The world narrowed.
Her boots bit into stone with such strength that it pulverized beneath her feet. Power drove into her muscles, stripping weight and resistance from her body while multiplying force at the point of impact. Every step after that spell landed felt wrong, too light, too fast.
She rammed into them an instant later.
Her shoulder slammed into the first recruit's shield. What happened next couldn't be called a struggle, not even a clash.
The shield bent inward, folding like soft metal. The man behind it snapped backward, ribs giving way with a sharp, dry sound. He vanished into the wall behind him with his insides turning into paste and him dying before even collapsing the stone inward as if punched by a siege ram.
Marwen kept moving.
Her shoulder tore through a second body. Armor split along the seams. The recruit's feet left the ground as he struck the building opposite, the wall caving in and dragging him with it in a cloud of dust and fragments.
The third did not even have time to blink.
He was caught by the edge of her charge and flung sideways. He spat up a mouthful of blood, which landed on Marwen's face.
The alley shook as Marwen burst through the gap where the squad had stood, breath ripping out of her chest as the spell bled away. She did not look back as she kept running.
Then she saw more movement.
Another squad, farther down. Turning into the alley. Too many. Too close.
"Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!!!" she screamed, turning more and more wild and animated. The guilt, the pain, and the fear were getting to her head. "Stop getting in my way!"
The girl behind let out a sound that barely counted as a scream. It was a wail of terror. "CAPTAIN!"
Marwen turned.
The black-armored man was already there. However, to her surprise, he flew over them.
But her luck wasn't that good.
As he passed, both hands opened.
For a heartbeat, time slowed.
Marwen saw the fire before it reached them. This was no mere fireball…
It poured forward in a continuous stream, thick and roaring, the air ahead of it warping.
Her legs locked.
This was it.
Then a voice tore through the roar from behind her.
"It's been an honor, everyone!"
Thomas.
The broad-backed shieldbearer planted his feet and screamed, "[Gluttonous Absorption]!"
The fire bent. It curved inward, drawn toward the tanker. Flames poured into him, swallowed by the spell as if his body had bee a gluttonous mouth.
For half a second, it worked.
Then Thomas wailed in agony.
"ARGHHHH!!"
It was raw sound, dragged straight out of his chest as the heat ate through spell, armor, and flesh all at once. Fire leaked from the seams of his plates. His shield glowed white-hot. The smell hit Marwen an instant later, sharp and unbearable.
Thomas stayed standing.
He screamed until the sound tore itself apart, until his voice became nothing but air forced through ruined lungs.
The fire ended.
What remained of Thomas collapsed inward, slumping against the walls. Smoke came from his lips that would never close again.
The squad ahead had not even been given that much.
They were already down.
Bodies lay scattered across the street, blackened and twisted, weapons melted into the ground beneath. The fire had passed over them without pause, leaving nothing that could move again.
Her jaw locked so hard her teeth ached.
"It's been an honor, Thomas," she muttered, the words grinding out through clenched teeth. "Thank you…"
Her vision swam.
The street ahead burned. Walls sagged. The ground itself smoked.
And beyond it, through the heat haze, the captain knew that the black-armored man hovered.
She didn't know where to run anymore.
Turning back was pointless. He was faster than they and did not even have to face obstructions as they had in the narrow streets.
The sky was his domain.
But staying meant death as well.
Her gaze snapped upward.
"Up," she rasped. "We go up."
"What?!" one of the remaining soldiers gasped. "Captain, that's worse! The higher we go, the less chance of survival we have! He rules the skies!"
"We jump to the roofs and scatter," Marwen cut in, voice hard enough to slice through panic. "That's the only way any of us lives."
They looked at her.
They understood.
Some of them would draw his eyes so the others could live.
Marwen didn't give herself time to think.
She jumped.
Her hands caught a broken windowsill. She hauled herself up with a snarl of effort.
Then, she…
Froze, ignoring her own orders uttered a mere moment ago.
Ahead of her, above the roofs, the black-armored man hovered.
Not angled. Not searching.
He was already looking at her.
Their eyes met.
The red lights behind his visor did not flicker. They did not narrow. There was not even a shred of hostility left in them.
They merely rested on her with a calm that made her skin crawl.
Then he raised his right hand to his head and formed a salute.
No words followed. No spell was cast.
He turned his back to her and began to fly away, his shape shrinking against the smoke as he moved toward another quarter of the city.
Despite this being something to celebrate with all her being, Marwen felt something inside her go cold. Ice cold.
"… We live?" the girl gasped behind her, disbelief shaking every syllable. "Captain… we get to live?!"
The girl lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Marwen's waist, clutching her with all her might. "Thank you! Captain, thank you! You did it! I owe you my life!"
Marwen did not return the embrace.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the retreating man's back.
Her face went slack.
Then her breath hitched.
"How dare you…" she whispered.
The words scraped their way out of her throat.
"How dare you salute me?"
Her voice rose. "You think this was a game?! You're satisfied, so you just up and leave?! You- you cruel motherfucker!"
She felt as if the entire meaning of her life was ing apart as the men retreated further and further away. "You butchered them! You crushed them! You burned them alive, and then you just leave?!"
The girl clutched tighter, panic flooding her face. "Captain, please! Stop!"
Marwen ripped her sword from its sheath and hurled it with everything she had left. The blade spun end over end and fell short, clattering uselessly across broken stone far away.
She choked on a sob.
"You don't get to do this! You forced me to kill young soldiers!" she screamed, voice breaking apart. "You don't get to decide when it's over! e back… Please…"
Her legs gave out.
It was in this moment that Marwen realized she'd rather die than accept that man's respect. But her opinion was not asked. Respect was given, and they were spared.
She dropped to her knees on the rooftop, shoulders shaking as the weight finally crushed down on her chest. Tears spilled freely, hot and uncontrolled, streaking through ash on her face.
"It's not fair," she gasped, clutching at her armor as if it was too tight to breathe in. "It's so unfair…"
"Captain…" The girl knelt beside her with her hands trembling as she tried to hold her upright.
Marwen bowed forward with her forehead pressing against the stone as she broke into a river of tears.
Her heart felt impossibly heavy.
Too heavy to carry.
Too heavy to lift again.
"What is the value of my continued existence…? Why did you have to let me live…?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers