Running frantically after the fleeing demons, Kyrie finally felt a considerable amount of mana getting used in the area.
Soon, the sight of a magic circle with a staff in the middle came to the scene.
Ian was on the floor with a man on top of him. That man was pressuring his dagger towards Ian as Ian tried to hold the blade away with his bare hands.
Seeing this, Kyrie runs towards that man and punches that man right in the face with all his might. The man falls off from Ian. So, Kyrie takes Ian's wrist and shields him by placing himself in front.
At the same time, Imogen falls from the sky and lands on her feet, sliding back, causing black skid marks on the ground. Her fingers clenched multiple metal spears that were most likely from her opponent. Then, she tosses them on the side and spits the blood from her mouth.
Imogen runs towards her opponent again.
The masked man who was on top of Ian shook his head due to dizziness.
"Are you alright, Ian?" asked Kyrie while focusing on the masked man.
"Kyrie, why are you here? Weren't you supposed to handle the horde?"
"Their leader has fallen, so the demons retreated."
The masked man said, "Well, well... Who do we have here? Weird... I don't know you."
Kyrie flinches when he hears this man's voice.
[This voice... No, maybe I am overthinking]
The man gets up from the ground sluggishly and walks towards them.
"Kyrie, this man is strong. You must be careful," says Ian.
"Kyrie? That's your name? What a coincidence. I also know someone named Kyrie," says the man in the mask.
"Who are you? You don't seem like a demon. Why are you siding them?" says Kyrie while feeling extremely uncertain due to that man's voice.
His voice causes Kyrie to feel uncontrollably frightened to the core. Ian sees Kyrie's shoulders shake.
"Me? They have a title for someone like me. What was it? Oh! Fallen paladin?" says the man in the mask. He starts stepping closer, and the bottom half of his mask fell to the ground from the punch he received from Kyrie.
* ba dum * * ba dum *
Kyrie sees the small mole on that person's cheekbone. His heart beats violently while his body shakes.
[Is this a coincidence? Or...]
The upper part of the mask slides off, and Kyrie gasps and shakes in horror. His fears are real. The man in front of him is one whom Kyrie would wish never to encounter again.
[He looks the same. Brunette hair and brown eyes. The same deceiving smile and expressions. There are not that many coincidences in life, right?]
"It seems like you know me..." That man says while laughing, "I think more than anyone can think of, isn't that right, Kyrie?"
That man arrives in front of Kyrie. Kyrie, close to breaking down, gasps for air as if an overwhelming weight pressed heavily against his chest.
The man reaches his hand towards Kyrie's face, but Ian immediately intercepts them by placing himself in between them. Ian takes Kyrie's hand by reaching back, but Kyrie slides his hand away. Ian, surprised, looks back at Kyrie's strange behavior.
Kyrie's eyes begin to focus and to unfocus. His lips quiver, and his body trembles. Kyrie shakes his head like he is in a state of denial.
The man is slightly pissed that Ian got in front of Kyrie before he was able to touch Kyrie's face. He frowns at Ian and says, "Kyrie... It seems that you have finally met Ian. Unfortunately, I don't like it. After all, you belong to me, and can only be with me."
The man smiles widely, and his eyes fill up with excitement. He laughs maniacally and says, "We can go back to how things used to be Kyrie. Didn't you tell me that you were happy with me? We can go back to those times. I made a mistake, but you will forgive me, right? Because look at this, don't you think we are meant to be together to meet again even in another world?"
"Kyrie is not an object," Ian retorts.
"Aaahhh... Ian... Ian! IAN! Always somehow in between us. In the previous world, all he talked about was you. Now, you are beside him. Heh! What an eyesore!"
The man finally draws his sword that leaks off a black aura. He propels towards Ian and swings his sword. Ian somehow intercepts the man's attack. Ian's body shakes, trying to hold against the man's strength.
The man chillingly declares, "You should just be dead."
The man presses against Ian and breaks out of the standstill. The strikes from his sword became harder and harder for Ian to hold against. Ian got placed in a position where he could only defend against the man.
Then, the man finds an opening and thrust into Ian's thigh. Ian lets out a scream that awakes Kyrie from his mind spiraling out of control. The man twists his sword while it was still in Ian's thighs. Then, he takes out his sword and blood gushed out from Ian's leg.
Kyrie finally returns from his entranced thoughts and rushes to Ian's side. Shocked at the deep wound, he places his hands on top of Ian's injury and casts a blessing without thinking twice.
While doing it, Kyrie's tears drip on Ian's thighs and his own hands. Ian places his hand on Kyrie's cheek and lifts his face. His thumb wipes Kyrie's tears.
Ian whispers, "It's okay, Kyrie."
That man is furious and yells, "You get your filthy hand off Kyrie! No one can touch him!"
He swings his sword again, but Kyrie blocks the sword. Then, Kyrie swings off that man's sword.
Kyrie stands up and faces towards him, "I am not yours, Sil."
Sil breaks into a manic smile when he sees Kyrie's frightening stare. He felt shivers down his spine. Sil extends his arm, and the sword flies back to his hand.
*bam*
A gust of dust hits them, and when the cloud of dust subsided, the ground gets indented from someone's fall.
Sil sighs and murmured with a mocking smile, "Heh! Wasn't she all prideful of being high and mighty? Guess she is not undefeatable."
Imogen, floating in the air, clicks her tongue in annoyance.
Sil looks at Kyrie and says, "We will have to hold our fight some other time."
Sil, in an instant, appears next to that woman and takes her out of the rubble. Imogen swings her sword towards him, but when she hits them, Sil and that woman become smoke and dissipates in the air.
Imogen clicks her tongue again in annoyance.
Imogen looks at Kyrie's exhausted face and says, "You should not spend so much your ability to use blessings. You don't seem the type who will have a long life."
Kyrie sighs at Imogen's mockery.
She stumps at the magic circle, and the magic circle broke like glass. The staff falls into her hand. Then, she tosses the staff to Kyrie. Kyrie, with confusion, takes it.
"You have space magic and can store weapons in your hand," says Imogen, "I still haven't found a dimensional pouch yet. And, you pass... You are allowed to travel with me."
"Ahh... So, I became your dimensional pouch."
---
On the way back, Kyrie would be absentminded.
Although this time, when Ian takes his hand, Kyrie would smile and kiss Ian's hand. However, he would look at Ian with a guilt-ridden face.
Imogen also notices the change in Kyrie but keeps her quiet till they arrived back to the town.
In complete exhaustion, Kyrie excuses himself away for some rest first. Ian wants to go with him but gets stopped by Imogen.
Ian asks, "Do you perhaps know anything, lady Winstanley."
"Just call me by my first name," pauses Imogen to think a little bit, "Kyrie is from another world like me. He might have met someone that he knew from the previous world."
Imogen's words manage to clenched at Ian's heart. The words from that man named Sil came to his mind.
"It is normal that he knows more about Kyrie since he met Kyrie earlier, right?" thinks Ian.
Kyrie lies down and places his arm over his eyes.
[Why is Sil still alive?]