"Now then... your time has lapsed..."
As she presented those words, a black miasma began forming on her hand... I wasn't sure what was happening yet I was immediately put on alert:
"Wait what are you doi-"
*drop* *drop* *drop*
But... In an instant, that monster... had plunged her hand deep into my abdomen, making my blood gush out and spill on a non-existent floor... As the monster began talking...
"Are you feeling it yet...?"
I didn't understand what she meant, and she saw my this...
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
She had just twisted my insides with her hand, as I felt some of my insides begin to rupture...
"This suffering... this is what you felt, yet you're forgiving...?"
"..."
I did not understand what she meant... It may have been due to the unbearable pain, the feeling of disgust and sickness I got from simply being in this space or something else... but nothing seemed to stop her anger...
"Why are you pardoning those who wronged you, HUH?"
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
I could only scream as I started tasting blood in my mouth... I could feel every last bit of pain and suffering she was providing me...
"But that doesn't matter... You'll fail eventually..."
*drop* *drop* *drop*
The monster... had finally released my insides from her grasp... and pulled out her hand from my abdomen... As I began to feel my consciousness fading away I heard her muttering a final sentence...
"Goodbye Reiki, I'll be seeing you..."
※
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
I screamed loudly as I sat upright...
But as I scanned the scenery around me... It instantly came to my attention...
'...My room...?'
I was back at the inn... laying on my bed... which was filled to the brim with sweat... and blood...?
I pushed the covers away, revealing what I had been fearing...
I gaping hole in my abdomen, gushing out blood... I felt the pain from it, yet I wasn't sure how to react...
'Wasn't that a nightmare...?'
I was left wondering at my disgusting wound...
'Why... am I hurt...?'
If my encounter with... that... had been in my dreams... then why am I hurt...
However, before I could think more about this strange wound...
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"REIKA ARE YOU OKAY?! WE'RE COMING IN!!!"
Without waiting for me to even reply, Myria and Scarlet both stormed the room, knocking down the door in the process...
"I'm fine..."
I had barely managed to cover my wound with the mattresses as I spoke with a fake scared look on my face...
Both Scarlet and Myria looked at me worried as Myria grabbed my shoulders, looked at me dead in the eye and asked preoccupied:
"Are you hurt anywhere? Why did you scream?"
"Ah... It was just a nightmare..."
I had managed to respond in a believable enough manner... I didn't want to worry Myria or Scarlet in any way or expose them to the threat that posed that 'monster'... 'I can't allow them to know... 'That' will harm them if I don't protect them...'
As I lightened Myria's grip with a smile she lets go of me and says before leaving...
"Who knew the mighty Reika could be scared by a nightmare... I wonder just how scary it was for it to make you scream like that..."
With that line uttered, only Scarlet remained in my room with a concerned look in her eyes... It felt so crushing... yet my thoughts kept pointing me to a single direction: 'I can't allow any of them to worry...'
"Ah, Scarlet I already said I'm fi-"
...
Without any hint or preparation, Scarlet had run up to me and gave me a warm and sincere hug...
"Reika... remember we're your friends... You can trust us..."
I actually felt my eyes watering a bit as those sweet words left her lips into my ears... 'Ahh... this feeling... This is something I want to protect...'
"Thank you, Scarlet..."
The pain no longer reverberated throughout my body as that warm embrace came to an end...
"Un! Good night Reika..."
But... as I waved goodbye, and turned around...
*Chu*
"AH! SCARLET?!"
I slapped my cheek flustered as Scarlet cheerfully left my room, while singing...
"Night〜 Reika-Cha〜n!"
My heart was left racing as a single thought filled my mind...
'So soft...'
※
After several hours of traveling and searching in the Ellian desert, we had finally made it here...
The Ellian Desert's center... an oasis inhabited by the red basilisks we were looking for...
And just fitting our luck, we had managed to find one, all alone...
"You can't allow it to whips its tail, you know?"
I was trying to instruct Haruto's party on how they should approach the Basilisk without Myria, Scarlet or me actually interfering at all... Well, this was actually for 2 reasons... In the first place, my wound had not yet fully healed since yesterday, so I felt a little weak. Not weak enough to lose against any person present here though... And in second place, I wanted to put Haruto's party leadership to a test...
Their fighting and positioning were not as terrible as I had expected but...
"Reika, I got this!"
Yelled Haruto as he chanted:
"[PYRO SLASH]!"
And as his sword became engulfed in golden flames he began charging relentlessly to the red basilisks head.. But, his overconfidence grew to a point he had already forgotten what I said...
"Haruto... tail..."
*BOOM*
He was hit pretty horribly as the tail of the basilisk flung Haruto into the air...
With me only left to sigh and think: 'Ah... If I don't save him he'll die won't he?"
Without even checking the status of Haruto's harem against the Basilisk, I jumped into the air catching him...
He immediately blushed as I managed to grab him. 'Just what is this guy's problem?'
As I landed and let him go, he bashfully apologized and attempted to go back... but I caught the neck of his armor, preventing him from leaving.
"Haruto... Seriously... Don't fight alone, right now you are acting on your own without the support of your party. If you're going to fight alone... then why do you even have a party with you?"
