Clang!
A loud metallic clink rang out. Cassian watched in surprise as Valeriane moved quickly and blocked the attack with her sword.
The blow came from a giant sickle; he felt he had seen it before, but now it was much bigger.
Valeriane did not retreat from the blow: she stood firm, rooted to the spot, as she resisted.
This aberration was a colossal mass,more than thirteen feet high covered with open mouths and deformed eyes that slid across its flesh, and its only functional limb was that giant scythe.
Cassian hesitated. Intervening would be dangerous: he had Nahara in his arms and knew that taking a risk now could cost him too much.
Indecision overwhelmed him and the sensations that had subsided returned to him.
He needed to make a decision and act. But at that moment, he saw part of the aberration's body twist and deform until it took on a familiar shape.
It was identical to the scythe-wielding creature that had killed Diona. This time, however, there was one difference: one of its hands was a scythe, and the other was a spike, similar to a stinger.
The aberration ran quickly towards him. Cassian braced himself for the impact, gritting his teeth and trying to protect Nahara as best he could....
Blenck!
Suddenly, a black shield appeared in the aberration's path, violently blocking the attack and throwing the creature backwards.
Immediately, a floating sword descended like lightning, pinning one of its deformed limbs to the ground.
"Sir Cassian, about Miss Ellys... A little over twelve aberrations came toward us; it was extremely dangerous, so I asked Sir Yefeng to drive her away. They went in that direction."
"Ah, then I... um, I—"
Cassian still hesitated. That thing in front of Valeriane was no ordinary aberration; it radiated danger, and could even create another aberration. He didn't know if she could handle it alone.
But he couldn't leave Nahara alone either: her life was in his hands, he couldn't just leave her lying on the side of this chaotic battlefield.
If Yeling were there, he could keep her in his shadow, but he himself had sent her away.
The turmoil inside him was growing: with so many things confusing him, even more so. Nothing had a clear answer; all he felt was that he couldn't make a quick and reasonable decision, as usual.
"Don't worry... I'll take care of this. In fact, I ask you to go and help them. Some aberrations escaped me and went after them; I don't know if Sir Yefeng will be able to face them alone."
"....Understood."
As before, as with Eshaan, Cassian could only nod, albeit with some resistance. Valeriane had made the decision for him, if she herself said it was okay, Cassian could no longer dicuss.
He rushed off in the indicated direction, eager to find Ellys as quickly as possible and return.
That aberration gave him a very bad feeling... such a colossal body that appeared out of nowhere, and that could even generate another aberration. He had to act fast; with that in mind, Cassian dove in and ran through the streets of the city in search of Ellys and Yefeng.
..
.
Where are they? Where are they?
Cassian searched relentlessly, everywhere: the streets and the surrounding areas. Although there were still a few conflicts going on between the residents, the aberrations, and the beasts, there was no sign of Ellys or Yefeng.
He was getting more and more tired and didn't really know if the heaviness and surrender of his body was due to fatigue or the poison.
"Where are they? Where did they go? If I don't find them... Nari... Nari, she..."
The feeling of urgency was consuming him, as was the tightness he felt in his chest.
In his arms, Nahara was growing cold—too cold; the feeling seemed to transmit to him, because he could feel it again. Once again, the same cold that ran through her body permeated him completely.
Nahara's skin was also losing color, and the black veins were becoming more and more visible, branching out like roots.
The frustration and overwhelming sensations were driving him crazy. Cassian had never felt anything like this, had never learned what to do with it.
"Damn it, where are they!"
And he screamed.
A scream with no direction, an outlet for his frustration... but it only attracted the wrong kind of attention.
"Kukukuk!"
Something responded. An aberration approached, attracted by her scream.
Bang!
With all the frustration he had, when he saw the creature appear, he ran towards it. Without hesitation, he kicked it hard, sending it flying into the nearest house.
"Ugh! Aahhh!"
A small whimper made him react and remember that he was still holding Nahara. His body shuddered; black veins were already climbing up to his jaw.
"Ah!"
His head grew cold; he couldn't let this continue. He realized his mistake: he had to use what little time he had left to search for and find Ellys.
"Cassy... stop..."
"Wait, don't talk—!"
Something Cassian hadn't noticed was that Nahara had regained consciousness some time ago and understood the situation very well.
She knew it was dangerous to speak, which is why she hadn't done so before, but at this point, she understood better than Cassian what would happen.
"Ugh! It's not right... it's too late.... Death is coming for me."
"No, you don't know that... we just have to..."
"Yes, I do. Ugh... it's hard to talk... so listen. Like Eshaan, I want to ask you the same thing... my brothers... promise me they will live, no matter what happens..."
Nahara, still being held, began speaking with difficulty to Cassian, making the same request Eshaan had made."
Her voice was not strong, but she seemed to be trying hard not to let her complaints and pain affect what she was saying.
"Wait, Lys must be nearby"
"...Gnnn... iit seems I can still push myself further... Cassy, in our town there are many ways to become a true warrior, all of them difficult...and one of the worst is to kill an aberration.... I did it."
Although it seemed to hurt a lot to talk, Nahara wanted to keep talking. Cassian didn't understand; it was better if she stopped.
He was sure that Ellys couldn't be far away and would be saved. She was one of his few friends, and what she was saying didn't make sense in his head.
He didn't want to accept that her words were true.
"Seriously, stop!"
"I refuse! ... cough ... I won't die in silence ... uff, but I'm still missing something, and that's recognition ... Cassy, you're one of the strongest warriors I've ever known ... there's no one more perfect than you."
"I-I'm not!"
Cassian never considered himself a warrior or someone worthy of recognition; he wasn't a warrior, and he didn't really believe he was that strong. If he were, this wouldn't be happening.
