“Dammit!” Britta’s voice cut through the roar of fmes and the cries of battle. The adventurer was crouched low, her bde angled defensively as two bandits closed in on her. “I am so drinking myself uonight.” The bandits ughed, knowing that she was just trying to deny the iable.
Kaede’s jaw ched. Her eyes flickered to the soldiers behind her, pinned down by volleys of poison-tipped arrows and crude explosives. Another wave of fme surged, momentarily illuminating the s in hellish e. The soldiers were faltering—her side was losing.
She stepped forward, only for another explosion to rock the clearing, sending her fling back. Mud and water sprayed across her fad armour f her to spit out. Her heart kept beating fast, if she used any of her skills, the fight would be over in an instant, but, she would reveal that she was strohan she had let on. She would have to leave falmuth then.
Did she want to leave? Yes, without a doubt. She didn't fancy the Idea of being a prisoner in all but name and then used as a on. With her power, it would be very easy for her to escape falmuth.
But. Kirara. Shogo. Kyoya. Kids who, just like her, were stolen from their lives. Each of them were youhan she was, and she couldn't but feel responsible for them. As long as the <
Artifieeded time, time to analyse and then devour the <
Another explosion, tore through the chaos, and Kaede grit her teeth. 'But, people in front of me are dying. I couldn't look Risa in the eyes again.'
She tightened her fist, her fingers digging into her palm, she would have bled had it not been for her high defense. "Artificia!" She tensed her legs.
"EVERYOOP!" A voice, calm a carrying a straensity, cut through the chaos.
Everything stopped.
Kaede looked around in shock. Everyohat had been fighting, from the soldiers, to the adventurers, to the bandits, all stopped moving as if their strings had been cut.
"What the hell." Kaede murmured. 'This is freaki.' Kaede's sharp inhale was the only sound that broke the sudden silence. Even the ambient noises of the s—the incessant croak s, the rustling of unseeures—seemed to vanish. Her gaze soward the source of the voice, her body trembling with a mix of unease and awe.
Kirara stood in the heart of the battlefield, her small frame silhouetted by the residual glow of sm fires. Her lips were slightly parted, as if still resonating with the echoes of her and. The air around her seemed to hum faintly, a vibration Kaede could feel in her bones, like the aftermath of ahquake.
The bandits, who moments ago were jeering and lunging forward with ons raised, now stood sck-jawed and still, their ons hanging loosely in their grips. The soldiers, too, had paused mid-motion, their arrows half-drawn or swords halted mid-swing. Even Britta, with her usual bravado, had stopped, her defeance faltering as she blinked, fused.
“Kirara…” Kaede’s voice was barely above a whisper, but her words didn’t seem to reach the girl.
Kirara’s eyes glinted faintly in the firelight, an unnatural sheen to them that made Kaede’s stomach . It wasn’t malice or hatred in her expression—it was something far colder.
“So like, I'm bored with all the fighting, and I have pces to be. So,” Kirara said, her voice resonating in the head of everyone in the s. "If you're not a soldier... Kill yourself."
Kaede felt her spine go cold. "What?"
One by one, ons were slowly raised. The bandits’ machetes, the adventurer’s swords, even Britta’s bde. The movement was almost rhythmic, a horrifying sight for anessing such a thing.
Kaede swallowed hard, her mind rag. "Kirara, stop it!!"
However, Kaede wasn't listening, Britta's bde slowly, nicked into her neck, a tiny trail of blood f. Her movements were calm, but her eyes, her eyes revealed her to absolutely horrified.
"Loving Sacrifice!" Kaede yelled and a golden ring of light, expanded outwards from her , c the whole s. The golden light pulsed outward, washing over the battlefield like a rising sun pierg through the choking fog of death. The bandits and adventurers alike froze mid-motion, their ons poised to strike themselves, yet uo move an inch further. The eerie stillness was shattered as every wound and injury began glowing faintly, the golden light knitting together broken flesh and halting the slow trickle of blood.
Pain. White searing pain bubbled under her skin. Kaede staggered uhe weight of her skill. Her body vulsed as every injury was absorbed into her own flesh—scratches blossoming into gashes, bruises spreading across her arms and legs like spshes of ink. She gritted her teeth, her breath ing in ragged gasps as she forced herself to stand tall, defiant against the pain.
<
>
<
"Kaede!!" She heard Kirara's ed voice through the ringing in her head, she looked up through blood covered eyes, as Kirara ran towards her. At that moment, for a split sed, Kaede felt fear, as the sixteen year old ran towards her, she wao run away. 'S-stay away.'
The vigorous shaking of her shoulders, made her realise that Kirara was hugging her. "What the hell Kaede! Why?... did you do that?!"
"Wha..." Kaede’s body trembled as she struggled to stay upright, every nerve in her body screaming from the backsh of her skill. Her vision swam, the golden glow of the healing light still present otlefield. She stared at Kirara, fused by the girl’s rea.
