Lynn found herself under more and more pressure, several cut wounds were appearing on her body and beads of sweat were starting to fall down her face.
Definitely fighting against three mercenaries in a confined space where her mobility and basically her way of fighting was affected, was dangerous and if she didn't change something she would end up dying.
Lynn may have trained at a government academy, and her combat perception, knowledge and other things could been better than the mercenaries, but she still couldn't overcome the limitations that were being imposed on her.
Unable to resist any longer, Lynn swallowed hard and shouted:
"Will you stand still?! Help me!"
The knife-wielding mercenary frowned and turned, but it was too late when Nathan's fist connected directly with his face, sending him flying a couple of meters.
The other mercenaries' eyes widened in surprise at the presence of someone other than Lynn, but they didn't stand a chance either.
Dodging the frantic attacks of the surprised mercenaries, Nathan hit both of them, leaving them on the ground incapacitated.
Lynn approached Nathan with bated breath.
"What took you so long?!" she shouted in annoyance.
Nathan walked over to the men on the ground.
"I thought you could take all three of them...I was wrong"
Lynn holstered her pistols in their respective holsters and sighed.
"It's just this place is a disadvantage to the way I fight... Hey, what are you doing?"
Nathan bent down and picked up a short sword from one of the mercenaries, then looked at it from both sides. Without a second thought and before the wounded mercenary could say anything, Nathan plunged the sword into the man's heart.
The mercenary's eyes opened wide as he felt the pain in his chest and several seconds later his eyes lost any sign of life.
The mercenary next to him saw the death of his companion and screamed in fright, then got up and tried to escape.
Nathan simply swung his sword and cut the tendons of both of the man's legs, who fell to the ground unable to stand.
Before Nathan could get any closer to the mercenary, Lynn stepped in his way and opened her arms to prevent him from passing.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she shouted as she looked at him with a confused and annoyed expression.
Nathan sighed and pointed at the man with the tip of his sword.
"I'm getting rid of possible future trouble"
Lynn tightened her bite.
"You've already beat them! The fight is over!"
Nathan lowered his head slightly and fixed in a heavy tone.
"Move"
Lynn trembled slightly at Nathan's words but didn't move.
"Don't make me say it again"
Nathan raised his sword and pointed its tip at her chest.
Lynn saw the sharp point of the sword and bit her lips, then closed her eyes tightly and moved out of the way.
"A wise choice"
Nathan reached the mercenary ignoring his screams and pleas and repeated the process, then reached the other one who was still in a semi-conscious state from the blow that he had struck him and ended his life.
He stood for a couple of seconds looking at the corpse of the man in front of him, then bent down, took his knife, and wiped the blood from his new sword with the dead man's clothes.
He had solved his problem of having no weapons, though the sword was not of the same quality as the katana Boreas had given him.
'At least I can reinforce it with essence...'
It wasn't just a piece of metal, it was a relic, albeit a rather mediocre one.
Either way, Nathan turned and looked at Lynn who was trying to avoid making eye contact.
"Come on"
Lynn nodded her head slightly before giving one last glance at the three mercenaries she had been confronted with.
For a couple of minutes, they walked in silence without speaking to each other, then the gravity changed, and they were back to walking on the roof.
It was then that Lynn opened her mouth and took a couple of seconds to speak.
"Why did you kill them?"
Sighing, Nathan answered with a question.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Lynn bit her lips slightly and folded her arms.
"Because..."
She wasn't able to give him an answer, so Nathan asked another question.
"Have you ever entered a realm before?"
Lynn nodded.
"Have you ever fought a human before?"
Lynn nodded again.
"Have you ever killed anyone?"
This time Lynn was silent and swallowed bitterly.
Nathan didn't bother to stop to talk and just kept walking.
"They were ready to kill you as soon as you turned your back on them. Humans are no different from calamities, both bleed and both die. Only some will hurt you out of instinct while others just because they want to"
Lynn didn't answer, she just kept quiet and gently touched the pistols on her hip in confusion and hesitation.
Meanwhile, Nathan was deep in thought.
'It was just like that time...'
Since Boreas had forced him to kill that man seven years ago, he had not killed again. Nathan was afraid that his heart would falter the moment he ended the mercenary's life... but instead he felt nothing.
He didn't know whether to feel good or bad about it, but in the end, it was a mentality that would help him survive.
An hour had passed since they had encountered the mercenaries, Nathan felt that there was no point in walking any further, so he went into one of the rooms to rest for a while.
Undisturbed by her presence, Nathan lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling while resting his head on his hands.
Lynn sat down quietly in a chair that belonged to a desk and looked at him discreetly. Then she whispered something that Nathan didn't hear, so he asked her.
"Did you say something?"
Lynn shook her head.
"Only that I have to meet with my team and my captain.
Nathan remembered the orange-haired young man and the white-haired young woman who had accompanied Lynn that day she had helped him. But that day he didn't see the captain he mentioned.
"Your captain?"
For some reason Nathan unknown, Lynn's eyes gained a slight gleam, as if she was proud to think of her captain and as if she forgot all her previous dark thoughts in an instant.
"Yes! She is my idol to follow! One day I will be like my captain, Faye Aeterna!"