‘I’m haunting you? …Is that how you see things to be? Say, I’m sad you think of me like that.’
She sounded hurt, but her expression said otherwise.
It had always been like this with her.
No one could really tell what she was thinking.
That’s why…
‘I hate her so much.’
“Kh… G-get out of my head.”
Clenching a fistful of dirt, Rose pushed herself to her feet.
The entire time, the Crimson Squad Leader remained still, staring at Rose with an odd expression as she quietly looked around. ‘Get out of my head? Is there someone here…?’
Rose’s current behavior was throwing her off.
Did she simply lose her mind, or was there more to her words than she let on?
‘Well, it’s not too difficult to know.’
The Crimson Squad Leader closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, revealing a pair of fully transparent ones. Almost instantly, the scenery around them shifted, dissolving into a hollow, translucent one that only displayed the faint outlines of everything that used to be around them.
Noticing the abrupt shift, Rose’s pupils shrank.
Bang!
She kicked off the ground, trying to put distance between herself and the Crimson Squad Leader, but she was a moment too late.
The world around her twisted, and she found herself on the verge of getting swallowed up by the Domain.
With no other options, Rose’s eyes turned a deep, glowing red, her face paling as a domain writhed forth from her body. It surged outward, colliding head-on with the Crimson Squad Leader’s domain.
Voom—
A surge of pressurized wind exploded from the clash of their domains, ripping through the air and shattering everything in its path.
The ground was overturned, and several trees were uprooted.
Their simple clash caused the scenery around them to change completely as Rose was forced several steps back.
“Uekh!”
Unfortunately, she was at a disadvantage, having activated her domain just a fraction too late. The delay left her struggling against the momentum of the Crimson Squad Leader’s domain.
Although she allowed herself not to be swept by her domain, she was still forced back with an injury.
“Shit…”
Rose’s chest heaved unevenly as she shot a glare toward her sister, who stood just behind the Crimson Squad Leader. Leaning casually against one of the few remaining trees, her sister watched with an intrigued expression, eyes locked onto her.
‘…Should you really be focused on this fight?’
She suddenly pointed behind herself.
‘Why don’t you look at Ki? It looks like they’re taking action now. Are you going to let her die?’
It was then that Rose’s gaze shifted past the Crimson Squad Leader, finally noticing the three other members of the Crimson Squad springing into action, their eyes locked firmly on Kiera.
“Ah, shit…!”
Rose quickly bolted in Kiera’s direction, her figure fading from sight.
Unfortunately for her, her actions were extremely easy to read as the Crimson Squad Leader’s eyes flashed, her hand reaching in the direction where she predicted Rose to appear.
Just as Rose was about to surge past the Crimson Squad Leader, her foot suddenly grounded itself, stopping her momentum. In an instant, she twisted her body, turning to face the Crimson Squad Leader head-on.
“…..!”
This unexpected action threw the Crimson Squad Leader off guard, but she was quick to react and whipped her hand in the direction of Rose.
Her movements were swift and precise—yet, just as her hand was about to reach its target, Rose smirked. A faint light flickered around her, and a small barrier materialized, preventing the Squad Leader’s hand from reaching her head.
This was a skill she usually kept hidden, one granted by a bone she had absorbed—only revealing it in moments of absolute necessity to catch her opponents off guard.
Without hesitation, Rose struck back, thrusting her palm towards the Crimson Squad Leader’s exposed abdomen.
Bang—!
The attack struck, and the Squad Leader was thrust back several steps.
That was all Rose needed as she immediately dashed in Kiera’s direction.
Her expression tightened as she spotted the remaining members closing in. Without hesitation, her speed surged, pushing herself past her limits.
“I can’t be fucking asked!”
***
The time that had elapsed since Rose was attacked by the ‘reinforcements’ and sent back was probably less than a minute.
And yet…
That minute felt like the longest minute of my life.
“She sure is taking her time. She usually takes care of matters fast.”
“….Bah, you know how the Captain is. She likes to test herself against strong opponents. That’s also why she failed to become the low seat. She’s too addicted to battle.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
While overlooking the fight from a spot not far from me, I could hear the conversation coming from the other members of the squad.
‘Failed to become a low seat? Addicted to battle? Captain?’
From tidbits of their conversation, I was able to understand a few things.
Still, at this moment, I was utterly helpless. I couldn’t move, couldn’t fight back—my entire body remained paralyzed. All I could do was lie there, powerless.
My life wasn’t in any danger, but I still felt useless.
