It was an accident. Mila had spotted the boy for a moment, and it had been enough for her to recognise Oscar.

It had been a single moment too long. The anger and unwillingness to let the boy walk away alive had been ignited in Mila with great intensity. It hadn’t been on purpose, and she had quelled the rage right after.

It had been just a second.

A second too long.

“DIE!” Oscar had felt Mila’s hatred and was now relentlessly chasing after her.

Mila rolled away from the spearing tentacle piercing the ground. Her superior speed allowed her to avoid Oscar’s attacks, but that wasn’t the main issue.

An invisible bolt almost took Mila’s life as it whizzed past her head. She glanced at the distant Inquisitor above the walls before being forced to rapidly change her direction several times to avoid Oscar’s deadly attempts.

Mila doubted Astra could see her, and the Inquisitor was too busy slaughtering people, preventing their escape. The great enemy was simply preventing Mila from leaving Oscar behind.

Furthermore…

The sound of a horn pierced the sky, announcing the arrival of reinforcement. Mila had hoped for the Kingodm’s Military, but…

Alas. It seemed it had been the Temple’s forces that had arrived first. Two more Inquisitors had joined the slaughter, and their combined forces now covered four cardinal directions of the city’s walls.

They had been held out by the barrier before, but now…

While continuously dodging, Mila glared at the failing barrier. There was still a place here and there where the magical wall was lingering.

Somehow, the prison the Nobles had built was the sturdiest thing around. The rest of the city was slowly turning into ashes.

The growing destruction pushed people out of the city, towards the walls and for most of them, also their deaths. Mila caught herself wondering just how many people burnt to death, unable or unwilling to leave their hiding spots.

It was not a helpful thought, so Mila dismissed it. The incoming bolt from afar demanded her full attention. She twisted her waist, leaning away from the attack, then scaled a wall of a burning building and dove through the flames to arrive at another roof.

Once Mila regained her footing, she continued to desperately run. She hoped the flames and thick smoke would delay Oscar and make it harder for Astra to aim.

It did help. For almost twenty seconds, Mila ran uninterrupted before the roof below her feet exploded from the instantly arriving bolt. Oscar followed immediately after, luckily still brightly shining to her senses. His abundant mana was a clear indicator of his presence.

Mila frowned, noticing another tentacle sprouting from Oscar’s back. He roared and writhed, his face twisting into different hate-filled masks.

A rain of attacks tried to nail Mila to the roof before she managed to slip off it onto an empty street.

Before Oscar vanished out of her sight, Mila noticed him pulling some of the tentacles back inside him. His face regained some clarity, and his eyes grew more focused.

Mila had her guesses on how Oscar’s ability worked. It seemed he could gain an incredible boost to his prowess by letting his emotions run rampant. But she had to wonder…

It didn’t look like a strength that came with no costs. Oscar didn’t keep his tentacles out at all times. The fuel to his power might be prohibitively high.

At least, Mila hoped it was. Perhaps, if she had more time, there was a way to get rid of the boy without her driving her dagger into his heart. All she had to do was to make Oscar very, very angry…

It would be dangerous, but…

The thunderous sound in the distance interrupted Mila’s wandering mind again. She continued to drive her body to the limits, finding the place down towards the tunnels.

Unfortunately, Mila hadn’t managed to lose Oscar. He was still there, crashing through a building with the help of his tentacles.

Another loud boom - clearly magical in nature, rolled over the city. Mila shuddered. It had come from one of the new Inquisitors. And they were the reason she was in such a rush.

Mila felt confident in Astra and the lighting user being too tired to hunt her down, but the other two…

With a kick, Mila entered a building by breaking the doors. She ignored the due of hiding people and ran through the home. On the other side, she finally entered the place that hid the entrance to the tunnel system.

The latch was broken open, the dark mouth welcoming Mila’s escape. She jumped down as the building exploded above her head.

Splinters and rocks rained down on her head, giving Mila hope Oscar would not be able to follow.

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A hope that was quickly dashed. As she landed, Mila felt the boy reach the hole and chop down with a dozen limbs, clearing the way.

Mila began to run. She still believed she could lose Oscar in the winding tunnels. There were many turns and twists. Surely… Somehow…

And it worked. Or, Mila hoped it did. As she ran, her familiarity with the tunnel system allowed her to gain distance from her pursuer. He had vanished from her senses, making her wonder if she had been successful.

But Mila didn’t dare to wait even for a second. She continued to pump her muscles, relentlessly exhausting her powerful, new body. Her memory allowed her to make a few circles and turns, which, as she hopped, would throw Oscar off her trail.

Only then did Mila take the true path towards the distant chamber. Her soundless steps let the other sounds reverberate through the space, and she parsed each one, trying to find any signs of Oscar.

It was hard to tell if the boy was near. The heavy impacts above made it impossible to tell for sure. She guessed he wasn’t close but didn’t dare to make a sound despite it being impossible to find her that way.

