"Kiku...s!"
Aspi crawled.
She crawled in utter despair.
Everything was her responsibility; everything was her mistake.
"Kikus...!"
She had been so confident.
She had swiftly finished off the remaining remnants of the Evils and charged toward the lone, mysterious man in the bone helmet.
She truly believed she had a chance.
Several cannibalized monsters had blocked her path at the man's command, but even that had posed no problem.
The magic item, [Talaria].
It was a tool she had created while gazing up at the endless sky.
With those flying shoes—each sandal fitted with a pair of delicate wings—she believed nothing could stop her.
The power of bombing from the air was that overwhelming, that terrifying.
Indeed, she had used that power to clear everything in her path and reach the man's back in an instant.
Up to that point, everything had gone perfectly.
But there was one thing she had fatally miscalculated...
"Hah!"
"Ghk!"
She was not a fierce hawk, but merely a frail sparrow.
And the man in the bone helmet was a predatory snake, simply playing with that sparrow.
The sparrow named Aspi had foolishly thrust herself straight into the maw of the beast.
Thud!
"Ah."
"I am well aware of the tenacity of adventurers. An injury of this level should be easy enough to heal."
And so, he tore her open.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
The man who had driven the blade into Aspi's body twisted it without the slightest hesitation, mercilessly rending the wound wider.
An anguished scream burst from her throat instinctively.
Anyone could see it was a severe, fatal wound.
At this rate, she would surely die.
"Don't touch Aspi with those filthy hands!"
But there was one man here who could not allow such a thing.
Kikus, a human.
A foolish man who loved her more than anyone and admired her above all others.
"Vioras."
Thud!
And because of that love, he was the foolish man who would die.
"Cough!"
A cannibalized monster's tentacle tore brutally through his back.
It was an injury far worse than Aspi's.
To be honest, it was an absolute death blow, beyond any hope of recovery.
At this rate, he would surely die.
"Kikus...!"
She had killed him.
He was dying because of her.
That reality plunged Aspi into a bottomless abyss of despair.
If only she had approached more carefully.
If only she had calmly judged the difference in their strength.
If only she had trusted him a little more and waited with a bit more composure!
"Th-that... potion... I... don't need it... so... hurry..."
Aspi pleaded desperately.
Please, do not let her precious comrade perish because of her foolish mistake.
"D-don't... talk... nonsense..."
But the man named Kikus was even more of an idiot than she had imagined.
"Ugh!"
For a moment, he lost consciousness.
But he could not stop here.
With a resolve that surpassed even death, he forced his mind back into focus.
If he could die for the woman he loved...
What ending could be more glorious for a man than that?
"A... spi..."
At the very least, this potion had to reach Aspi.
He had to pass it on...
"Die."
Then, death approached from behind.
The foot of death descended.
The target was the head of the foolish man beneath it.
If things continued, his skull would be crushed like a soft fruit, and his foolish fighting spirit would be snuffed out meaninglessly.
That was the fate that should have awaited him.
"[...I wait at the source. [61, Sixfold Radiant Thunder]]."
Papapap!
"What?!"
But in that instant, fate shifted.
Six light sigils suddenly manifested, binding the body of the man in the bone helmet.
Ting!
"Drink it! And get out of there!"
Just as despair can arrive all at once, so can hope.
At this unexpected turn, Kikus stared blankly at the savior who had appeared before him, watching as another potion flew his way.
"You're safe now."
"Ah..."
And there,
"I have arrived!"
the blue-haired mage had arrived.