“W-Who are you?!” Lisbeth’s voice was equal parts fearful and angry as she shouted at whomever had attacked. From his position against the wall, Talahanan craned his neck around to see a figure steadily walking towards them. Their face and body were mostly obscured by the hooded robe they wore, but there was no mistaking their height and the voice that had sentenced him to death moments ago.

A… A child?

“Who I am doesn’t matter. Just sit there quietly and don’t interfere,” the girl said in a calm voice, sparing only a glance in his wife’s direction before turning her attention back to him.

“B-But why?! I don’t understand! Why do you want to kill him?!” Liz continued shouting despite the girl’s order, her expression growing more frantic with every step closer the girl took. “And why now of all times?! Don’t you see that the village is under attack?!”

“Enough, you’re being noisy.” Talahanan gasped as one of the scarf ends ripped itself out of his body, then whipped around through the air.

“N-No, wai-!” Liz tried to shout, but was struck across the face in the next moment and slumped over, unmoving.

“Liz…?” Talahanan breathed, eyes wide. “Liz!”

“Relax, I didn’t kill her. She’s only unconscious,” the girl said. “But if you try to resist, I promise I can do a lot worse.”

“Why…?” Even though the question had gone unanswered several times now, Talahanan couldn’t help but ask it again, his mouth hanging agape with both shock and horror. “Aren’t you just a child? Why would you do something so horrible?”

“Like I said, asking questions is-”

“I have a daughter… She’s eleven years old. Please, I’m begging you to think about this calmly…!”

“Haa…” The girl’s only response was to let out a sigh, and in the next moment the scarf end that had rendered Lisbeth unconscious swerved around to face him, poised to strike. “I’m done talking to you. Just die.”

“Ah-!” Talahanan tried to speak, but his words were cut off as the scarf end stabbed upwards into the back of his head, embedding itself into his skull with the sharpness of a blade. All at once he felt his mind grind to a halt, the foreign object having pierced nearly through his head in its entirety. As various parts of his brain were near-instantly obliterated, Talahanan could not even form a thought as his body’s functions shut down.

There was no chance to resist, no chance to fight back or avoid his fate. He would die without even knowing the identity of his killer, or why it was he was being killed. He would die without ever confirming his daughter’s safety, or that of his father-in-law’s, or any of the villagers in the wake of this attack. After having abandoned them all for his own selfish desires, he was to be slain without ever having a chance to make amends.

The last image to form in his mind was that of his wife and daughter, the most important people in his life that he would now be leaving behind.

“A better tomorrow always awaits us, Talahanan. Never give up the fight, not just for yourself… but for those you hope to send into a brighter future even after you’re gone.”

Eh…? Why is… this thought…

“Dad… cheer up, okay? We have Mom and Grandpa, and some of the villagers are nice to us, so… E-Even if it’s hard... even if it’s scary… let’s keep living like this, okay…?”

What…? What’s going…?

“Father and I are here for both of you too, so let’s all keep fighting together!”

A strange sensation overcame Talahanan as those memories flashed through a mind that should already have been rendered useless. Instead, the memories, images and voices only continued to appear in his mind as feeling returned to his body once more. No, not just that. He could feel his body surging with power, bolstered by something deep within him.

I… I can’t die yet. I don’t want to leave them to suffer by themselves. There’s still so much I want to do… so much I want to say to them. I want to apologize to the villagers, and hold my family in my arms again! I want to keep protecting everyone! No matter what, I absolutely can’t die yet!!!

“W-What… the…?” The girl let out a shaky voice, and the very fact he was able to hear it proved that Talahanan was regaining his strength. Even though the scarf ends were still embedded in him, somehow he had managed to fully-regenerate his injuries.

“Not yet…” Talahanan spoke, but his voice was clearly different from before. Now it exuded a power that had not been present up until that point. Right now, in this moment, he felt more powerful than he ever had in his life. “Not like this… I won’t die like this!”

With that shout, an indescribable force emitted from his body and shook the surrounding area of the barn, startling the girl into retracting the scarf ends. He planted both palms against the wall and pushed himself away, watching as it splintered and cracked from just that motion alone until he was properly on his feet.

And then the girl spoke again. “Y-You… I-I’m telling you to stop or I’ll hurt your wi-!”

“Don’t you touch her.” The words slipped out of his mouth naturally as he turned to face her, cutting her threat short as her breath caught in her throat. Shock registered on what could be seen of her face, accompanied by very visible sweat beads as the air suddenly changed within the barn.

It was because he’d discarded his hat, and his eyes, now on full display, were glaring daggers at his would-be assassin. With just a glance, he’d caused the girl to flinch and go quiet, and that one command from him had her trembling in fear, even backing away slightly.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but if you insist on continuing to target my life and threaten the people that are important to me…” With slow, methodical steps, he began to approach her. “I will… show you no mercy.”

“...!” The girl looked truly spooked to see him calmly walking towards her. In what seemed to be a panicked motion, both of the scarf ends whipped around in an attempt to attack him, but he reached out to grab them without much issue. Even though they had struck Lisbeth in almost the blink of an eye, now they were moving so slowly that Talahanan had no trouble snatching them out of the air.

