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BOOSH!

Viscous impact followed by dead silence.

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes as soon as the sound reached my ears. My breathing could've ceased at any given moment.

But when I reopened my eyes, I was not met with the blank white room I was accustomed to during my first death. Rather, I was staring at the outline of two towering figures.

Their broad and strong backs filled me with relief and security.

「Don't count us out yet!」

Lia loudly proclaimed.

「We're just gettin' started!」

An armless Asthos—his wound cauterized by the village flames—brandished his ballistette with his one good hand and grinned ear to ear.

Firmly planted in front of them was a solid shield of hardened chalk. It withstood the force of the whirlwind bullet and protected us from certain annihilation.

Together they boldly stood against the assassin, who had knitted his brows at the interruption.

「Bollocks. You're in the way again, you extras. Can't you at least have waited after I'd—」

BAM!

And in came Rysef with an instant strike, launching Tyton to the tip of the headland. The contract killer just barely managed to dig his heels into the ground and anchor himself.

「L-let me finish my sentences, prick...」

Of course, the Ashen Thief denied him the pleasure and resumed battering the man.

Lia turned back to me and Melyn.

「Kids, are you okay?」

「Y-yeah... I can't speak for Mel but...」

She replied to my confirmation with a brief nod, before redirecting her full attention back to the contract killer.

「Sir! We're ready to assist you!」

「Lia! Asthos! Stand back! Ya'll only get in th' way.」

His warning evoked a frustrated groan from Asthos.

「Oi Rysef! Don't be a proud bastard and let us help! That damned feathered chickadee took me arm! I ain't th' sort t' back down from a fight!」

「Ya don't get it, ya thickheaded oaf! There's a secret t' th' feats he's been pullin'!」

BOOM!

Tyton managed to pull the trigger amidst the burst of attacks and launch himself away from the Ashen Thief.

Rysef naturally pursued the assassin with everything he had. They were moving so fast, I could only catch glimpses of their afterimages.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

A hardly visible maelstrom of unbridled thumps had occupied the battlefield. The intense showdown lasted a minute before slowing down to an observable speed.

What am I looking at..?

Rysef was then knocked back by the contract killer, who appeared unblemished when compared to the damaged Ashen Thief.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Tyton sarcastically applauded his efforts.

「Ahaha! That was an entertaining altercation... It's been a while since anyone has gotten me this worked up.」

「Sir!」

Lia and Asthos joined the Ashen Thief, who by the skin of his teeth, kept himself from toppling over from his injuries.

「Y-yep... now I'm certain...」

He shakily directed his finger at the assassin and unveiled the secret behind his strength.

「He's both an ina caster and an ani caster. A true wizard of myth and legend. And an anomaly in this anomalous world.」

Tyton was unfazed by his words. Instead, he laughed and loaded his blunderbuss.

「It's about time you figured it out! I was almost about to tell you myself! I'm going to take your subpar punches as you appraising my abilities?」

Rysef used his ani magic to heal his scrapes and bruises and rose to face the man. Lia and Asthos were taken aback by the reveal.

「A wizard..? Sir, are you... sure..?」

「Oi, oi, Rysef... next ya'll be tellin' me Lia has th' hots fer me. Which... I'd gratefully accept by th' way...」

The Ashen Thief chuckled at his statement and cracked his knuckles. The District Master's demeanor told me he was ready for round two.

「Lia, Asthos... I want ya t' escort me apprentices t' Sector Six. Leave th' fightin' t' me.」

「But, sir—」

「That's an order Lia!」

The white stone shield obstructing the view petered out into chalk dust as Lia accepted Rysef's directive. She swallowed her dissatisfaction and bowed at his command.

「U-understood...」

Asthos clicked his tongue and shepherded Melyn away from the site. His chance at bitter revenge was swiftly swiped from him.

The thief girl he carefully steered off wore an unreadable mien that worried me. The crimson sheen in her ruby eyes had dulled considerably.

I pocketed Ysolva's handkerchief and reached out for her hand. It was all I could offer.

But no reply came from the thief girl. Her typical ebullience was absent—gone like the morning dew.

Be that as it may, I still went in to grab hold of her frail hand to help her traverse the bumpy path ahead. Just as she did to me when we first met.

But of course, something needed to go wrong. God forbid we had a little respite.

「EVERYONE STAND BACK!」

A high-speed jet of water came whizzing towards us.