“Why…?” Kaede mao rasp, her voice barely audible. Blood dripped from her lips, her regeion uo keep up with the accumuted damage. “I had to… stop them…”
<
Kirara’s grip tightened on Kaede’s shoulders, her expression a storm of emotions. Her wide, shimmering eyes weren’t the cold, calg gaze from earlier—they were raw and filled with pain. “What are you talking about?! I could’ve stopped it all! I… Now you got hurt!”
Kaede tried to answer, but her knees buckled, and she sank into the mud. Kirara dropped with her, cradling Kaede’s battered form as though she could shield her from the world. “You idiot…” Kirara whispered, her voice crag. “You big, stupid idiot…”
The battlefield remained silent. The adventurers, bandits, and soldiers were still uhe effects of Kirara's skill, with the bandits and adventurers stabbing themselves to no avail.
Kaede coughed weakly, f her eyes to meet Kirara’s. “The adventurers... You… were making them kill themselves,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I couldn’t let that happen…”
Kirara froze, her arms tightening protectively around Kaede. Her expression shifted, guilt fshing across her face. “I wasn’t going to kill the adventurers” she muttered, averting her gaze.
“Didn’t… look that way…” Kaede managed, each word a struggle as her vision blurred. Her body was screaming for rest, but she refused to give i. “Kirara… your power… you have to be careful…”
Kirara bit her lip, her hands trembling as they gripped Kaede’s shoulders. “I didn’t mean to…” Her voice was small, fragile, the arrogance from before pletely gone. “Kaede, I—”
“Save it,” Kaede interrupted, her head drooping. “Just… make the bandits tie themselves up, and then release the skill.” As Kaede’s sciousness slipped away, Kirara sat there in silence, her hands ched into fists. The faint glow of the s fires reflected in her eyes, but their light couldn’t dispel the shadows that seemed to g to her. For the first time, she realized the weight of her power—and the cost of using it so recklessly.
---
Kaede’s head throbbed as sciousness slowly returhe dim haze of pain reg just enough for her tister the muffled sounds of movement around her. Her body ached with every breath, every movement sending ripples of disfort through her battered frame. She blinked slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dim light filtering through the smoke-choked air of the s.
The first thing she noticed was the silence. Gohe cries of battle, the csh of ons, the screams of desperation. The battlefield was eerily still, save for the rustling of those who were left to up the aftermath. She could hear the soft spshes of footsteps moving through the wet mud, the occasional king of armor, and the distant murmur of voices—fragments of the chaos that had just ed the nd.
Kaede groaned again, her chest tightening as she tried to push herself upright. The world tilted for a moment, her head spinning as she fought against the dizziness. She could feel the phantom bruises and gashes beh her skin, a reminder of the price she had paid to stop the madness.
"Kaede, you're awake?" Kirara's voice, soft and filled with , cut through the haze. The girl’s presence was a small fort, but it did little to ease the strange heavihat weighed on Kaede’s chest.
She forced her gaze upward, finding Kirara kneeling beside her, a look of deep exhaustion on her face. The cold sheen in her eyes was gone, repced by a weariness Kaede could rete to all too well.
"Yeah, I'm awake..." Kaede’s voice was hoarse, her throat raw from the force of her earlier shout. She ran a shaky hand through her matted hair, the blood still stig to her skin. "What... happened?"
Kirara sighed, her fingers h just above Kaede’s body, as if unsure whether to help her up or not. “The bandits, they're all tied up and ready to be moved. As for the adventurers—you... you saved them all.”
Kaede's gaze swept across the clearing. The s was littered with bodies, but there was no longer any fighting. The adventurers had regaiheir senses, some standing awkwardly in the muck, others tending to the wouhe soldiers were w in groups, binding the remaining bandits and clearing the area. But it was the silehat uled her most—there was no victory cheer, no sense of relief. Just a hollow, empty stillhat seemed to hang over everything.
"Is it over?" Kaede asked, her voice quiet, almost unsure.
"Yeah..." Kirara's voice faltered, and she bit her lip, her gaze shifting to the far side of the battlefield where the remaining soldiers were gathering up the injured and the dead. "It’s over."
"But it's not the way I wanted," Kaede cut her off, the weight of the decision sinking in. “I just thought... Damnit, I'm in over my head here.”
"I know," Kirara whispered, her eyes dropping to the ground. "I didn't mean to…"
Kaede shifted slightly, pushing herself into a sitting position, though her muscles screamed in protest. She winced as a wave of dizzihreateo overtake her, but she mao steady herself. She had to see this through.
"I’ll be fine," Kaede said, though it was more a reassurao herself than Kirara. "Just give me a few minutes."
"Alright." Kirara's gaze softened, but she didn’t push further, allowing Kaede the space she ain herself.
Kaede looked out across the battlefield, her eyes sing the fallen adventurers, the soldiers w tirelessly to restore some sembnce of order to the chaos. The weight of what had just happened, of the things she had done, or in this case, not done, pressed down on her chest like a heavy stohere had been no glory in this victory, no ending.
She just hoped that wheime came, the choices they’d made would be enough to set things right.
SaberGlory