Chapter 135 – Hope and Despair (1/2)

(I...I...I can't let Alicia die.)

Fortunately my inflated belly was completely unharmed. Alicia was safe for the immediate being. But as for how long, most likely could only be counted in seconds.

I had lost my left arm, a foot and an additional hand.

My skills were worthless as they required my limbs or mana, both which were not options.

But that was only if I used them to directly deal with this blasted sword.

Instead, I levitated a clump of soil and threw it at the blade handle.

Thunk

The dull sound resounded, and the blade wobbled.

I wasn't completely sure, but it looked like it had loosened up a little.

”Oh no you don't!”

But before the man could grab the sword, I did it again.

Thunk!

The sword wobbled and leaned at a noticeable angle, but it wasn't quite enough.

To make matters worse, the armoured figure was on top of me, reaching out for the blade handle.

I couldn't let him grab it, or it was the end for me, so using my one good leg, I kicked up, not caring what sort of damage I did to myself in the process.

My shin collided with something hard and pain erupted from it. But it was enough. The man was launched into the air, tumbling end over end before his hand could touch this damned piece of cursed metal.

”Master!”

As the white armoured man flew helplessly, black shadows rushed over to restrain then fling him far further than my weak and awkward kick was capable of.

Claret arrived and hovered over me, tears running down her face while anxiety and fear was painted all over it.

”I'll, I'll pull you away from that awful thing!”

Grabbing my one remaining arm, my ever trustworthy familiar tugged at my body.

”Wait! Stop for a sec!”

”Master?”

No matter Claret's best intentions, tearing me from the sword wasn't the way to do it. It risked the thing falling over towards me rather than away, and nothing either of us could do would prevent it from instantly killing me.

Compacting several balls of soil and snow from the ground, I thrust them at the sword, and after the third attempt, the magical void of a blade was knocked away, finally freeing me from it.

Relief swept through my entire being, but the feeling was premature. I was still in grave danger, and nothing I did while staying in this place would change that.

”Now! Go as fast as you can!”

I gave Claret my order as I formulated my plan, thrusting out my mana beyond my familiar's back.

”Yes Master!”

Without a shred of hesitation, my dear familiar pulled me up, and without even bothering to secure me, she prioritized on following my order as is and took to the skies.

Pushing her own skills and magic to the limit, we accelerated away as my aura I extended past us bent space once more, creating a passage just past Claret connecting to some indefinite spot far up high. Far too away for these assassins to be able to reach us.

Just as planned, my dear familiar passed through the portal as she entered the blue skies above, far far past the dark tree canopy.

A smile starts to tug at Claret's cheeks as she realized what I was doing, and my own were pulled up together with hers.

But a terrifyingly too familiar all encompassing coldness stretched out and permeated my body as the opening in space warped and folded in on itself. The last thing I saw was Claret's smile invert into panic and fear as she desperately tried to reverse her direction.

The dimensional pathway slammed shut as my mana was turned into vapour and weightlessness filled my body as my arm being pulled through the now nonexistent portal was separated above the elbow.

”Yes! I made it in time!”

I glared at the voice, seeing the man in white armour holding a throwing pose. The sound of something hard embedding itself in a tree came from my opposing side.

As I activated [Float] and narrowly avoided colliding with the ground, I turned my head to see what the sound was. It was the man's sword.

The only good thing in this terrible situation was that one thing.

But as that accursed weapon didn't fly far from its owner, it wouldn't take him long to retrieve it to finish me off.

I had to get away.

Mustering what little mana I had left, I gathered wind underneath me to push my body around to the cover of one of the massive trees that made up this forest. There, I hoped to have the few moments it would take to grow out my wings and take proper flight.

But the assassin refused to give me any time. I could feel his presence closing in faster than I could float away. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't beat his quick pace, and in only a few moments, he caught up.

Grabbing my shoulder, he spun me around on the spot.

I thrust out my shadow, but it simply deflected off of his round chest plate. Before I could try to aim in between the gaps on my second attempt, he thrust something into my chest. A searing heat spread where a white bladed knife was partially buried between my ribs.

My robes folded around the blade, preventing my remaining lung from being pierced, but that didn't deter the man at all, as he simply grabbed his weapon with both hands and pressed harder.

The impact of it forced me to the ground and the blazing heat of the dagger which glowed white with some sort of [Light Magic] enchantment seared my skin underneath even through the layer of hunter spider silk and fairy dust.

