Chapter Fourteen

"Ha!"

Karan stabbed the hunched fiercely. The sword in his hands was different from the one on his waist, but any weapon would be better than a chipped one.

With a screech, the hunched flailed its arms in order to decapitate him.

Even though his body was covered with small wounds, he was as sharp as ever. Karan dodged the string-like attacks and let go of the sword, snapping his fingers in the process.

[Snap!]

The baby-faced man activated his Authority, exploding all the energy stored on his enemy's body.

On the arms, the legs, the torso, and the head, everywhere that he had hit—all of them was briefly engulfed in white light.

The shockwave that resulted was immense, and the hunched was launched into the air.

As an excellent companion, how could Kyle bear to do nothing?

The youth appeared behind the creature and swung the dagger in his hands. Energy was being directed towards it, sharpening its already sharp edges.

Kyle managed to sever its head in one clean swoop, creating a new corpse on the battlefield.

However, he almost fell face-first to the ground. They had been fighting for a long period of time—and his limbs were screaming in protest.

A struggle this painful was rare for him.

His chest heaved, and he took several deep breaths.

Near him, Karan was lying down on the ground. He was unbothered by the various stains on the stony surface and chose to sprawl down directly.

Both of them were trying to rest their body after hours of rigorous movements. Mixtures of blood and tears slid down their whole being.

Kyle resisted the urge to wipe all the dirt on himself and breathed greedily.

'This is madness, my arms and legs are shaking like crazy. We have been fighting for a long time already, let us rest already!' He complained in his heart.

'At this pace, my energy will be drained after a couple more battles—effectively rendering me useless.'

'We have to go back or we will fall here…"

Feeling the weakening stream of energy, Kyle worried about his well-being.

Around them, humans and creatures were still fighting fiercely. It was as if there were countless beings on both sides, only the mountains of corpses served as proof for the number of casualties.

Even though the human side managed to push back the creatures, their state reversed to how it was at the beginning.

Kyle ran his right hand through his hair, not even caring about the filth stuck on his palm. No sane person would care about appearances at this point.

Slowly, the youth approached the person lying on the ground and sat beside him.

He breathed in relief and massaged the sore spots throughout his body.

"Can we return now?" Kyle spoke while pressing his arms.

Karan turned his head and answered half-heartedly. "Should be anytime now, we need to wait for our team leader to fetch us."

"Haven't we waited enough already?"

"…" Karan sighed deeply and nodded his head, "Let's hope she'll come quick."

Kyle said nothing in response and stared in a certain direction. He stood up and gently kicked the baby-faced man's arm.

"Stand up, we've got company."

Groaning, Karan stood up and saw a corrupted swaying to them.

Both of them didn't wish to stay and fight against that corrupted. But nevertheless, they circulated their energy once more and prepared for combat.

As the corrupted got closer, it broke into a dash and quickly made its way to them. Kyle frowned and tapped his fingers on the knife he was carrying.

But just a few meters away from them, the corrupted's body started to move awkwardly. Its body became strangely stiff and its mouth loosened, exposing its yellow teeth.

The two men watched this inquisitively, before the creature fell to the ground.

Its neck was cut cleanly.

Both of them gazed at the unmoving corpse, muscles taut and vigilant as ever. However, Karan's eye widened and he spoke hastily. "Don't tell me—"

In front of their eyes, a flash of light appeared. It expanded from the size of a thread until it finally turned into a human form.

The light stepped down from the air and faded away, revealing the womanly figure behind it.

Kyle heaved a tired sigh and relaxed his body.

The figure behind the light bore a red cloth on her elbow, and her stern yet beautiful face gave a sense of security.

"Captain!" Karan voiced to the woman. His face was slightly rigid, and his body was bearing the perfect posture for a soldier.

Seeing this, the woman sighed and waved her right arm.

"I've told you to drop the formalities when we're alone, Karan," her eyes dropped slightly.

"U-uh. Understood, sister."

Kyle took notice of Karan's words.

'Siblings, these two?' His eyes wandered between the two of them, but he couldn't connect the two of them no matter how hard he tried.

One has a stern and mature face while the other has a childish one. It was hard to think that both of them were born from the same parents.

The woman glanced at him and spoke. "Good work."

The youth nodded in response. He was too tired for chit-chat, and the woman also appeared to be close to him—evident by how his body felt comfortable around her.

She then looked around, searching for something. After a while, she stopped her vision to a certain spot.

"They've arrived," Kyle followed her gaze and found a group of people, marching towards the battleground.

They consisted of at least fifty people, yelling as they made their way. In front of them was a brown-haired woman wearing a yellow bandana on her forehead.

Karan's sister took off her eyes and stretched her arms towards both of them.

Identical to the previous occasion, the ground below the two men shone with dazzling light.

"Don't forget to treat your injuries back there," she spoke.

As the light engulfed the two young men, a slightly shaky voice resounded from within.

"S-stay safe, Loine!"

A corner of her lips unknowingly rose, and she spoke reassuringly.

"Who do you think I am?"

The next second, only a silhouette of a woman remained.

----

Around four in the afternoon, perhaps even later.

A flash of light passed by on the grassless field.

Kyle briefly inspected his body, before grimacing at the amount of gore stuck on his clothes. Beside him, Karan's face was slightly red—perhaps due to the evening glow of the sun.

The arrogant youth glanced at the knife on his hand and brought it closer to his eyes, inspecting its edges.

"Can we keep these artifacts?" He had looted it from a dead body, and he wondered if keeping the belonging of the dead was a taboo.

"It's fine, the dead won't ask for their stuffs anyways," and it sounded like there was no such taboo here.

The baby-faced man stretched his body under the evening sun and walked towards the building. Following both him and the familiar sensation from his body, Kyle scrutinized their surroundings.

Earlier, they had been running too quickly that he didn't have the leeway to observe this new world. The place they are standing at right now was a field with little to no vegetation. Surrounding the field was a wall painted with a black and white motive.

The patch of the yellow field was about fifty meters square, enabling the possibility of various activities to be held.

The arrogant youth wished to observe the field even further, but he was already falling behind his companion.

Clicking his tongue, he hastened his pace and stood beside Karan.

"Injured?" Kyle asked.

"Here and there, it should be fine once we go to the medical clinic," Karan replied without worry.

Both of them were walking to a tall building. The steel framework supported the sky-reaching structure, and identical windows were placed on each floor.

'Almost as tall as the academy,' Kyle remarked.

The entrance to the building was a pair of wooden doors with intricate engravings.

'A flower of some sorts?'

Entering the building, they were met with a large room painted in shiny colors. The golden chandelier hung from the ceilings and the round table placed to the left of the entrance was painted in white.

Behind the round table was an old grandpa, leaning back on a yellow chair.

"Good afternoon," Karan waved one of his hands.

The grandpa waved his hand in response. "Don't forget to go to the Health Department," and continued reading the newspaper on his hands.

Kyle's black eyes swept over the room, and he nodded indescribably. The interior was comparable to that of the academy's, earning his approval.

Walking past the grandpa, they turned right—following the sign that said "The Health Department."

Seeing these words, Kyle stopped in his place.

He appeared to be lost in thought until a voice brought him back.

"Hey, follow me, would you?!"

Kyle sighed and followed the baby-faced man. He glanced through the glass panel beside them and briefly saw the slightly crimson sky.

It was as if the sky was a mirror, and minuscule cracks were present on it—letting the orange rays illuminate the world.

The arrogant youth clenched the dagger in his hands. 'Well then, shall we look at your insides?'

It was time to inspect these artifacts.