The next morning, a deafening roar ripped Leticia from a peaceful sleep. Startled, she sat up in bed, her heart pounding. Seconds later, Aleph burst into her room, urgency etched on his face.
"Princess, we need to leave here!" he exclaimed, his voice tense.
Confused and frightened, Leticia gathered her belongings hastily. Upon leaving the inn, she was met with a scene of chaos. Villagers ran desperately in all directions, their faces etched with panic, as flames rose, devouring entire houses.
Aleph, observing the chaos beside Leticia, intercepted a young man, gripping his shoulder, seeking information.
"What's happening?" he asked, his voice firm despite the tension.
The young man, breathless and panicked, stammered as he brought a hand to his forehead as if trying to contain his anguish.
"The Shineids… they're after someone. If they don't find them… they'll kill everyone," he murmured before breaking free and running off, disappearing into the crowd.
Aleph turned quickly to Leticia, taking her hand firmly.
"For your safety, we need to leave here immediately," he insisted, the worry evident in his voice.
He felt her hand tremble in his, but when he looked up, he met Leticia's determined expression, her eyes shining with a mixture of compassion and courage. For a moment, she hesitated; she had never faced a Shineid before, and fear pulsed in her chest. But the sound of screams and the desperation of the people around her made her step back from fleeing. She couldn't abandon these villagers.
"I can't leave these people… not like this," she whispered, her voice firm, her decision reflected on her face.
Concern for the villagers gnawed at Aleph. He wanted to help them, fight alongside them, but his mission was to protect Leticia, and that was his absolute priority. With a firm grip on her hand, he led her along a less exposed path, dodging the flames and the screams of terror that echoed through the village. With each step, with each pleading look that crossed his path, Aleph felt the weight of his responsibility and the conflict between his duty and his compassion.
The scene grew increasingly grim. The fire consumed the houses rapidly, its flames fanned by the wind, engulfing homes and transforming the landscape, while the Shineids captured and interrogated everyone who emerged from the burning buildings. Those who didn't answer in time… were summarily executed.
A family emerged from a burning house. The mother, with a child in her arms, was the first to exit. Without warning, a Shineid attacked her, its blade piercing her chest. The woman fell lifelessly, the child rolling to the side, unharmed. The boy, weeping, shook his mother's shoulder, calling her desperately, but silence was the only answer. The father, paralyzed by horror, watched the scene in shock, unable to move or even react.
The Shineid, with a cruel smile, raised its violet-bladed katana, ready to silence the child's cries. At the last instant, the impact of another blade interrupted the attack. Aleph's sword intercepted the blow, deflecting the katana. Moving with speed, Aleph counterattacked, his blade piercing the Shineid's heart. The creature dissolved into dust, leaving only a trail of dark ash.
The child's father, awakening from his stupor as he saw the Shineid disappear, looked at Aleph with tear-filled eyes. A mixture of pain and relief formed on his face, a brief spark of satisfied vengeance. He hugged his son tightly, as if to protect him from the chaos surrounding them, and, without a word, fled the scene, carrying with him the pain and the memory of the woman he had lost.
Aleph watched the family flee, a tight knot in his throat and his fists clenched. Around him, chaos still reigned, but in his heart, the determination to put an end to all the destruction blossomed.
Upon witnessing the death of their companion, the Shineids surrounding Aleph stopped their interrogations, releasing the captured citizens. One of them, still holding a hostage, a dagger pressed against his throat, raised her voice, fixing Aleph with a menacing glare.
"We will only stop when we find Princess Leticia!" she shouted, before slitting the man's throat with a cold and calculated movement.
The victim fell lifelessly, and the leader of the Shineids, raising her bloody sword, signaled for the others to resume the attack. The village became a killing field, the sound of blades and screams echoing everywhere.
Leticia, watching the unfolding horror, felt a wave of crushing guilt. "They're killing all these people… just to find me!" The pain of that thought was almost unbearable, and her eyes saddened, reflecting the weight of each life lost.
