Location near Santarum City.
People were gathered near where the explosion had taken place.
"Look up there," someone exclaimed, "still some people out at that wretched spot near the explosion." People directed their field of vision toward the corner of the scramble, a barely stable floor with half-burned wooden flakes and dust, where Miles and Jessica were standing against a number of enemies.
"Miles, did you listen to what I said?" Jessica said, trying to snap him out of his shock.
But Miles was still in shock due to the explosion near him, making him barely able to hear her voice. Some small flickers of sound from the distance were heard in Miles' ear.
"Huh!" he said, turning his head toward Jessica's voice. His vision also seemed to be blurred, faded, capable only of seeing blurred images near him.
"Uhh! What happened?" His face was filled with dust.
"Hehehe! Look, sis, our target seems to be barely standing. I bet he won't last much longer," Carl said while criticizing Miles' appearance.
"Fufufufu. The Carl sister, Remi, smirked at his condition. He is not even moving.
Is he alive or dead? If he's dead, then our contractor will eat us alive," Remi said with a slightly frightened face.
"Oh no, sis, he's still alive, but I don't think he could move for now. First, we should take care of that little girl who is beside him. Hehehe!"
They both were having their conversation in peace.
Jessica was still on her guard. She could neither attack them nor run because Miles was with her, and he had not recovered from the shock.
"Dammit, what timing. If I didn't have this many people around me, then I might not have been cornered like this. The numbers were odd, but first, I should keep Miles safe.
What can I do now?" She was thinking while a sudden attack from an enemy launched. The attack was a sharp sword thrown toward her. She moved quickly to her left to dodge that attack, but suddenly, another white-robed man came near her, trying to strike her with his sword. Jessica countered with her fingernails. The strike thrust threw that robed man away, and in the meantime, Jessica returned to her position, making a slightly serious face.
"If you let that boy to us, then we will let you get away from here alive," Remi shouted from afar with a smiling face and an aroused voice.
"Like hell you will!" Jessica replied.
A sly smirk occurred on Remi's face. "Heh! How could you not believe your older sister? How could you say that this beautiful face could lie?
Huh! Older sister, you are probably my grandma's age. Huhu!" Jessica said while making fun of Remi.
"This little brat. Get her, boys," she said while showing an angered face.
The other white-robed men rushed toward Jessica, their paced movement making their full-robed hats flicker, and the gusted air throbbing their hats side by side like ocean waves. They all approached near Jessica, who stood ready to battle at any time. Lowering her back, straightening her back, placing both hands in front, left hand straight forward as if about to chop things, while the other was near her chest, fingers bent forward. The cloak covered her face and her body, long enough to touch the ground.
The white-robed men dispersed, revolving around her, their pace so fast that it seemed like they were hovering above the ground. Jessica remained on her guard, continuously scanning her surroundings while trying to figure out who would attack first. The white men, revolving around Jessica, moved inside the circle, closing their distance. They took out their steely swords, both in their hands.
A total of seventeen blades were counted. They rushed in, and Jessica pulled her leg up high, smacking one of the white-robed men in the face. She started continuously smacking others with only her leg, while also avoiding their attacks. Her pace was quicker than the other robed men because she was continuously hitting them while protecting Miles. With every hit she delivered, the distance also narrowed, but the number was also decreasing.
The kicked robed men fell apart after only one hit from Jessica. Their faces were still not visible, but when blood flowed from their faces and made the unstable floor red, it was clear that they wouldn't be waking up again.
Jessica continued to beat them up, and with every hit, their throbbed voices in pain came along. She was basically hitting them only with her foot, while the cloak moved in sync with every step she took, making the situation quite stylish.
Some got hit in the face, some in the stomach, some were cut in half by her sharp nails along with their blades. But the most brutal was the last one who died. When she suddenly appeared behind the white-robed man who was trying to kill Jessica, she swiftly moved toward that man. The death near his back was so deep that the robed man, who was not even speaking a word a moment ago, said, "Please don't kill me...." His head forcibly bent toward the back, near Jessica's face. His words were cut off from his mouth along with his body. Jessica forced his head to be torn off from his neck and threw his neck toward those mercenary siblings.
The head rolled around and in a nail uplifted in that floor, it tore his cape and revealed his face. His face was filled with fear in death, and his eyes widened, sweat flowing more from his face than from the rain.
When they saw that face, both disgust filled their faces while looking toward that face. Carl crushed that man's face with his leg.
"Useless. The men provided to us were pathetic. Tch," Carl expressed while crushing that man's head.
"Now, now, don't be so mad, brother. They were useless from the beginning.
We don't need these small fry to get our job done. Just don't make that kind of face, will ya?" Remi said, calming her brother.
