Noa retrieved the blood-slick wooden shard he had discarded and crept toward Mira's back. She stood with both palms directed at Bren, maintaining the golden barrier that still enveloped him. The mana field around her thrummed so thick that even the softest footfall was swallowed; Noa moved like living shadow.
Two meters.
One meter.
Close enough to feel the warmth radiating from her skin.
This distance was the breath of death itself. The yellow mana of her barrier hummed faintly, a gentle vrrr.
Noa reached out and tapped her shoulder twice, almost playfully.
Tap. Tap.
Mira spun around, irritation flashing across her face, only for every drop of color to drain away when she saw the child standing behind her. Her eyes widened in pure horror; her lips trembled.
Noa offered a pitch-black smile and drove the jagged stake straight into the front of her throat.
Fshhhhhhh!
Blood erupted in a hot geyser, splattering the ground and Noa's face. Mira tried to scream, but Noa's free hand clamped over her mouth before a single sound could escape. She clawed at his arm, legs kicking weakly, tears streaming down her cheeks. The scream she could not release rattled uselessly inside her chest.
A moment later the light in her eyes went out. Her body sagged.
Noa eased the corpse to the ground with the same care he had shown Lira, then withdrew his hand. Mira's head lolled limply to one side the instant pressure was removed. A sudden, deathly silence flooded the space where her heartbeat had been.
Thoughts raced through Noa's mind, cold and chaotic.
Two down. Now I need to break the rest of the party mentally… but they're scattered. Nothing's in my sensory range anymore.
The voice inside his skull, X, spoke with icy clarity.
"The girl was maintaining the barrier with her hand. The swordsman and the dragon are fighting that way."
Noa answered without hesitation.
"Good."
He hardened his right hand like a spear, mana condensing along the edge, and slashed horizontally. A razor-thin blade of mana shot from his fingertips and severed Mira's head clean from her body. He caught it by the hair, walked calmly to Lira's corpse, decapitated her as well, then hurled Lira's head with all his strength toward the center of the battlefield.
On the other side, Bren was still rising, injuries only half-healed. Rion knelt, blood pouring from the gash across his chest. Suddenly Bren felt the healing stop entirely; the golden barrier flickered and died.
What the… why isn't the wound closing? The barrier's gone?!
He whipped around just in time to see something tumbling through the air toward them.
The object landed between Bren and Rion, rolled several times, and came to rest.
Bren's world shattered.
Lira's severed head stared up at him, eyes frozen wide, blood still pouring from her hair like a crimson waterfall.
His heart turned to ice. Breath caught in his throat.
Rion looked at the head, then followed its trajectory back to the small figure standing in the smoke, casually holding Mira's severed head by the hair.
A broad, savage grin split Rion's face. Laughter exploded from his chest, shaking the air itself.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
He rose to his feet, wings half-unfurled, and called to the broken man clutching the head.
"Now who's going to save you?"
Tears of rage and grief poured down Bren's face. His body shook uncontrollably as he pressed Lira's head against his chest, fingers tangled so tightly in her hair that he didn't feel the strands cutting into his skin.
Memory surged, vivid and cruel.
Years ago, inside the bustling Adventurer's Guild…
Light footsteps behind him. Soft hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind.
Shiq-shiq…
Bren frowned, reaching up to remove the hands.
"Who—"
A familiar giggle. He turned, and his expression melted into a helpless smile.
Lira stood there, beaming.
He pulled her into a fierce hug.
"It's been too long."
She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder, voice soft.
"I'm back."
A playful tap on his arm.
"You're squeezing too hard."
Shalop—shalop.
Bren released her, suddenly awkward.
"So… you're really back."
Lira twisted her fingers together, cheeks pink.
"I'm back… Can I join your party now?"
Bren exhaled, glancing at the noisy hall.
"You know my jobs are dangerous. That's not the place for you."
Lira pouted, then looked at him seriously.
"I just reached S-rank healer… Don't you need me?"
His heart skipped.
"Wait, really? Then the big guilds will be fighting over you—"
"No." Her eyes trembled, but her voice was steady. "I want to be with the friend I grew up with."
Bren's face flushed.
"…Then I'll protect you."
Lira's smile was radiant.
"I'm counting on you, Bren."
Warm laughter. Warm light.
The memory faded.
Bren knelt in the dirt, stroking Lira's cold cheek as if he could still warm it.
Shuvv—shuvv… A gentle wind carried the echo of her laugh away.
Rion's footsteps approached, heavy and deliberate.
Tok… tok… tok…
He stopped in front of Bren, voice devoid of mockery now, only cold finality.
"You forgot you're on a battlefield."
A single flash of claws.
Shinq—shraaak!
Bren's head left his shoulders and rolled across the ground, stopping a meter away.
Blood fountained from the stump.
Pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Rion turned to Noa.
"You arrived just in time… though I would have preferred to finish this myself." His tone carried a trace of disappointment.
Noa stood with Mira's head dangling from his hand. Something dark and euphoric stirred inside him.
He tilted his head back, arms spreading wide, and laughter tore from his throat, wild and unrestrained.
"Hihihihihihi…"
Then louder, skyward, manic:
"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHA!"
Inside his mind he whispered, dazed:
I don't know what this feeling is… but I can't stop laughing. Am I happy I saved my friend… or happy I killed them?
X's voice cut through like a blade:
"Get down, Noa!!!"
Noa threw himself backward.
Shuvvvv—tupp!
Dust exploded where he had stood. An arrow screamed past.
FIIUUUU—TAAANG!
From the treetop, Kovo roared in fury:
"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!"
Arrows rained down in a black storm.
TENG! TENG! FIIU! FIIU! FIIUU!
Noa rolled to his feet. X's voice barked trajectories inside his skull. He dodged most, but one arrow came too fast.
He raised Mira's severed head and used it as a shield.
BLG!
The arrow punched through the skull and stopped inches from his face.
Noa lowered the ruined head, revealing a wide, taunting grin.
"Try harder!"
Kovo's rage redoubled. He nocked one last arrow, drawing the string to its limit.
But something razor-sharp bit into his shoulder.
"Ah?!"
Kovo looked down.
Kargal clung to his back, jaws clamped on bone.
Kovo smashed a fist into the skeleton, trying to dislodge it, but the arrow veered wildly off course.
Shuvv… Chirt! … Gah!
As Kovo reached for another arrow, Kargal extended one bony hand, palm open.
"Come on, trash."
He clenched his fist.
The broken bones in Kovo's shoulder exploded outward.
CHAAARK!!!
Kovo screamed, clutching the ruined joint.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
Kargal swept his hand downward.
The shattered bone fragments slid downward, straight toward Kovo's heart.
Grrrk—srrrk!
Kovo's final scream echoed as he toppled from the tree.
DUUUMP!
By the time Kargal landed beside him, the archer was already dead.
Noa exhaled, tension easing from his small frame.
"Only one adventurer left… and he's busy slaughtering the last goblins on the far side of the village."
What do you think will happen to Tarl? Don't forget to give Luna the power stone to the truck driver. Save it to your library.