Up to now, Haruto had pretty much ordered his harem to stand-by and help him with basic support spells while he tried to take on the Basilisk entirely by himself... And I was getting tired of his attitude, and he may have sensed that... yet...
"But... I want to prove my strength... to you Reika..."
"I don't care about strength Haruto... I care that you live through this quest."
It was true. I couldn't care less for Haruto in general, despite him becoming quite docile for the past day or so. The thing is if Haruto or any other member of his party were to have a fatal injury or worse... Myria's kingdom would surely suffer... 'I can't allow that'...
And as such:
"Haruto... Use your party's power otherwise, this exercise is meaningless..."
And with enough Haruto's party finally got into a proper formation...
"All right... let's do this, girls!"
As Haruto yelled, he began to charge at the Red Basilisk head on, just like last time, while all of his party remained behind... 'Ah.. this guy never learns right?'
However... as I began to get ready to jump into his rescue again, Haruto chanted:
"[MELT]!"
In a split second, the aura around him began emitting strong heat waves burning to a crisp anything that would dare to get close enough to him... But...: 'That won't stop the attack from the Basilisk...'
As the red basilisk began to whip its tail with terrifying force at Haruto once more, he did something I did not expect...
*ROAAAAAAAAAAAAR*
The basilisk was actually roaring in pain, as Haruto jumped from where he was standing and clung to the Basilisk's tail, carbonizing it in the process.
"DO IT NOW!!!"
I had not been paying attention to Haruto's harem throughout the fight since I deemed them to be irrelevant yet... their sudden change in strategy impressed me...
"[HOLY SHOT]!" -Mia Evenhide
"[WATER BEAM]!" -Eri Evenhide
"[MAGIC SERRATION]!" -Charlotte Evenhide
Taking the Basilisk by complete surprise, a disgusting amount of power exploded right in the Basilisk's mouth due to the holy shot...
A large hole was left on the basilisk's abdomen as the water beam pierced its entire stomach...
And to top it all off, the magic serration had Charlotte's blade covered in a deep blue glow as she began to pierce the basilisk's flank as if it was made out of butter...
Both Myria and Scarlet stopped fooling around at admired the spectacle of lights and explosions that had just gone down when we noticed a large amount of energy gathering way up high...
"[HEROIC SLASH]!"
Yes... somehow, in between all the explosions... Haruto had been flung into the air... and was now falling at grand speeds with his sword emitting white holy light as he pierced the air before him while descending...
"GO HERO-SAMA!!!" -Mia Evenhide
"HERO-SAMA END THE FIGHT!!!" -Eri Evenhide
"KILL THE BASILISK HERO-SAMA!" -Charlotte Evenhide
As he finally finished his descent... I heard him mutter something as his sword plunged deep into the basilisk's skull...
*BOOOOOOOM*
As his sword made contact with the Basilisk's head... a shockwave of light and energy was released we saw the Basilisk collapse in defeat raising a cloud of sand...
Haruto's harem was left with their mouths agape, they had likely never seen their esteemed hero in actual combat...
And as the cloud of sand, finally dispersed around us... a figure stood on top of the corpse of the diseased Basilisk...
"Nice one, Kid..."
And as I smiled and congratulated him sincerely he held his sword high in the air victoriously yelling:
"WE DID IT!!! WE DID IT REIKA!!!"
"Yeah... I guess you did!"
However... something immediately changed... he held still kept his smile... yet he was now approaching me with expectant eyes? 'What... is he doing...?'
And as he slowly stepped down from the red basilisk's dead body, he stood directly in front of me, perhaps only a foot or 2 away... as he spoke softly...
"Reika... I have something I would like to tell you..."
...
'What...?'
...
'What's this atmosphere...?'
...
I just stood silently as Haruto smiled while staring into my eyes...
...
"Reika... I wanted to tell you that I-"
"REIKA WATCH OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Haruto and I had just been pushed out of the way by Scarlet at an immense speed without warning as I heard a large blast detonate from not so far away...
"Ugh... It hurts..."
I felt my abdominal wound spreading pain throughout my body...
But...
While I had gotten a little hurt from the push... it couldn't be worse than what remained where I previously stood...
...
...
...
A gaping crater surrounded by wicked black flames...
...
...
...
And standing inside that gaping crater...
...
...
...
Stood a large man, cladded in dark armor, grasping jet-black swords... And particularly, the terrifying man, had silver hair, red eyes, pointy ears and long curved horns growing out of his forehead...
...
...
...
And most importantly...
...
...
...
He was currently strangulating Scarlet with a single hand...
I could see her screaming silently as she gasped for air...
It was heartbreaking...
I immediately felt my eyes watering as I instinctively screamed:
"SCARLEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!"
But as I yelled... he turned to face me... and looked at me right in the eyes...
I could instantly tell he wasn't weak at all...
When he looked at me... I swear I could feel every last bit of malice from this world concentrated into his stare...
I could still see Scarlet clawing her fingers to his hand uselessly as her eyes became wet in tears...
But in the midst of my desperation... I heard something I didn't want to hear...
Haruto, in pain, whispered...
"...What's..."
"...the demon king..."
"...doing here...?"
I was petrified by his words...
'Does that mean...'
The man who is currently making Scarlet suffer, as small ragged gasps escape her throat...
"...Is Scarlet's father...?"