“Hecate…?”

  It happened in less than a second. Ayumu stabbed Hecate’s right eye. Hecate pulled back and leaned over, covering her face with both hands.

  “Hecate!”

  Carol and I pushed Ayumu away with enough strength to knock her to the floor and ran over to Hecate. The knife slid across the floor with a metallic drag.

  “Hecate! Hecate!” Carol shook her while tightly clutching her shoulders. “Let me see it! We need to get you out of here… I’ll bandage you. Can you hear me? Hecate?”

  Ririna ran over with a serious expression. “I’ll give you a hand. Can you move your hands? Let us see what happened. Can you hear us?” She was much gentler in trying to get Hecate’s attention.

  “Mhmm…” Hecate hesitantly nodded. “I’m okay…”

  “No no… There’s no way…” There was blood running down her face. Slowly running down her cheek before hitting the floor like teardrops. “You’re bleeding…” Now that I’ve said it, something in my head snapped. Bullshit… Why the hell did Hecate have to get hurt protecting me? I would have been fine… I have my stats and my dress… I could have easily recovered… She should have known that…

  “Ayumu… This is all your fault… You’ve gone too far!”

  She was also a bit unsteady but managed to stand up and dust herself. “You care about her that much, huh…? You look like the devil right now.”

  The only thing she had on hand right now was her bag, which she held in front of her while looking me in the eyes.

  “What are you gonna do? Kill me? After you couldn’t do it before? Don’t make me laugh. Besides, you were the one I was aiming for. It’s not my fault that dumb bitch got in the way. You got lucky.” Perhaps more than before, her voice was filled with provocation. There was fear in her pose, but she ignored it and faced me regardless. She’s still confident that she’ll come out on top somehow.

  “Hmmm… Is that all you have to say?”

  “Still giving me another chance? Let me make a request, then. Stand still while I grab the knife, and let’s go for a redo, okay?”

  “Are you still keeping that up? What happened between us is stupid… I fucked up, and you can blame me for that, but you were just as bad! Isn’t it enough? Haven’t you had enough of hurting me?”

  “What are you talking about?” Her icy stare pierced me once again. “You ruined my chance at happiness, but you’re happy right now, aren’t you? Isn’t it just fair?”

  “Fine… I guess there’s no reasoning with you…”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Dash Burst! Heart Piercer! “Static, open!”

  I cut through the air with my sword aimed at Ayumu, then a metallic gauntlet swooped under my blade and raised it up with a firm grip, raising my arm along with it.

  “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. Haven’t you fought enough for today? Time to take a break… Static, impact!”

  The other gauntlet struck me in the gut, creating a pulse of lightning around the point of impact. It’s that guy from the other time… The one who ambushed me after I fought Galene… “Molt…?” It stings… A burst of darkness rushed through my head, almost making me pass out. “Why are you…”

  “This whole thing turned into too much of a mess.” I can’t pull back my sword… At the same time, he pulled back his fist, charging up a follow-up. “I don’t know what the deal is between you and Ayumu, but this girl is our ally for now. I’d rather not see her go out just yet. You, on the other hand, would do me a huge favor if you disappeared right now. And since you’re already vulnerable…”

  “N- n- n- noooooooo!”

  His punch cut through the air, but the hit never landed. Instead, my sword was free again. A needle the size of a javelin flew down at him and forced him to redirect his attack to block it. What just happened?

  “Oh… If it isn’t one of Velvet’s dogs… What an unpleasant surprise…”

  Flying somewhere above me, Lythea was the target of Molt’s glare. She was the one who threw that javelin and saved me. There was a chain attached to it, and she pulled it back into her hand after her attack was blocked.

  “Hehehe… Unpleasant… That’s an understatement for the kind of worthless appropriate for a girl like me… Ah! No… If you’re Thivadi’s allies, then being unpleasant is actually a good thing. But, huh… wouldn’t that make me worth something? Worthless little me? Huh… wait…” What’s this girl on about?

  “A- a- anyway, if you know what’s good for you, drop your weapons and come with me. O- otherwise, we’ll definitely come get you one day for sure…”

  Molt scoffed. “You’re free to try, but you’re definitely not taking us today. We’ll be getting out of here whether you let us or not.”

  “Tsk… Who says we’re leaving? I didn’t ask for your help. Don’t interfere.” Ayumu glared at her savior while safely behind him.

  “Then… Ehhmmm… I…” Her opponents’ gazes were too intense, and she averted her eyes. “I- Iroha, ca- can you still fight? I’ll make an opening for you… Th- there!”

  She threw her javelin at Molt once more with some kind of empowerment that made him take long to recover after blocking…

  Of course I can fight! Ayumu has to pay for what she did… Even if I have to push myself. Heart Piercer!

  “How are you going to help me when you can’t even withstand that wimpy girl’s attack? Ughh… I have to do everything on my own.”

  Before my sword reached either of them, Ayumu brushed her hand on Molt’s coat, and a wall of metal appeared in front of me. What now? An iron maiden? An iron maiden monster?

  “See? We can still turn this around… I’m so close to settling the score… Get out of my way…” With a manic smile, Ayumu pushed Molt out of the way and peeked around the iron maiden. What do you think you’re doing exposing yourself like that? I can always just go around… Agility Bur-

  *Poof* The monster hopped to the side and blocked my path again. Arggh! Dammit!

  “You have no eye for the battlefield… You blocked one attack. This is still a losing battle. We’re leaving.”

  No, you’re not!

  Out of my way!

  I used all my skills on the iron maiden. Sword, gun, everything. The monster was torn to pieces, but then…

  “Static, impact!” A thunderbolt hit the ground the moment Molt punched it and blinded everyone. The flash was gone in an instant, but so were they.

  “What?”

  There’s no way… The walls of the coliseum were a great vantage point, but there was not a single trace of them… Not on the roofs, not on the streets, nothing… Was it a portal? Are they really gone?

  Just like that?

  It’s over. After suffering so much, we don’t have anything to show for it… Nothing but regret that is… And I have a lot to regret…

  …

  Carol and Ririna ended up bandaging Hecate’s eye and gave her first aid. They stopped the bleeding with ease, and her life was no longer in danger. Abby tried to heal her with her magic, and while it helped soothe the pain, it didn’t completely heal the wound left by Ayumu…

  At that point, we had no choice but to hurry back to the real world.

  While I was trapped in Ayumu’s pocket dimension, Carol finished off the dragon with an artillery shell, and that crisis was resolved. Apparently, they spent a few minutes running around, trying to figure out what happened to me and how to rescue me, but I showed up before they could figure out anything.

  There were a lot of questions about who Lythea was, the tournament, and what to do next, but we didn’t have time to stick around for that.

  Lythea quietly faded into the darkness like a good succubus should, and the others escorted Bea back to the castle to check up on her father.

  Carol accompanied me while I carried Hecate on my back.

  She could walk and talk but was probably not in a condition to do either. Her arms sluggishly wrapped around my shoulders, and her voice was weaker than I’d ever heard from her. In a state of shock, was what Carol said. She didn’t know for sure, and it was sending her into a state of shock too…

  “It will be fine…”