SPLOOSH!

Lia had once again constructed a chalk shield, this time protecting us from the right flank. There, from betwixt the tree stumps emerged an ominous shadow.

The afternoon sun gleamed on his golden staff as he exited the shade and made his grand entrance. Or I suppose... it was a reentrance...

His feather overcoat flittered in the breeze.

「Nobody told me there was gonna be a party over here!」

He licked his lips as he approached us.

「Anash! Took you long enough! I'm busy at the moment, can you take care of the group behind him please?!」

「Haha! Sorry, Tyton! I was caught up in that manor's impressive book collection. Get this right: they actually have—」

「Remember that conversation we had?! About you running your bloody mouth?! Just zip it and kill them—!」

BAM!

Who else but the Ashen Thief?

「I-I said... let me finish my sentences you prick! For a Nephilim with a big brain, you sure are daft!」

The dark-skinned stave-wielder let out a plaintive sigh and pinned his sights on the Sentinels before him.

「Don't mind him, you guys... He's probably on his pyramid or something...」

Asthos walked to the fore of the now-fading shield and held up his ballistette, confronting Anash.

「Ya'll be buried under a pyramid if ya take another step forward!」

In the middle of the chaos in the background and the hunter's threats, Lia used her Xi breathing technique to escape detection and sneak over to us.

She then spoke to me quietly.

「Lorenzo. Do you know where Sector 6 is..?」

「It's the secret passage behind the springs right..? Klon told me about it...」

「Good... Where is he by the way..? He went to get you right..?」

「Klon is...」

SPLIIISH!

In a blink of an eye, a wall of high-pressure water burst forth from the ground and separated us. Had it directly been beneath me, I'd undoubtedly be sliced in two.

I held the thief girl close to me as we were isolated from Lia.

「Yo! You three in the back! Don't be scheming amongst yourselves now! Especially you, Ms. Sentinel. You and Mr. Sentinel over here are to die by my hands. Or... staff. Both work.」

Anash then took notice of us and craned forward to see us.

「Wait a minute... you kids are the ones from before. Huh... you two have a death wish or something? Oh well! The guy you were with... um... Klun or whatever... I can happily report to you that he's positively dead!」

Fwoop! Clank!

The arrow ricocheted off his golden staff. These Bloody Talons had inhuman reflexes it seemed like.

「Hey, can you not do that—?」

Wuh-psh!

An off-white whip had wrapped around his golden staff. Clouds of chalk puffed up as it tugged on his weapon.

On the other side of this lash was obviously Lia, whose amber eyes smoldered with anger.

「You'll pay for your crimes, fiend!」

Thus began the struggle on two battlefields. On one ring you had the Ashen Thief and Tyton. And on the opposite ring, you had Lia and Asthos against Anash.

A no holds barred match between these behemoths was something I didn't want to get caught in the middle of.

「Lorenzo! Take Melyn and run! Sector 6 is your only hope!」

Lia struggled to keep a hold on the assassin's stave as she urged us on.

「Kid! If ya got th' girl in yer hands, do whatever it takes t' keep her in yer hands! Got it?! When this is all over, I'm certain yer feelings'll get across t' her!」

Schling!

A razor-sharp concentrated blast of water nearly lopped Asthos' head off as he yelled at me.

I saw no reason to defy them. Within seconds I was out of there.

I sprinted through the eroded dirt path leading to the springs and lugged an unresponsive Melyn alongside me. The smell of smoke disappeared the closer I got to the sounds of the waterfall.

On the way, I happened upon Maksa's clinic. It was set ablaze like the other buildings. Nothing was safe from the inferno.

That alone was unnerving, but what truly set me off were the objects that lay by the entrance.

I surveyed the place as it became apparent.

Wait... that unusual shape... isn't that..?

By my feet were the answers to the puzzle that nagged at the back of my mind for so long.

「It harbors a unique trait where if you break a part of it off, the entire main body points towards the severed piece. First of its kind. And get this, it glows the farther away it is from the severed organ!」

Remnants of a Jayzalis, as described by Nago.

Oddly shaped pale green petals emitting a dim light—traces of the flower were scattered about the site.

「Mm... th' pink glowin' veins come from a reaction with another chemical. Nixie addicts don't typically display such a manifestation otherwise... I 'ave yet t' uncover th' nature o' this unidentified substance...」

Maksa's analysis from two years ago rang in my ears.