This sensation…
‘It’s frustrating.’
To make matters worse, looking into the distance, I could see that Rose was slowly starting to lose the battle.
It wasn’t that she was weaker, but something about her felt off…
Almost as if her head wasn’t in the right place.
“The fight should be almost over. How about we start with our job?”
“…Oh, right.”
“Who wants to do it?”
Eavesdropping on their conversation, my heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I quickly turned my head toward them, only to find their gazes fixed intently on Kiera.
‘Shit!’
I clenched my teeth and tried to move, but my body refused to budge.
“I’ll do it.”
The burly one in the group stepped forward, moving in our direction. His massive frame cast a looming shadow over me as he came to a halt before Kiera, who looked up at him, her face pale.
“…..”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
It was also then that she turned her head in my direction. In that moment, I saw it… the trembling in her eyes.
She looked scared.
I could only stare back at her, my eyes locked towards the quest window in front of me.
[ ◆ Main Quest Activated : Prevent the Calamities from awakening or dying.]
I found myself biting my lips hard.
There was a way for me to stop all of this. All I needed to do was order them, and they would probably listen. Even if they didn’t, I had other means to make them stop.
But that would practically give away the fact that I was from the Inverted Sky.
That…
Could I afford to do it?
‘…It’s not a matter of whether I can afford or can’t afford to. I have no choice but to do it.’
Failing the quest wasn’t an option.
I had a feeling that everything that I was doing was closely related to this very first quest. If I somehow failed it…
‘I can’t. I just can’t.’
I clenched my teeth and raised my head back up, staring straight at the burly man who looked at Kiera.
My heart pounded against my throat as I parted my lips to speak—but just as the words were about to escape, something flashed before my vision.
Bang!
The towering, burly man vanished from my sight in an instant, only to reappear in the distance, his massive frame crashing through several trees with a thunderous impact.
In his place stood a tired figure—her hair disheveled, her crimson eyes locked onto Kiera with an intense yet worried expression.
Casting a quick look in my direction, too, she hastily bent down and pressed her finger against my neck and Kiera’s.
In that instant, it was as if a switch had been flipped—all my senses came rushing back, and I realized I could move again.
Was this some sort of bone skill?
“You, use that skill of yours and get her out of here.”
“….?”
Skill? What skill?
I fell into a slight state of confusion.
“Fuck off.”
But before I could even process the meaning of her words, a powerful blow struck my ribs, and the force sent me hurtling away.
Swoosh!
A scorching wave of heat washed over me moments later as flames erupted around the area, consuming everything in their path.
Thump!
Landing onto the ground, I pressed my hand against my ribs.
“Ukh.”
‘That fucking hurt.’
Looking around me, I saw Kiera not far from me, her eyes locked in the direction of where her aunt used to be.
The flames swallowed everything around me, their intensity making it nearly impossible to see through the blazing inferno.
“W-what is going on?”
Kiera’s voice cut through the crackling flames, barely reaching me through the roaring inferno.
With a pale face, she slowly turned her head to face me.
“…My entire life… I believed my aunt was responsible for everything, and yet… yet…”
“I know.”
“What do you mean you know? You don’t… You…”
“Now is not the time.”
I pressed my finger over my mouth, activating [Lament of Lies] and blending our figures with the surrounding fire.
At the same time, I looked around to see several dots in the distance. With the aid of the skill I had acquired from the Melanchony bone, I could now see through the flames and tell where everyone was.
‘While I probably can’t do much to them, it’ll be hard for them to catch me now.’
Coupled with [Lament of Lies], getting out of this place was easy.
But…
‘I can’t leave.’
How could I let them go, knowing that I had helped Kiera escape?
It would be hard to explain everything to Atlas, and even if he did understand, the same couldn’t be said for those in the Inverted Sky.
The situation could become extremely troublesome.
That’s why…
“Kiera, I need your help.”
Kiera blinked her eyes, her expression visibly confused. She seemed to have somewhat recovered from before, and I once again looked through the flames.
“…As things stand, we can’t escape them. We won’t be able to make it far away.”
That’s a lie.
If I wanted to, we could escape easily.
But I don’t want to escape.
“Your aunt is alone right now, trying her best to delay them, but she won’t last long enough to truly be of any help to us.”
This wasn’t a lie.
“That’s why we have to help her.”
“Help? What…? Did you see how po—”
Cutting her off, I grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
“We have no other option. We have to help your aunt kill them.”
Only through their death would everything be resolved.