I grit my teeth from the pain while kicking my legs, trying to repeat what I managed only a handful of seconds earlier.

”Gyaaaaa!”

But before I could make any progress, the blade tore through the fibres of my robe and buried itself deep into my chest. Blood poured through the broken membranes before being vaporized by the incompatible element that filled the cold piece of metal within my chest.

”Now sit there quietly so I can end this quickly.”

Keeping one hand on the blade buried in my chest, he twisted and wiggled it around, making it all but impossible to concentrate hard enough to cast any spells as my mind was filled with blazing pain.

Using his free hand, the man ripped open the buttons of my robe, exposing my chest to the air. But as cold as the air itself was, perhaps due to bad luck, I was under one of the gaps of the canopy above. The damned sun's rays scorched my skin wherever it touched.

Fortunately, my skill [Sunlight Vulnerability] allowed me to recover both my HP and MP, but the pain that came with natural sunlight being the fuel for that effect made it that much more difficult to coordinate any sort of resistance.

It couldn't even be said that this benefit was even capable of extending what little life was left to me at this moment.

Through a small gap between my eyelids, blurred by the tears which continuously spilled out from the pain, the assassin unsheathed another knife. But this knife was quite different from any I've seen before.

First of all, while it was double bladed, there was a strange gap that ran through the middle, with something passing through the small gap. The tip of the strange object resembled a needle from a syringe. From the butt of the grip, a cord or maybe some sort of thin hose ran along to some sort of cylinder on the man's hip.

I couldn't even start to guess what this strange weapon was, nor its purpose, but there was no way it was anything decent.

”Don't you dare!”

Just then, several fairies thrust their weapons at the the white death looming over my body. Orphne's shout sparked a tiny flame of hope within me, making me furiously kick my legs despite all the pain that wracked my body.

”Shit! Damnit!”

The man cried out as spears clanged off of his armour, searching desperately for any gaps or other weaknesses, all the while he flailed his arms in a vain attempt to drive Orphne and her guards.

”Fuck it! Just die!”

But as his actions were obviously quite futile and there was no chance that the fairies would stop to resistance of that level, the white armoured figure returned his attention towards me and swung the strange dagger straight towards my exposed chest.

I swung my shadow, bashing it against his arm in an attempt to deflect his attack, but perhaps due to my inability to properly concentrate through all the pain which filled my body, the blow was weak and could hardly have been considered any sort of deflection.

My eyes followed the dagger as it came closer and closer to my chest. Every millimetre it travelled exponentially measured the despair which was filling my entire being.

I was virtually out of HP and MP, and completely out of ideas. All the resistance which I had attempted hardly made any difference in the end, and now I was completely helpless.

Even though it was my second time, staring death in the face was such a terrifying prospect.

I didn't want to die.

I didn't want to let Alicia die.

I wanted to live, together with Alicia.

Together with everyone.

I didn't want any of this to end, yet there wasn't a single thing I could do to prevent that.

”Stop it~!”

Like an angel swooping down in salvation, Orphne's figure appeared in front of me as she held her spear across her body to stop the blade in its tracks.

Hope once again filled me as I saw the courage disproportionate to her body manifest as she desperately worked to save me.

But reality was a cruel mistress.

As strong as Orphne was, it wasn't quite enough as the little fairy's spear was deflected and the blade buried itself into her belly.

”Orphne!”

I screamed out her name. The fact that the very action tore apart my lung with the dagger still buried in it not even noticed.

”Fuck! No! No no no no no!”

The man quickly grabbed Orphne's body and pulled it off of his blade. There was something white and cloudy which escaped out of the little fairy's body before disappearing down the needle's passage. Lights lit up on the blade as something glowing passed through the hose, ending in the strange cylinder on the man's hip.

The figure threw Orphne's body before checking the cylinder and letting out more curses.

A few of the fairies chased after their leader's body, making it nearly impossible for the remaining fairies to do anything.

”Fuck it. It's too late.”

Letting out his dejection, the man turned towards me and violently pulled out the knife in my chest.

While the pain which assaulted my body lessened, there was no relief in my mind. Especially not after he grabbed my neck and held the blade threateningly over my face.

”Guess I'll do it the old fashioned way. Die!”

Ping!

Something small and hard shattered against the assassin's helmet, spraying fragments all around, including me. But I hardly cared about such injuries.

Turning to my side, I saw Sarah aiming down the sights of her rifle which was pointed right at the white armoured figure as his body violently rolled off of me.