A burning pain spread through Red’s skin. It overwhelmed even the agony the boy felt from his broken bones. It was as if liquid fire was entering through his pores and burning his body from the inside.

For a second that seemed to last forever, Red felt nothing but the burning. Then it passed. The pain gave way to a bubbling sensation in the pit of his stomach. The boy tried to pinpoint what was happening, but his body refused to move.

The bubbling sensation rose through his midriff. It passed through his chest, and another wave of pain assaulted him. Something pushed his chest from the inside, realigning his broken bones and healing the damage that Red had suffered. After this bubbling energy was done with his ribs, it moved towards his arms. His deformed limbs began to readjust - the broken bones realigned and the torn skin closed up.

Red kept awareness throughout the entire process. He felt the foreign force travelling beneath his flesh, his veins bulging as this bubbling sensation did its work. It was an awful sensation. Yet, Red could do nothing to control it.

The sensation didn’t disappear after his body was healed. It continued to travel through his veins, as if exploring every inch of his insides from head to toes. At one point, Red even felt it reach behind his eyes, the orbs bulging from the inside. The boy felt like he was on the edge of insanity as the bubbling sensation continued to act like an itch he could never reach.

Then it slowed down. A few moments later, the foreign energy disappeared, the only signs it had ever been there in the first place being Red’s memories. The boy didn’t move immediately, feeling out his body. However, he found nothing wrong.

In fact, all his injuries were completely gone, and the boy felt as if he had just come out of a rejuvenating rest. He was back at one hundred percent, or perhaps even stronger than that.

“I’m sorry for this, young master!” Rimold’s voice brought him out of his contemplation.

Red turned around just in time to see the rogue dragging Allen away over his shoulder. The boy tried to resist, but he could do nothing against Rimold in his condition.

“R-Rimold, let me go!” the young master hit the man’s back in an attempt to free himself.

The rogue ignored his plea and kept running. Their pursuer, however, would not be denied.

The stag let out another bellow of rage. It charged after the duo without hesitation, and even in its wounded state, it was quick to gain ground on them. Rimold also noticed this. The man, however, didn’t put Allen down and used the trees to lose the monster.

It was to no avail, though. The stag simply knocked down everything in its way and continued to close in. Rimold had a look of desperation on his face, struggling with what to do. It was at that point, however, that he saw someone move in from the side.

The stag also heard it. It turned around in alarm, refusing to be ambushed once more because of its reckless rage. However, the assailant was approaching it from its blinded side, and the monster was unable to spot him before they had closed in.

Red dove beneath the beast, swinging his cleaver upwards against its underside. The blade didn’t manage to cut in too deeply, but it was enough to open a large wound on the stag’s belly. The creature roared in pain and jumped around to catch its prey.

The boy, however, was already moving away. He avoided the monster’s wild attacks and ran back behind a burning tree. The stag spotted him, however, and was quick to charge in his direction.

…

In the meantime, Allen and Rimold watched Red in shock.

“He’s still alive?” Rimold asked in confusion, setting the young master down.

“Quick, Rimold!” Allen looked back at the man. “You have to go help him!”

The rogue hesitated. However, once his eyes met with Allen’s pleading gaze, his expression changed.

“Fine.” Rimold nodded. “But you stay here.”

It was Allen’s turn to hesitate. In the end, though, he nodded. “I will…”

Satisfied with his response, the rogue turned around and ran in the direction that the stag and Red had run off to.

…

‘I feel faster.’

It wasn’t just Red’s impression. The boy felt far faster than moments ago, probably thanks to whatever had happened with the blood. Whether this transformation was permanent or temporary, though, he didn’t know. All that mattered was that it allowed him to elude the stag’s blows.

Another hoof came swinging down at him from behind, but Red was prepared. He sidestepped it with ease, moving towards the monster’s blind side. The creature continued to roar in anger at its failures, but no matter what it did, this prey was too small and slippery for it to capture.

A few moments later, Red felt Rimold’s fluctuation approach them from behind, much to his surprise.

The boy then came up with a quick plan. He suddenly changed directions, and the monster didn’t hesitate to follow him. However, as it did so, it exposed its blind side to the youth’s companion, who didn’t hesitate to take advantage of it.

Another knife flew towards the beast’s face. This time it hit it in the neck. Still, the beast roared in pain all the same. It turned around to face Rimold, but it suddenly felt another stinging pain. Red had dived in and slashed at the monster’s front leg before diving out again.

The frustrated creature let out another bellow in pain. The weapon didn’t cut very deep, but it was enough to wound it again.

The stag glared at the boy again before continuing its chase, ignoring Rimold completely.

