Movement spread across the ground as more creatures arrived, gathering where the moth's cry had led them.
"This is crazy! This is CRAZY! THIS IS CRAZY!! Hey, where are your friends?!" Anton yelled at Cabel, madness of the situation clearly showing in his face.
"I wonder where they are..." Cabel turned away awkwardly. He can't tell him that they sneak away. "It seems they haven't noticed us being gone." He flashed a grin bright… just a bit suspicious, but enough to distract.
"What?" Anton's voice shook in high anxiety, staring at Cabel.
"Now, now, don't worry too much, you got us!" Cabel playfully shifted the conversation elsewhere.
"Last time someone told me not to worry too much, this nightmare happened!" Anton snapped his fear spilling out as he yelled at Cabel.
"Then, let's do our best not to die!" His grin stretched wide, beaming at an odd time while standing in the middle of disaster unravelling around them.
"Do my best on what? I'm a kid!" Anton's voice rose sharply, edged with panic.
What was he supposed to do? His pulse roared in his ears as he looked down at his hands, shaking. They are empty. No weapon that he knows how to wield. No skills to know they work. No idea what to do. He felt useless. His sister was right there, far beyond, fighting to protect him, always burdening his sister. He scoffs mocking himself, he can't even protect himself. How useless.
Training? Nothing. Lessons? Nothing.
Nothing flashes but fragments of skipped days and missed classes. Nothing came in him, when he needed them now the most.
If you don't know anything, then just learn something and stop becoming useless, you pathetic loser! Stop burdening your sister! He scolded himself.
Anton scanned his surroundings and found a lying lumber beside his feet, though terrified and visibly shaking and uneasy he pointed them towards the beasts. "If I die here, I'll hunt you down from the grave! You better protect me!" Anton yelled at him.
"Yeah. Yeah. That is my job." Cabel began sending his needles flying to the beast approaching them. This is bad. I'm almost out of needles. He hides his dilemma with a grin.
"Come at me, you ugly horse-shit stinking insects! I'll beat the fucking out of you till your shitbrain spills!" Anton challenged the beasts before them.
He instantly received an answer as the ants started marching their way, sharp spikes all out to slashes them as others spew acids.
Ruina heard his roar, somehow a strange tingling warmth bloom in her chest as she watched Anton harshly slamming his lumber at the beast's face.
"Wipe that proud face you're wearing and focus on killing these insects." Felix said full of spite and irritation, cutting the beast from head to its stinger.
Pride? So this strange sensation has a name.
Felix paused for a moment, pulling a folded handkerchief from his chest pocket, wiping the blood staining with dripping sweat mixed with dirt and his blood.
A handkerchief?
"These bloody pests, dare dirtying me." His face darken, eyes cutting towards the beasts with a sharp, dangerous glare.
Ruina said nothing— just stared at him, eyes flat and blank. Isn't it natural to be dirty when fighting monsters to death?
"Filthy things must be eliminated. Hey, you, ghosty!" He snapped his head to Ruina. "Back me up!" He surged at the horde, swinging his sword with precision as the body of ants collapsed on the ground one after another.
"I'm not a ghost. I'm still alive." Ruina followed him, sounding slightly displeased. "I have a name." She said in her quiet voice.
Ruina surged forwards and drove the metal rod into the beast's skull. The beast dropped, lifeless. She shoved it aside with a kick and kept moving.
A shape lunged from behind— she countered blind, stabbing straight through its torso. It shrieked. She yanked the rod free and finished it with an upward strike through the chin. Another dead. She moved again, unhesitant and fearless, dashing at the center, taking life one after another.
Felix glanced over her. A pale white-haired woman moved through the chaos, her hands tracing soft arcs in the air— each motion reaping life upon her touch. She stepped lightly, almost graceful, as if the battlefield were stage made for her alone as the bodies dropped around her.
"Woah, they sure are having fun over there." Cabel caught the strike on a splintered plank, the wood groaning under the force. His eyes flicked past the fight.
Anton lunged into view, bringing his weapon down hars— once, twice, again— until the chitin cracked and the ants collapsed beneath him.
"Yikes, you're scary." Cabel prodded the mushy head with his bots, teasing Anton.
"Shut up!" His voice snapped and cracked under the strain. He jabbed the length of the lumber towards him, stopping just short at his face. "Why am I the only one doing the hard job here?"
"Hey— that's not true." He frowned as he pointed at the swarm. "I'm distracting them so you could kill them." He defended himself.
"That is supposed to be your job!" Anton snapped veins popping at his neck and forehead.
"I can't help it, I'm out of needles." He shrugged. "Besides, Healers shouldn't participate in any battle. They must not be brought to the Frontline to fight. That is the Healer's Book first teaching!" He beamed with a wide innocent smile.
It only pissed Anton more. "Then why the hell are you here?!" He exploded. Cabel closed his ears at his loud voice pretending not to hear him. Damn this man, where are the trusted adults around here?
Felix gave his blade a hard fick— dark droplets scattering across the ground. He glanced at the wreckage and let out a low breath. "You really went all out on that defense," he said, almost impressed. "Then just… stayed."
