Crawling through the snowy forest was a challenging feat for me. No matter how much I moved, it felt as if I was still stuck in the same location.

It didn't help that all the trees looked the same, so it was hard to guess how far away from the cabin I was.

That was until I received one major hint. It came in the form of a yell. "VICKY? WHERE ARE YOU???"

Oh no, that sounded close! As I tried to take cover behind a nearby tree, the voice only grew clearer as Bennett closed in on me. "THERE'S NO POINT IN TRYING TO HIDE! I CAN JUST FOLLOW THE SNOW TRAIL!"

Looking back, I could see the large trail I had left behind. At this rate, I have two options. Either I try to cover my tracks, or I climb this tree. Neither were good but I had no other option.

Opting to try and save face. I covered some of my tracks with some nearby snow. Following that, I held onto a nearby tree trunk to use as support for lifting myself up. But it was futile in the end.

"Found you~" Bennett purred as he crept up from behind the tree.

I let out an audible scream as I fell onto my back. "Aw, don't be like that, Vicky. I'm just trying to take care of you." Bennett hunched over to face me tauntingly.

"You'll catch a cold out here. So, stop trying to resist me. My patience is running dry." He said with a poorly attempted smile that failed to hide his anger.

I shook my head defiantly as I sunk further into the snow. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'd rather die than stay by his side again!

Bennett quickly dropped the smile as his face darkened. "If you want me to stop being nice, then fine. I don't mind becoming the bad guy."

As Bennett went to grab me, I started to cry before I was suddenly crushed by his weight falling on top of me.

Hah?

Peering over his shoulder, I saw Nick standing there with a sturdy tree branch in hand. "Nick?" I quietly said.

"I knew my skill would become helpful eventually. But I wished it were sooner rather than later..." Nick commented dejectedly.

Just as a smile crept up on my face, Bennett was quickly shoved off me as I was suddenly engulfed in strong arms. "Are you okay? I was so scared, Vana!" Cyrus cried out as he hugged me from behind.

Both Cyrus and Nick are here? Never in a million years did I expect them to work together. I suppose the saying of the enemy of my enemy is my friend still rings true to today...

Upon noticing my half-naked and shivering form, Nick hastily wrapped his oversized mahogany brown jacket around my body securely.

"We need to get you indoors pronto," Nick commented. I felt myself slowly melt as he touched my face to check what my temperature was like. So warm...

Finally breaking free from my dazed state, I quickly shook my head. "He's hidden a r-receiver somewhere o-outside," I said while pointing at Bennett. "We need to f-find it to c-contact Cyrus' p-people!"

Looking at Bennett once more I was reminded of an important fact. "And m-make sure they don't k-k-kill everyone when they a-arrive."

Nick was hesitant to go along with my wishes at first, but he quickly caved in once he realised I needed to do this to complete my objective.

With a sigh, Nick took hold of my body as he lifted me up into his arms, bridal style. "Hey! Why do you get to hold Vana???" Cyrus protested.

Nick turned towards Cyrus with a blank expression. "Someone has to apprehend him. I'd say you two are more or less equal in strength..."

Cyrus had no retort. All he could do was grit his teeth as he reluctantly pulled Bennett onto his feet.

"You really want that receiver?" Bennett said in a dry and defeated voice. Cyrus nodded his head firmly. "Fine. You can have it, but you're gonna regret it."

As Cyrus pushed Bennett forwards, Bennett took one last look at me and proceeded to give Nick a hateful glare. In fear, I nestled closer to Nick's chest.

Bennett was surprisingly cooperative, he even indulged Cyrus in a conversation along the way. "What platoon are you originally from?" Bennett asked Cyrus.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh right, you must be the amnesiac," Bennett grumbled to himself. "Regardless, I reckon that we're both from the same platoon. Hence why we've both crash-landed in this town."

"Yeah, well I can't say I'd remember you anyway. All I know is my name. That's it." Cyrus maintained.

"Well then, you'd be glad to know that you belong to the Striget race. Our kind comes from up there." Bennett motioned upwards with his head.

"You can call me Xavier." Bennett continued. He looked at me intently. "That's my birth name in this world."

This is too weird. Why is Bennett acting so civil with Cyrus? Shouldn't he hate his guts? This is way too suspicious!

Once we finally reached a large pile of snow, Bennet halted in his tracks. "Here we are." Bennett slowly craned his neck around to look at Cyrus. "I've upheld my part of the bargain, so dig if you want it."

Cyrus gave me a nod as he wordlessly turned towards Bennett once more. With a forceful push, Bennett fell face-first into the snow pile.

"You dig. I'm not falling for one of your tricks." Cyrus ordered coldly.

Bennett reluctantly obliged as he slowly started to dig. In the meantime, I looked up towards Nick to see him avoiding eye contact with me. "Nick? Is something wrong?" I asked shyly.

Nick swallowed a gulp while maintaining his distance from me. "I'm just... trying to be respectful. I doubt you'd want people staring at you in your current condition."

So that's it. That thought didn't even cross my mind. But it's reassuring to know that Nick is a gentleman through and through.

"I'm sorry for not being there for you," Nick said sadly as he hung his head in shame. "I swear on my life that I'll protect you better in the next world."

Just as I was about to respond to Nick's words, Bennett presented a piece of metal junk to Cyrus. "See? I wasn't lying."

After tapping on the buttons, a static noise could be heard as the receiver was turned on. But just as Cyrus was about to take it from Bennett, Bennett quickly spoke into the receiver in what I assume was his native tongue. When he was finished, he crushed the receiver to pieces with his bare hands.

"W-W-What did he say?" I said in worry. Bennet smirked at Cyrus as he confidently laid back into the snow.

"I'm sure you could understand. Go on, translate for her." Bennett said with folded arms.

Cyrus turned to look at me with fear in his eyes. "The rest of my people... they're coming."

"Well, that's good, right?" I said hoping to ease the tension. "We needed them to come so you could be reunited. So, what's the–"

"They're not just coming here." Cyrus paused as he clutched his heart. "He gave them the green light to invade and kill all of the human beings."