Nina attempts an attack from a blind spot but gets caught.
Should I attack with Nina included? No, that won’t damage the enemy. I have to hurry, or both of them will die for nothing.
But with my dagger… No, there’s a way to deal heavy damage with this weapon. It’s enchantments, and Piyo’s enchantment is an explosion. If I use that, even shallow wounds will cause flesh to fly off.
Just then, Nina’s lips, which were barely breathing, moved slightly.
“Guh… W-what are you sleeping for? Wake… up…”
Her bloodshot eyes glared at Philiana, who had become an empty shell. Blood flowed down the axe handle and pooled on the ground.
“Don’t mess around, I won’t forgive you… Thi-this is…”
Philiana’s frozen eyelashes twitched. Her fading consciousness seemed to be returning slightly. She slowly reached for the axe sticking into her.
“I, I am…”
Her green eyes reflected the enemy before her. Nina felt a faint smile. The power drained from her, and the snake’s tail detached. Giganos, still gripping Nina’s neck, slammed her to the ground. Then he approached his next target.
Stomp, stomp, shaking the ground, one step, another step closer to Philiana. He reached for the handle of the axe stuck in her stomach.
Push, pull.
With a squelch, the axe was pulled out. The recoil shook Philiana’s body, and her dislodged internal organs splattered onto the ground.
I couldn’t scream. My heart might have stopped on its own. Philiana’s smiling face, Nina’s angry face, flickered like a worn-out film.
Smiling shyly, eating heartily. I couldn’t believe the sight before me. The two fallen figures seemed like different people, still alive somewhere normally. I felt like I could hear voices from behind asking, “Are you safe?”
Why, why do they have to die? I knew this would happen eventually, I thought with a detached calmness, and I sneered inwardly. How could I have thought everyone would return safe? Battle is always a dance with death.
Meanwhile, Giganos retrieved his weapon and turned back towards us. Despite taking so much damage, he still wants to fight? Who will it be next? Sharin? Elana? Or me?
No, think of a way to win. Don’t let their sacrifices be in vain.
“Veronica, draw the enemy’s attention. While he’s distracted, Elana will attack from the side. Sharin and I will come from behind…”
My lips moved on their own, muttering. Veronica passed by and stood before the enemy. Elana moved accordingly to the enemy’s flank.
My legs feel heavy. But I have to do it, I promised myself…
Suddenly, Veronica stopped. Giganos raised his axe to deliver the next blow.
A figure flickered behind the giant man.
“Phili…”
Philiana, who should have fallen, approached the enemy from behind like a ghost. Her fighting spirit, now turned into a curse, made her companions freeze. Giganos seemed to notice her presence.
But before he could turn, Philiana’s hand dug into a wound on the back of his neck. Giganos’s fingers twitched.
“Ollllaaaahhh!!”
Crack, crack, crack. The sound of muscles tearing overlapped with Philiana’s roar. Giganos, in incomprehensible agony, swung his axe wildly.
The air seemed to sink. Philiana had stopped the axe blow with one hand.
“N-no, you should be dead…”
Giganos’s eyes trembled with fear. Perhaps he was confused by an emotion he had never felt before. The opponent he had killed twice was standing up and clinging to him.
“To turn your back on the enemy… how careless you are.”
“Damn it!”
He quickly pulled his axe back, but it wouldn’t budge. Giganos, who had seemed impossibly huge, somehow appeared smaller. Like a child desperately resisting an adult.
“Remember this, I am Philiana the Stalwart! I don’t need a sword to defeat you!!”
“Hii…!!”
Giganos threw his head back and pulled away. Philiana’s teeth sank into his thick neck, now exposed.
“Let go!!”
He shouted and grabbed Philiana’s head. Then, another warrior, who refused to give up, bared their fangs for the final time. Nina’s tail wrapped around Giganos’s body, binding him tightly with Philiana, who was still biting him.
“Le-let go…!”
The enemy was restrained by two people and stopped moving. Blood spilled from his wounds, staining the snake’s scales red, and immediately froze. The sound of creaking bones was faintly audible, and then silence fell.
I could only stare at the bizarre scene. My mind couldn’t process that it was actually happening. The only thing I understood was that I had lost two more precious companions.