He felt them tug in his hands, but kept a firm grip so they wouldn’t slip away. Rather, he fought back, yanking on them with enough strength to toss the girl forward abruptly to land on her hands and knees. She looked up at him, and though he couldn’t see her eyes, he knew that pure, unadulterated fear had been ingrained in them.

It was something he had sworn to never do to anyone in his life if he could help it; a sensation he wouldn’t wish upon even his worst enemies. And yet this girl, who was threatening to destroy what he loved most in the world, had brought out another side of him.

A side that wanted to use this power. A side that wanted to make anyone who threatened him or his family suffer.

How much of it was the miasma’s influence? How much were his own feelings?

Right now it didn’t matter. Right now, in order to protect Lisbeth, he would indulge in these emotions and the power that came with them.

Gripping the scarf ends tightly, he pivoted his body, drawing his arms out in an arc along with the motion. As it whipped around, the scarf pulled taut against the girl’s neck before eventually pulling her with it, and her body was flung helplessly through the air to crash into one side of the barn.

He pulled again, flinging her through the air once more to crash into the other side as well. Her body tumbled like a ragdoll as it smashed into the pieces of debris already scattered about the area.

It felt good. Every crash, every cry of pain as she experienced suffering again and again. All of it felt good.

He wanted her to continue suffering forever.

-----

Micah spluttered, letting out a series of ragged coughs as she shakily tried to get to her feet. But like every other time, she was quickly flung through the air by her own scarf, only to collide with another wall or piece of debris.

Thus far she’d managed to protect herself from serious harm, but if the situation didn’t change soon she could be impaled on something, or simply be knocked unconscious.

But it’s useless. The feeling from before was nothing compared to this…!

Micah had just about wet herself when Talahanan had turned his head to stare at her in what she could only describe as unbridled fury. The client’s description of him had said that he was meek and mild-mannered, so she thought he would succumb easily to threats and lay his life down if she threatened to kill his wife. But the reality was that it only served to anger him further, and now she was being treated like an impact dummy with no other purpose than to be smashed against things until she broke.

So this was the power of miasma… It truly was terrifying. The experience with Mr. Stronoff had in no way prepared her to face a true demon’s anger. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak, she could hardly think as soon as the man had begun to use it. If she’d known it would be this bad, she wouldn’t have wasted so much time and simply gone for the kill right away.

But even that seemed to be a lost cause, as just like with Mr. Stronoff and the knife he was stabbed with, the fatal damage was regenerated almost right away. Was miasma also responsible for that too?

W-Who would’ve thought… that monsters like these ever existed. Even with this cheat ability of mine, there’s just no way I can compete…

Against her will, Micah was once again pulled away by her own scarf, and without any chance to resist was slammed into the ground near the center of the barn. Trembling from both her wounds and the uncontrollable fear coursing through her, she could do nothing as Talahanan tugged on the scarf ends once more, not strongly enough to move her, but enough to force her head to raise in order to face him as he got near.

“Someone like you deserves much worse than this, but I’ll end things here. Taking my anger out on you…” Her opponent let out a deep sigh, and the air within the barn lightened up considerably. “...will only make it harder to protect the people I want to protect.”

“Haa… Haa… Haa…” Micah said nothing, and instead panted out labored breaths as she watched Talahanan with unfocused eyes.

Seeing her like that, an expression of guilt washed over Talahanan’s face, and he released her scarf ends. “I don’t know why you want to kill me, but it’s over now. I’ve defeated you, and it should be obvious that you have no way to retaliate against me. I won’t let you hurt me or my family, so please, just give up and forget about it.”

He fell to a knee beside her. “If you can do that, then I’ll take you with me to the village hall where you can be treated and stay with the other children until this is all over. You don’t have to answer any questions, but it’d be nice if you could tell us your name and where you live, at least. How does that sound?”

“Haa… Haa…..” A long while of silence passed where Micah simply continued to catch her breath. The whole time Talahanan waited patiently, and after a while she finally found the voice to respond. “...Why...”

“What?”

“Why… are you helping me?” she asked in a low voice. “Don’t you understand… that I’m here to kill you? So why…?”

“...” Now it was his turn to go silent. A few more moments passed before he responded himself, his voice just as low. “Because violence is wrong.”

“Eh?”

The colorless voids that were his eyes suddenly narrowed, and Talahanan’s tone became somber as he continued. “No matter what reasons anyone has, whether it’s to hurt someone or protect someone, violence shouldn’t be okay. The power to hurt and to kill people… it should never be okay. It’s because such an awful power exists that this world has become so rotten, and that children like you—children like my daughter—have to suffer for it.”

“...”

“That’s why,” he said, raising his gaze to her once more. Somehow, even though they were supposed to frighten her instinctually, his expression was so soft that Micah couldn’t feel any fear at all. “I won’t indulge the brutality brought about by this kind of world by killing you. I don’t care about your reasons, and I don’t even want an apology. I just… want to be done with the violence and the killing. Does that make sense?”

Once more, silence filled the barn, and several long moments passed before Micah let out the faintest of nods.