Jessica maintained her stance, threw her cloak near Miles, revealing her appearance and arsenal. Her hair was tied up on top of her head, in a big round bun, with other strands of hair swinging on her back.
In that stormy rain, she washed her blood from her face with her left hand. The left-hand fingers were also dripping blood. The remaining blood was washed from the floor, dripping to the lower floor drop by drop.
She slowly took two small palm-sized sticks from her waist. The raindrops falling as fast as they could seemed to stop for a moment to Jessica. She shook those small sticks, and miraculously, long blades emerged from both the back and front, extending as long as a man's arm. She swiftly moved toward those siblings, splashing the rain on the floor.
She lowered her body to reduce air resistance and forced her blades toward them. But when she reached near enough to launch her attack perfectly, suddenly Remi moved slowly along with her wand.
Jessica was surprised that someone could react to her top-notch speed, but that didn't stop her from attacking. Instead, she forced more power and momentum. But when Jessica was about to land her blow on them, an invisible barrier occurred in front of her attack and threw her back.
She backflipped but continuously moved backward from the thrust. She placed both her blades on that unstable floor but continuously moved backward, and her pace slowly decreased. Jessica finally stopped at the edge of that floor.
"Shit, I didn't think that they could move at my speed. They are pretty good at this..." Jessica couldn't finish her words because when she glanced her vision to the left, up in the air, Carl was ready to attack her with his two double-bladed swords, empowered by the flame. He was in the air, with his upper half bent toward the front and his left. The blades were placed in his upper right hand, and with a sly smile on his face, he launched his attack toward the ground where Jessica was. Jessica barely managed to escape, but that sword outburst that cornered her with flame.
After Jessica fell back a safe distance, she glared at where the flame was ignited. From the flames, the twin blades twinkled while continuously rotating with Carl. He was in that flame, but nothing happened to him. He smirked and attacked Jessica.
Jessica escaped one attack in the air, one on the floor, and another near the edge, continuing their battle. Carl was attacking one after another without a gap. At first, Jessica only tried to dodge, but when Carl's flame caused the unstable floor to move more, she countered with her blades. If those swords fell apart, the survival chance of Miles would be lower than half.
"Oh, come on, attack me, entertain me, little girl," Carl said in a battle-maniac face with a sly smile.
Jessica was troubled by his speed but didn't lose composure. She continuously blocked Carl's attacks, then moved to the side.
She pressed a button on her blade's handles. Both blades loosened from their handles and were falling down. But from the edges of their backs, there were metal chains attached to them. Her two side blades equipped from the chains, and she moved those chains zigzag. Making a defense from those blades to all of her body, she continuously moved those blades and attacked Carl.
Multiple ways directed blades made Carl back up in that battle. But they didn't stop them.
Just like the first time, this battle also moved with dodge and attack strategy. But the only difference is that this time Jessica was dominating a little more. Carl's body was getting damaged little by little. Unexpectedly, just for a moment, Jessica's blades turned into blue flame and overthrew Carl's flame sword from his hands.
Carl backed up to the edge, and Jessica deliberately pushed her blue flame attack toward Carl.
"Chandelier Ice," a voice came.
Suddenly, from the right side of Jessica, the floor from the distance continuously started to freeze and headed toward Jessica. Jessica tried to dodge, but Carl burnt flames near him with his blade and made a flame barrier. All of this happened so quickly that even though Jessica tried to dodge that attack, some of those sharp ice blades pierced her leg and started to freeze her leg. If Carl hadn't made her change her direction, she might have avoided that attack.
Jessica felt pain and barely managed to get away from them and went to another side. The frozen ice made a huge shape like a mountain.
"How many times do I have to tell you to be a little more serious?" Remi said while hovering on her broom.
"Sorry, sorry.
I was just trying to have fun, and then suddenly I don't know why my flame sword didn't withstand her attack.
Huh! Don't make any excuse. Just finish it up quickly, will ya!" She got hit by my Chandelier Ice. In a few moments, her power will start to drain. You can easily kill her," Remi said, turning her head toward Jessica. Her eyes were scary and darkened.
"Heh. Isn't that would be easy.
Huhhh! Nothing,
I was just trying to have fun, and you don't have to butt in every time, you know." Carl muttered to himself.
And moved toward Jessica.
"This boy, I don't know what would happen if I am not around him." Remi sighed while placing her one hand on her forehead.
"But more importantly, how is it possible that the flame sword didn't withstand her attack? Even though my brother is a little childish, when it comes to close combat, he is the best among the mercenaries' guild. And that's not all.
That sword has more potential.
Hmmm." Remi was thinking while Carl moved toward Jessica.
Jessica was suffering from that earlier attack. She was barely able to stand, but when she saw that Carl was about to attack,
she pushed herself and somehow managed to gather up all her remaining power at once. She didn't have other choices left; she glanced one eye at the stunned Miles.
