Tears flowed down from Kali's eyes as she tried to release her mother's grip and then rushed inside the house toward the master bedroom.
"Kali!!" Her mother called for her but didn't get an answer.
There, she found her dad still sleeping on his bed with a white cloth covering his entire body. The sight sent chills down Kali's spine as she froze in her place again. Her arms started shaking and her heart rate suddenly dropped to a dangerous degree.
"D-Daddy…" She called for his name but he didn't answer. So, with hesitant steps, she started approaching him until she ended up right next to him. "Why…?"
She asked with a face that interchanged between anger and sadness. Kali felt like the whole world was collapsing on her, trying to suffocate her. She felt deep anger at her dad for breaking his promise and an equally deep sadness for losing him just like this.
"Answer me…"
No answer came.
"I was making progress. I finished another book yesterday. I couldn't find any cures to your illness yet but I was happy with my progress."
She said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It was hard. The books had no illustrations and they use hard words. I didn't understand most of what was being said. I wanted to go out and play, eat sweets, draw and write small poems for you and mommy. I hated reading those books. I hated them! I hated them!!"
The sheer hardship of having to spend hours and hours on end as a child, reading thick books of medicine that she wasn't supposed to touch for at least a dozen more years was brutal. But, Kali was still determined to do it and be excellent about it. So much so that she could that finally cure her father's illness.
Never, not even for once, did she entertain the thought of him dying since her mind told her that he will never break his promise and yet here she was, standing in front of his corpse.
With a hesitant move, she rested her arm on her dad's corpse and continued crying silently.
"Was it too painful? Couldn't you hold on for a little longer?"
"Kali…"
Looking up, Kali noticed her mother standing next to the door. The little girl kept staring at her mother for a while before she made a small smile and said.
"I failed."
***
The next few days were very hectic on Kali and her mother. They had to bury Kali's father and deal with the process before and after that. During that time, Kali would simply do her best to help her mom before she quickly goes to her room and stays there alone, her and her thoughts in an endless debate and a heated argument.
That constant pain and self-blaming was too brutal on the mind of a child and the effects of it appeared on Kali's health as she lost her appetite completely and she couldn't even sleep and even if she could sleep, nightmares would hunt her of her dad blaming her for failing him.
All of that continued till the day of the burial, when she and her mother stood in front of the grave of her father. Kali's eyes traced the tombstone before she said.
"Mommy, is dad now in a better place?"
Her question took her mother by surprise for a second before she smiled weakly and replied. "I'm sure he is and he's watching over us from up there." She said.
"I see…" Finally, for the first time, Kali's face turned into a smile as she said. "I couldn't help dad. But, I want to help other people. I want to be a doctor!"
***
*BOOOOM*
Chaos ensued in the battlefield endlessly as the trio fought against the monsters endlessly. Kali's sacrifice had given them a second chance which turned the battle tides in the opposite direction.
Arthur, Mino and Boriat fought with endless vigor and relentless will. Especially, Arthur, seeing Kali's weathered body as it fell down to the ground, it made him completely forget his fear of these monsters.
Even though he didn't know that woman for more than a few days and even though he didn't know this group of heroes for no more than that, he still felt like he belonged to them. He felt like they were comrades in arms and close friends that were ready to face death together.
As his blood trickled down his face, Arthur used every ounce of mana left in him to kill as many monsters as he could. He didn't even care about the counter or the objective. In fact, he didn't stare at the counter as it rose rapidly at all. He just put his whole focus into killing and killing he did.
With each swing of his blade, he killed a demon, splattering its blood on the ground.
'More! More!! I need to do more!!' He thought in his head. No matter how fast he moved, he wanted to move faster and no matter how precise he was, he wanted to deliver more deadly blows.
Meanwhile, Mino and Boriat had the same struggle. However, fortunately, the number of the demons started decreasing notably and the pressure was slowing down with each passing second.
At the same time, Ani's spell was reaching its final stages. The ball fire that was as small as a human fist turned into a fiery ball as big as the hill she was standing on. The little mage's face had completely turned pale and beads of sweat trickled down her skin.
Using this much mana was very dangerous and could knock Ani unconscious but she didn't stop. She had to deliver the final attack as fast as possible.
At the same time, the trio noticed the growing heat coming from the fireball.
"We need to start retreating!!" Mino yelled as he fended off a few demons.
'I know, you don't need to tell me! Shit!' Arthur cursed as he avoid the fangs of a monster before he sliced his neck off.
Although what Mino said sounded logical, it was easier said than done as they were still basically still surrounded by the hordes of demons from all directions. To create an opening for escaping was going to be very hard.
"We're… surrounded!" Boriat exclaimed as he smashed his ax down, creating a huge crack in the ground.
The hero already knew that. "Leave it to me!"
Then, Mino quickly channeled his mana to the fullest and sliced through the hordes of monsters. However, he didn't stop there as he swung his sword again and again and again. His speed and momentum increased as he howled loudly with all his strength.
Countless demons were caught in the fire and even more had to run away from it, creating a clear path amidst the chaos. Each swing was akin to a wild explosion of holy fire that didn't let anyone away. That attack was just that devastating.
However, because of it, Mino also lost all strength in his body. With an exhausted body, he started falling down to the ground.
'No… I'm losing consciousness…' His hazy eyes started closing as the realization that this might be his end started weighing down on him. However, before he could hit the ground, an arm caught him before lifting him up.
"This isn't the time nor place for a nap, Mino!" Arthur said as he put Mino on his shoulder.
"Arthur…"
"We need to move!!" With that, he started running as fast as he could.
At the same time, Boriat was next to them, hitting on any demon that tried to attack them. The group slowly made its way back to Ani.
Meanwhile, the girl herself had finally reached the end of her wits. She was completely exhausted. However…
"It's… done!"