𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙
𝘼𝙧𝙘 𝟭: 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙧𝙘
𝘾𝙝 𝟴 – 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙢
𝘼𝙠𝙞𝙧𝙖’𝙨 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 widened as he watched the 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚.
The torn flesh… sealing itself like it had never been cut.
He looked at 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙠, shock clear on his face.
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶—”
“𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?” Varok finished casually, rolling his shoulder.
“𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵… 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩.”
Before Akira could react—
Varok vanished.
A fist slammed into Akira’s stomach.
—!!”
The air left his 𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮.
A kick followed.
Then another.
Varok 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙗𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙜 and hurled him 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙.
Akira crashed through one tree.
Then another.
Then a third.
He hit the ground hard.
For a moment… everything went silent.
His 𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙨 felt wrong.
Not broken.
𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 as he coughed.
𝘼 𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 sound echoed in his ears—𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙙 trickling down from them.
“𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵… 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱… 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵…”
He tried.
His body didn’t respond.
His legs… 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚.
A 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 fell over him.
Akira slowly looked up.
𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.
𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.
Watching him like prey already claimed.
“…𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵…”
“…𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦…”
Then—
A memory.
A small boy.
Laughing.
Posing dramatically.
“𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢! 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘢! 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺-𝘔𝘢𝘯!”
His mother laughed softly, pulling him into her arms.
“𝘈𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘰… 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰?”
He nodded rapidly.
His father smiled.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘴?”
The boy shook his head.
His father knelt beside him.
“𝘈 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.”
“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺.”
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭…”
“…𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.”
He placed a hand on Ayato’s head.
“𝘚𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰.”
“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”
Akira’s eyes widened.
A monster lunged.
Its jaws aimed for his head.
—SHK!
Akira body move on it own, a blade 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 through its eye.
The monster 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙.
Akira’s hand trembled as he gripped the knife.
“…𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵…”
Two more dwarven beasts rushed him. The source of this chapter is g.com.
He forced his body up, using his sword as support.
His legs screamed in pain—
—but he moved.
He dodged.
Barely.
Then jumped onto one of them—
And 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗱.
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
“𝘈𝘈𝘈𝘈𝘈𝘈𝘏!!”
Varok watched.
Silent.
“…𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨?”
The second creature lunged from behind—
Its 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸 into Akira’s 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿.
“𝘈𝘙𝘎𝘏—!”
Akira twisted, grabbed it, and slammed it to the ground.
His hand found a 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸.
He brought it down.
𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲.
𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗲.
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
“𝘋𝘐𝘌!”
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
“𝘋𝘐𝘌! !”
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.
“𝘋𝘐𝘌!!”
He was 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝘽𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣.
But still 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.
“𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨…!”
He forced 𝗵𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝗽, breathing heavily.
“𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮…!”
His voice 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘀.
But didn’t stop.
“𝘕𝘰𝘵… 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦…!”
“…𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦!”
𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
For a moment… the battlefield froze.
The surviving mages.
The wounded warriors.
The terrified witches.
All of them… watching him.
A 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘂𝗽.
𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗸, 𝗕𝗼𝗯 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲.
𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘁 half torn already.
Her hands trembled—
But she raised them anyway.
“𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦…!”
A violent current burst forward, pushing monsters back.
She turned to the others, eyes burning.
“𝘊𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧?!”
Her voice shook—but didn’t break.
“𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩?! 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯?! 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵?!”
She 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 her fists.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯!”
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴!”
“𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦… 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬!”
A 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩-𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 lunged at her.
She dodged—
“𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦!”
A massive spectral sword crashed down, crushing it.
She stood there, breathing hard.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱…!”
“…𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦!” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭!”
𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.
Then—
𝙈𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.
An 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬 shot through the air.
Varok tilted his head slightly.
It missed him by inches.
He smiled.
“…𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
He looked back at Akira.
“𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦?”
His grin widened.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳… 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.”
Varok stepped forward.
“𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
“𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰.”
He raised his blade.
“𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳…”
“…𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?”
Akira steadied himself.
His healing spell 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙—𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬.
𝙏𝙤𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠.
So he stopped relying on it.
He stood anyway.
𝙎𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 in one hand.
𝙆𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚 in the other.
One 𝙚𝙖𝙧 barely working.
“𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦…”
He took a breath.
“…𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭.”
His grip tightened.
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 on𝘦.”
“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰.”
“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”
He looked straight at Varok.
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵…”
“…𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘳𝘢.”
Varok smiled.
“…𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥.”
“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵.”
Behind him, the battle reignited.
𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.
Not because they were fearless—
…but because they chose to stand.
Varok raised his sword.
Dark energy gathered.
“𝘕𝘰𝘸…”
He disappeared.
“𝘋𝘐𝘌!!!”
The blade came down—
𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗠!!
𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 the ground.
The impact blasted Varok away.
“…𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦—”
Akira looked up.
And froze.
𝘼 𝙗𝙤𝙮 stood in front of him.
𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙚.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚, 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙠𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣.
𝘼 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙩 flowing behind him.
𝘿𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨.
Confidence in his stance.
He glanced back.
“…𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵?”
Akira exhaled.
Almost laughed.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦…”
“…𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮.”