Special Chapter XVII - Not Alone (part 1)

Kirene and Captain Margen were too busy fighting the one-eyed Merida.

Merida's attacks were relentless and deadly, but Kirene and the captain were able to sense them and dodged. Even though some of the attacks were able to hit them, they were able to dodge.

"Captain. We need a plan."

"Right. We can't keep on doing this."

"Being chatty over there, aren't we!??!"

Some more invisible tornadoes are conjured between Kirene and the captain. The two were able to leap away just in time, but Merida isn't even close to giving up.

She lifted her right hand and closed her palms, as if crushing a rock. And all of the sudden, the air around the captain becomes heavier and heavier. Slowly, the pressure became so heavy as it crushes the captain.

"Hraaakkk!!!!"

"Captain!"

Merida was laughing like a maniac on the other side. Kirene shot yet another pointless arrow, but the arrow stopped mid-air before being able to touch the target.

"My, my! Being too reckless against a wounded opponent is a fatal weakness!!"

Merida maniacally laughed while she crushes the opponent. This made the pressure even harder, giving the captain an even tougher time.

"Huaaaaakkkk!!!"

The captain kept on screaming as the metal on his armour started to show dents. The wind pressure on the captain is becoming so much heavier, that blood started to come out from the captain's mouth.

"Captain! Tch!"

Kirene had to solve this on her own. The enemy is completely focused on the captain, and she is the only one that can move. 

She dropped her bow and quiver and unsheathed her knife. Seeing the knife in Kirene's hand, Merida laughed.

"Oh, a knife!? How cute!!"

Merida flicked her left hand and conjured many invisible wind blades, all flying straight towards Kirene.

But Kirene saw them coming. In fact, she was ready.

She enchanted the knife with magic energy, a trick she learned just now. She swung the knife in the air, right when Merida's wind slashes arrived. The knife was able to perfectly slash away Merida's invisible wind slashes, shocking Merida.

"W-What...?"

In her full strength, those wind slashes should have been able to slash away a whole mountain. But since she was reduced to this state, the amount of strength she can put into her abilities was reduced to a laughable amount.

That is why Kirene was able to slash them out of existence. A newbie like her, Merida became even angrier.

While she was too busy pondering about how far her ability had decreased, Kirene is pushing her way forward. She kept slicing away all the wind blades that were coming at her without fail, despite the fact that she couldn't see them.

Once someone uses magic energy, they will use magic energy for the rest of their lives. She has awakened her magic senses, giving her a chance to fight Merida's invisible attacks.

"N-No!"

The amount of wind blades that was conjured from Merida's fingers was increased. Though it's less powerful, the amount was enough to make Kirene overwhelmed. A few wind blades managed to graze her skin.

"Horyaa!!"

Kirene started shouting and dashed forward. She sliced away the wind blades at a faster rate, but the wind slashes were able to damage her even further. It's a very reckless method, but enough to throw Merida off.

By the time Kirene was close enough, she leaped forward and ready to deliver one final strike using her knife.

But Merida was more ready. She knew that Kirene is close enough, and she used this chance to finish her once and for all.

SRASHH!!

A wind blade was conjured from Merida's right hand, which no longer held the captain. The wind blade slices through Kirene's left abdomen, allowing a lot of blood to spurt out.

"Kuhakkk!!"

Kirene coughed a lot of blood and fell on her knees, holding her abdomen with her right hand. Her opponent is right in front of her, knowing that she has already won.

Kirene was too reckless… but this had to be done.

Merida lowered her body and stared at Kirene's eyes from the same height. A wide mad grin can be seen on her face.

"You think… you can beat me, a rank one? Just two newbies like you?"

Merida placed her finger on Kirene's chin. Kirene moved her face away from her finger while showing her unwavering emotions.

"Do you think there were only two of us?"

Her gaze suddenly averted towards something behind Merida. The witch was too late to realize, her senses were dulled so badly thanks to the wounds. By the time she was about to turn around, the fist had already arrived on her face.

BAKKK!!!!

Merida's body was thrown to the floor. Her face was completely messed up by the powerful punch, and she lost consciousness.

"K-Kirene!"

"I'm fine. Just give me some bandages... Help the captain."

Gajah turned to look behind Kirene, and ran to help the captain. Belmar appeared from the entrance and started helping her get patched up, while Gajah tried to bring the captain back to life.

Luckily the captain was okay. Gajah released him from the armour because it was too tight, it was suffocating him.

Gajah slapped the captain's face to wake him up.

"Captain! Wake up!"

Feeling the slap, the captain slowly emerges. He coughed blood slightly after opening his eyes and tried controlling his breath.

"Oh... Oh wow... I can breathe again..."

"Heheh..."

The captain turned his gaze towards Kirene, who seemed to be getting patched up. Gajah followed his gaze.

"K-Kirene..."

"She will be fine, captain. You did well."

The captain was glad, but then he remembered and turned his gaze back to Gajah.

"Rize..."

"Right. We should-"

BLARRRR!!!!

The entirety of the cave shook, and dust began falling from the ceiling. That heavy explosion can be felt even from this position. 

It sounded like a thunder strike. A very powerful and huge one. The captain turned his gaze to Gajah, who seemed to have the same idea.

"We should go."

.

.

.

Around a year ago, I got electrocuted once.

It wasn't much of a killing shock, but it's enough to get you traumatized, at least.

Back then, my class was having a computer-based test in our school. Every student has to bring a laptop from their homes, and those who don't have a laptop will have to borrow one from the school.

Unfortunately, the school's facility wasn't really that great. In the classroom, there are only a few sockets, which were placed on the walls. And during these computer-based tests, the students were given some socket cables by the teachers so that we can charge our laptops.

The nightmare happened right after a test was finished. I was one of those who finished it last, so luckily not many saw it happen.

I stood up once my test was done, and began cleaning up my laptop and my desk. Once I cleaned my stuff up, I placed them on my bag. And since I was one of the last ones, I was tasked to take the cables off from the sockets.

That's when the bad thing happened. One of the cables had an opening on them, and it shows the insides rather clearly. I touched that small opening when trying to grab the cable, and I was immediately shocked.

A bright electrical discharge came out from the opening and flew to my finger. Of course, my skin got burned, but that's not all. The shock was both shocking and unprepared. My body couldn't handle it, and the sudden stress took my brain out.

I passed out immediately.

By the time I woke up, I was already in the infirmary room. My finger was bandaged, and the hair on my entire body was standing. Luckily only a small bit of the finger was burned, so it healed after a week. But the trauma caused by the shock has never gone away.

That is why I am taking this shock right now so much worse than anybody else.