[Visual Perception] – [Red] – [Red] – [Red]

It was inevitable. None of my limbs, even my senses were heeding the treacherous blazing flame that was about to engulf me.

Is this where it ends for me?

While I was absently staring at my impending demise, I was suddenly pulled by the scruff of my collar, forcefully dragging me away from that flame.

It was Ranju.

I could only gawk at him as I helplessly toppled over the cold ground. We exchanged positions, me and him, whose rear is now faced in front of me.

He promptly forwarded his sword which is gleaming in a reddish shade. In an upward firm stance of his sword, Ranju cleaved the flame into halves. To some extent, that reddish shade was absorbing the flames, at least from my observation it was.

All of the lines in my special ability turned red. I couldn't react to it. It was the first time that it happened. No, perhaps I just blanked out, it clouded my line of thought resulting in my vacillation. But how—?

Just as I was thinking of this, the flames waned down by degrees, and eventually snuffed out.

Clang!

A metallic sound drummed directly to my ears. Hearing that, my obscured senses somewhat unraveled and it slapped me back to the horrific ordeal.

Ranju coercively dropped his sword on the ground, and his arms were... They were massively burnt to crisp. It swallowed up to his very shoulders. I couldn't wholly look at his expression, but the inflict done was atrocious just from his bottled-up groan.

Even so, I don't understand any of it. There was a mocking voice of a man and—that's right! There was another person behind us. After that, flames had risen... My teeth clattered as I thought of that. I was completely dazed, even though it was just there plainly served—ready to be consumed—I still couldn't think coherently.

"Ranju!"

Aeri wailed. A projectile flung above me, past Ranju, and right onto the darkened segment of the tunnel. It made a vague clink not quite far.

"To be able to discern me from the distance even with my cloak, how did—Hah! Not that it matters."

It was that mocking voice again. I looked at the place where the projectile went off, my sight slowly adapting yet I still couldn't find him. Following that, Aeri passed from my side, rushing towards Ranju to aid him.

A handclap came from the empty darkness.

"Anyhow, to be able to deflect that scale using only sword enhancement, I congratulate—"

"Shut up, you fuck face! What's your purpose by doing this?!"

Aeri angrily retaliated by nocking an arrow to her bowstring and shot it swiftly. Ranju's knees finally gave out and gritted his teeth, it seemed the pain in both of his wounded arms had ultimately bested him.

"Shit."

Ranju cussed. Aeri fell to her knees worriedly, her eyes strained vigilance to the hidden man as she tended to Ranju. Just then, white light glowed on Ranju's wounded arms, and concomitantly a ball of light floated to the ceiling—the one Mira used to brightened the tunnel wall before we proceeded.

I hastily turned to look at Mira. Instead of casting any of her offensive magic spells, she was pressured to apply a barrier on the improvised narrow path that we had built. Her other hand was aimed at Ranju. She kept her attention fractionated between the front and the back.

She must be on her limit already, she had been unceasingly using multiple magic spells from the get-go. And now, her workload had increased exponentially.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that, you lowly trash elf!"

The mocking man hollered.

Suddenly interrupted, I craned my neck halfway just to see that Aeri was flying in mid-air, blood gushing out of her chest.

"Aeri!"

Behind Ranju's pained yell laid a tinge tone of misery. The transition happened so quickly that I couldn't keep up with it. Briefly, Mira shakily shrieked as well as if she was on the verge of crying.

"Aeri!"

Whereas I couldn't pronounce anything, let alone do anything as of this moment.

[Visual Perception] – [White>>>Green]

My special ability activated, projecting to where Aeri's exact locus of her fall would be. I could catch... Huh? I couldn't get up, not even a single strand of muscle would obey me. All of my limbs turned into jelly, trembling to a magnitude that I've never experienced before.

Move, damn it!

I balled my hand into a fist, trying to rally even an infinitesimal dose of courage. But even then, I just torpidly gazed at Aeri falling down. Though I haven't caught Aeri, Mira used her wind magic to soften her landing.

I crawled... I pathetically crawled to where Aeri was—which was about a meter away from me. I coaxed her into my arms, her complexion was afflicted by the claw-like laceration on her chest. But thank goodness, she was still breathing and her wound started to glow, indicating that Mira was healing her at the moment.

"Hey, listen. If you surrender now, I promise that you won't die. But that's all that I can promise. Hahaha! ... Hey, hey, brat."

Ranju, even with marginally and currently healing arms, picked up his sword and made his stance. 

