A bright light sprung up from the direction of the battle where Cybele had been. The unexpected display, along with what the system notified Senna of just now, concerned him enough to consider checking it out.
"What's happening over there? Sis, any information?"
«Cause unknown. A sudden burst of energy occurred with the individual named 'Elrand' at the center. That is all the information available to me.»
"Elrand?" The novice hunter Senna interacted with before. And saved, technically. "You're not sure if it's dangerous?"
«Not enough information to determine.»
Her lack of a clear answer disturbed him. Usually, the system could give him a concise and precise explanation of any bizarre phenomena he had encountered since reincarnating.
"I'm worried about Bel…"
He couldn't see her and the lizard girl anymore due to the distance and the bright light. Senna knew that her humanoid form excelled in combat, having seen it firsthand especially when he sprinted to recover his ATV earlier.
However, he also had no clue as to the extent of that lizard girl's capability. Senna still had to consider any scenario, including one where Cybele was losing.
The Red-Eyes monitors began to surround him as he stopped pouring blazing fire from his palm. "Ugh. There are so many of them. We're killing them too slowly…"
From beyond the yard, additional lizards kept crawling out one after another from between the gaps of ruined buildings. The number of hordes simply exceeded Senna's initial expectations.
Were these reptilians hiding in the building after they retreated earlier? The conjecture felt correct when Senna thought about it.
"I think we've done enough to slow them though. The hunters can take care of the rest."
Using his head, Senna tried to signal Brad and the others that were attacking the Red Eyes behind him. He gestured to convey, 'I leave it to you.'
The axeman noticed it and seemed to understand. He gave him a big nod.
"Let's get back," Senna rotated the pedal and was ready to race to where the light was shining.
As he neared, Senna noticed a kneeling figure. It was Bel-girl, holding her side and seemed to be in pain.
Her furry clothes were stained red.
"Bel!?" Senna quickened his pace seeing her condition. Reaching a suitable distance, he braked and simply jumped from his bike, letting it fall to the ground.
"Sen…"
"You're bleeding! What happened?" Senna carefully checked her wound. It was a horizontal gash that evidently resulted from a strike coming from that spear he saw.
"I am sorry. It seems my ability was not up to par with that scaly wench," Bel apologized sadly, her head drooping.
"Forget that. We need to treat this…" As a modern man, he felt a wound this ghastly should immediately get patched up.
Senna saw similar nasty-looking wounds from the hunters he met in the hall, and he also felt that they seemed to be treating them too lightly. But since he wasn't personally close to any of them, he held his mouth.
Of course, it couldn't be said the same applied to this companion dog-girl of his.
"But… the battle is not over."
"Just shut up and listen to me."
"And that Elrand boy. Something happened to him."
"As I said, let's just retreat back to… Elrand?" Hearing his name being mentioned returned Senna's attention back to the mysterious light.
It was even brighter seeing it from up close, Senna couldn't see anything hidden inside its radiant glow. But, if what he concluded from listening to what the system and Bel told him, Elrand and the lizard girl must have been inside it.
*****
The Dragonoid was bewildered by what he was seeing right before her eyes.
One moment earlier, she was just about to extinguish this boy's life by piercing his heart with her spear. However, out of nowhere, a young girl jumped in front of him, blocking her weapon from ever reaching its target.
It was then that everything stopped to make sense. A bright light erupted from the boy, engulfing him, the girl, and the Dragonoid girl herself in its illumination.
She closed her eyes due to the overwhelming glare. And when she slowly opened them up again, here she was in this weird plane. The village was gone, replaced by a strange yellowish-white void in which only she, the boy, and the interloper girl were now the only people present.
"…Rem?" Elrand cradled the bloodied Rem, his expression filled with despair.
"I told you… not to get reckless, didn't I?" The
village girl weakly raised her hand and stroked his cheek.
"I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry!" Elrand strengthened the grip he had on her body. "I'll be better, I'll be stronger! Forgive me!"
"I know… You're already strong to me… El."
"But it's not enough! I want to be able to protect you…"
Regret continuously filled his heart. What an idiot was he. Long ago, Elrand swore that he would protect Reimi forever, against any danger, against any threat.
And now, look at this state. She was the one who risked her body for him. Elrand cursed his failure and idiocy.
'Don't die on me.'
'Please. Let me atone for this mistake!'
The two of them hadn't realized the bright light that shined from within Elrand's body. At first, it was barely noticeable, but it grew brighter and brighter it would soon eclipse both of them from view.
"…!"
The Dragonoid sensed the danger she was in. She instinctually knew that somehow, she had to finish Elrand off. "Rrraaaghh!!" she roared with a battle cry, leaping to the couple with the determined intent to strike their bodies once more.
But… *Fwoooosh!* She was blown back by an irresistible force.
'What? Just what is happening to him?'
She couldn't believe the weak young man had the power to repel her charge. There was something abnormal about Elrand, she realized, but the Dragonoid simply had no idea what it could be.
The only thing she was sure of… was that he had to eliminated. At all cost.