The victory tasted like blood from the goblins and themselves.
After having snuffed the last fragments of one's life energy from the breach, the team sank deep into an abiding new tiredness heavily. The feeling permeated right down to the bones.
They had hits and marks all over, but in return, there was new fire in their eyes. It gave self-confidence. The drive had grown bigger.
For the first time since they got to this rotten world, they finally sensed that they could do more than just survive. It was possible that they could overcome it.
They would rest within the safety of a deep hole in a rock-wall. Rina would then go from one to the next. Her face showed white from being excessively tired.
She cleansed the injuries that were long and horrible with her soft green light in her hands. Steam rose from the skin of wounds as they fused back together.
"Stay still, Eric," she said softly, letting everyone know she was working hard at patching the deep cut on his arm. "This will take a bit."
The rush was gone, and it was real now - they were above the facts of where they were. Yet, somehow now, they were facts they felt they could deal with.
Dante probably sunk back on the cold stone. His lively mind wasn't at rest, over everything he's thinking and putting down on the list, their goods at this end.
In time, they would master facts. They had power, and now they have facts. The words of the Goddess were the foundation of their very scheme.
"Ten of us," he thought. His eyes scanned their weary faces. "The Goddess said only six will live. That means four of these people are just for now. They are like blocks. Things to give up when needed.
"If not," he said to himself, frowning, "then I will have to lower the count with my own hands in this short trip."
He took in how Jin moved his hand. The feeling was new, solid currents flowing through him. 'They get strong by killing. Good. This is a world I can get.' He thought of all the risks he took in setting up the goblin fight like a first take. It worked.
He had that kind of image of the other rules: the bad game rules, each of which was a part of a bad game.
The forest had parts.
Between the hides, good things were hidden out there.
A Bone Dragon watched the way out.
And then turning on each other... it was not just a chance. It was built into the game.
'A past hero won by killing all the others,' he thought back. Not a sign to watch out. A way to do it.
They had a plan to stay alive. Now, they just had to do it.
As Rina ended with Eric, a sound came through the quiet woods.
A scream.
It was not the cry of a monster. It was from a person. It was full of pain and fear so deep it made the air cold. The scream stopped with a bad sound.
The team sprang up in haste. They forgot all about rest in an instant, guns ready.
"What was that?" Eric asked; his voice was low and deep.
"Trouble," Dante said. He had no feeling. It was cold; and worst type of trouble at that. Stay sharp. Let's go."
They went slowly toward the sound. They moved between the big, strange trees like they were not there. The smell of new blood came to them long before they saw what happened.
It was a thick, metal smell that said death was there.
They looked through the thick plants into a small open spot. They saw a big massacre.
The corpses of at least five students lay over the ground; they wore nice party clothes, now ripped and soaked with blood.
In the middle of the bad scene, one of their old classmates was still alive. But just a little.
A long sword was stuck straight through his chest. It kept him stabbed into the forest ground. His eyes were wide open, surprised and in pain, pleading for help as he coughed blood. The sound was wet and full of needy voice.
Drip. Drip.
His life dripped every breath weaker than the previous one.
Standing over him was another group of students. All guys. All had blood from the ones they killed on them.
Their eyes reflected none of the fear or surprise. There was only a cold, proud look of hunters that loved the work they did.
Dante gazed at his own team. The faces were unable to believe it, and fear was written all over them. 'Good,' he thought. 'Let them see. Let them know.' This wasn't a fight with monsters. This was killing people. This was the turn on others the Goddess had said about. It was right in front of them.
The leader of the other team was tall and strong. He had a mean smile. He put his boot on the dying boy's shoulder. He took the handle of his sword.
Shhhhlk.
With a wet, ripping sound, he pulled it out.
The boy took a breath. It was a last, hard ask for life. His hands moved weak in the air.
The leader just laughed. He lifted the bloody sword high. He pushed down again.
Thunk.
He stuck the blade deep into the student's heart. He ended his life with a last, mean push.
A stuck scream came from Erica's mouth. It was a sound of full, real fear she could not stop.
It broke the quiet of the open spot.
It made every head turn to them.
Pairs of eyes that wanted blood looked at them. They had just done a big kill.
The leader's smile got bigger. His eyes shone with a bad, wanting light.
The human element had found them.