“...Alright then.” A smile sprouted on Talahanan’s face at her reply, and with the care of a father he reached down to gently scoop her up into his arms, then began to move her towards the barn’s exit, sparing only a glance at the still-unconscious form of his wife. “Wait for me, Liz. I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

Micah watched the determination on his face from within his embrace, yet still said nothing as the two of them made it outside. Instead, a single, defeated thought passed through her mind:

What the heck… Weren’t demons supposed to be brutal, evil monsters? This guy is way too kind...

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out. Why was he being so gentle with someone that had just tried to kill him? Was he just an idiot? ...No, he’d made it plenty clear already that his personal values were the reason why he refused to kill.

But even so, he had her dead to rights and every reason in the world to follow through with it, but instead of finishing her he’d chosen to forgive her right away. And now he was trying to get her injuries treated without even asking her why she’d done it in the first place.

Was… it really possible for people to be this compassionate? No, there had to be an ulterior motive somewhere, right? Was it just a father’s instinct that drove him to act so selflessly towards a child the same age as his daughter? Well, either way it was foolish. No matter how kind one is, sparing an enemy that had just tried to kill you is-

‘Show kindness towards others, and receive kindness in turn.’

Micah felt her heart throb painfully as those familiar sounding words echoed in her head. It was the core message behind the Kindness of Nor, and the philosophy by which the four people who raised her in this world lived by.

Bernadetta… Henrietta… Josefine… Brunhilde… If it was the four of them, they would probably do the same thing, wouldn’t they. Spare someone like me.

And yet, in that moment Micah realized that as much as she claimed to be a part of that religion herself, she had never once displayed mercy or kindness towards anyone she’d faced thus far. It couldn’t be helped though, because she had her own belief system, and lived by a philosophy that inherently contradicted the Kindness of Nor’s. From the very start, she’d promised to do everything she could to reunite with Yuu. No matter how brutal, violent, or merciless she had to be, no matter if she had to hurt herself or others or even sacrifice everything in the process, she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her goal.

After she’d come this far, there was no way she could stop here. Killing Talahanan was the only way to fulfill her obligation to Circe, and the only way to gain the strength she needed to take on God and find Yuu. If she let herself be swayed by the naive words of a man too weak-hearted to do what was necessary to truly protect what was important to him, then everything she’d done up to this point would be for nothing.

No… she wouldn’t let it end here. No matter what, she would push ahead on this path she’d paved for herself, and see it through to the very end. Demons were nothing. God was nothing. This foolishly kind man and his offer of a safe place to forget about her past and live in peace, it all meant absolutely nothing to her. For the sake of her important person, she would find a way to crush them all.

[[God’s Blessing] has leveled up! It is now Lv. 44]

As if responding to her feelings, [God’s Blessing] suddenly gained another level. Well, it could have been the result of learning about Talahanan’s beliefs, but right now it didn’t matter. What did matter was finding a way to kill her target once and for all.

Right now his guard was down, so a decisive strike would be all she needed to take him down. But he’d already proven himself capable of surviving fatal blows, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to assume she could end it so easily. No, a battle was unavoidable, that much was certain. And while he definitely displayed a reaction time beyond her expectations, she was still confident she could keep up with him in terms of speed and strength. She just needed a way to circumvent the influence of his miasma…

Okay… think Micah. Think. This cheat ability may not give me the advantage here like it would with most people, but there has to at least be a way to even the odds against him. What can you do to give yourself a fighting chance? C’mon, think…

[Use [Free Slot] to create a new [Ability]?]

Eh?

Like a light bulb had suddenly gone off in her head, the status window appeared with perfect timing. Micah’s eyes shot open in surprise as she remembered the ultimate trump card she’d been saving.

Th-That’s right, I still have two [Free Slot]'s!

Truth be told, after having gained so many levels under Circe’s employ, Micah didn’t really know what to do when she was suddenly presented with two [Free Slot]’s for levels 20 and 30, and then again for 40 after the fight at the warehouse. In the end, the first one went into her mana-detecting eyes, but the other two went unused. Not because she couldn’t think of useful Abilities at that time, but because she was afraid to discard them so carelessly. If she ever found herself in a situation like what happened with those Heroes, Mariel and Leo, she couldn’t always count on the kind of lucky break she experienced when Circe arrived to save her from captivity. She needed to be able to escape such situations on her own if it came down to it, and so she made the decision to save those extra [Free Slot]’s for such a situation.

And this… wasn’t it exactly the kind of thing she’d been saving them for? Against something as cheat-like as miasma, which could render anyone in its presence immobile and unable to resist due to extreme fear, her only choice to combat it would be to make use of her own cheat ability to force them to fight on equal ground.

Still, I only need to use one right now. I should try and keep an extra one at all times for extreme emergencies only.

[Yes.]

[Please decide on the conditions of the [Ability]. Whether or not the conditions are accepted is dependent upon the current potential of [God’s Blessing].]
[Note: The potential of [God’s Blessing] is increased as it levels up.]

Like usual, Micah decided to first try the most useful idea she could think of. If it was like the other Abilities she’d created it likely wouldn’t work, but it was always a good idea in her opinion to test it out just in case.

