####'s POV:
A strange heaviness is in my head. Even though we had just had breakfast, I had gone to sleep to rest. Even now that I was waking up, a feeling of unnatural tiredness filled my body as I tried to stand up. Somehow, only the uncomfortable and somewhat painful sensation of my injuries managed to keep me awake.
- Ummmm
When I slowly get up, there's something strange about the place around me. There seems to be more noise than usual... but that's not the strangest thing.
- What's this?
The orange, yellow, and red colors filled my vision in a strange pattern that moved as if it were alive. Still fighting the drowsiness, I rub my eyes as if to clear my vision of the enormous anomaly in front of me.
- A wall... of fire?
In front of me was a strangely familiar scene. It was quite common for Vulk to put up a wall of fire around the camp whenever we had to camp out in the open, but this time the wall wasn't as large. Looking around, the wall surrounding me barely had a few steps between each wall. Another particularly strange thing was that the walls weren't exactly the same as when Vulk created them; this strange, fire-colored liquid seemed to be coming out of the ground.
- ...What's going on?
As I looked around for an answer, a small, darker crimson light shot down from above toward me. It was Ifrit.
- Ifrit? Did something serious happen?
At my question, the crimson ball remained motionless, not the slightest hint of answering my question. Unlike Vulk, I have no connection with Ifrit, so to communicate, I usually had to use Erick as an intermediary. Although we could maintain a round of yes-no questions with his movements, the fact that he remained motionless meant he wouldn't answer my question. A deep feeling of bad feeling clings to the back of my neck as I stare at the crimson orb.
- Did something happen outside? Is Erick in danger?
I repeat my question more intensely to the floating orb, but it remains motionless in place. A powerful pain grips my chest as panic slowly but surely presses against me. From all the time we've spent together on our journey, I knew perfectly well that Erick would never leave me by his side in a battle. If there was any reason why he would so obviously push me away... I can only think of one.
- Erick... he's in danger!
Realizing the situation, I quickly try to escape, but the mysterious liquid surrounding me makes me hesitate. Even though I'm not very close, I can feel the intense heat it gives off. It's quite possible that the moment I try to make contact with the wall, I'll burn severely. The thought alone makes the right side of my body tingle. The mere memory of the pain from my burns is enough to immobilize my legs. I involuntarily begin to tremble as I stare at the liquid, which moves as if it were alive. I grit my teeth, trying to contain my fear and take a step forward, but I simply fall face first onto the ground.
- Ugggg
A deep pain leaves me sighing in pain. Looking more closely at my right arm, a scratch from a rock lying there had opened the wound through the bandage. Even though I knew I had to do something, the pain and fear force me to retreat as I hug my legs. Closing my eyes like this, a memory enters my mind.
A black space as far as I can see.
A hellish event that echoed every scream you gave it.
Absolute loneliness in a space where time doesn't exist.
- If I lose Erick... would the world look like this?
A new terror hits me. The mere memory of that world where nothing but darkness existed leaves me terrified enough to want to cry. The mere thought of being alone again in this world… A world where I had lost everything.
Alone, cornered, hungry. A cold world, colorless, without affection… Without love.
A world where I watched my mother hide me in the bushes only to become bait for bandits.
A world where I watched my mother fall into the dirt, covered in blood and mud.
A world where all I could do was cry and curse from my hiding place.
A world like that… is not one I want to live in.
Slowly, I stand up. The pain slows my momentum, but I ignore it and stand up firmly. My body no longer trembles. My tears no longer fall from my eyes. My eyes stare determinedly at the wall.
- Vulk… Please protect me.
I clasp my hands together to pray for a few moments before starting to move again. I slowly approach the wall as I feel the heat rising, yet I don't stop. When I finally reach the wall, without hesitation I jump toward it with all my might.
......…
Erick's POV:
The sound of screeching metal is thunderous. His mast and my axe meet face to face and remain still in place. We both put our strength into them as the weapons tremble. Our faces are close enough to observe them in detail. He just laughs at this.
- You're tougher than I thought, unsung hero. From the way my boys treated you, I expected to find you half dead, but I was completely wrong about you. You don't know how happy that makes me!
The electric-footed bandit puts even more force into his improvised mace and knocks me back. Although I quickly take distance, he launches himself at me before I can escape his reach. With my balance off, I try to swing my axe to counter him and gain some distance, but he quickly blocks my attack and repels it. A strong impact pierces my chest as I backtrack, sending me tumbling into one of the trees and knocking it down in the process.
- Blueghh…
A torrent of blood and saliva pours out of my mouth as my breath is cut off. The air in my lungs is practically squeezed out of me as a large amount of blood sprays out of my mouth. The bandit approaches me slowly while looking at me with boredom.
- That's all?... COME ON, DON'T MAKE ME REGRET GIVING YOU TIME TO REST!
The bandit swings his mass upwards and then brings it down on my head at breakneck speed. I quickly move to the side, avoiding a direct impact. But before I can fully rejoice, the bandit swings his massive mass at me in a sweeping motion. I quickly put my axe in the way to avoid taking the full impact, causing me to only roll back a few meters. I quickly get back on my feet as I raise my axe towards the bandit. A satisfied smile appears on the bandit's face.
- THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!
With the strength of a bull, he quickly launches himself at me while preparing his mass for another sweep. I quickly jump to the other side and leap upward. The bandit, who didn't seem to expect this, loses his balance as my great mass further unbalances him. From above, I push off one of the branches with my feet and launch myself at the helpless bandit below me, axe in hand. I aim for his head, but he quickly manages to push it aside. However, he can't get back up in time. I quickly set fire to my right leg to gain momentum and unleash a powerful kick that hits him in the chest. Now he's the one who's sent flying into a huge tree, which then collapses as well. He looks at me, impressed, while spitting out a bit of blood and saliva.
- Not bad, unsung hero, that really hurt.
He quickly gets back up and faces me again, a few meters away.
- But I'd like to remind you of something, my honorable unsung hero.
A sound like lightning resounds around us. The sudden event causes me to turn around quickly, only to realize I was too late. A powerful electric current fills my body as I collapse to the ground.
- This was never going to be a one-on-one battle.
Following that, the bandit delivers a powerful kick to my chin, sending me flying backward as my limbs refuse to respond. The bandit, satisfied, approaches me with an air of superiority. My conscience reels as the bandit stares at me with a strange expression.
- I hope you don't take this the wrong way, unsung hero, but I can't afford to lose this battle. Our pride as the Lightning Gang is far more important than personal pride. That's why they knew that if I were in trouble, they would spring into action.
- B-bastard.
- You don't need to understand, but the honor of the Lightning Gang is very important to us. If we didn't achieve our goal here, we and all of Granest would be branded useless.
The bandit looked back and sighed heavily.
- Guys, you finish him off. I can't say the glory of defeating the unsung hero belongs to me anymore.
- Yes, sir.
Even now, after all, I couldn't win like an ideal hero. My constant stumbles only made me realize how useless I was as a hero. Even now, my mind told me to use those methods. With that method, I could turn this all around... but a hero doesn't do that kind of thing. Those conflicting thoughts were running through my head when an explosion finally sounded.