiness voided inside of Minoru, leaving him hollow as he turned around, continuing to limp onwards.
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In the outskirts of the city, within an unmarked carriage that was quickly taking its leave from the scene, a silver-haired young man awoke, a deep gasp escaping him as he shot up in his bed, quickly clutching his side in pain.
As he surveyed his surroundings, he found himself in a soft bed within the back of a moving vehicle, and a few indistinct voices nearby.
His mind hazy, he couldn’t collect any of his thoughts, it was as if he had woken from a dream, one that made him sweat in a mind-numbing chill.
From the front of the carriage, a man walked in through the closed door. Dressed in Draetani armor, he closed it behind him. Looking up, he seemed surprised as he laid his eyes on the man before him, awake.
“Sir Dedrick, you’re awake! Thank the stars!” He spoke, quickly stepping over to the him.
“Where… Am I? What in the world happened?” Dedrick asked as he moved.
“Please– Don’t move so much, Sir Dedrick! You’re still hurt from your battle!”
“Battle…? What–?” He began asking, before dread gripped his heart. He quickly stood up, numb to the sharp pain as he did so, grabbing hold of the soldier before him. “Minoru, Petra, Milo– Where are they!?”
“S-Sir Dedrick, I–” The soldier began, only for Dedrick to let go of him, immediately bolting out the door to the front of the carriage, surprising the two other men that were sitting at the front.
“Where are we going!?” Dedrick asked suddenly.
“Sir Dedrick!? What are you doing out of bed–!?”
“Enough of that, where are we going!?”
“W-We’re taking you back to Draetan, Sir Dedrick–” The driver explained, only for him to be pulled into Dedrick’s panicked hands.
“Forget that, turn us back around, I need to go back to Ludmilia!”
“Sir Dedrick, please, Ludmilia is destroyed, I highly doubt–”
“Did I ask for your opinion!?” Dedrick suddenly shouted. “I said to turn us back around! If you fools won’t do it, then I’ll walk there myself!”
The other man spoke up. “Sir Dedrick, please be reasonable! You’re too hurt, and whoever you’re looking for might have perished in the fire–”
“Enough of your incessant yapping!” Dedrick called. “We are going back to Ludmilia this instant, that is an order! I’ll go there myself if need be, and if any of you try to stop me, I’ll strike each and every one of you down myself!” He declared fiercely. “I will not abandon my allies. Are we clear?”
The driver let out a worried breath. “W-We’re clear, Sir Dedrick.” He stated solemnly, as he began turning the carriage back around.
“Good.” Dedrick stated plainly. “Tell me when we get there. Until then, I will be resting.” He stated plainly as he returned inside the carriage, taking his seat on the bed inside. As his brow furrowed, he thought to himself.
“Gods above, please let them be alright…”
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Having ducked into the forest all around for cover, Minoru managed to find a small clearing. Almost forcing himself forwards, he gathered scattered sticks and twigs from his surroundings, piling them up.
With little regard for himself, he got close, casting a spark of lighting to ignite the gathered wood, a small fire bursting to life as his consciousness faded. He collapsed to the ground, the searing pain not letting him sleep but his body was too tired to keep moving.
His mind felt blank. No thoughts were forming in his head as he laid there, almost as if he was dead.
"Petra… Milo… Dedrick… I'm so, so sorry… I couldn't do anything… I'm sorry… I'm too weak… Just as I've always been…"
He cursed himself as tears rolled uncontrollably from his eyes to the earth below him.
"Really… I'm sorry… I never should have bogged you all down… This is… This is all… my fault…"
As he laid there, however, from the underbrush surrounding him, a rustling could be heard. He wanted to sit up, but his body was too weakened to do so. He simply laid there. He was unsure if he even wanted to do anything if it was something dangerous.
From the brush, a figure emerged– cloaked in a dark mantle that covered their face and whole body– they turned their gaze under the shadow of their hood towards him as he laid on the ground.
“You are unharmed… That is a relief…” They commented, speaking in a young, feminine voice. Stepping closer, she crouched down as she approached him. “Greetings, Minoru Takahashi.” She greeted, reaching forwards as she offered her hand.
“I have an offer that might be of interest to you.”