[The wearer is immune to the fear-inducing effects of miasma.]

[Accepted.]

Huh? I-It worked?

Surprisingly, instead of requiring multiple attempts and tweaks to her idea, the Ability she presented was accepted right away. Perhaps [God’s Blessing] was finally starting to reach the point where more powerful Abilities could be added to it?

Well, whatever. More importantly, now’s my chance…!

Talahanan was still distracted, preoccupied with carefully making his way down the roads of Kleinwald with her in his arms to avoid attention from monsters until they reached the village hall. No one else was around, so there was no better opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

A quick glance over his shoulder brought Micah’s attention to the sword sheathed on his hip, and she knew where to begin. Stealthily, she slithered a scarf end around his body to grasp the hilt, and at the same time prepared herself for the second round of their fight to the death.

A punch, elbow, knee… No, in the end magic would work best, huh? Here goes nothing-!

In as close to one motion as she could manage, she reached up with both arms; one hand snagging the back of his head to hold it in place and the other pressing against his face as she focused her mana into her palm. Talahanan’s eyes widened slightly in the few seconds it took for that mana to heat to a boil, before a blast of flames engulfed his head in the next moment.

She’d only managed to get [Flame] to elementary-to-intermediate rank in that short time, but the attack was effective enough to stun him. Right away she ripped the sword out of its sheath with her scarf end and stabbed it straight through Talahanan’s chest from behind. The blade sunk into his flesh with ease, running straight through the other side to nearly pierce her own body had she not kicked away from him at the same time.

Just as she got back to her feet, she heard Talahanan pull the sword out of his chest with ease, and when she looked up it was to meet eyes full of sadness and pity. Eyes that were directed right at her.

Why? Why was he looking at her like that? Why did she have to be looked at like that again?

Why… did she have to see those eyes for a second time?

“...Please, don’t make me do this,” he spoke softly, almost to himself. “I… don’t want to fight anymore.”

Micah took a deep breath, then responded in kind. “...Then die.”

“Why can’t you understand?! Doing these kinds of things won’t bring anyone happiness! A girl like you shouldn’t be killing people! You should be-”

“Shut your mouth!!!” Micah’s sudden shout cut him off. “Who the hell are you to lecture me about what I should be doing?! You failure of a father!” His earlier look had only been a momentary reminder, but his words just now had definitely forced Micah to remember Mariel, and the things she’d said back in the Regalian holding cell.

The way she talked down to her with eyes full of pity, like she knew everything about her, like everything was so black-and-white… Nothing she had ever experienced in Magi had angered her more. She didn’t know anything at all, and yet still tried to take the moral high ground. And now this self-righteous idiot was trying to do the same thing. “You know something? While you were spending so much time with that woman, your daughter was trying to get home all by herself and got attacked by those things!”

“What…?” Talahanan’s eyes went wide at her words, and she enjoyed every second of it. “Is that… Is that true?”

She wouldn’t give him the answer he was hoping for. Right now, she wanted nothing more than for him to die without ever knowing the truth; to die while being forced to face the consequences of his own hypocrisy. “I saw it with my own eyes. I saw her struggling to escape, riddled with injuries but still pushing on with the hope of saving her poor mom. I saw those creatures surround her on the road, ready to rip her apart piece by piece after she ran out of strength and collapsed while calling out for the both of you! So the next time you think about telling me what a girl like me ‘should’ be doing, try and imagine what it feels like to be left to die by people you thought you could trust! If you can’t, then just save your breath!”

“...” Talahanan stopped speaking, but she could clearly feel his miasma building up. He must have been panicking inside, wondering what state his daughter was in at this very moment. Guilt, anger, and various other emotions were likely swirling around within him, but Micah could tell that his power was no longer having an effect on her, which meant that the new Ability she’d given herself was working flawlessly. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do all things considered, but it felt so damn good to knock him down a peg, even if it ultimately just pissed him off more.

It was fine. Because she was pissed too.

Between the two of them, a silent agreement was made. Wordlessly, Talahanan gripped the sword in his hands tightly. Wordlessly, Micah readied her scarf ends and lowered her body.

Who it was that rushed forward first… she honestly couldn’t say. Maybe it happened at the same time. But regardless, a clash was what followed. With sparks flying from the contact points, both of Micah’s scarf ends pushed against Talahanan’s sword. As both parties tried to overpower the other in the middle of the road, the dirt beneath their feet gave way and parted from the strain.

Since both of Talahanan’s hands were holding the sword’s hilt, Micah decided to take advantage of the fact that her own hands were free and readied a spell. It took several seconds of concentration to build [Gust] up to intermediate rank, but the payoff was worth it, as a huge blast of wind erupted from her palms the moment she thrust them forward.

Talahanan, powerless to defend against it with his arms occupied, was sent flying from the attack, traveling far enough away that he began tumbling as soon as he hit the ground, kicking up dirt as he steadily skidded to a stop in front of the barn several houses away.