This same routine repeated itself a few times, with Red leading the creature while the rogue threw daggers at it in opportune moments. The monster, however, now ignored Rimold’s attacks once it noticed they didn’t cause it as much pain. It chose to focus solely on the boy.

Red frowned once he saw this.

‘This is not enough.’

The injuries they were causing were superficial. They barely affected its movements, and it was like chopping a tree with a knife. They might eventually kill the creature with these attacks, but who knew how many it would take, or if Red and Rimold could hold on until then? Although it was all going well for now, all it took was a single misstep, and the monster could kill them.

Right as Red was considering his plans, he sensed another fluctuation approaching the monster from its flanks.

‘Reinhart!’

The man stopped moving once he reached a certain distance from the beast, though, and simply continued to follow Red and the monster in this wild chase. The boy didn’t know what the knight had planned, and Reinhart couldn’t tell him either, or he would risk exposing his presence. So instead, Red continued to lead the stag away.

“Red, once more!” Rimold’s voice came from behind him.

The youth knew what he wanted. He changed directions, and the beast followed him, exposing its blind side to the rogue. It was at that point, however, that Reinhart closed in.

The stag heard the man’s heavy steps, but it turned around too late. Reinhart jumped at its sides, grabbing onto the monster’s fur with both hands, despite his injured shoulder. The beast felt the sudden added weight at its sides and immediately panicked.

It jumped around, trying to throw the knight off. Reinhart, however, maintained a firm grip on its fur even as his body was rag dolled around. The man climbed further up its back bit by bit.

The stag’s panic increased. However, the creature remained helpless to this tag-along. Before long, Reinhart reached its upper body. He was carrying no weapon, though, so instead, the man used one that the creature itself was dragging along.

His hand reached around, and after much effort, he grabbed onto the hilt of the sword that he had stabbed deeply into the side of the monster’s chest. It was still there.

Then, following the momentum of the stag’s maddened jumps, he brought his whole weight down onto the hilt, dragging the sword with him. The weapon tore into the already open cut, widening the wound even further. Then, for the first time since the fight began, the stag stumbled.

Its hind legs buckled, and for a moment it kneeled.

“Kid, do it now!” Reinhart screamed at Red. “Open its chest!”

‘But, how?’

Red was confused for a brief second. That was, however, when he felt it. Another fluctuation.

‘I see.’

That inkling of hesitation was put aside, and Red charged in. The stag clearly noticed his approach even as it struggled to get back up. It swung its antler around, hoping to batter Red away. However, in its wounded state, it was now slower than ever, while Red was the fastest he had ever been.

With one swift step, he dove under the stag’s head and avoided the blow. Then, gathering all the strength he could, he cut against the center of the monster’s chest. The cleaver dug in and the beast let out a bellow of pain. It shook around again, trying to throw the boy off, but Red held on.

‘Not enough.’

He knew he was too weak to cut through the entirety of the beast’s skin. So instead, he began to saw at it with his cleaver. The monster bellowed in pain and continued to shake its body around to throw him off even more frantically. Red, however, held on until he felt his cleaver hit something hard.

‘Bone!’

Finally satisfied, the boy pulled his weapon off just in time to be thrown meters away by the beast. Reinhart also could not hold on, and had to let go of the stag and his sword before he was smashed to death.

Finally free, the beast reared up in anger, ready to attack the humans again. That was, however, when a projectile suddenly flew off from within the burning trees. It was so fast that the stag didn’t even have time to react before it vanished into its chest.

Right in the middle of the wound that Red had opened up.

The creature buckled again. Its hooves fell back down with a thud. The stag let out another bellow of agony as it tried to move forward. However, its strength failed it at that moment, and it fell down, this time on all four legs. It toppled to the side, still alive, but breathing heavily and letting out grunts of pain.

A pool of blood poured out of its chest. Red watched the creature’s struggles as it tried to fight back. The boy realized these were the last moments of its life. No one dared to get close to it to finish it off, though.

“I-Is it over?” Rimold asked from afar.

A familiar voice answered him. “It should be.”

The rogue turned around, and his eyes widened in shock at who he saw.

“R-Rog! You’re still…” Rimold trailed off once the hunter approached him.

Rog looked like he had just come out of a nightmare. The right half of his body was covered in horrible burn scars, all the way from his face down to his thigh. Blood was pouring down his wounds, and his skin seemed partially melted.

It was a horrendous sight, and even Red was staring at the man in disbelief.

And yet, Rog stood tall, holding onto his bow, seemingly unaffected by the injury.

“R-Rog, what happened to you…” Rimold asked him with a trembling voice.

“This?” the hunter looked down at himself. “It’s just some wounds. It should be fine if I…”

Before Rog could complete his words, he collapsed.