"We're close, we just need to walk for a few more minutes!"
Marco whispered as he breathed heavily, it was clear that supporting Jin while walking took its toll on his body.
He was still a child, after all. Thus making it understandable for him to be exhausted.
"Hey Jin."
Jin looked at him and responded, "What is i- Wait, what's with your complexion?"
He noticed the unnatural paleness of his friend's face. His face was also covered with sweat and a faint metallic smell permeated in the surroundings.
"Say, if we rest for half a min- No, fifteen seconds- are we going to be alright?"
Following the smell, Jin looked down and saw blood seeping on Marco's pants, "What happened to your leg!?"
He then looked at the alley they were in and pointed at the area where a couple trash bags were placed, "There! We can rest there for a while. The trash will mask our scents!"
"Thank goodness…" Marco smiled, his voice trembling as he spoke.
They then walked towards the garbage area.
Jin looked at him worriedly, "Hey, where did that wound come from?"
"I don't know. Maybe I got it when I was running towards your house or something." Marco said as he shook his head.
"I didn't even notice it. Maybe because of the adrenaline? Aren't I cool? Hehe…"
Jin bit his lips upon hearing the powerlessness in his laugh, "We'll need to get the instructors to treat you, okay?"
"Yes, yes~ But let's rest for a bit first." Marco said as he nodded.
"Marco."
"Yes?"
Looking at the gnash on his friend's leg, Jin bit his lips even more, "I'm sorry."
"Huh? About what?" Marco asked confusedly.
"You know, if I weren't at our house earlier, then you wouldn't have needed to go and save me."
"Haha. I told you earlier that I didn't know you were there, right?" Marco giggled a little.
"Yes."
"I mean it. Whether you were there or not, I would have gone there first to ensure that you're safe."
At this moment, he posed a question, "By the way, where's Tanya?"
"She went out to the Training Center. Though I surmise that she's able to be evacuated by the instructors by now."
The two of them soon arrived at the garbage area, Marco let Jin sit down first as he knew that he had no power to stand up by himself.
Jin sat down with difficulty, still feeling the cursed energy wreaking havoc within his body.
Clutching his heart with a pained expression, he spoke, "Hey Marco. We'll just rest for a few seconds, okay? We really need to get your wound treated."
"I guess that there must be priests in the Training Camp so they can help you."
"By the way, where are your parents? Did they know that you went here first before evacuating to the Training Center?"
At this moment, Jin, who still had his head lowered in pain, saw that his friend's legs were still standing up straight.
"Ehhhh? Don't you need to rest? Come sit down beside m—"
He wasn't able to finish his words as he was too dumbfounded by what he saw as soon as he raised his head.
What greeted his sight was Marco's waist that had blood flowing ceaselessly from it.
However, his upper body was nowhere to be found.
Jin raised his head further.
Seeing the red eyes of the Shadewraith Tigris before him, his face paled.
It was not really due to fear, but because he could see a familiar hand peeking through the mouth of the demon beast.
Woosh—
The Shadewraith Tigris flipped its head lightly, eating Marco's upper body in one bite.
It didn't even chew and just swallowed.
Seeing the little boy with white hair and golden eyes before it, its red eyes shone craziness.
ROARRRRRRR!!!!!
Facing the roaring demon beast, Jin's expression remained blank.
Seeing the nearing wide mouth of the Shadewraith Tigris, his eyes began to ripple with a myriad of emotions.
"Marc—"
CHOMP!
The Shadewraith Tigris bit the little boy's body, separating it in half like it did to the other earlier.
Woosh—
With a toss of its head, it also swallowed Jin.
***
Splash—
"Where am I…?"
Jin muttered as he floated in an unknown green liquid.
"Why can't I feel my le- Oh, I remember now."
He remembered vividly what happened before his current situation.
The way he saw Marco's lower body standing upright with the only sign of his upper body being the blood that made a pool under it.
The way the demon beast bit him in half and swallowed him in one gulp.
"Should I be thankful that this demon beast doesn't seem to like chewing its food?"
A mocking laughter echoed in the area.
"Hmmm, am I in its stomach?"
Jin muttered lifelessly. He could feel that the unknown green liquid he was floating in seemed to slowly corrode him.
At this moment, he was only looking at the dark red ceiling of the demon beast's stomach.
Utter lifelessness.
That was what he was currently feeling. The powerlessness he had earlier despite having the power.
"If only my cursed energy obeyed me…"
Jin thought as despair enveloped him.
He felt exhausted.
"I want to give up."
Then, he felt something below, "Oh, it seemed like my legs already regenerated."
Feeling the "floor" with his feet, Jin slowly stood up, the green liquid reaching up just below his neck.
He looked around for a while and saw a familiar head.
"Director Ver?"
Jin bit his lips as he saw the once easy-going director of the Training Center.
However, the once powerful director was now half skeleton.
Treading through the green liquid, Jin saw a few more corpses, each slowly being digested.
"Lord Axton!?"
His eyes widened in shock as he saw a familiar man, "I wonder how Anton will take this…"
Remembering his other friend, along with seeing the countless corpses, Jin's eyes welled up with tears.
"Wait if they are here…!"
He looked around further until he saw it.
The corpse of his friend that saved him earlier.
As the Shadewraith Tigris didn't really chew him, Marco's upper body was still whole.
In fact, it seemed as if he didn't realized what happened as Jin could recognize the smile he still had on his face.
Holding the corpse of his friend, Jin's tears fell as his voice trembled, "S-Sorry… I-I'm sorry…"
"If only I wasn't so weak… if only I could control my power…"
Jin could only watch helplessly as Marco's body was digested by the green liquid at a rate visible to the eyes.
Unlike Director Ver and Lord Axton, he hadn't really developed his energy core.
Therefore, his body was easily digested by the Shadewraith Tigris.
Just like that, Jin saw his friend die once again.
He cried and sniffled loudly.
However, as Marco's body disappeared in the green liquid, Jin also fell silent.
The feeling of lifelessness and powerlessness that he was emitting earlier was replaced by something else.
Something far more ominous than the aura of the General-Class Shadewraith Tigris.