With the help of her scarf ends, Micah pushed off of the ground and launched herself into the air in order to catch up with him quickly. She zeroed in on him from above just as he got to his feet, then whipped her foot around to kick him in the head before he could fully-recover. But despite her timing being perfect, he still managed to dodge the attack with similarly flawless reaction time—something she could only attribute to the miasma enhancing his physical state just like [God’s Blessing] did for her.

Thanks to her attack having missed, Micah landed on the ground awkwardly and stumbled in order to avoid falling down. But Talahanan took advantage of the momentary opening and threw his foot out in a powerful front kick that connected with her side, and the next thing she knew, Micah could feel her body smash straight through one of the barn’s wooden walls.

But letting her guard down by reacting to the pain was absolutely not allowed, so she just grit her teeth and forced herself to roll with the motion of her body while using her arms to orient herself just as her opponent closed in to finish her off. Her scarf ends went up to block each of his sword strikes until she saw an opportunity to parry his sword skyward, then follow up with a kick to his stomach to force him back a step. As he staggered away from the blow, a scarf end swiftly wrapped around his sword hand, then as Micah pivoted her body, Talahanan was yanked along with the motion and flung across the barn just as he had done to her before.

His back crashed into the wall, which splintered and buckled from the impact but otherwise held steady as his side hit the ground a moment later. Pushing himself to his feet, his face warped into pure anger as he raised his head, but instantly changed into surprise at the sight of three rock spears racing towards him.

This was [Stalactite], the elementary-to-intermediate ranked spell that Aurelia’s butler Stefan had used against her during that banquet some years back, as well as what the earth-user had used at one point in their fight last winter. When she picked up the spell for herself during her training, Micah had learned that the number of rock spears created was adjustable, but three seemed to be the standard in terms of both casting time and effectiveness.

Still, other than that mild surprise, Talahanan showed no reaction and calmly prepared to slash at the projectiles with his sword. That is, until he realized that one of them wasn’t aimed at him, but-

“Liz!” Without hesitation, the foolishly kind man did exactly as Micah predicted he would and threw his body into the way of the rock spear headed for his unconscious wife. Still, it wasn’t as if she’d planned things to turn out this way in advance; she just saw the opportunity for what it was after she’d thrown him and took it, ensuring that the spear wouldn’t hit a vital area in the event that he ignored it.

She also planned for what to do after he’d been impaled, and threw a hand out while aiming for the stalactite as a target for [Flame]. Instantly, it ignited, the flames quickly spreading and increasing in intensity as she continued to pour mana into it. In a matter of moments Talahanan’s entire body was engulfed, and yet he showed only minimal signs of pain.

“Nngh…! Ghh…!” With pained grunts, he forced himself to his feet unsteadily, looking more angry than ever. “You…! YOU…!”

Micah opened her mouth to respond, but in the blink of an eye he’d closed the distance and raised his now-burning blade above her head, looking like a true devil. Her eyes shot open as she raised her scarf ends to defend, then buckled under the pressure of the strike. The force alone brought her down to one knee and sent a flaming shockwave through the ground.

Khh-! Is he stronger now or am I just imagining it…? Either way, this is it. If killing him quickly in one go isn’t an option, then immolation might be the only way I can do it. Unless it’s just part of a demon’s physiology, it’s a safe bet to say that his miasma is the source of his healing ability. In that case, I’ll just give him a wound that needs constant healing until he runs out of gas.

With her plan of action decided, Micah planted both of her palms against the ground and pushed with all her strength, throwing Talahanan off balance as she broke the clash between them.

She stepped forward to follow up, but he’d already recovered and went for another savage, untrained swing. She deflected it with a scarf end, and her retaliation sparked the next series of exchanged blows between them. Perhaps Micah had been underestimating how her own skills compared to that of miasma, since Talahanan who was supposed to have had little-to-no prior combat experience was easily able to keep up with her attacks. The only time she could land a strike was when she used feints to trick him, and even then they only had minimal effect as the man was more than willing to put his arm in the way or evade just enough for her to hit a non-vital area without flinching.

As expected, fighting a demon was one of the toughest things she’d ever done in this world. It was no wonder why so many people feared them. If someone like Talahanan had been trained the same as a seasoned warrior, he would be nigh unstoppable—both physically and as a result of his fear-inducing powers.

But right now, in this place, Micah could stop him. She would stop him, because he was in her way. And she’d already promised herself that she wouldn’t let anyone hinder her efforts to achieve her goal.

If the fire didn’t work, then she would cut his head off. If that didn’t work, she’d drown him. And if that didn’t work either, she’d think of something else. Even if she had to completely obliterate every micro-atom until there was nothing left, she’d find a way to do so if it meant getting one step closer to-

“Ah-!” Micah blinked, eyes widening as Talahanan did something she hadn’t anticipated during their exchange. In a flash he was right in front of her, her nose inches from his torso. And then suddenly she was buried in it, and she could feel the man’s arms wrap around her from behind to bring her in as close as possible.

There was a moment of shock where nothing happened… before an all-too familiar sensation rocketed across her entire body all at once.

Pain.

White-hot, blistering pain.

The pain of burning alive.

Micah’s first instinct was to scream, but she bit it down with all her might, instead focusing on keeping her mind rational for as long as possible in order to work out an escape. And to do that, she needed to analyze her situation as quickly as she could.

