29 The missing girl VII

The girl continued to run down the hill using all the strength of her legs to cross over an immense distance in a matter of seconds.

For the first time ever, she was glad she was not in her old body, since now that her lungs were gone, she didn't need to worry about running out of breath and could just continue to sprint as much as she could.

That was the only thing in her mind right now.

Run.

Run, Run, and then keep running.

Get as far away as possible from the abomination that killed Thomas and that kept coming back to life no matter how many times she tore it to pieces.

"I wanna go home!! I wanna go home!! I wanna go home!!!"

Never before she felt such a strong desire to vanish from one place and never be found again.The sight of him shoving his claw inside of Thomas, of him looking at her as if she was an object he was planning to use, of his remains slowly regenerating like a monster from a horror movie. Everything about that man just messed her up inside.

"I hate this!! I hate this!! I hate this place! I hate this body! I hate these monsters!! I hate all of this so much!! Why was I sent here!!?? How do I go home!!??"

She finally managed to reach the bottom of the mountain and began to wonder about where she should go next. What place would keep her safe from him?

"The village!" she gasped, "Thomas said that his village was at the bottom of the hill... It must be around here somewhere!!"

She began to circle the area with her gaze, and sure enough, a small group of houses and cabins fitting of a medieval time period could be seen not too far from where she stood. They were all near the river with many individuals, men, women, and children of all ages, walking around just minding their own business without a care in the world.

"Jackpot!!"

She instantly rushed towards them while shouting every step of the way.

"Heeelp!! somebody!! Heeelp!!!"

The people had their attention grabbed by her sound and began to lose all color upon noticing who it was.

"The cursed armor!!!"

"She's here to kill us!!!"

"Run for your liiiives!!!"

The girl was so caught up in the rush of the situation she nearly forgot that the people were afraid of her and her appearance.

"Oh... Right... That was a thing..." she mumbled.

Chaos began to spread among the villagers. They wouldn't stop running away and shouting as if a meteor was about to drop on their heads.

The girl was familiar with that kind of situation. She had seen plenty of movies where a character that was good but looked evil would spend the entirety of the story to convince everyone that at the end of the day, what matters most is what you look like on the inside and that if everyone can just take some time to try to understand each other, they could all be friends!

"..."

Sadly, she didn't have that kind of time or patience, so she just pulled out her sword and began to threaten them.

"IF I SEE ANYONE MOVING OR YELLING IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS, I'M GONNA CUT OFF THE HEADS OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON HERE!!!"

The villagers instantly froze on the spot from hearing that announcement and began to make as little sound as possible not to piss her off. They knew how dangerous she could be after so many warriors returned defeated from a confrontation with her.

"Okay, listen!" she continued after making sure they were all behaving, "I don't have a lot of time! First of all, I'm not a goddamn cursed armor! I'm... Ugh... What did he call me?? A guest! I'm a guest for the faction game!!"

The villagers began to look and whisper at each other once they heard that. The girl could tell she had managed to clear some things up successfully so she decided to keep it going.

"That's right! I'm not an enemy! I'm on your side! I'm a host for the human faction! I even defeated a dragon already!"

"What!!??" every single person gasped at the same time.

"Yes!! I know! Pretty shocking!! But Thomas gave me a few tips and helped me out on learning how to use my power! But another dragon showed up after that and killed him! Now he's after me and-"

"Leave!!" one of them interrupted.

"Uuuhh... Beg your pardon...?"

"Leave!! Stay away from us and never come back!!" the person repeated.

The girl's hands began to twitch her fingers. She really was only a few steps away from reaching her breaking point, and she really did not need a group of people rejecting her right now.

"Maybe I did not make myself clear..." she started again, "I'm here to fight for you people! I'm your best chance against the dragon faction and all the other opponents! But I can't do it by myself and-"

"Oh, you made it pretty clear already!" another man shouted, "You're trouble that's gonna get all of us killed!!"

"What are you babbling on about??" she wondered.

"You said you killed a dragon, didn't you?? That's literally the worst thing you could have done for us!!"

"Excuse me!!??"

"Every time the faction game ends, one empire gets erased completely! But the human race is always spared because we are so weak that no one even bothers to eliminate us!" another woman explained.

"Oh..."

"If the other factions hear that we actually do have a fighting chance..." yet another man started, "They will start pointing their weapons at us! And will consider erasing us next!!"

