Alice remained seated on the dirt-covered ground, unable to move.
Her mother lay beside her, a gruesome spike of flesh piercing through her back and protruding from her abdomen. Blood poured from the wound, quickly staining the ground beneath her.
"Cough!"
Sira coughed up a mouthful of blood and struggled to sit upright.
"MOM!!!"
Alice immediately wrapped her arms around her mother, her voice trembling with panic.
"Mom! Are you okay?!"
Sira's eyelids grew heavy as she looked at her daughter.
"A-Alice... Run..." she struggled to whisper. "Leave me... and run!"
"No, Mom! I won't leave you!"
SWIIISSH!
Several more flesh-covered spikes shot toward them like projectiles.
BOOOOM!
A massive silver barrier suddenly appeared between them and the incoming attack.
Arnold had finally arrived.
The semi-transparent barrier shimmered with silver light, blocking the incoming spikes. However, he had arrived too late. Sira was already on the verge of death.
