Touya fled. Lanert searched for him. The mountain troll, with its disgustingly burned face, began chasing them both.
Very few humans and other entities remained around; this was the crux of their worsening odds. The mountain troll's attention wavered for a split second. Lanert finally reached the spot where Touya should have been. Just as he prepared to grab him, a paladin's sword descended from ahead, aimed directly at Lanert's hand.
The paladin's blade flowed forward without meeting any resistance. Lanert remained physically intact, but he almost lost his hand.
Touya, bewildered, stretched his hands forward. But the knight with the paladin sword, with a completely indifferent kick, sent Touya flying several meters forward.
In that moment, Lanert was at a complete loss. The situation was dire. The paladin warrior seemed formidably skilled. Lanert himself couldn't kill him, and Touya was now writhing on the ground from a single kick.
A look of pure disgust washed over the Paladin's indifferent face as he spoke.
"In your presence, I am Purenight. I seek refuge in your virtue."
Lanert, stunned, staggered as if a leash had tightened around his neck. He spoke, his voice strained.
"Purenight? You're that knight? Why are you here? You shouldn't be in this place! Is Lady Mariam here?!"
A flood of questions filled Lanert's mind, but Purenight answered none of them.
He drew his sword and lunged forward. At that moment, Touya got to his feet and hurled his chain. He was certain now—he had caught him, he would kill him.
Purenight caught the chain effortlessly, used it to slam Touya against the ground repeatedly, and then hurled him forward again.
Seizing the opportunity, Lanert utilized his spatial ability, grabbed Touya, and once more flung him over the cliff edge.
As Touya fell again, the troll's laughing voice and maniacal laughter echoed from above, and for a moment, everything grew darker.
---
Touya stirred slightly, trying to look ahead, but this time his ribs were broken too. To move, he needed to crawl and find a wall, but there was none. He was going to die here. He would die right here. When he closed his eyes, they would not open again. He knew suffering well, the grief, the pain.
His broken ribs stabbed into his internal organs. His eyes burned. His joints felt torn apart. His skin sagged as if refusing to hold the flesh beneath. His lungs filled and overflowed with blood. And within his soul, a stubborn defiance coalesced.
'What did I do? What was my mistake? What trouble did I cause? Damn it all, I never did any harm to anyone. I just... I just wanted my sister back. I wanted a life to live. I wanted my mother to love me.'
Something landed from above, shaking the very ground. The joyous laughter found his ears once more.
The mountain troll and the paladin continued their battle, but neither could overcome the other.
'I just wanted my father to hold my head high and be proud of me. A normal breakfast in the morning, a happy evening sky with my family... A curse upon all of it! A curse upon the Paladin! A curse upon the mountain troll! You all used me! You forgot I was just a child! You're all sons of bitches!'
Touya drove his fingernails into the dry, piercing ice. His nails broke, blood gushing forth. He gritted his teeth and dragged himself forward. Each drag was a fragment of will, a painful feat of endurance, each confusion a reason for his rising terror.
He finally reached a cave entrance and stopped. Just then, the Paladin was sent flying, colliding with Touya and propelling him deeper inside. The mountain troll rose, its massive, wounded body displaying nothing but a grin. The son of a bitch was enjoying this.
Its footsteps shook the cave. Touya felt the Paladin's body and flinched, but couldn't bring himself to charge forward. The mountain troll grabbed the Paladin. The Paladin shifted slightly and began channeling his awareness. Yes, everything now depended on the Paladin. He would probably kill the troll. If the Paladin won, Touya would die. If the troll won, he would die too.
What about Lanert? Was he dead? Touya didn't think so, but it was possible. The battle had lasted over two hours; it was feasible.
Touya crawled towards the back of the cave and stopped. Even if he was to die, he wanted at least one of these two bastards, who had darkened his already bleak life, to die with him.
He tried to stand. Before collapsing, he grabbed the Paladin's foot. The Paladin shifted slightly and looked at him. His awareness was almost fully charged. A wave of darkness, sharp like thorns, had extended and was facing the troll. Touya wrapped his chains around and waited for the mountain troll to take him. The troll lifted him with one of its four arms, and in that moment, Touya looped the chain around the troll as well.
The mountain troll hadn't been idle; it had driven its index finger through Touya's abdomen and out the other side. Finally, it happened. Touya threw the chain towards the collapsing stones of the cave. The chain instantly became taut between the three of them, and due to this tension, the Paladin was pulled directly into the mountain troll's mouth. The Paladin tried to hold its jaw and teeth with both hands, but he wasn't very successful. He cursed vehemently, his eyes locked on Touya.
The Paladin unleashed his awareness. A wave of darkness split the mountain troll's head in two. Then, before the troll's grin could fade, the cave collapsed on top of them.
This was a bad thing.