The biting wind whipped at Larian's face as he fell, keeping him partially conscious. His mind was scattered, his vision getting more blurred by the second.
The harbinger had struck him through his heart, leaving him with a cold, empty feeling in his chest. He wondered when he would hit the ground. It felt as if he had been falling forever.
And then suddenly, he wasn't. He didn't know how but he felt himself safely on the ground, and with someone's arms around him. He could hear the person's voice, but could not make out the words completely. They were trying to speak to him.
"Sir Larian? Are you alright?" Veliona asked frantically. Her voice heavy with concern. She could feel him getting colder with every second that passed.
When he had disappeared earlier while they were looking at the Moonglaive she had gone back to town to look for help, only to find death and destruction.
And then she saw a giant mass of vines rise into the air so she came back, just in time to witness them crumble to dust.
Thankfully she was able to teleport him safely to the ground with a rift from her dagger.
A few meters away a strange man landed, kicking up a small cloud of dust. He brushed off his cloak before making his way towards them.
Veliona didn't know who he was, but he could tell he was not here to help. She pulled Larian closer and pointed her dagger at the approaching man.
"What did you do to him!" She demanded.
"I made a hole in his heart," the man answered in a casual tone. "He should be dead any moment from now."
Veliona's heart sank. She didn't have any way to heal him. She wished Aldrich and Levi were here so badly.
The man took another step. She waved the dagger in warning, but he seemed more amused than cautious.
"Did you... kill all those townspeople as well?" She asked. But from his facial expression she already knew the answer. She didn't know what else to say except, "Why?"
The man raised an eyebrow, "Does it really matter why I did."
"No...," Veliona muttered in a small voice. "No, I guess it doesn't"
He sighed, a melancholic look on his face. "I'll make it quick."
Veliona tightened her grip on her weapon. She knew she couldn't possibly win by herself, but she didn't know what else to do. She felt a weak grip on her sleeve and looked down to see Larian's hand on it. He was still alive.
She sighed in relief. "Sir Larian, can you hear me?"
"Impossible," the man commented, surprised. "He should be quite dead by now."
Veliona felt his already weak grip grow looser. She took his hand in her own free one. "Please, you can't die."
She was no longer looking at the stranger but she could hear his footsteps getting closer. She kept her attention on Larian.
"You- you made a promise to me, remember?" She said, her voice breaking. "You can't just break it."
The man came to an abrupt halt after hearing her say that. She looked up at him, confused.
"You sound... just like her." He whispered. But she had no idea who he was talking about. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
That hesitation had left the harbinger's defenses open for a split moment. And that moment was all Larian needed. For the past few minutes he had been concentrating the last of his power into one final attack.
Being this close to death also meant his Virtue was at its strongest, even Null wouldn't be able to brush off this attack.
From the ground all around Null sharpened thorns flew out at blinding speed, impaling him. His eyes were wide, shocked the knight still had enough strength.
One of the thorns had impaled him right through his hand, and the rest through his legs and torso.
Larian smiled weakly, coughing. "You let your guard down."
Null struggled against the thorns for a second but they wouldn't budge. He laughed, blood filling his mouth. The attack had done some major damage.
He was closer to death than he'd ever been before, he could feel it. Ignoring the pain he yanked his arm, breaking off the protruding thorn to free his arm.
He gripped at the edge of his eye patch, about to pull it off. He hadn't thought he would ever be forced to use this. He had underestimated the knight.
"Limit-"
He was interrupted mid sentence by an immense and familiar feeling of emptiness in his chest. An apparent shift in the atmosphere, the night air growing colder.
Larian felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He tried to fight against it, something was coming. Something bad. But he had already used up all of his energy. He slumped into the princess' arms.
Veliona felt it before she saw it. A patch of darkness growing wider by the second. And in its center, a man appeared. An eerie figure, almost devoid of color except for his blood red eyes.
His mere presence seemed to suck the life out of the surrounding area, draining the color from it until all that was left was black and white. He began to move towards them slowly, his red eyes fixed on Null.
"That's quite enough, Null." The man said. His voice was softer than his ragged appearance gave away, but completely empty of emotion. Once he got close enough to the harbinger Larian's thorns dissipated, as if they were simply erased from reality.
Null didn't seem to relieved by the man's sudden arrival, or help. "_____ , why are you here?"
_____ sighed, tiredly. "This is over. Come with me."
Null looked like he wanted to object, but the man's tired but piercing gaze made rethink it.
_____ turned his attention to Veliona and Larian. Veliona felt her heart drop, she had hoped he would just not notice them. She feared if he got any closer they would fade away as well. Thankfully he turned away once more.
"You should count yourself lucky," he stated. "Azazel asked me not to touch you. For now, anyway."
"Who is that?" Veliona asked.
"I believe he told you his name was 'Saito Hasashi', or something of the like." The faded man paused, as if wondering if Azazel would appreciate him giving his information away like that. He shrugged, it didn't matter.
"Once we leave, both of our existences will fade completely from your memory and being. Till we meet again for the first time, cursed child."
Veliona stared at them as they faded into black. Then she blinked, wondering what she was just looking at. She took in her surroundings, the large red arcanum in the sky slowly fading away. What had they been doing there? She felt as if she was right on the brink of the answer multiple times, but then it would fade away without a trace.
Sir Larian stirred in her arms, drawing her attention back to him. She didn't recall what had happened to him. He didn't seem to either.
He propped himself up, trying to clear his head. The aching feeling of emptiness he had felt in his chest earlier was gone without a trace. Almost as if it had never even happened.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, unsure what to make of what had happened. The harbinger and everything he had done had been wiped both from their minds, and their realities. Faded away.
In the distance the sun began to rise, signaling the start of a new day. The night of the Moonglaive bloom was over, they had missed it.
"I'm so sorry, princess." Larian apologized.
Veliona shook her head. "It's not your fault. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway."
She sighed before pulling herself off the ground and sheathing her dagger. She offered him her hand. "Let's just head back to the inn. I have no idea why, but I am completely exhausted."