All eyes snapped to the two C-rank figures standing behind Leon.
There, they seemed utterly still, like statues. The white-haired and the red-haired boys seemed frozen in their final combat stances, unblinking and not breathing.
Then, the red-haired boy moved in a terrible tilt. His head lolled forward on his neck, then kept going. It separated cleanly from his shoulders and tumbled to the ground with a soft, wet thump.
His headless body remained upright for seconds before the knees gave way and crumpled in a heap beside its own head.
The white-haired boy's stillness broke. He turned his gaze toward the grisly sight of his fallen partner.
"NO…!" A choked, animal noise of denial escaped from him. He lunged forward and caught the headless body before it fully collapsed, and lowered it to the ground with trembling hands.
He looked at the severed head, then in a blink, his head snapped up, when his eyes caught sight of Leon's kneeling form.