She and Talahanan were fighting, and he went for a feint. She spotted it in time and backpedaled while watching for his follow-up attack, but instead of coming down, his sword went to the side as he suddenly tossed it away.

The momentary confusion on her part gave him an opening to close the distance and encase her in a bear hug, and now she was trapped within his burning embrace. He’d used her plan to immolate him against her and turned his own body into a flaming coffin for her to die within.

She’d underestimated him. In the blink of an eye Talahanan had turned a disadvantageous situation into a checkmate.

It hurts… It hurts!!! I can’t concentrate enough to cast a spell…! And I can’t put any strength into my body because of the… pain…! Damn it!!!

Micah’s mind worked a mile a minute to find a solution, but none came to her no matter how much she thought about it. Casting a spell, breaking free through physical strength, neither was possible as long as she was being crippled by the pain of being burned. It was almost enough to make her want to use her other [Free Slot] to nullify her sense of pain, but she knew she’d regret it if she did so now.

There has to be another way…! C’mon Micah think…! THINK!!!

It was no use, she just couldn’t keep herself calm enough to think of what to do. So instead she moved the only thing she could in that moment—her scarf ends. In her agonized state, she couldn’t even tell where they would go—she just threw them and hoped for the best.

A dull crash! signaled that they’d impacted with something, and right away Micah found that she’d caught the luckiest break of her life.

“Liz-!” All at once the burning sensation vanished, and she could vaguely feel the wave of heat rush past her towards where the woman’s unconscious form sat propped against the barn wall as she collapsed to her knees. Utterly exhausted as she was from the harrowing experience, Micah angled her head over her shoulder to see that Talahanan had hurried over to his wife’s side, but seemed hesitant to touch her even as the wooden beams holding up a mess of debris above her head threatened to snap.

Somehow, it seemed her scarf ends had caused the damage that was now threatening the woman’s life. Micah wanted to see it as a sign of relief and take some time to calm down, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the sight of Talahanan panicking over how to rescue her without hurting her due to the flames crackling off of his body. If he didn’t do something soon though…

“Haa… Haa…. Haa…..”

...Damn it.

While puffing out a series of breaths, Micah weakly lifted an arm towards her opponent. For just the briefest of moments, she considered adding more flames. For the briefest of moments, she wanted to see him fall further into despair, to force him to once again confront his own hypocrisy and hesitate to do what was necessary in order to save his important person.

But instead, the spell she built up through her palm and casted his way was [Aqua], the elementary ranked water spell. Instantly, she’d drenched the man’s body and extinguished the flames, then shouted at him in as loud a voice as she could muster, “Hurry up and save her, idiot!”

Talahanan looked shocked for a moment, but quickly snapped out of it and nodded, then turned his attention to his wife. He leaned down and gently scooped her up bridal-style while making sure the blood-red blanket still covered her legs. Right as he got her out of harm’s way, the ceiling gave in and a pile of debris and wood pieces came crashing down in the now-empty spot.

Talahanan took the woman to around the center of the barn, and his expression fell somewhat as he brought a finger up to brush a stray lock away from her face. Was it sadness? Regret? She couldn’t really place his expression.

Not that it mattered anyway, because right as he started to turn around in order to address her, she struck again. “Listen, I-ghh!!!”

Before he could finish his sentence, both of Micah’s scarf ends pierced his body once more, forcing a grunt of pain out of him and forcing him to drop the woman from the unexpected shock.

But she wouldn’t allow him time to adjust to the sensation. Micah ripped one scarf end out and thrusted it back into a different spot, then did the same with the other right after. Like pistons, she worked them back and forth as fast as she could, punching as many holes in his chest as his miasma could patch up until he eventually ran out of gas.

Still, it was clear that it wouldn’t be enough, as the wounds continued to close no matter how much she stabbed him. The thought that this fight could go on forever brought a well of irritation from within Micah’s stomach until she blurted out in frustration, “Damn it, why won’t you just DIE?!”

Forcing strength into her body, she pushed the scarf ends to move faster, adding slashing motions to the stabs and attacking him from every conceivable angle she could manage. [God’s Blessing] was burning through her mana at a rate she’d never experienced before, but still she persisted, until the scarf ends were blitzing through the air fast enough that they were nearly turning invisible.

It was impossible to count how many strikes she landed on him, but by the end he was a bloody mess; his body riddled with wound after wound and eyes wide from shock. Not even a minute had passed in total, but by the end of her attack she’d nearly cut him to ribbons, and now it seemed that the man’s miasma had finally begun to run dry.

As Micah retracted her scarf ends, the man fell to one knee, then toppled over onto his back next to his still-unconscious wife, puffing out labored breaths while idly staring at the ceiling. Micah herself was arguably worse for wear, having pushed herself despite her injuries from Talahanan’s flaming bear hug. And with this final attack she was nearing Mana Depletion.

Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet. Wobbling in place for a moment, she finally found the presence of mind to assess her own wounds. Her clothes were charred and partially destroyed in places, revealing patches of singed skin underneath and leaving part of her black hair and one amber eye exposed from beneath her hood. Luckily the mana crystal was still intact and hidden in her cloak, ensuring that her hair, eyes, and scarf remained obscured with false colors.

