{Five Years Ago}

The first thing Sara saw as she walked out of her home was fire. Flames spread throughout Valencia, lighting the village up to the point where it nearly looked like daytime. And yet, despite so much fire, all Sara could feel was cold, as chills went up her arms and spine.

[What's happening?]

She saw multiple enari warriors running to the east. With a hand nervously wrapped around the hilt of her sword, she ran after them.

A flaming boulder struck a house to her left and Sara stumbled, falling to the ground. Picking herself up again, she looked around and saw countless citizens running away from the place she was currently headed to.

She was scared, sure, but she felt she had to do something. She was the daughter of the enari's leader, after all.

As she got closer to the source of the chaos, she began to hear animalistic growls and roars mixed in with the frantic yelling of orders from one enari warrior to another. The smoke cleared just a little and Sara found her father up ahead, directing people to move to different places, getting them ready to defend against forces she couldn't see just yet.

"Dad!" She yelled out, desperately.

Leon froze and turned around, finding his daughter running up to her.

"Sara, get away from here!" He urged her. "It's too dangerous! Go get your mother and seek shelter!"

"I-I can't just ignore this," Sara replied, though her throat was tightened from fear. "I'm going to help."

Her father clicked his tongue and put his hands on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. She could see the concern in them so clearly.

"This is serious, Sara. We're being attacked by a wave of powerful monsters. These creatures are beyond you. It's okay to run sometimes. Go back!"

Before Sara could respond to that, she finally caught a glimpse of the attacking creatures. One of them flew over the wall ahead, its black wings stretching high from its stone-like body.

Gargoyles. Rank C monsters that Sara knew very little of, but even she was aware of the fact that they shouldn't be in this kind of position. Gargoyles were stationary creatures, made to forever guard specific locations. Right now, however, Sara realized that there were over forty of them amassed outside Valencia's walls, all seemingly intent on sieging this village.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

As she stared at one of them, a gargoyle opened its mouth and sent out a giant sphere of flames toward her.

"Get down!"

Leon tackled his daughter, getting her out of the way. The projectile exploded on the spot Sara had just been standing in, sending burnt dirt and grass flying through the air.

"Sara! I told you, get away from here!"

As those words sunk in, Sara stood up with trembling knees and tried to listen. Reluctantly, she turned and started moving away from that place.

"... Mom," Sara muttered. "I need to get her to safety!"

She sprinted across the streets once again as flaming boulders and magic alike burned down one building after another. On her way back home, she found that a few monsters were coming in from the sides of the village, unbarred by the older enari warriors.

One of them landed in front of Sara.

She nearly fell down again, reaching for her sword clumsily as the monster stared down at her with emotionless, beady eyes.

[I-I have to fight it!]

Sara unsheathed her blade just as the monster whipped its tail at her. She tried blocking the attack.

And, her sword promptly broke in half.

Just like that, the fight was over. Without a weapon, Sara had no way of saving herself here. By all accounts, she should have died. However, multiple enari soldiers appeared then and stood between her and the monster, distracting it.

"W-What?" Sara asked as she looked at them. "Why are you...?"

"Your father sent us. Go! Get to safety!"

Both parties began fighting and Sara gritted her teeth, throwing away her broken sword and running forward. With her heart pounding in her ears and her breaths quick and shallow, she ran straight home.

However, as she arrived, she discovered she was too late.

No words came out of Sara's mouth as she fell to her knees. Staring ahead, it was like the rest of the world faded away, disappearing entirely. All she could see was the house she lived in burning to the ground, and the charred body of her mother trapped under some rubble.

"Hey!" Someone said, pulling Sara by her elbow. "Come on, we need to get out!"

That stranger took Sara out of that place, but Sara's eyes remained on her ruined home.

She made it out of the village alive, but she was just one out of maybe a dozen people who had.

She never saw her father again, but it was easy enough to guess what had happened to him.

On that day, as Sara stood a fair distance away, watching the village burn, she made a promise.

[... I will find the people responsible for this and I will slaughter them.]

---

{Now}

A soft hand fell on Sara's shoulder.

Sara blinked a few times, focusing on her surroundings.

[How long was I-]

"Oh, there you are!" A familiar voice said. Sara turned and found Rin standing next to her, wearing a big smile on her face as she wrapped an arm around her. "By the Divine, I was looking everywhere for you! Come on, you have to try the drinks they brought in. They're wonderful!"

"Huh?" Sara asked, thoroughly confused.

Rin then leaned in close and whispered:

"You were looking pretty suspicious just standing there. I bailed you out," she stated.

"I... I see," Sara replied just as quietly.

Sara was thankful for that interruption. If Rin hadn't shown up just now...

She likely would have covered the walls and floor with these people's blood.

Rin took her to an isolated spot by the corner of the room. The party was still going strong, with everyone drunker and livelier than they had been before Sara spaced out.

"Did you hear anything important?" Rin asked.

Sara took that opportunity to ground herself, nodding.

"They're the ones," she muttered. "I can confirm that."