The body moved, then it slid off revealing Ruina underneath. Her blank slate eyes blinked away the strain taking over. She inhaled deep breath, puffing it out in the night air, then wiping off the blood near her lips with the back of her hand. She lowered her head, blinked again, then landed her gaze at the next target. Eliminate.
Felix and Ruina surged forward, closing the distance in a blink. Their weapons rose— then came down together. The moth bolted away in panic, kicking up a cloud of dust. Ruina didn't slow. She cut straight through it, already on its trail.
The beast stirred and spat a stream of acid. Ruina twisted mid-air, letting it pass beneath her.
Felix was already behind it— blade flashed up, swung fast and clean— wings burst open. The strike missed at the creature shot upward. "Tch."
It didn't hold. The body sagged, then crashed back to the ground, landing between them.
The beast slowed, its breathing evening out. Food. The beast needs nourishment to recover fast. Its gaze moved across them— calculating, and swept past the fighters— then stopped. It found Anton.
A fearful child. Yes, a less threat to it. A sharp cry belt like a siren. The sound carried, as the ground came alive. A hundred rushing steps answered, closing in. "More coming!" Her voice cut through the chaos. "Anton, get out of here quick!"
"Don't worry about me and just kill that thing! None of us can get out of here if that beast is still alive!" He noticed the beast's call.
"I agree. Leave the horde to us and focus on that beast. You must kill it." Cabel pinning down a beast, as Anton smashes its head in one hard strike.
Felix's strikes stayed precise, hunting the beast's movement. Each strike meant to end it— but the creature kept escaping, just beyond reach. His jaw tightened, patience thinning. Persistent bastard!
Ruina chases its path, driving it sideways, kicking loose stones with force, each one snapping. They struck like scattered arrows, forcing it upward. It took to the air— Ruina's arm snapped forward, a length of wood leaving her grip like a thrown spear.
It missed.
However, Felix moved in, he struck quickly, his blade carving across its face. A sharp cry followed.
The beast flared its wings wide and beat them hard, circling fast. Dust drifted around them, swallowing its form. Felix covered his mouth, scanning. Ruina's gaze moved steadily, searching for the beast.
A scream halted everything.
Ruina's head snapped toward it— Anton, struggling, the beast's beak clamped around him as it dragged him upward.
"KID!" Cabel surged forward, panic tearing through his voice.
"Big sis—!" Anton's voice strained as he was carried off.
Cracked.
A crack rang out— close. Too close.
She stilled. Breath catching.
Then it hit.
Heat flooded her body, violent, overwhelming. Her hand clawed at her chest, nails digging through cloth as her heart pounded like it wanted to be free.
Darkness blooms from within, thick and suffocating.
It clouded her vision, staining everything— until the world bled into red.
Ruina launched forward, faster than before. The ground bent deep under her step, and the distance was gone instantly.
There, she was, right in front of the beast.
The beast shuddered, its movement faltering. Its gaze locked onto her, staring itself in her eyes, flat and quiet— swallowed in red.
Its wings twitched, body reacting before thought, pulling back, turning, driven by something older than reason.
Filthy things must be eliminated. Ruina's inner thoughts resonate with the strength gathering in her arms. "Let him go." The calm in her voice didn't match the force that followed.
She struck— dust blasting outward from the impact.
The beast struggled to react but escaped her strike.
Ruina already shifted her position, already moving. She strikes another— one heavy slam.
The beast recoils instantly, pulling back. The creature shot upward, as her weapon didn't connect crushing to the ground, leaving the space where it stood shattered.
Kill it.
Kill it.
Kill it.
Kill it.
KILL IT.
"Ghosty— Pesky insects!" Felix called out, but interrupted. An ant lunged at him, in a fluid strike, he killed it. Another move in. Then another. More followed, sealing the space around him. His eyes flicked at where Ruina once was. He wanted to follow her, back her up, but he couldn't break through.
He saw through the beast's movement, its intention, its plan to escape. It's a trap. And Ruina is being lured, blinded by her bloodlust. It was choosing its path— turn by turn— pulling her along, Ruina followed without pause, chasing harder, faster, right toward the inner village. It's a trap. I must get to her… but how?
The swarm is keeping him occupied. And he noticed the drag of his body. Strain is catching. "Tch!" He ducked as the ant struck.
"What the hell is happening here?! Wait— Why are you two here?!" A big man sculpted of solid muscles questioned them as a group of men in white bloodied cloak shortly appeared behind him at the corner.
"Nevermind that, help us!" Cabel yelled while holding off an ant. What a wrong time to not bring extra needles!
"Big sis, help me!" Anton cried, feeling his rib crack at the pressure of the beak. He can't break free, it was caging him.
Ruina didn't speak. She didn't slow.
The moth changed direction, forcing its wings harder, dragging the chase back into the burning village.
She matched it and held the distance, close and unyielding.
The beast pulled ahead— Ruina didn't give it the space it wanted. She caught the edge of a collapsed wall, sprinting along its uneven slope despite the slipping ash beneath her feet. She jumped— landed right at the roof, and continued the chase without breaking rhythm.
Now they level each other.