"I can only do this much, Miles.
I don't think I would be able to guard you anymore." She said in a sad face and while releasing tears from her firm eyes.
She used all her power and rushed toward Carl. Jessica was overflowing with darkish blue flame and was heading toward Carl. She felt so overpowering that Carl was scared to death. But suddenly, a forced aura from a distance came, and her overflowed powered energy seemed to be drawn. Her vision blurred, and she rushed toward the ground. Then she realized that her lower body fell in an instant.
Jessica struggled even to move, and a moment later, she even struggled to comprehend. What just happened?
From her right side of the abdomen, blood was flowing, and immense pain occurred when she realized that not only her half abdomen was cut off, but her arm from the elbow was also not in its place. She screamed in a loud voice and placed her other hand on that cut-off place, but the blood kept coming.
"Huh! Only this much, you are no fun, you know." When you've overflowed with energy, I thought this would be a great battle. But then suddenly all those stardom fell apart. Tch." Carl said while sitting near her. The blood of Jessica was dropping from his double short blade. He used the situation when her overflowed energy went out and attacked her. And he started to lick that bloody blade with a sly face and devilish smile.
"Huhhuhu! Only by eliminating a few low foot soldiers, you thought you could win against us. You have low experience in real combat, don't you, girl? You should watch your surroundings. You can't just focus on only those enemies who are in front of you.
When you rushed with overconfidence toward us, that's the time you have already lost the battle, little girl. Fufufu!" Remi stated from a distance.
"Just finish her and take our bounty. This is taking longer than expected." Remi said to her brother.
"Fine!" Carl moved up from his place, making his sword higher with flames on them. The flames on his blade were so huge that they reached about ten feet up high in the sky.
Jessica couldn't be able to move; all her strength was sucked out by that attack. Her vision faded away. She was mumbling something. "I... Was... Fail... To... Protect... you... Mil..." He hit Jessica with that flame sword. The sword burst out, leaving a huge explosion behind, causing nearby buildings to fall apart. The buildings were falling down. The people who were watching all From the ground, people started rushing here and there to save their lives. Most of them were crushed by the debris. Along with other people, Receptionist Emma and her colleagues were also running. But Emma didn't seem like she was running; rather, she was pulled out from there by her colleagues.
People desperately ran away, crushing each other, stepping on each other. Children, women, and the elderly suffered the most because they were unable to run as quickly as the youth. None helped them escape; instead, they were left behind due to the human crowd. Most crumbled on that ground, their existence vanished in that graveyard. Help voices were drowned in the rumbling of the crowd — cries, fear, agony, and greed to save their lives.
Even in relational bonds, nothing was useful — friends, partners, none. Only a few family bonds seemed strong; even in those conditions, their eyes were searching for their beloved. But not all were capable of saving them all. True colors could be seen when death neared them. Few were only capable of remaining trustworthy in that situation.
The attack was quite similar to the first one that turned the room into a sort of battlefield.
The force of this attack not only caused other buildings to fall apart but also the mace publisher. The mace publisher also fell to the ground, wood burning from the earlier attack. At the same time, pouring water tried to crush the fire.
The collision of rainwater and fire caused smoke all around. It seemed like mist had overtaken not only the remains of the mace publisher but also the nearby area.
In that ruckus, Miles was taken by Remi before the blast. He was floating in the air, in some sort of white bubble.
The situation was so depressing. The buildings around, which had fallen, made that place like some sort of rugged, left-behind castle, doomed from every part.
The place became a graveyard. People were crying — someone's hand broken, some filled with blood from head to toe. Some random kid was crying while her mother, crushed by debris, said, "Don't cry, my boy. You are brave, aren't you? You should go." The woman, crushed in the debris, coughed and continued, "Mommy will come after you get out from here, you know." She said desperately because her words were not coming. The immeasurable pain made her not move, but she desperately surpassed that pain, moved a little forward, kissed that boy's forehead, and said, "You are my brave boy. Aren't you? Go now, go." She said while her eyes filled with drops of water, a desperate smile on her face. She forced that boy to move from that place.
The boy ran while crying and continuously looking back until another part of that building fell and saw his mother crushed under that debris. But even in her last moments, she was still smiling and crying because she knew she was able to protect her child, but at the same time, she was unable to see him again. She forgot about the piercing steel in her abdomen. The debris of the building fell down and let her vision turn black with a big crumble sound.
The kid ran desperately while crying and shouting his mom's name.
"Momm!"
But in the agony, moan, desperation, nothing was affecting Miles. The death of Jessica, the desperation of people, those voices — nothing. The darkest moments of his life, the nightmare, the ghost of the past, like it was trying to haunt him again, occurred after so many years, in front of his eyes.
What could have happened to him?