"KIEEEEKK!"
The goblin drove the dagger forward.
I was already moving.
My shield came up and caught it mid-lunge — the impact hit my arm hard enough to rattle my teeth — and I shoved the thing sideways into the wall. It scrambled, found its footing, started to turn.
I put my sword through its neck before it could.
It dropped.
Libel walked towards Cia and asked.
"Are you alright, Cia?"
"Y — yes." She glanced at me. "Thanks to Satou protects me."
"I was just doing my job." I looked toward the far wall. "More importantly — what about her?"
We went back to the woman.
Sibel crouched in front of her. She was still conscious — barely. Her eyes had found him, and what was left of her focus was fixed on his face.
"P — plea..se…"
Her voice was almost nothing.
"…Kill...me."
Sibel was quiet for a moment.
Then he straightened and drew his sword.
"Alright. I'll end it quickly."
"W — wait." The word came out before I could stop it. "What are you doing? She's still alive. If Cia uses healing magic—"
"Are you sure she can be saved?"
Sibel turned and lowered the torch toward the lower half of the woman's body.
I looked.
Her legs — or what remained of them — had been severed below the knee. The wounds had long since stopped bleeding. What was left had gone black at the edges, the flesh visibly rotted through. The smell made sudden, horrible sense.
Libel pressed a hand to her mouth and turned away.
Cia closed her eyes.
"Even with healing magic," she said quietly, "I can't save her. It's too far gone."
Sibel looked at the woman.
"Ending it may be the only mercy left." He paused. "If you don't anything to say left — I'll do it now."
The woman's head lifted slightly.
"Th…ank… you…"
"Rest well, my lady."
The sword moved once — clean, fast, precise.
She didn't make a sound.
We stood in silence for a moment.
None of us said anything.
---
Then the sounds came from behind us.
"Kieeeek!" "Kehyaaak!"
I turned.
A cluster of goblins was pouring in from the passage we had come through. More than I could count quickly — ten, twelve, more shapes in the dark behind them.
"Too many," Sibel said. "We move deeper."
We ran.
The passage pushed us further in, narrowing as it went. More goblins ahead — freshly woken, disoriented, weapons already drawn.
And at the end of the passage — a wall.
Dead end.
"Tch." Sibel turned. "No other option." He looked at Libel. "Support me. We push through the ones behind us."
"Got it."
He looked back at me over his shoulder.
"Satou, i leave it to you to cover her from goblins ahead. Cia, get your magic ready."
"Yes!"
"Cia — get behind me."
"Okay."
Sibel and Libel surged toward the mass coming from the passage. Steel rang against steel.
I turned to face what was in front of us.
Five goblins. Small swords and daggers. They had woken up confused, but they were orienting fast — eyes fixing on us, grips tightening.
Five.
I have to take all five.
If I don't — Cia dies.
The first one charged.
I read it early. Shield up, angled — the dagger skidded off the rim — and I drove my sword into its throat on the way past. It dropped without a sound.
Two came at me together.
I caught the left one on my shield and rammed it into the wall, pinning it. But the right one's blade caught my thigh before I could bring my sword around.
"Keuk—"
The cut was not that deep, but blood soaked through immediately.
I ignored it.
Turned right. Cut the goblin's head from its shoulders. Turned back left and drove my sword into the pinned one's neck.
Unfortunately, the sword was stuck in the wall, so I couldn't pull it out at all.
"Cia! We need your healing"
Sibel's voice, from somewhere behind me.
"Yes!"
I heard her move.
Then I heard the scrabble of small feet — two goblins slipping past me, running toward her.
No—
I won't make it in time.
They were already too close.
I let go of my sword.
Grabbed the shield with both hands and threw it.
It hits the first goblin's head and fell to the ground
The second one had already reached Cia's body.
It came down onto Cia and its claws raked across her robe, tearing through the fabric.
"Noooooooooo!"
I crossed the distance in three steps.
Grabbed the goblin by the back of its neck. Pulled it off her.
"Die. Die. Die. Die."
My fist came down again and again until the thing stopped moving.
I let it drop.
Turned to Cia immediately.
"Cia — are you hurt?"
She was pressed against the wall, both hands gripping her staff, chest heaving. Her robe was torn at the shoulder. But her eyes were clear and her hands were steady.
"Y — yes. I'm fine." She looked at my leg. "Besides that, your leg is bleeding. Let me heal you right now."
"Thank you." I exhaled. "Sorry. I should've protected you better."
"N— No, thanks to you im still ali-"
Something moved in my periphery.
The goblin I had hit with the shield.
It was on its feet.
And it was already mid-air.
"Cia — behind you!"
My body moved before the words finished leaving my mouth.
I tried to hug her before the goblin hit Cia.
Wrapped both arms around her, and the dagger stabbed my back.
"Kuhaaaak—"
This time the stab went really deep. The kind of pain that took a second to arrive and then arrived all at once.
I drove an elbow back into the goblin's face and punched it with my fist many times.
The goblin finally died, but my body felt very heavy and i fell to the ground.
Blood was already pooling beneath me — from my leg, from my back, both at once.
"Satou — SATOU!"
Cia's voice.
I could barely hear her voice screaming my name.
I could feel her hands on me. But the edges of the room were going dark, and the darkness was moving inward fast.
And in the middle of it—
I saw someone familiar.
Pink hair with eyes tearing down. Looking at me the way someone looks when they've been holding their breath for a very long time.
I reached up.
Found her cheek with my hand. My fingers left red smears on her skin and I couldn't do anything about that.
"Thank god…"
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
"I could protect you this time too…"
"…D — Dia…"
My eyes feels very heavy and i passed out.