"If I were you, I would lay the sword down and beg for mercy... Tch! Prepared to die for your own heroic conceit, eh? What I execrate most are idiots who don't know when to give in."

Under the ball of light—Mira's magic—that had brightened the inner part of the tunnel, a burly cloaked individual stood ominously. However, I was fixated neither on Ranju nor the cloaked man but on what was beside the cloaked man.

... Hellhounds filled up the totality of the lane, all the way to the back, and the ones who weren't visibly seen had their eyes glinting at the darkness. They weren't attacking but they were definitely revealing their aggressive nature. Not only that but several creepier monsters were lurking within that group.

Atypical creatures that strayed away from the usual metamorphosized animals or personified objects. Instead, they were human-like, hunched back but the height and structure bore semblance to an average man. They were covered with a thick gray pelt and a simple red cape. What made them creepier was that their heads were made of carved pumpkins, each representing a different emoticon.

And just by looking at their hands, I comprehensibly understood now how they ambushed us from behind. Those carved pumpkins had bloated palms that appeared like a shovel with fat drill-looking fingers. In other words, they excavated their way to our location.

A large barrier domed our group. It came from Mira, of course. I don't even need to check it, just by seeing the Hellhounds hemming in on us at all angles with breakneck speed, I know that Mira had deserted her post and alternately had her attention on us.

... Death.

After all of it had dawned on me, that was the only word I could think of. The growlings, the conversations, and even the crackling of commotion began to mute. Quietude and tranquility inhered in my heart.

And then... Finally, I cannot hear anything anymore.

I could sense Aeri's warmth on my grasp, she's alive and recovering, and that's all that matters. That's right, at the moment, we're all still alive and kicking. 

"... Let's just surrender, shall we?"

My eyes widened at that proposal. Even though I couldn't hear the extrinsic noises, I'd distinctly heard that. That outburst was drowned in desperation, clinging to whoever it could just to keep the body and the soul together.

"... Think of it, being alive is and will always be better than dying. I figured that that was the most viable option to stay alive. A few injuries here and there can be mended and restored but once the flare in the candle gets extinguished, all will be meaningless. H-How about this—I have money in me, I can give it to you all so please spare us... Me. Please..."

As the volume grew louder, that voice made more woeful justifications, amplified by negligence, making the atmosphere murkier and laden with tension. The thought of that was so abhorrent that my stomach started to churn. Just listening to it made me sick.

"... Please, I don't want to die."

There was a pause after a short while that was blabbered. Afterward, I realized where it all came from—the shameful and self-pitying words—all of it came from my mouth. And even then, even when I realized it, my pathetic excuses continued.

"But can you blame me? W-what can I do? I-I'm already at the end of my rope. I'm scared. Please, I don't want to die he—"

I abruptly cupped my mouth, stopping my rant. Something undescribable was rising from my stomach, I urged myself to vomit but it was in vain. I couldn't puke it out and the sensation remained there nonetheless.

"Hahaha! That's more like it."

The cloaked man was the first to respond. Although his face was hidden, I somewhat could discern the amusement in it.

"Listen to the coward. There's more to life than death. Come and pick the correct and only choice you have!"

There was a feeble smack onto my chest. I cast my eyes downward.

"You shouldn't be trembling too much. It made me kind of dizzy."

Aeri with a faint smile said that as she lifted her own body.

"A..."

I tried to speak but the sensation intensified. I just kept my hand on my mouth. 

"Hey, noisy as ever you loud-mouthed fuck face. Trying to disturb me from my beauty rest, eh?"

It was beyond doubt that Aeri was still frail from her chest wounds yet she climbed to her feet and materialized her knife, brandishing it to the Hellhounds outside the barrier.

"What's with the futile resistance? You ought to learn a thing or two from that coward... Tch!"

Disrupting his speech, a cotton ball-like device popped out and hovered over the cloaked man's side.

"What is it?!"

He spat out in vexation. A tiny voice buzzed from it, the distance didn't allow me to identify who he was speaking to, but I had a notion that it was the cloaked woman from the Amrel Village.

Shit! That was an omen all along, yet I didn't take note of it.

"YOU DUMB BITCH! ONCE I'M DONE HERE, I'LL MAKE A MINCEMEAT OUT OF YOU!"

The cloaked man bellowed furiously and the cotton ball-like device dissipated.

At the same time, the Hellhounds initiated their attack. Correction, they were already attacking but now like a flowing river, not a single one stayed put.

