I brood over the blood that's coming out of my mouth. There's blood yet I don't feel anything particularly wrong with my body. After coughing a few times, next comes the blood. "Did I hurt myself earlier?"
(Forgive me. It was me. I'm repairing the astral space. I may have put a strain on your body.)
(Was it from earlier? Did that abomination try to enter inside? I felt something odd inside earlier when it phased through my body.)
(Exactly. Adding the mysterious arrow... It did some damage to the outer layers.)
(Would that affect me?)
(Certainly. But, I wouldn't let something happen to you. I'm repairing it as soon as possible, so... Try not to move first.)
From the distance, a white magic array in the sky caught my attention. A thunderous roar soon follows. The ground rumble from fear along with the gust of the wind in my face. Not far away from me, I saw a group of people running toward the chaos and wearing armors. They did not notice the person watching them from afar.
"They will die..."
As I stood in the middle of nowhere resting my body, a reciprocal silence envelops. I scan the surroundings to seek my curiosity. The sound of explosions from the distance abruptly stopped in a matter of seconds. I furrow my eyebrows in disdain. "Not a good sign."
I walk to the disturbingly silent fight, to check things out. Yet, as I progressively walk onward, I halt my tracks. I squint my eyes. "Is that a person?"
Within the shadows, a figure of a person emerges from the darkness. Scanning a gaze to the silhouette, the rapid beating of my heart overwhelmed my ears rather than the explosion behind the silhouette. The disturbing crooked branches of trees are falling from atop, as the deformed trees crumble down. The uneasiness overtook my body. Slowly, the light cast over the silhouette, revealing a person smeared with blood on its heavy face.
"Sir? Are you all right...?"
It didn't take long before a resurgence of mana, outstripping the decaying air. For once, a feeling I'd forgotten blossomed once again; the fear. After seeing the condition of the person, out of curiosity, my feet led to the person. Taking a closer look at him, no bruises or wounds on his body. The blood were all coming from his eyes, mouth, and nose. He fell to the ground quivering.
The following events petrified me. The ungodly bellow almost tore my eardrums out, twisting my face in pain as I cover my ears. "Aaaaaah—!"
As I scream out the pain, a stench of nostalgia tickled my nose, rousing my senses. The rapid beating of my heart slowly calms down. The smell of a metallic substance in the air triggered a certain part of my brain. My eyes wander to the person below me. The flesh melted like molten lava and the eyes sunken, as the whiteness of the bones emerges to the surface.
Witnessing the man turning into a corpse, the sound of the bell rang into my ears. I scan my surrounding to find the location of the bell, but I can only hear it within my own spot. This sensation. This bell. It's too surreal yet nostalgic.
Soon after, the darkness was overtaken by the golden-blue light from heaven. I was almost sent flying from the powerful gust of wind, sweeping the decayed trees along with the corpse beneath me. I push forward against the blast
After struggling for a few minutes, the sight of Professor Eukla at the center of a magic dome barrier. And behind her, a group of people can be seen hiding to seek protection; it was Shin, Ami, Sonia, and Elizabeth, all beaten up from their tattered uniforms and bruises. Professor Eukla's eyes were unmasked and I was baffled by what I saw. Both of her eyes are stitched shut. It was horrifying to look at.
I'm standing at the sidelines like a lost person. Then something caught my attention, the creature they're fighting. "Who's that?" Right in front of me, a different creature was standing. In fact, it's a creature with a figure similar to a human. Then suddenly, its bloody eyes cast to me, eyeing me with bloodlust.
"It evolved...? What are they doing?"
I desperately dart my eyes inside of the magic dome barrier and cast my teleportation. Luckily enough, I was able to enter with ease, teleporting behind Professor Eukla. Once I did that, all eyes were on me. All the people in here had their eyes bulging out of their eye sockets. Looking up close, I was searching for the group of people whom I saw running earlier.
"Professor, are you all buying time?"
Professor can only nod in response. She's desperately gasping for air. The barrier seems to be taking a toll on her body. From the look of it, this will not able to contain us anymore. "How long would it take for others to come here?"
"I'm not sure."
"So, where are the people I saw running here earlier?"
Ami who was supporting Shin on the ground voiced out her confusion toward my question. "What people? We haven't seen anyone."
"Huh? I swear, I've seen a group of people wearing armors heading this way. Aren't they supposed to be back up of some sort?"
"If we have some way of support, we will not be like this." Ami gruntingly said.
"I see... Their spirits weren't able to protect them..."
It's hard to fathom how four S-class students can't defeat this creature with their unformidable powers. Yet, I can see why they can't. The destructibility of their power could also be a downside, so they're holding back. The chances of others getting caught by your own attacks are likely high, resulting in one's death. Especially, if there are four people in here fighting one being. They need precise control of their powers to work well alongside others.
Ami, Siona, and Elizabeth weren't that hurt, but the fatigue displayed on their faces was something hard to overlook. At times, controlling the output of a powerful spirit can take a toll on an individual's mental. That's based on my own experience. So, I wonder if it's also the same for them?
"How long can you hold this on, professor?"
Professor Eukla didn't even bother to respond. All her focus was on fortifying the barrier around us. I completely understand why Professor Eukla created this barrier for everyone. I glance over to the haggard-looking Shin on the ground. He's deeply wounded.
"Haaa... Geez... I'll buy some time. Get him some help." I said these words, as the barrier housing us was showing signs of cracking.
"Huh? What are you saying? We don't even know where we are, looking for help would be impossible. We can only wait for the help."
"You guys are exceptionally strong among our peers, to say those helpless words are a disgrace to those people who are less fortunate. Either way, you knew what I was talking about. Are his wounds that bad?" I point my finger to Shin.
Ami stares at me with wrinkles at the bridge of her nose. Then Shin who was lying on the ground spoke. "No, it's not that worse than you think. I can handle the pain. I apologize for ruining everything...—Cough, cough, cough."
"What about you two?" I look to Elizabeth and Siona silently watching us from behind.
"I'm done for today... I'm too wasted because of Shin. His impudence caused all of this."
"Watch your mouth!" Ami shouted.
"What? I'm speaking the truth. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have wasted a large capacity of my mana protecting myself from his attacks. He could've killed a person. And his reason was, he wants to end it sooner? How narrow-minded can he be? Protecting us? In what shape or form would that can be called protection? He cast magic that could annihilate everything just to kill, yet it did nothing?"
Before things get out of hand, as I was about to interfere between them. Shin forcefully lifts his upper body. "I apologize for my actions. I-I... I thought ending it sooner would make things easier for us and I have forgotten the people behind me. Forgive me."
Is he this reckless to even forget the people around him? My brother didn't say anything about Shin being like this, considering his top priority was to protect everyone. He might be reckless but to the only extent of offending everyone or making things harder for everyone around him. I stare at him with doubtful eyes.
Looking back to the soul-devouring creature and scanning the forest. From the looks of it, it's luring people in. Its blood-thirsting eyes were eyeing Shin specifically. Shin's soul was miserably damaged. "Serves you right..." I muttered.
'Haaa... I really need Tsuki for this. They're so useless... This is all Arya's fault... Tch!'