Ruina kicked hard against the roof's structure and flew above the moth casting shadow over its back.
The beast noticed her presence.
Too slow.
Her blade came down in a single, controlled arc— the beak severed cleanly, the space around Anton untouched of poisonous blood.
The beak opened without warning. Anton dropped into open, air rushing past him, his voice broke as the fall took him.
Ruina moved in, catching him before he hit. She landed lightly, steady on her feet. She gently placed him down, her attention already shifting ahead. It's not over yet.
"Big sis, wait—!" He hissed at the pain shooting at his side. "Wait… don't go…" He crawled while reaching his hand to Ruina.
"Hey kid, you alright?" Cabel rushes to his side.
"I'm fine, but my sister!" He pushed himself up— and choked on the pain that stabbed through his side. Turning, he caught a glimpse of Ruina already moving away. "Big sis—!" No answers. His hand found Cabel's sleeve. "Oi you, help me, get up!"
"Do not be ridiculous, Kid. Stay down. The other knights will bring you to the Church." Felix scolded him. "Leave your sister to me." The word came sharp, final, leaving no room for argument. He traced the direction Ruina had gone.
She surges the road filled with beasts. Metal rod in her hand, and an axe she picked in the other.
She was lunching at them, swiftly moving her body in a motion she never knew she was capable of, her hand works the masterpiece of death's painting.
She watched as bodies fell one after another like rotten fruits she plucked from the crops she planted.
She caught the sight of the moth stuffing its bleeding mouth of the remains of a mutilated corpse. It was forcing itself to regenerate the damage in its wings. The veins in the wings pulsate as it glows the beauty of the wings of a blue butterfly.
Smoke swallowed the space as Ruina emerged through it.
She stepped out with one purpose, arms already raised, eyes fixed, burning, and hungry of blood.
It noticed too late, it shriek came as it tried to flee again. Ruina drove the metal rod down, pinning one wing to the ground. Her axe followed, cutting through the stinger in a single motion.
It cried loud while using the tiny limbs it was able to regenerate to crawl away, letting the wings to be ripped apart.
"I'm sorry but your kind caused enough disaster tonight." By hand, she ripped the wings away, yanking it at the side, as blood splatter her face, burning her skin, but quickly healed shortly.
It was the end for the beast. She let it crawl away till they reached the center of the village. "You hurt Anton. You frighten his parents. You slaughter our people." She ripped another wing. The beast twisted to stare one last time at its slayer.
"Your kind must die." Her voice stayed low, almost gentle. The axe rose— then dropped. The head fell and rolled to her feet.
A loud silence followed.
Then the chirping of birds as a gentle warmth caress her skin.
She lifted her gaze. Dawn had already begun to break, pale light stretching across the sky. The ray of sunlight bathed her bloodied figure, victorious.
Her grip loosened and shoulders eased. It's over. It's finally over. I protected Anton. Mrs. Degget and her husband are safe. The family is alive. We survive. I didn't lose anything. I can finally…
Felix watched her from a distance, he approached her slowly, stepping light against the ground.
Ruina swayed, faltering. Shit!
He caught her instinctively, drawing her close before she could touch the ground. He quietly hissed, feeling the stinging soreness of his legs.
He adjusted his hold, careful not to wake her.
Her eyes stayed closed, her breathing slow and even. He slipped off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders.
Then his mind travelled back to the bodies she left behind. If anyone saw that, they would immediately think she's a monster. However, if the crown did— she'll be made into a weapon.
"Big sis!" Anton leaning against Cabel called out to the sleeping Ruina. Even though limping with a broken rib, he rushes to her side. "Oh my dear sister, I'm sorry for being so useless and a burden!" Tears flow endlessly.
"She's not dead. She's just resting. Cabel." Felix called his friend to check her status.
Cabel holds her wrist, sensing her pulse. "Despite her injuries… she'll be fine."
Anton beamed in relief. "Oh thank goodness!"
"But we need to bring her to the Church. I still need to treat her." Cabel told them. Felix tightened his hold around Ruina as they all rose to their feet.
They reached the church in silence, battered and slow. Anton lifted his head from Cabel's back, eyes locking into familiar faces. "Mother! Father!" He broke free and stumbled forward.
Mrs. Degget, worried and frightened, hurriedly ran to him. They collided halfways, falling to the ground in a tight, desperate embrace. His ribs screamed— but he endured it. He knows how worried she is from her hysteric cry.
Mr. Degget wipes the tears that escape his eyes, relieved to see his son is alive… but what about Ruina? "Anton, where is Ruina?" He asked Anton, voiced laced with anxiety.
Anton pursed his lips looking down. Their hearts fell as they immediately expected the worst. "She fought so hard to protect me." He glances towards Felix carrying Ruina's unconscious body. "She saved us."
"Don't worry, sir. She's fine. Right now, she is just resting. Her body took a great toll." Cabel appeared beside Felix. "I'll be treating her inside. Please, come with me." Cabel led them inside the Church.
Felix passed her into Mr. Degget's arms as they turned to leave. His gaze stayed on the silver-haired girl, still asleep. He lingered for a moment, watching them disappear, then he walked away.