Aleph, on the other hand, felt confused. He still didn't understand why the Shineids were so obsessed with capturing Leticia. Amidst the confusion, a thought arose, a hypothesis. "How did they know where we were? It could only be… him. But what would he gain from this?"
As the attacks continued, Leticia's feeling of helplessness grew. More and more lives were being taken around her, and she knew she was the cause of that violence. Determined to end the massacre, she climbed onto a makeshift stage, attracting the attention of the Shineids and shouted with all her might:
"I am the person you are looking for!" she cried, her voice firm despite the fear coursing through her. "Stop the attacks!"
Upon hearing Leticia's cry, the Shineids stopped attacking the villagers and turned to her, their eyes gleaming with predatory bloodlust, moving towards her with raised swords.
Leticia, determined to resist, drew her sword and faced the attacks that came in a relentless sequence. Each blow she struck seemed to pass through them as if they were made of smoke, causing no harm. It was like fighting shadows. Despite this, Leticia felt a momentary relief in seeing that, at least, the Shineids had stopped slaughtering the citizens.
Aleph remained by Leticia's side, vigilant to every movement around them, searching for an escape route that wouldn't force him to use an ability he wished to keep secret. With skill and precision, he deflected attacks and counterattacked effectively, his blade striking the Shineids in a way that impressed Leticia, for she had seen him eliminate one before. Still, she noticed something peculiar in his way of fighting: he seemed to be holding back, acting with a caution that differed from the vigor he had shown when facing Laurenn, as if he were hiding something. But she barely had time to process this detail as she defended herself from the enemies' attacks.
Gradually, a larger group of Shineids surrounded them, forming a barrier of blades and cruel laughter. Aleph, with fluid and precise movements, repelled the attacks, but with each blow defended, a new one arose, faster, more violent. But now the Shineids seemed to be enjoying the situation, as if the siege were merely a game to them.
Leticia, breathless and with a racing heart, cast an anxious glance at Aleph. "There are so many... How are we going to face all these Shineids and still protect the villagers?"
As they exchanged glances, both knew that the odds were slim. Leticia took a deep breath, taking courage in the realization that, however bleak the situation, she was not alone. And that, perhaps, was enough to keep hope alive as they faced the impossible.
The Royal Knights arrived, their armor gleaming in the morning sun. But their swords, like Leticia's, proved ineffective against the Shineids.
The fight became even more uneven; the Shineids intensified their attacks, as if challenged by the presence of the royal guard. The knights, torn between protecting the villagers and facing the Shineids, fought bravely, but many succumbed to the enemy's relentless fury. They knew their chances of victory were minimal, but their determination to protect the innocent outweighed their fear of death.
The scene was devastating. Flames consumed the houses, bodies lay inert on the ground, wounded soldiers fought in vain, and terror was etched on the faces of the surviving villagers. The scene of horror was seared into Leticia's mind, causing her deep pain and a sense of guilt.
"If only I had the ability to defeat them…" she thought desperately. "I trained so hard, but I haven't achieved that ability. I won't be able to protect these people."
Aleph perceived Leticia's anguish, aware that the princess blamed herself for her powerlessness in the face of the destruction. Her safety was his priority, a promise made to Laurenn. He considered retreating, leaving the fight to the Royal Knights, but the thought of abandoning the villagers troubled him.
He was about to make a suggestion when a horrific scene made him hesitate: the village chief was mortally wounded from behind, with no chance of defense. The brutal scene paralyzed Leticia, unable to look away. The kind and welcoming man who had received them with such hospitality the night before… had been killed.
Distracted by pain and shock, Leticia didn't notice one of the Shineids stealthily approaching, preparing a deadly attack. Leticia detected the movement too late to react, but Aleph interposed himself, taking the blow in her place. The blade cut deeply into his right shoulder, staining his clothing with bright red.