The battlefield was silent now.
No clash of steel, no dying screams—only the whisper of wind brushing over scorched earth and fallen bodies.
I sank to one knee, exhaling a long, shaky breath. The scent of blood and mana hung thick in the air, making it hard to breathe. My arms felt heavy, my pulse still racing from the last exchange.
Dodging, countering, striking—it all demanded precision and focus. Even the smallest mistake could've ended with my head rolling in the dirt. And mana—damn it, mana didn't just drain energy; it drained your very life.
I looked around.
No monsters left. Only corpses.
Not all of them were human, but… close enough.
Faces twisted in pain, eyes wide open in disbelief—it didn't matter what species they were. They looked too human.
"...Still," I muttered, staring at my trembling hands, "I had no choice."
It wasn't guilt—no, not exactly. Just the aftertaste of surviving another fight that demanded you abandon something human inside you.