Mila glanced back into the darkness, wondering where all the checkpoints went. While she had encountered a refugee here and there earlier, this part of the system was empty.

This was either a bad or a good sign. Knowing how close the diggers were to getting them out, Mila decided it was a positive sign.

It was eerie how uneventful Mila’s last part of travel was. She kept glancing back at the darkness, awaiting an ambush any moment.

Once Mila heard voices ahead, she became even more high-strung. She felt she had missed something but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Soon, Mila revealed herself to the guards, who jumped in fright as she slipped out of the darkness.

“B-blood-” One of the stuttered…

“Don’t speak to her.” The other hurried to silence the first. “She will haunt your dreams,” He began pulling his friend away from the passing Mila.

It seemed there were new rumours spreading. Mila pinpointed Isabel in the mass of people heading her way.

The place was full, making it almost impossible to advance. Mila felt the lack of air and noticed a couple mages trying to conjure enough oxygen for the hall.

But they didn’t do anything against the heat and smell. Mila tried to hold her breath for as long as possible to avoid inhaling the sweat, blood and a tinge of shit. Some of the more unfortunate injured lacked the capacity to control their bodies.

While pushing through the wall of bodies, Mila listened to Naran’s and Helly’s orders. They were somewhere near the newly made tunnel, controlling people who got to enter it.

Mila felt her body relax. There was a way out. They had succeeded. She didn’t know what kind of arrangements Naran and Helly had made, but it seemed they were trying to get the injured subordinates, women and children out first.

Which was good. Probably. Mila wished Isabel would be taken out first, but she understood why she hadn’t been.

Finally, Mila squeezed through the last few obstacles and saw her love. Isabel looked back, her face pale and tired - but she was smiling.

“Isabel,” Mila wrapped her hands around her girl, smearing the still-wet blood all over her. “I am back.” She nuzzled against Isabel’s crown.

The fact Mila was dirtying Isabel didn’t go unnoticed. Kanna was also here and glared at Mila for her transgression. But the girl was smart enough to not say anything.

That reminded Mila. She looked around, noticing Mortimer and Vatim also being close and ready to leave. She recalled the promise they had made and Isabel’s nervous glance.

“We will leave together,” Mila reassured. “We promised.” She leaned against her girl. “How was it for you?” Isabel feebly shrugged. “That’s good.”

“Miss Mila,” Barcy’s voice interrupted their reunion. “What is happening above?” He glanced at the ceiling from where dirt was falling.

The continuous heavy impacts never stopped. Mila hoped whoever had reinforced the hall and the escape passage had done a good job. She looked at Naran’s spymaster and explained the new danger and additional forces that had come.

Barcy nodded, then left. A moment later, Helly’s voice ordered everyone to rush as fast as possible. They still controlled who left, not letting the panic overtake the crowd.

The hall slowly emptied, and Mila finally noticed something obvious. “Where is Andrew?” She didn’t find his mana signature. The wolf and Mr Crow were also missing.

Isabel shuddered, tears running down her cheeks. She sobbed, trying to say something but failing.

“Did he do something to you?” Mila’s voice was full of hardness, but her girl shook her head. “What happened?” She tried to understand and looked to the sides for help.

“Uh,” Mortimer retreated. The rapidly emptying room allowed him to move almost a meter before he stopped. “N-nothing. Andrew just… After Isabel didn’t speak, he just… Left.”

“That can’t be right.” Mila still didn’t understand. She listened as Mortimer launched into a long explanation.

Mila watched the emptying room while thinking about Andrew. He had been with them since the start. Andrew was the one who tried to make her realise how ruinous her path was. He was their moral compass…

And now, Andrew had simply left…

Mila didn’t understand. Her emotions were chaos, her arms holding her crying girl. She struggled, but no coherent thought came.

Why? Why not talk to them? There had to be a better way! Andrew hadn’t even said goodbye…

Mila didn’t understand. She noticed Helly had vanished, leaving Naran as the controller of the situation.

Everything around them seemed to rush. Maybe Andrew would wait for them outside? Mila almost chuckled at the idea. Then came the sadness.

Was Andrew really gone?

“We have to go,” Laura was still lagging behind despite the rest of her company having already left. She had decided to keep the escape tunnel safe from pursuers.

“Right,” Mila watched Mortimer, Kanna, and Vatim rush ahead while she supported Isabel.

They were among the last to leave. Only a few sturdier men were still here, eyeing the only entrance with suspicion.

Mila looked back as well. The absence of Andrew became even more notable as the pang of sadness grew unbearable.

Their emotions…

“Oh,” Mila realised. She grabbed Isabel in her arms and turned towards the escape passage. “Run! He will be here soon!” She passed Laura.

“Who?” Laura followed.

“Too late…” Mila looked upwards.

A mana signature was digging through the ceiling - summoned by the turbulent emotions. Oscar had found them. And he was angry.