It wasn't hard to piece together the conspiracy brewing in my head. It was a trail of breadcrumbs that led me to what I was looking for.

The drug peddlers, the Bloody Talons, the Church of Vel. Everything was connected.

「That aside, the story from the military revolves around a missing armaments shipment. Yarzon's severely underdefended, and this constitutes a major blow to their military strength.」

「Th' lass was experimented on. T' test th' drug's potency, th' bastards at th' lab would pump random slum dwellers with th' pink crap. Judgin' by her state, she has only a few hours t' live.」

「Why'd th' boss put me in charge of these runts? We'd still make bank without 'em... I seriously can't get a read on that bastard...」

「I don't know about Thonvir, but I'm certainly visiting mama tonight.」

「Word was this system of tunnels was constructed in such a convoluted manner that outsiders would find themselves back at the entrance, no matter how much they mapped it out.」

And the truth ultimately dawned on me.

They purposely let us rescue the substance-filled slum dwellers from the underground base so they could track us down...

I was a vital asset to their plans.

I staggered backward as a frisson of dread washed over me.

「If I hadn't gone against Rysef's instructions... none of this would've happened...」

Melyn didn't react to my confession. She simply stared off into the distance, where the springs were.

When I picked up the main body of the flower off the ground, I felt it twist in my fingertips. This slight movement was accompanied by a brightening glow.

My whole body froze once I realized where it was pointing.

It shared its direction with the thief girl's vacant gaze.

「Zozo... what's the hold-up..? We've got to meet up with the others...」

Her toneless words stabbed me like a knife—a knife more painful than the one I had plunged into my torso.

I couldn't let her go, though. The danger was still afoot.

In a situation like that, my cautious side resurfaced. And I carefully considered our next course of action. For my safety and hers.

Risk assessment. It did me no good to be reckless like before.

I plunged my hand into my pocket and felt the sole physical assurance I had that Ysolva was safe. There was no guarantee these contract killers had located Sector 6 yet.

But there's a high chance they're still lurking around the springs, searching for the hidden foxhole.

The question was though... should Melyn and I intervene..?

If we just took a turn and continued running north, we could decisively escape the clutches of the Bloody Talons and the well-equipped marauders aiding them.

But that meant leaving the children's fate to chance.

Assuming this pursuer was as strong as Anash, or even Tyton, we'd quickly find ourselves outmatched by their skill. It was clear these contract killers were a cut above the rest.

Yet, if we could somehow divert their attention away from the area...

「Melyn, hold it!」

I clasped her hand as she was about to leave.

「There are likely assassins up ahead. I don't know how many though. Can you use your Hu breathing techniques from here to scan the springs?」

She silently pivoted her head towards me.

「It's all static... Zozo... The smoke is too heavy... Let's just kill the first enemy we see...」

Darn... Well, we are next to a burning building but still...

I browsed my options and settled with the stealthy approach. Staying on the path, however faint it was, would open us up to getting spotted.

On account of this, I dragged Melyn along into the forest and slunk towards the sound of the waterfall. We drifted through the woods hoping no one would ambush us.

I only had a cudgel hanging off my belt. It was useless if we ended up against another ranged fighter.

Additionally... Melyn wasn't in the condition to be fighting. I preferred if we could avoid combat altogether.

Finally, we stopped behind a large tree closest to the springs.

Not a soul was to be seen. The glistening waters were untainted by the blood and gore spilled in the village.

A suffocating smoke no longer pervaded the air. We could now use the Hu breathing technique.

..........

.......

.....

...

Huh... this can't be right...

I relaxed my respiration and stepped out into the open. Nobody was lying in wait for us.

Melyn went ahead and puttered towards the back of the springs. Once she disappeared behind the rock wall, I followed suit.

Imagine my surprise when I found her rooted to the floor, a few feet away from the entrance. The hidden door was no longer hidden and in lieu partially open.

And the gap between belched out billows of smoke.

No there must be some mistake...

A droplet of sweat trickled off my chin as I ran through every possible explanation.

Did they forget to close the door? Was this a false passageway made to trick the enemy? Perhaps we'd misheard Klon's directions in the heat of the moment..?

But the relentless wolves of soul-crushing reality were snapping at my heels.

I neared the ingress and gripped the rock barrier.

Then, I gently open the door.

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