* * *

—————————

Akemi was experiencing different emotions around her as she continued dodging many other spears that seemed to be coming out of the walls.

But even after dodging countless of those attacks which didn't let Akemi rest, they never caused any physical damage to the whole room.

To Akemi’s surprise, those arrows simply passed through the walls or floor until they disappeared.

[ I see how it is… ] Akemi realized as she suddenly stopped moving before pushing herself directly towards the dead spirit who didn't seem to be interacting with anyone for a bit.

“Let's see how you’ll dodge this!” Akemi leapt through hundreds of spears without budging from the danger. Her eyes showed no fear while continuing to increase her speed to the point where it was even harder for Hatsuko to follow after with his eyes.

Her punch burst through the air around her, almost destroying everything from the force of attack.

The ground where once stood the spirit was ripped apart and destroyed to pieces, leaving nothing but a trail of dust where Akemi attacked.

“So that wasn't enough, huh…” Akemi let out a troubled sigh after seeing how the zombie spirit was lifelessly standing unbothered some meters away from the destroyed part of the floor. Her body had many visible holes and injuries that could actually kill any living thing within seconds. Not to mention that her body was slowly regenerating together with her clothes she was wearing.

"S-she's still alive?" Hina wrung her hands as she was seeing how one of the most powerful dragons failed to kill a spirit.

She wanted to take part in this fight and give more support to everyone else that was trying to think of something while Akemi was holding off the spirit.

She wanted to be useful, to be part of the gang that always grew stronger. Even Hina has already noticed how her body grew stronger thanks to the one who saved her. And that was all thanks to Hatsuko, a simple boy who she thought lowly of.

And now look at her.

Every day she keeps thinking of different ways of how she could repay his kindness.

Offered her body, unreasonable tasks, or even using her as nothing more but a piece of trash.

Hatsuko did none of them. And to her surprise, he accepted her as part of his family.

Guilt was going through her thoughts, fully aware that it was never going to be enough to repay back the boy who she once tried to make fun of.

No, thinking like that wasn't going to bring any help to her new family, she had to do something about this!

"Ichika." Hina suddenly called out to the girl on her side who seemed to be just as frightened as her. That made Hina feel less nervous as she knew that she can help someone who she can call… a sister.

"Huh?" Ichika turned to the one who called out to her, finding a determined look on Hina as she was about to speak.

"Hear me out."

.

..

Some meters away. Not so far from the battle between the dragon and the spirit, was a certain small angel trying to heal the wounded Chloe who seemed to be in pain as she was clenching on Hatsuko's clothes.

As her body cooled down, the intense pain of her injuries started to kick in.

"Thank you, Angela." After seeing the beautiful young girl who was eager to be of some help to her big sister, Chloe let out a forced smile so she wouldn’t worry the small girl.

While there was a huge difference between humans and superior beings, Angela didn't care about it now that she was human.

Chloe was just as important as everyone else in here.

Hatsuko from her side, was supporting Chloe’s body as he tried thinking of a way to distract the restless assassin in his arms. "Rushing is not always the best option when fighting an unknown entity." He scolded the girl while shutting one of his eyes.

"What else could I have done in that kind of situation? I always tried my best, so I can at least be of some use to you." Chloe looked down as she was seeing her legs get healed without even noticing that her pain was gradually disappearing.

Hatsuko on the other hand noticed how the girl lacked self esteem in herself.

Having low self esteem was something that he already went through, and the first one to open his eyes was none other than the girl in his arms.

"The last time I was impressed by something was in a video game I used to play. So trying to impress me might be a bit harder than this." Hatsuko softly spoke as his voice deepened a little from his manly cords. "You, trying to protect someone, is something that I find quite delightful. But you should think about yourself as well from time to time. You said that you didn't know what else you could've done. But you never tried to get to know your enemy." Hatsuko explained as he recalled many of his fights he had fought after he was thrown into the woods.

But one thing that made things easier for Hatsuko, was his system showing information about the opponent.

But his words stuck in Chloe’s head as she looked at the person she respected and loved.

"I never thought that you'd be the type of person who plays video games." Chloe felt elated knowing something from Hatsuko's past.

"Yeah…" Hatsuko sighed as he looked back at Akemi who was looking at the emotionless spirit which was back to its top shape.

Hatsuko wondered why the proud dragon didn't continue to attack before that thing could fully regenerate. He felt confused and frustrated that this wasn't ending as fast as he had thought.

Of course, he never underestimated his enemies, but wasting a great opportunity like this was a great mistake in his eyes.

But soon enough, after carefully observing the spirit, he noticed a significant increase in her aura.

[ Don't tell me… that thing gets stronger every time someone injures it?! ] Hatsuko thought to himself after realizing why Akemi wasn't taking any action yet.

.

.

.

.