Mira was casting the barrier and wind magic non-stop. Aeri at the side and Ranju at the front were getting rid of the Hellhounds that passed through.

"We only needed a single person, anyway."

The cloaked man muttered to himself which I could barely form out of. He shifted his look toward me.

"Hey, coward! Don't make any move and I'll keep you alive. Otherwise, I'll tear off all of your limbs if I have to."

When the barrier temporarily broke by the relentless headbutt of the Hellhounds, the cloaked man propelled forward, his right hand mutated into a furry claw. Eventuating to that, Ranju, who was fighting several Hellhounds at the time, made a large swing to fend them off and hauled it again to defend from the swiping claw. The impact from the strike bent Ranju backward but still maintained his upright position.

"You're a tough one, aren't you? Why don't we take it up a notch?"

The cloaked man rotated oppositely and from that, a powerful swirl of darkness was sent forth, covering a small radius. Taken by surprise, Ranju got thrown away and received grievous lacerations all over him. However, before Ranju flew out, the cloaked man promptly grabbed him by the neck.

Ranju's sword clanged on the ground, near to where I was splayed about. All I could do was watch the cloaked man as he strangled Ranju.

Stained with blood, Ranju squirmed in the cloaked man's hand, striving to free from his rein. Even then, Ranju's eyes... There was enmity on it, inexorable by the threat.

"Despite the overwhelming odds, you won't concede, huh... What a waste of existence."

The cloaked man understood and said that flatly. 

"Release him, you fuck face!"

Aeri declared in agony... She had multiple bite wounds throughout her framework, notably on her left shoulder and wrist. She staggered as she persistently fought to steer for Ranju's whereabouts but the Hellhounds were too much.

At the same instant, Mira's spindle-like magic whooshed at a higher velocity than before. However, a Hellhound caught up to it and sacrificed itself.

"Let him go."

Mira conjured and blasted more on the verge of her tears falling, but it was to no avail. All of it got intercepted by the Hellhounds.

"See what your opposition and hostility brought upon you? Now, squeal!"

The claw that was strangling Ranju started to smolder, roasting his neck fiercely while the free hand mutated in a furry claw as well—and stabbed Ranju in the guts. Mira mitigated the impetus of that by casting a barrier and using healing magic on Ranju's neck. Still, Mira's effort failed and the claw penetrated Ranju. He groaned slightly as to persistently defy the torturer.

It was basically a tug-of-war at this point on—on who will prevail between them.

They were running out of options. They should've just surrendered from the beginning.

A tremor boiled over. The Hellhounds became agitated, backing down at a short distance.

I looked for the cause and turned about. The epicenter of it came from Mira, the tip of her staff illuminated as brilliant as the sun. After a short while, it condensed to the size of a marble, even so, I could define the potency of the magic being demonstrated.

"This is my last warning. Let him go."

Mira directed to the cloaked man as the tunnel continued to rumble. At the rate it was going, in all likelihood, the entire place will collapse.

There was a reason why Mira wasn't using large AOE magic spells, so by resorting to a spell that could induce an earthquake, she must've been on her last straw.

"Hey, coward! Stop that for me."

The cloaked man matter-of-factly commanded to me. Most likely, that magic would penetrate the Hellhounds which is why he's ordering me to do something. But what should I do? ... Either any of that, even if I followed or failed to, the probability of being buried here alive or being enslaved by the cloaked man until my death...

As I was thinking about my actions—whether to commit to it or not, a silhouette zinged past me.

In a span of a split second, the cloaked man's limb detached, then his head soaring above, and lastly, his burly body got flown away. I witnessed that brutality and it made me nauseous. It was my first time seeing someone's decapitated.

In the next moment, Freya was there shouldering Ranju. She brought Ranju over to us.

"Can you stand up?"

She said concerningly.

"I can."

Ranju, who had a bleeding gut and charred neck, cradled it and moved away a bit to stand on his own.

"Reiji, can you stand up?"

My eyes were still trained on where the cloaked man was, confounded by the affair. Then, I looked at Freya with her hand hanged out to help me. I tried to reach for it, but when I did, the indescribable sensation surged. So instead, I retrieved it and had gone to clasp my mouth.

Everything was all over yet it was still there.

Freya's expression contorted, her brow furrowed, and her teeth bared. It was sorrow that reflected over her deportment. She clenched her fists as she retrieved it too.

"My apologies for flagrantly overlooking such an obvious ploy."

Turning on her heels, Freya added.