"Wait... Hold on..." the girl tried to speak.

"You need to leave!"

"You're gonna get as all killed!"

"You're not a savior!! You're our doom!!"

"Go away!!"

"Go away!!"

"Go away!!"

The girl wanted to talk but none of them were giving her a chance. The people were so afraid of the consequences of losing that none of them even wanted to fight. It was amazing how much their mindsets differed from what Thomas was saying.

That was probably why he was the only one that tried to listen to her. He was the only one not afraid of trying something risky, like becoming her friend.

"Please! Listen to me!!" she tried again, "The dragon that killed Thomas is still around! Do none of you care??"

"The dragon came here after you, right!! He died because of you!!"

"What!? No!! He died because-"

"Go away!! You will only get us killed!! Get as far away as possible!!"

The girl felt crushed. Her last glimmer of hope turned into ashes in a matter of seconds once she saw none of them would be on her side.

"Please don't do this to me..." she begged, "I have nothing left! I have nowhere to go! No one to count on! No idea what I'm doing!!! I need someone to help me!! Please!!"

the villagers then all began to lose color again while enlarging their eyes.

The girl got confused for a second, but she then realized they weren't looking at her. She turned around, and there he was.

"No..."

A giant red-scaled bat with the head of a snake covered in black spikes. The dragon that killed Thomas, the man that refused to die.

The beast's shape lasted for only a moment, as no longer than that, it quickly began to shrink and assumed the shape of a red-haired man.

"How about me?" Lian Garen suggested, "I can help you!"

The girl quickly raised her blade and pointed it at him.

"Stay back!!" she warned, "I can't kill you, but I can still turn you into minced meat!!"

"Yes, you can..." he agreed, "But I would just keep coming back... Over, and over, and over, and over again... You might be able to kill me forever, but I'm able to come back forever! Do you really wanna spend your eternity tangled with me?"

"Ugh..."

"Besides... We both know you can't handle my second form..." he commented with a smirk, "It would take longer to snap my fingers than it would take to take you down..."

"Then why don't you??"

"Cause that would be a waste! Just think about it! A dragon that can't die with an armor that can't be harmed! The two of us? Together? We would be unstoppable! Untouchable! Invincible!"

The villagers began to shiver at the idea, but the girl just remained still. Her hatred for him was keeping her focused.

"The mere idea of you touching me is enough to make me throw up from my non-existent stomach... I would rather destroy my own Ruler than let you get what you want!"

"Fine by me!" he shrugged, "Once your ruler is killed, the you that is moving the armor will be gone and I'll just be able to collect it like a farmer picking up fruits! So by all means, be my guest and go ahead!"

"Oh... Ughhh..." the girl did not count on that. She assumed that once the ruler was gone, her entire being would vanish, not just her soul. If she were to die and the armor ended up falling into his hands, he would truly be an impossible-to-beat existence.

"Of course, I would more than appreciate to have you yourself by my side as well! Having a second mind would be of great aid during battles!" he commented while extending his palm, "What do you say? Would you like to come with me?"

"..." the girl approached him in order to grab his hand, causing him to smile, and in return, making her giggle with joy as well, "I would literally rather eat dirt and remove my eyeballs with a shovel than sharing a single second more with you, jackass!"

The man opened his eyes wide and tried to pull his arm away, but his reaction was too late, allowing the girl to raise his body, twirl him around like a spinning top, and launching high up into the sky.

"Yewwaaurk!!" she moaned in disgust just thinking about having touched his hand.

She was glad that the man, due to being so hard to kill, was also rather careless and sloppy, allowing her to catch him off guard very easily. But she began to wonder how long would that last before he began to actually try to be careful around her.

If she were to take him down, she needed to do it now before he became more aware of her.

"What did you do...?" one of the men from before asked.

"I got us some time! You all need to get away from here before he comes back if you're not gonna help me fight him! Hurry! That guy is not normal!"

The people hesitated for a moment but it was obvious that the girl wasn't joking around, so they decided to evacuate as she suggested.

"What are you going to do?" one of them asked.

She simply looked at the clouds and not even a second later, the image of the red giant bat was already returning back down to settle things with her.

The girl grabbed her blade one more time and prepared for the incoming battle.

"I'm gonna keep my promise with Thomas... And defeat the dragon faction!"