On the dimmed battlefield, Eizerg moved like a shadow.

  Even the Arms?Bearers of the Zero Squad couldn’t track its movements.

  They were barely holding their ground, fending off attacks that seemed to come from all directions at once.

  The only reason this battle hadn’t collapsed entirely was because Eizerg’s target was clear.

  It bared its fangs at the two men who whimpered in fear.

  One of their comrades had already been slain, and the two who now fled in panic would likely never act so arrogantly again.

  Was it vengeance for the fallen Ragebeasts that drove Eizerg to pursue them so relentlessly?

  No—Eizerg wasn’t the type to care about such things.

  But one thing was certain: it was lashing out with raw emotion.

  A malice so deep and murky, so steeped in hatred, that it made me want to reject the very act of living.

  Eizerg was trying to tear the two men limb from limb.

  Flesh was ripped, bones shattered, and their bodies were drenched in red.

  It was far too cruel to be called punishment.

  The shrine maidens protecting them fell one by one, wounded and collapsing.

  Their desperate defense barely deflected the fatal blows, but if Eizerg’s attacks turned indiscriminate, there would be no way to protect each other.

  Their lives would be snuffed out in an instant.

  At this rate, more of our comrades would die without even landing a single blow on Eizerg.

  Why must we be the ones to protect them and suffer for it?

  No—there’s no point in asking that.

  —I will avenge Rudy.

  That’s why I must defeat that thing.

  I tore free from Rije and dashed forward.

  I closed in on Eizerg’s flank, and my upward slash ran along its bristled arm.

  Its claw, thrown slightly off course, grazed Sierra’s shoulder.

  “Amsaria?!”

  Eizerg froze, likely caught off guard by the surprise attack.

  I struck with the chained Arcane Skill I had forged in advance.

  “Sylpha Seizer.”

  Two crossing slashes disrupted the aura of Shadeforce around it.

  Sierra didn’t retreat.

  Instead, she seized that fleeting opening and unleashed her Arcane Art.

  “Ex Gale Javeliarra!”

  A storm of spears, far surpassing Erideus’s Arcane Art, pierced Eizerg one after another.

  As its massive form wavered, the shrine maidens saw this as the turning point and leapt in unison.

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  I, too, kicked off the cobblestones and charged.

  As six white blades closed in on Eizerg, catching the torchlight in their arcs,

  my skin—my hair—screamed with a strange sensation, as if brushing against something unseen.

  In that instant—

  A pale blue light illuminated Eizerg, now merged with the darkness, and the town swallowed by night.

  The air cracked, and a pressure slammed into my eardrums.

  “What… was that…?”

  I collapsed to the ground.

  My body wouldn’t move from the pain.

  Looking around, I saw that every member of the subjugation squad was crouched on the ground.

  It must have been a burst of electricity.

  We had all been struck by it.

  “R… run… Amsa…”

  It was Sierra’s voice.

  She was still alive.

  I couldn’t bear to watch someone die in front of me again.

  I had to buy time for everyone to retreat.

  I willed it with all my strength, but my body wouldn’t respond.

  None of the shrine maidens could move.

  The only ones running… were those two.

  One dragged a leg, the other leaving a trail of blood from his severed arm, both fleeing blindly, desperate to save themselves.

  “Wait! Don’t leave me!”

  What a pathetic sight.

  But in the face of Eizerg, people’s true nature was laid bare.

  Was this what it meant to be human…?

  —No. That can’t be right!

  Back then, Rudy hadn’t run.

  He had fought to the end, never once thinking of his own life.

  He never gave in to fear or despair.

  Move. Get up.

  This time, I have to fulfill what Rudy once told me.

  How much Mindforce did I muster?

  Even so, my body wouldn’t move.

  When my eyes met Eizerg’s towering form, I saw the same light flash in its fangs as before.

  “Thunder?Breath…”

  Its gaze turned toward the fleeing man.

  It looked to the sky, inhaled deeply, and its savage maw sparked with lightning again and again.

  Then, with a roar of wind and malice, it unleashed a deafening blast.

  In the distance, I thought I saw two flashes of light.

  The terrifying Thunder?Breath tore through them, scorching the two men who had fought with such arrogance.

  Those who had harmed even their allies with their reckless ways now paid the price for their actions.

  The long blackened trail left on the night road looked like a one?way corridor to hell.

  But they weren’t the only ones forced down that path.

  One of the Valiant, who had fought with honor,

  and even Rije and Randal, who should have been farther away…

  “No… why…”

  Those two flashes I saw back then—

  They must have been Arcane Art shields, cast to protect the fleeing men.

  Luna had rushed to the charred bodies of our comrades.

  She sank to her knees, her head bowed.

  Her silence said everything.

  The only one still able to move was Luna, our Arcane Healer.

  At this point, annihilation was inevitable.

  The dread spread among us like a contagion—

  It felt as though everyone was equally bound by fear.

  The sounds of battle elsewhere in the town had faded.

  Perhaps the Ragebeasts had been wiped out.

  But even the victorious squads would be slaughtered by Eizerg.

  The sound of claws scraping against the cobblestones echoed like a death sentence.

  One step, then another—

  The sound gradually faded.

  But it wasn’t a sign of losing consciousness.

  My thoughts were still clear.

  Even Eizerg’s will to destroy had grown faint,

  and before long, it vanished into the night.

  The first deployment of the newly formed subjugation squad had ended in utter disaster.

  And yet, the Order was spreading tales like,

  “The town was saved by the sacred power of the Miracle Maiden.”

  It’s true that I resisted, however feebly.

  But those who survived didn’t do so because of my power.

  Perhaps Eizerg had exhausted itself with that last Thunder?Breath,

  or maybe it was simply disgusted by the pitiful warriors lying in defeat.

  Whatever the reason, it had left on its own.

  In any case, this battle was a crushing defeat.

  There was no room for excuses.

  Turning regret and reflection into strength,

  my days of training continued.

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  Thank you for reading!