"There's nothing to fret about, Reiji. As an esteemed knight of Guild Apata and a comrade of yours, I'll do my best to secure your safety. If ever anything shall betide, that would be my defunct life primarily. I give you all my word of honor."

You're wrong, Freya. The reason... If I took your hand... for my own...

Even in my mind, not a single sentence was formed.

"You damn bitch! I'll make you suffer and slowly torment you until you die! And that damn, stupid newbie letting you roam free; I'll be giving her a similar punishment!"

"?"

The cloaked man, who was now unveiled had orange hair and scar all over his face, cursed incessantly... No, he was dead. At least, he was supposed to be. I saw how he got killed by Freya yet why—what monstrosity is this...? He regenerated to a nigh impossible rate, slipping away death itself... There's no way...

Mira, Ranju, and Aeri were also in aghast. Only Freya maintained her composure.

"Mira, would you guard the front for me. Be wary of another cloaked person, except for her agility, she isn't an exceptional opponent. Also, she had that abnormal regeneration ability and mana rings to boot. Don't underestimate her. I shall take care of this man."

Unfazed, Freya announced and flashed her rapier across. In one fell swoop, the tunnel was painted in red. Understanding the absurdity, Mira nodded assuredly and wheeled about the narrow path where Hellhounds still streamed on.

"Understood, leave it to me."

"Freya, that fuck face had an attribute for dark and fire element, especially dark abilities. Not that you needed it, I'm just saying it in case."

Aeri asserted. Both she and Ranju, semi-recovered, had once again prepared their stance.

"Point taken."

I thought that everything will be fine now, Freya came here which I thought that she had solved the plight. And yet, nothing changed. In fact, the situation only got worse. I sank my head and embraced it. I'm going to get crazy if I didn't do it. We're basically trapped in here, not knowing how many enemies there are, not knowing how long we will last, they monopolized everything.

The rumbling underneath me began. I knew that the battle had started again but I couldn't bear to look anymore.

As I thought of that, an eerie voice of a boy whispered to me.

"Coward."

Passing a brief period of time, a brighter light overlapped the current one and was followed by a blustering thunderclap. I peeked in and saw a familiar white robe standing close to me. It had the same intricate pattern as the statue in Guild Limea.

Could she be...?

"Is everyone nyalright?"

... It's Kata.

“!?”

Behind me, heavy stomps can be heard. Accompanying that were the crying howls of the Hellhounds. As I turned and looked at it, a huge smoke of dust puffed out of the narrow path.

A figure slowly emerged from there...

"Mayer!"

Mira relievedly uttered, wiping her beaded tears away.

"Sorry, we were late. Some outlandish commotion had occurred at Amrel Village. But Peia and Cassio are taking care of the aftermath right now."

Restraint around Mayer's arm was a woman wearing tattered fabric, seemingly almost naked. But there's something different about her...

"... So, can you divulge to me what's your business with our guild, doing spineless underhanded tactics, sir? Apparently, your partner-in-crime here won't speak anything regarded to that."

Mayer said to the scar-faced man.

"Being carried by none other than you is a major pleasure for me—as you can see, I'm already wet inside, kyaaa! Why am I saying such vulgar stuff? Oh, and I heard that you're married. Do it with me and I can provide you with a much better ex-per-i-ence, kyaaa! Just thinking about it makes me wetter."

The captive woman openly interjected with her perversity before the scar-faced man could reply.

"You useless bitch! Why would you let yourself get caught?!"

Ignoring the scar-faced man, the perverted woman coyly squirmed and said in chorus.

"U-um, Mr. Mayer. You may grab me on the breast if you want to, kyaaa! What am I saying again? I bet they're bigger than your wife's and much suppler too."

"Sorry, Miss. Can you keep it down? I'm talking to your partner. Also, I'm already taken as you may already know—maybe you can find a passionate spouse inside the prison cells. Freya, can you hold this woman down for me?"

"Yes, certainly."

Mayer laid down the perverted woman and had both of her hands on her back.

"Ehhh?! I want to be with you longer, I don't want to be with Ms. Angry Knight. Can't you adopt me and take me home with you? I'm fine being your pet slave or even lower—Gahk! Bomphf!"

Freya, whose wrath was plastered all over her, ruthlessly gagged the perverted woman by planting her face in the ground. The perverted woman gabbled but I couldn't make out any of it.

Seeing that, I now noticed that the tattered cloak was different... different from the woman in the Amrel Village.

"M-Mayer!"