"Please, Cassy... I want to leave as a warrior. Just this last thing, please, recognize me."
Nahara's face tensed. Her pale skin was crisscrossed with black threads that ran up to her cheekbones, marking her flesh like dry branches.
Her eyes were moist, but not with clear tears: the poison made them glassy, cloudy, almost milky.
She probably couldn't get a good look at him, but she seemed to have locked her gaze on Cassian's eyes.
She looked at him, pleading.
Cassian was really... experiencing a whirlwind in his head.
He felt so many things that were confusing him and trapped him in something viscous that restricted him.
He could only stand there helplessly; coldness seemed to spread through his heart, which felt like it was being stabbed over and over with cold needles.
He couldn't do anything. He couldn't find Ellys, and Nahara seemed to have accepted that she would die.
He didn't want to accept that and wanted to say that it wouldn't happen, but those words wouldn't come out of him. He felt short of breath and something was squeezing his throat harder than ever.
He had always felt that strength was something he had in excess, but now he couldn't even muster it to say something as simple as that.
Those words seemed heavier and more difficult than anything else.
He just stood there, with all those thoughts, looking at Nahara, who even with her glassy eyes looked at him intensely, showing him her will even in her weakest state.
Cassian couldn't stay like that; he had to speak, say anything. Nahara was showing him her will, and she deserved it.
Cr-runch!
He clenched his teeth until they cracked and fought against the almost suffocating oppression that consumed him.
Finally, with difficulty, he was able to say...
"You are... an excellent warrior."
Of all the things he wanted to tell her, that wasn't one, he wanted to tell her that everything would be fine and that they would find Ellys, that someone more qualified than him could do the reconnaissance later.
But nevertheless those were the words that came out with difficulty, which basically meant accepting that Nahara would die.
He understood that, and yet he said it anyway. His voice trembled; it was the first time he had ever felt something so overwhelming.
He looked at Nahara. She was smiling a little, with difficulty, but satisfied by his words.
"Thank you, Cassy..."
After saying that softly, her eyelids began to close slowly. The poison had already reached her forehead, drawing a dark map that devoured her skin.
But she had a calm expression, and finally all movement in her stopped...
"..."
Cassian fell silent. He felt it: Nahara had stopped breathing. In his head, he understood clearly, more than ever, that she had passed away.
He understood... there was nothing he could do now; finding Ellys was useless.
That was the truth, and he knew it clearly, and yet... he couldn't accept it. He didn't want to believe that this was reality, that this was the result of everything.
He felt a coldness like never before coming from him. A void was growing inside him; he felt as if a large piece of flesh had been torn from his chest. It was painful, suffocating, and heavy. Even so, he just stood there, staring at Nahara's cold body, not moving for a while.
Era doloroso, sofocante y pesado. Aun así, permaneció allí, mirando el cuerpo frío de Nahara, inmóvil por un rato.
"Jujujuju"
"Kekekeke!"
"Hihihihi!"
But not paying attention to his surroundings and staying still for too long was a mistake at this point, and, as if waiting for the right moment, a group of aberrations appeared.
As if to mock how pathetic Cassian was acting, a simple and powerless human who was tasting misfortune and despair for the first time, a truly amusing spectacle... amusing to death.
Because, once Cassian heard those annoying laughs, more than ever he felt a sense of nausea overwhelming him; he had to silence them no matter what.
He simply wanted to kill all those aberrations that were the cause of his friend's death.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and in the next instant, Nahara's body disappeared from his hands.
He was disgusted by the feeling that he could store her like an object, but he would make sure to give her a proper funeral later.
With a face that showed no particular expression, Cassian looked at the aberrations that seemed to have no end. He would definitely kill them. ..
..
.
"Haahh... ahhh~"
Once again, he had lost track of time. It was difficult for him to face the aberrations with his fists, but he was still able to get rid of all of them.
It was also a kind of release for everything he was feeling and couldn't find a way out of.
He killed, and killed, and kept killing. The beasts were no exception: now there were corpses everywhere and many seedlings with white fruits around him.
He had killed non-stop, all that was left of his clothes were his pants and he had several wounds on his body but he didn't really care about that.
And although his body was very resistant, he was getting more and more tired, and the heaviness he felt in his body only grew.
The wounds caused by the aberrations only made it worse, but the first one—which by this point should have consumed him—had closed, and the poison had stopped spreading.
It was like the time with the demonic poison. At some point, he felt the need to cough and spat out a large amount of blood; after that, the feeling of heaviness and physical exhaustion eased a little.
The poison from the aberrations did not affect him. Still, he was tired, very tired, struggling with the heaviness left by his new wounds.
His anger had not subsided; although he really wanted to continue, there were no aberrations or beasts around, and his body could not take it anymore.
I'm not that strong.
He truly felt weak, not only physically but also mentally. And even though he had slaughtered all those aberrations in his rage, the words that had suddenly surfaced in his mind kept repeating themselves relentlessly.
And now that things had calmed down, he felt that his body would finally collapse and give way. Maybe he would fall here too; for some reason, that didn't sound so bad, even if there was no after.
If that freed him from everything he was feeling, then...
and just then, darkness came.
"..."
For a moment, Cassian thought it was the darkness of having fallen from exhaustion and now he would be at the mercy of whoever found him first, but when he looked around, he realized it was a different darkness, he recognized Yeling, they were in his shadow.
"... Aaahhh... uhhh... Hic... hic..'"
She was crying, hugging something. That made Cassian feel it again: that distressing sensation, that coldness running through his body, because what Yeling was hugging... was Yefeng's lifeless body.
And as he looked around, his blood ran even colder, because Yefeng wasn't the only one there.