"Futile!" Eldric roared. His voice carried like a storm, shaking the air itself. "You think human weapons can hurt me?!"

The next instant, a sphere of writhing dark energy formed in his hand—dense enough to distort the air around it.

"[Abyssal Collapse]!"

He hurled it straight at us.

"Move!"

We scattered just in time. The orb struck the ground where we'd been standing and erupted into a shockwave of destruction. The explosion devoured the entire street, shattering walls, hurling debris into the sky.

The night was no longer silent. Screams echoed from the nearby slums as buildings crumbled.

Dust swirled in choking waves, the air thick with the stench of burning mana and ash.

Eldric—no, the thing he'd become—loomed over us like a living nightmare, his warped silhouette blotting out the stars.

Every attack we threw at him was meaningless.

Mariella's magic sputtered; her mana was nearly drained.

Celestia's knees buckled as she tried to hold her staff upright, blood dripping from her split lip.

Elisha's arrows were long gone—her quiver empty, her bowstring frayed and useless.

I fired the last shell.

BANG!

The slug hit Eldric square in the chest… and vanished into the roiling black flesh, swallowed like a pebble tossed into the ocean.

The recoil numbed my arm. The futility numbed everything else.

Eldric's mouths curled into something that might have been a smile.

"Pathetic… pathetic! You insects dare wound me?!"

He swung his monstrous arm down.

The ground split open.

Mariella screamed as the shockwave hurled her backward—her shield shattered, her body slammed into the wreckage of a crumbling wall.

Celestia tried to catch her with a frost barrier, but it shattered under the impact.

Elisha rushed in, slashing with a short sword she'd picked from the rubble—only to be swatted aside like a fly, her body rolling across the dirt, blood splattering in her wake.

"STOP!" Celestia's voice cracked with desperation. "You'll destroy everything!"

Eldric tilted his head, dozens of mismatched eyes blinking in eerie unison.

"Destroy?" His voice rumbled like thunder. "No, Princess. I will create. A new world—built from your corpses!"

He raised his arm again, gathering dark mana that pulsed and hissed like molten tar.

The glow painted the ruins in sickly violet light. The air burned to breathe.

I tried to move—tried to aim—but my vision swam. My hands were shaking too hard to reload.

The system window flickered uselessly in front of my eyes.

[Warning: Critical Physical Fatigue]

[Mana Depletion: 87%]

"Shit…" My voice cracked. "This… this is it, huh?"

Celestia was on her knees beside Mariella, trembling but still glaring up at the monster. Her ice-blue eyes were dimming, her spells failing.

Elisha coughed blood, dragging herself up with sheer will, arrowless bow in hand.

For the first time, none of us spoke.

There was nothing left to say.

Eldric's claws glowed brighter.

The spell was complete.

He laughed—a grotesque, triumphant bellow that made the very stones tremble.

"DIE!"

The world flashed black and purple.

Then—

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Footsteps.

Heavy. Fast. Approaching from behind.

Through the haze of smoke, I saw shadows—many of them—cutting through the night with practiced precision.

The clang of armor. The shimmer of steel.

And then, a familiar voice—calm, confident, maddeningly heroic.

"Sorry we're late."

I lifted my head.

Golden light broke through the dust.

A squad of armored knights stepped forward, their swords blazing with divine mana.

At the center of them stood a young man with a silver blade and eyes like burning sunlight.

Kael Ardyn.

The golden boy himself.

Celestia exhaled, tears trembling at the corner of her eyes.

Mariella slumped in relief.

Elisha, bleeding and bruised, could barely whisper—

"Finally…"

And for the first time that night, I let out a bitter laugh.

"About damn time…"

****

Darkness.

I felt like I was sinking—weightless and numb—until something soft caught the back of my head.

Warm.

The warmth spread from my neck through my whole body, chasing away the cold creeping into my veins. Then, something touched my lips—liquid. Sweet, fragrant, almost floral. It slid down my throat, washing away the metallic taste of blood.

The pain dulled. The pounding in my skull eased.

My fading consciousness clawed its way back to the surface.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a face—her face.

Ariana.

Her emerald eyes were brimming with tears, her lips trembling as if she was holding back a flood. The moment she realized I was awake, it burst through.

"You're— you're okay…! Sob…" She wiped her cheeks, laughing weakly between tears. "Th-this… this is the errand you were talking about, huh…?"

I blinked, my vision still swimming.

Wait… why is my head—

Ah.

I was resting on her lap.

Her thighs were soft, warm, almost too comfortable. The faint scent of herbs and faint perfume mixed in the air. For the first time in two lives, I realized—

I was lying in a woman's lap.

And damn… it felt nice.

My body relaxed for one brief, stolen moment. Then—

BOOM!

A shockwave hit nearby. A stray spell came flying toward us, hissing through the smoke. Before I could even react, a shimmering golden barrier flared up around us, the magic crashing harmlessly against it.

Right.

We were still in the middle of a fight.

I pushed myself up, strength returning faster than it should've.

All the pain—gone. The burns, cuts, fractures—all healed. Even my exhaustion had vanished, replaced by that unnerving, perfect clarity that only came after a high-grade healing potion.

I glanced at her, flexing my hands. "You used a top-tier potion on me, didn't you?"

She nodded shyly, clutching an empty glass vial.

I exhaled, almost smiling. "...I'll thank you properly later."

My gaze swept the chaos around us. The ground trembled from the shockwaves of battle. The knights were clashing with Eldric's monstrous form, Kael's sword gleaming in the night like divine judgment itself.

I looked around for my Winchester rifle—the one that had flown from my hands when I was hit earlier. Before I could find it, Ariana's voice reached me.

"Are you looking for this?"

She was holding it. My rifle—carefully gripped in her hands, the metal glinting faintly under the firelight.

"Yeah," I said, stepping toward her. "Thanks. I'll take it."

But she pulled it back, shaking her head. "No. Lucien is weak right now. You'll get hurt if you go in again."

I blinked.

Seriously? She's worried now?

"Ariana—"

"Don't." Her voice trembled, but her eyes were firm. "You don't have to go. The princess is strong, her knights are here. Kael too. They'll take care of it."

I sighed and rubbed my temple. "As if."

Her brows furrowed.

"Even if they can handle it, I'm not backing down. This is my fight," I said flatly, eyes narrowing toward the raging battlefield. "I'm not letting that golden bastard Kael take credit for killing my target."

Ariana's lips parted, but no words came out. Then, slowly, she nodded. "...Then I'm coming too."

"Of course you are." I exhaled, half a laugh slipping out. "Fine. But stay behind me. Got it?"

She smiled faintly through her tears. "Got it."

The night roared around us—the clash of spells and steel shaking the air.

And with my rifle back in hand and Ariana close behind, I stepped once more into the chaos.

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