Ch16. Enri's despair

Tears streamed down Enri Emmot's face as she desperately pulled her sister behind herself, trying to run away from the two knights chasing her through the forest. The lungs in her chest burned, desiring nothing more than for her to give them a break, yet, Enri knew stopping meant death not only for her but also for her little sister. She was aware that if she left Nemu, she could easily escape her pursuers thanks to her knowledge of the surroundings. All she needed was the knights to lose sight of her and then hiding in the nearby forest would be no problem. But she would be damned before she abandoned Nemu. She was her last remaining family. Yet, every passing second, Enri's hope to survive was diminishing as she heard the exhausted gasps of her little sister who just barely managed to keep up with her small legs. Enri knew that while she felt tired, Nemu was at her limit and the knights were getting closer and closer by the second.

The knights eventually got too close and Enri was almost engulfed in despair, only the thought of her little sister dying managing to keep her from giving up.

As one of the knights was about to reach them, Enri gathered all of her courage and pushed Nemu forward before throwing herself at the armored man in a vain attempt to slow him down.

"Run, Nemu!" She screamed, bashing her fists onto the hard steel of the knight's armor.

The knight staggered as Enri's body impacted him, not expecting such ferociousness from the young girl. While Enri was quite light, his body already had to bear the weight of the armor and adding to that a sudden impact took him off-guard. He only barely managed to keep his balance thanks to his training.

After realizing that punching the hard chest plate hurt only her, Enri tried to hit the spot her mother taught her to be the most effective, the crotch. Unfortunately for her, as her fist landed a blow on that area, Enri couldn't help but yelp in pain, hitting something as hard as steel.

The knight, completely stunned from what just happened, felt a chill creep up his spine and subconsciously thanked the Six Gods for his armor. He certainly didn't want to have smashed eggs down there.

Even his companion momentarily froze at the loud thud that resounded as Enri's fist impacted the knight's crotch, just dumbly staring at the two unmoving people, one clutching her hurt the hand while the other seemed to be too dumbfounded to do anything.

At that moment, the knight's training kicked in as he realized what the girl attempted to do. Anger rose in him as he pushed Enri away using his full strength, causing her body to hit the ground hard a bit away from the two knights. Enri's body was strong from working on the fields but even she got stunned after a knight threw her onto the ground.

"You bitch!" The knight shouted in rage, his eyes glaring at the dazed and bruised girl on the ground while hiding something else than just anger. She humiliated him and he wanted to return the favor.

The knight's companion saw his comrade's gaze and sighed. He didn't like his current mission and didn't understand how killing innocent civilians was God's will but... it is what it is. "Calm down and stop undressing her with your eyes." He irritably spoke, "If we don't return soon, the commander will get suspicious. You can choose a woman back in the village."

He didn't really mean his words. During this mission, he saw a lot of atrocities happen by his companions' hands. Servants of Gods... he inwardly sneered, wishing this mission would soon end and he could return to his old unit that focused on eradicating bandits and other scum. In a brief flash of pity, he decided to grant the girl and her sister the mercy of a painless death, knowing if it was up to his companion, they would suffer a lot before finally being allowed to die. He saw enough of that. He advanced...

Spotting that Nemu stood rooted in her place and one of the knights starting to move towards them, Enri desperately pushed herself off the ground, and in a last vain attempt, she covered Nemu with her own body while the knight was raising his sword in preparation to strike.

Enri knew this was the end. The only thing she could do was pray... and pray she did as she tightly shut her eyes, waiting for the sword to end her life. She only hoped it would be quick.

Yet, the sword didn't arrive...

Timidly opening her eyes, Enri was inwardly wondering why she was still alive when her gaze landed on a mysterious black swirling mass. in front of her, only idly noting that it was the reason why the knight didn't cut her down.

And then, deep primal fear washed over Enri as Death clad in a lavish robe fit for kings walked out of the swirling darkness followed by a human-shaped hooded figure clad in a black coat, staring intently at her with its yellow orbs that pierced through the darkness under the hood, revealing animalistic inhuman slitted pupils. After the hooded figure, an otherwordly gorgeous blond woman many would mistake for the royalty if not for her wearing a maid outfit exited the swirling darkness before she promptly stopped a bit to the right side behind the hooded figure, showing her allegiance.

The air in the surrounding stilled as the four humans stared in fright at the three new arrivals, their hearts subconsciously clenching while their minds were screaming at them that something was very, very wrong with them. Then, the Death moved its hand...

"Grasp Heart!"

The knight who intended to give Enri a painless death could only unwillingly stare at the traces of blood and imaginary heart that appeared on the undead's hand while he felt his heart being crushed. Blood rushed up to his throat, choking him before it forced his mouth open, finally finding its way out while he collapsed to his knees and started puking out the contents of his crushed heart.

He was dead before his mind even registered it.

Enri's eyes widened, her mind only barely understanding that the Death used magic to instantly kill the knight. Yet, this only brought her more worries as she tried to cover Nemu's eyes from the gruesome scene while desperately hoping the Death will be merciful to them.

Death suddenly turned towards the hooded figure, hesitating a bit before it spoke, "They can't even withstand Grasp Heart." Its tone reminded Enri of the times when her own father found something so stupid it wasn't even funny. As if Death expected the knight to survive having his heart crushed. As if it lamented how frail humans were.

The hooded figure simply shrugged before sighing, "Haaa~, just end his sexually transmitted terminal disease called life, would you?" It pointed at the remaining knight who was shaking in his boots, not expecting the situation to turn out like this. "You can then try out your summoning spells. I am kinda interested in how different will yours be from Solution's." He casually added.

The knight might not understand the full meaning of that sentence. He also had no idea what exactly was the hooded figure, that screamed danger even more than the Death incarnate in front of him, interested in but he understood his death was already decided in their eyes. Turning around, he attempted to flee only to hear the words that brought the final judgment upon him.

"Dragon Lightning!"

Enri watched as lightning formed around the skeletal hand of the Death and before her eyes could register it, the knight screamed in pain, skewered by said lightning without Enri being able to see when it managed to hit him. Just like that, the body of the knight with a charred hole through his chest unceremoniously fell onto the ground like a marionette whose strings were cut.

Enri could feel Nemu shivering in her arms, painfully aware that she and her sister were next as three pairs of eyes landed on them.

One blue like the boundless sky and so full of contempt.

One empty with only red flames flickering in the empty eye sockets.

And one yellow that looked at her curiously, almost expectantly.

Sweat flowed down Enri's forehead as she waited for the three figures to decide her fate when suddenly, the hooded one spoke.

"So, Momo-chan... Why is this girl staring at us as if we am the spookiest thing since mapo toffu?"