The indescribable sensation resurged but I had to relay it otherwise it might lead to unprecedented danger.

Mayer glanced at me.

"... There's o-one... more person... in their g-group."

I said as comprehensible as I could. Even though my voice was low and quivering, Mayer sidelong nodded and smile.

"For the last time, let me ask you again. What's the objective of your sudden ambush? In any case, no matter what your answer might be, I'll undoubtedly annihilate you. And where's this other person my younger sibling mentioned?"

Even though Mayer's expression was that of cool and collected, his aura was oozing with infuriation.

Mayer was equipped with a gauntlet that had two small shields attached to each of them. It seemed pretty heavy for me to carry alone, and yet he carried it with the perverted lady with ease.

"Over my dead body! I'm not stupid to answer that."

The previous cocky attitude of the scar-faced man had vanished, changing it to perturbation. With Mayer and Kata's arrival, the tables have completely turned.

"I see."

The scar-faced man had fallen to his knees. As if any of his motion had been suspended.

The Hellhounds were all frightened and could only growl. But, on the other hand, the creepy pumpkin-headed monsters who were immobile all these times had unexpectedly charged forward. Their movements were random and eccentric like mechanical puppets that had loose joints.

Even so, Mayer pounded them mildly and all of them were blown away. Then, he gaited towards the scar-faced man intimidatingly. In the next moment, Mayer was in front of the scar-faced man, his fist in the air.

The scar-faced man couldn't defend against it, immeasurable anxiety smeared on him, as his teeth rattled slightly.

A millimeter away from being clobbered in the face, the scar-faced man instantly transformed into dark particles that evaporated in the atmosphere. The punch that had missed sundered the ground, creating a fissure.

"Bah-bye."

Next to that, the perverted woman also transformed into dark particles even when Freya had solidly seized her.

"Damn!"

Freya gripped her hand, digging a bit of dirt as she did so.

Not only them but the Hellhounds, corpse or not, and the pumpkin-headed monsters were gone like a bubble that had burst.

"A long-distance teleportation nyagic and at a nyarge scale too."

Kata roved her eyes, searching for something.

Is it finally over? Right...? And yet, the indescribable sensation remained.

… … …

Despite being outnumbered, suffering injuries, and at death's door, Mira protected us until the very end, Freya fought with her life on the line, and Aeri and Ranju sought to survive.

In the face of that, only I wimped out and chose to cower in shame. I'm even willing to sacrifice them to save myself.

How pathetic am I? Now that everything had ironed out, I recognized what that indescribable sensation was, that kept antagonizing my insides, that made me want to vomit yet none came out—it was guilt, sheer and indisposable guilt.

While they were preoccupied, perhaps a discussion or whatever they were doing, I curled myself into a ball, biting my lips. I didn't join them, I didn't have the right to do so. I don't care anymore.

A delicate hand patted my head, delicately stroking the strands of my hair.

"Everything is fine now, Reiji. You don't have to stay here. Look, Freya is recollecting the Armgolems, and Mayer and Kata are monitoring the area. We're safe now."

Mira's tone was genial yet still, I had my head drooped.

"Sorry."

It was all I could say. If I spoke more, the guilt will devour me. I was afraid of their responses. For all I know, they should be begrudging me. It should be that—that made much more sense.

"Why? There's no reason for you to apologize."

What do you mean there's no reason? Isn't abandoning all of you just for my own sake enough of a reason?

"I agree with Mira. You devised a plan in the middle of that mayhem, preventing the Hellhounds to scatter about. If it wasn't for that, we would be in a much dreadful situation."

Aeri stated further.

That barricade was irrelevant. To begin with, it was just useful in the frontline but the enemy behind wasn't dealt with. As a matter of fact, it actually reduced our chances of escape.

There was silence for a short while after that.

"Let's go, Reiji. Mayer is calling for us."

Mira held my hand and urged me to stand up. All I could see were footwear, belonging to Aeri, Ranju, Mira, and mine. She ushered me and even after we grouped up, she was still holding onto my hand.

Mayer discussed "going back to the Amrel Village" and "about the Guild Master" but I was too bummed out to listen attentively. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, from how it was done, I knew it came from a man. Whether it was from Ranju or Mayer.

I know they were sincerely worried but I couldn't hide my frustration nor fake it. And so just like that, we continued to press further towards the exit.

I suppose with that, everything had truly ended.

Therefore, I've decided... When we return to the guild mansion. I'll cut my ties with Guild Limea.