With her current state assessed, she managed to find her balance and calm down a little, and finally turned to make her way over to where Talahanan lay while leaning on the wall for support. He hadn’t moved, but now his eyes found her own as she approached him.

“...”

“...”

The two of them stared at each other in silence, and Micah realized that the sight of him laying there, defeated, alongside his wife had extinguished any flames of hatred towards him that remained in her from their previous conversation. She realized that the two of them had thoroughly clashed over their conflicting ideologies, she’d made him suffer, he’d made her suffer, and at the end of it all she’d come out victorious. And yet…

“...Why.”

“...”

“WHY?” Micah barked at him, clutching her side as a stab of pain raced through it in protest. “Why did you… why did you let me do that without retaliating?!”

“...”

“You could’ve stopped that attack if you wanted to, couldn’t you?! You could’ve kept fighting for way longer than that, couldn’t you?! But instead you just stood there and took it all!” Micah’s teeth gnashed for reasons she couldn’t understand. Without thinking she just kept yelling at him. “What happened to protecting the people you wanted to protect, huh?! Were you just making that up?! You talk such a big game, but when it really matters you just give up like a coward! You really are a failure of a father!”

“...Why… are you crying…?”

“Eh-” Micah’s eyes went wide at his words. She brought a hand up to her face, and flinched as she felt liquid staining her cheeks. And for some reason, as if the realization was all it took, Micah felt a surge of emotion within her that brought forth even more tears. She shut her eyes in a vain attempt to stop them, and muttered out in a frail voice, “You’re such a… Why… did you do that…”

“...” Talahanan was quiet at first, leaving the air in the barn to only be filled by Micah’s quiet sobs. But eventually, he spoke again. “I don’t know.”

“What…?”

“I don’t know,” he repeated. “Maybe... it’s because I realized you were suffering… even more than I was… Or maybe I was just… tired of the violence… Or maybe...”

He trailed off, leaving a pregnant pause. Micah stopped wiping her eyes and glanced at him to see his gaze once again directed at the ceiling, looking as though he were staring at something much farther away. “...I don’t know.”

“You’re… *sniffle* not making any sense…”

Her comment wasn’t delivered with any hint of humor, and yet Talahanan smiled. It looked pitiful beneath his weary expression and wound-riddled body, but Micah’s heart throbbed painfully while looking at it nonetheless.

“...Well? Aren’t you… *cough* *cough* going to finish me off…? That’s what you… came here for, right?”

“I…”

“Come on,” he said while reaching out to gently take one of her scarf ends. He brought it to his chest, angling it just above his heart. “I’m… almost out of miasma... If you stab me now… I won’t be able to… heal the wound. You can… *cough* kill me…”

“I…!”

“Go ahead… It’s, *cough* it’s fine…”

“I-I…! I-!”

“...” Talahanan’s brows furrowed at Micah’s frantic expression, and after a while he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry about before… I shouldn’t have acted as if I… have any idea of what your circumstances are. I’m sure… *cough* *cough* things must be very complicated… for you… I mean… even now I’m still faltering between right and wrong… I left my own daughter to die… and so many other people, s-suffered because of me, all so I could- *cough* protect Liz… Heh… haha…”

Talahanan was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes at all. “I really am… a failure of a father… It may be, *cough*... cowardly of me to accept it, but… if someone like me needs to die, then… I can only see it… as punishment for… everything I’ve done...”

“...”

“That’s why… *cough*... it’s fine. Do as you please… But promise me one thing first… Promise me you’ll… think about what I said…”

“...What you… said…?”

“About how violence is… *cough* wrong... About how this world would… be a better, safer place if only… the power to hurt people, *cough* did not exist… I… wholeheartedly believe that… Will you promise me…?”

Micah’s mind felt like mush as she struggled to sort through her own emotions, but she found herself nodding despite herself. “I… I promise.”

“Thank you…” Talahanan showed her another smile, and she felt more tears well up as he angled his head to look at the face of his wife. “Liz… I’m sorry… for a lot of things… I know you’re probably… going to beat yourself up over this, but *cough*... even though I know you’d do it for my sake… I don’t want you… to become trash like me… I know it’s selfish, but… I know you’re strong enough to overcome this… *cough* *cough* *cough* ...Goodbye…”

Talahanan seemed to be getting weaker and weaker as he brought a hand over to gently stroke his wife’s cheek while giving his final words, then turned his attention back to Micah.

“I… I’m ready… now…”

Micah gritted her teeth in frustration, towards Talahanan for running away from his own promises and leaving his wife to suffer in his absence, towards herself for even caring about him or any of this…

...and towards this world. This violent, brutal world where she used her power to hurt people to destroy an innocent family.

I… I just want to see Yuu again, why… does this have to happen…?

But giving up now would just be a blasphemy to Yuu, all of the people she’d killed thus far, and to Talahanan who’d finished making his peace. And so, Micah shut her eyes, hardened her heart once again, and thrusted the scarf end into his chest in one go.

