Chapter 36: Inner Weaknesses

"Cainne!"

Meria put the medal back to her pocket, where it was lying in the first place, and ran towards him in an immediate speed, didn't even bother to watch out for her surroundings. All she can see was her friend lying down on the ground with an injured back, and couldn't help but to rush on his side.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she put her hand on his back and the other lending in front of him. Her face was filled with nothing but concern for him, as the latter accepted his help.

Indeed, he was a knight, a sergeant before, but him, going into a different environment than the kingdom of Lamician reduced most of his memory about his life. Right now, he was no longer a skillful knight everyone knew.

"M-Meria…?" Cainne stuttered with a raised eyebrow, full of confusion. He ordered them to run as fast as they can away from the enemies, but he never expected that they would run into each other in the undead woods.

His call for her name was supposed to be a question, but she ignored it and continued to check his body for any severe injuries. He gave up seeking answers from her and just let her treat any wounds.

"Here, let me treat you." She said. Then, she ripped a part of her short skirt, the easiest to tear among all of her outfits. Unfortunately, the piece of cloth isn't wide enough for his back, thus, she grabbed the lace of her boot to extend.

He flinched as soon as it touched his wound. No matter how he put an effort to endure it, she can still see the pain wrapped in his face. She felt sorry for him, but if the bandage she was applying to his body reduced the blood and treat his wound, then she would continue.

"Well, well, well."

The treating finished, and at the same time, their worst enemy showed up in front of them, still wearing the same uneasy smile as before. His dark eyes were like balls of demons talking directly into their souls. The black mists surrounding his whole body started to increase as he felt excitement.

"It was an honor to meet you again, Lady Lilena," Kairos said with a high-pitched like that of a nerve-racking siren, ready to eat its lured prey. It was obvious that he was talking to none other than the only girl among them, but she was sure that wasn't her name at all.

"L-Lilena?" She tried to ask despite the fear that had been crawling in her skin. She was scared, indeed, but her curiosity and confusion stepped forward and demanded top priority.

He didn't flinch in his position, but his wide-open smile turned into a small one, lesser enjoyment, and satisfaction. It was like he was disappointed in her reaction, but then, remembered something that was reasonable about her lack of knowledge.

"Ah. I forgot." He said, covering his forehead with his skinny pale hand, the same tone as the other two. His eyes were partially covered, leaving his widened grimace that reached his ears. "You can't remember anything."

Meria furrowed at what he just said until he remembered the things her mentor told her earlier during their magic training.

"Once an encantor tried to adapt to a new environment, they mostly forgot their experiences when they were in the previous one."

After hearing that, she started to form interpretations around her mind about what she really is and what she was doing in the world. No matter how much she tried to deny it, it still ended up with only one answer.

Could she be…?

Then, she was brought back to reality, removed from her train of thoughts, as Kairos performed something that caught her attention. The black mists surrounding him started to get thicker, covering all of his existence. Her heart started to pound.

Cainne refused to feel the fear and anxiety over him and stood up despite the injury. He glared at him as he held the sword on his hand tightly, ready for both an attack and defense. He might never know what Kairos would do to them, but it's still better to be ready.

After a while, the mists finally disappeared and the same man, yet so different, showed up. The creepy smile was still stuck in his face, but there are features that aren't there before. His skin was paler, and a pair of winged ears can now be seen. Both of them widened their eyes at the sight.

"W-Wait… y-you're…" Meria tried to say something, but she was too stunned at the revelation. It can't be. How come he was one of the creatures of majesty? She knew that daminons are any creatures that fell to the dark side, but she never heard of an encantor turning into one.

"Yes. I'm an encantor this whole time." He explained, his grin becoming wider. He sure loved to see his enemies getting shocked by him. "But I left the kind, and decided to be free from the unreasonable rules, and became a daminon."

"And…" He added, now staring at the injured encantor that had been protecting the girl beside him all this time. She noticed the switch of direction from his eyes, so she also looked at her companion. "I assume I'm not the only one who did that."

He immediately lowered his head, averting his eyes from anyone else and towards the ground below. Noticed these strange actions from both of them, Meria raised her head and removed her fear.

"Cainne is different." She said, which made the other turned around out of surprise. His golden eyes sparkled like real treasure as he heard her. "He doesn't want to become as evil as you."

But the daminon didn't react to her chinned-up face and just continued to smile, even wider than before. This made her anxiety flooded back in her mind fast.

"Let's see about that."

***

No one dared to move, and every eye was focused on the little girl that was standing in front of them, shivering while holding the wooden sword in her hands. They knew that there's something about to happen very soon, thus, they were alert.

Tasan started walking towards the girl at a slow pace, holding his spear. She was triggered, thus she stepped backward. Kandani grew suspicions at his actions, so he decided to walk forward, trying to chase him.

"Let me test you, Kandani." He uttered. He finally reached the girl and stopped. He raised his lance in the air while looking down at the poor girl. "Would you sacrifice your life, or hers?"

The weapon had finally in a fixed position, ready to stab the tendrin with it. She couldn't do anything but stand and accept her death, closing her eyes.

"Noo!!"

Before the blade will reach the girl's skin, he rushed towards them with the help of his adrenaline. Then, he grabbed the sword she was holding and blocked it from going further from her.

Everyone was surprised at his sudden action, even him. He didn't expect that his intuition would go that far just to save the little girl. And the fact that he never did this before added more to the confusion.

After a while, the lance broke the sword and reached for his shoulder. He screamed in pain as the blade slowly deepened through his silk, staining it with the black blood. He didn't have the urge to move, as the pain made his whole mind go blank.

But then, a small pair of arms reached for his torso, much to his surprise, and grabbed him backward. The lance finally took off from his shoulders and was now in a distance away from the fighter. The arms let go, so he turned around to see the little girl, tears started to form in her eye.

"I didn't expect you to do that," Tasan said. They were far apart, but his voice was loud enough for them to hear it clearly. He pointed his weapon towards them. "It looks like there's something wrong with you."

Another silence came, no one intended to speak, and no one intended to move. They were now both enemies, but the remains of their friendship are still in the atmosphere, talking comfortably with each other.

"Tasan…" Kandani called his name, lowering his head. His arms were stretched to protect the girl, despite the injury in his shoulders. It doesn't matter since it will regenerate later. The girl was his top priority now. He started clutching his fist. "…indeed, I'm a coward. I did nothing but run away and hide in barrels."

The armed scarnet didn't have anything to say, waiting for him to finish his speech.

"But…" He added, now lifting his head to him. "…that doesn't mean that I can't change myself."

This made his opponent's eyes widened. All he can say is that he really changed since the time they parted ways. He had trust issues, never trust anyone other than his kind, and a coward. But right now, he changed his principles.

"That's how a person's mind works. It will change and continue to change."

"I know that it's my fault that the people died because I listened to your lies." He uttered, tightening his grip even more. "But that doesn't mean that I can't fix it and do better next time."

"You can't fix it, Kandani and you know that." Tasan interrupted, never liked what his mental state is. Cold sweat poured from his head. He thought that this would be easy since he had known his cowardice for a very long time but no, he started to change.

The scarnet looked at him with determination flowing around his body. "That's where you are wrong."