“Ghh…!! Kllhhkk…!!! Gah...” He grunted, gasped, choked, and gurgled on his own blood as it began to spill from his mouth. Still, he didn’t resist, and even shut his eyes as he welcomed his approaching death.

But before that, there was one more thing Micah wanted to say to him. “...Hey. About your daughter-”

“I-khh…! I know...!” he interrupted. “She’s… a-alive right…? I thought you were-khh, t-telling the truth at first but… now I-gllhhglk... I know…"

“Hurry up and save her, idiot!”

"If she… was really-glk... i-in trouble… you would have saved her… right…?”

“...Then I’ll just leave it at that,” was all she said in response. But even so, Talahanan smiled once again.

“N-Name… khh…! Your… Is it a-alright if I… know your name…?”

“Is… that your last request?”

“N-No but… I’d like to-glkk… to know… if it’s alright…”

Micah went silent, pondering on whether or not to comply with Talahanan’s request. Circe had made it abundantly clear that her cover was more important than anything else during her missions, such that she was allowed the leniency to disobey orders in order to protect it.

But… would it be alright to give out her name, just this one time? He was already dying, and…

“I…” Micah swallowed hard, lips trembling with sudden nerves as she began to speak. “M-My name is… it’s-”

“D… ad…?” A small voice cut her off before she could finish. It was frail, quivering, and as Micah’s head snapped towards the barn’s back door, an all-too familiar face was there to match, blood red eyes filled with horror and uncertainty as she gazed upon the scene. “M-... Mom…?”

Shit, I can’t let her look at my face…!

Acting on instinct, Micah brought a hand up to shield her face and leapt towards the door while retracting her scarf end from Talahanan’s chest. The girl flinched as she closed the distance in an instant, but as she brought her arms up and shut her eyes in fear, Micah used the chance to simply dart past her.

She continued to run through the carnage-filled hellscape that had once been the roads of a quiet, peaceful village. Ignoring everything around her, she continued to run until she was far out of the village’s gates. Even as she breached the treeline and entered the forest she continued to run, and kept going for as long as she could.

As a result, she wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the wave of fatigue hit her like a ton of bricks. All she knew was that the sun had long set, leaving her in the dead of night.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…” Micah deactivated [God’s Blessing] and pushed on, ignoring the effects of Mana Depletion even as her vision began to swim. No matter what, she absolutely couldn’t stop here. The monsters were still all over the forest, and even in the best case scenario she’d be picked up by a search party and brought back to Kleinwald where her cover would be blown once and for all. But with the carriage she arrived in destroyed, she had no choice but to find a way back to Regalia on her own.

The nearest village is… almost two days away on foot. But staying in Zaoth right now is a bad idea in the first place. I need to- nngh, get out of the nation as soon as possible…

But as she once again clutched her side in pain, Micah was forced to realize that her injuries from the fight were more severe than she thought, and that she had neither the supplies to treat them with, nor the strength to find any. So many issues were piling up one after the next that Micah’s already-exhausted mind was working past its limit trying to keep up with it all. What should she do next? What was the best course of action?

No, right now she just needed to get as far away as possible. She could worry about everything else later, but right now she was still in-

As if on cue, a sudden force collided with Micah from behind, sending her tumbling to the ground. She struggled to push herself back up as a series of low growls filled the air around her. While panting heavily, Micah’s head swiveled around to see that more of those monsters had appeared, though she couldn’t discern an exact number in her haze.

N-No… can’t get… surrounded… gotta… gotta move…

Ignoring her body’s protests, Micah summoned whatever strength remained in her and got to her feet using a nearby tree for support. The growls only grew louder as she began to stumble-walk her way from tree to tree, trying her best to get away from the creatures before it was too late.

“Haa… Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Come on, Micah… Keep moving… Don’t give up… Don’t…

“Gah-!” Micah let out a cry as her leg was slashed from behind, forcing her to a knee. She glanced back, but the monster was already retreating to a safe distance.

N-Not yet… Not like this…

With gritted teeth, she forced herself back to a stand. The pain from the injury melded with the rest wracking her body, but seared all the same as fresh blood poured from the wound. Still she pushed on, throwing herself to the next tree when her leg refused to move properly. She put almost her full weight against it and maneuvered herself to the other side, limping to get her stiffened appendage to cooperate.

I won’t… I can’t… Y-Yuu…

“Nngh!” Micah grunted from a second impact against her side that sent her sprawling to the forest floor. She tried to stand again, but found that she’d hit her limit, as her body had finally stopped responding to her orders.

Move… Move…

As her consciousness began to fade, she could vaguely see the various shapes moving in towards her, going in for the kill now that they’d thoroughly cornered their prey. But she no longer had the strength to even pray. So she instead did something else.

[Use [Free Slot] to create a new [Ability]?]

[Yes]

[Please decide on the conditions of the [Ability]. Whether or not the conditions are accepted is dependent upon the current potential of [God’s Blessing].]
[Note: The potential of [God’s Blessing] is increased as it levels up.]

However, that was as far as she could get before everything—her mind, the shapes, the very world itself, faded into nothingness.