Gina was running.
She ran through the gardens, through the alleys, and through the streets. But no matter how much she ran, she could not escape her pursuers.
Gina did not know who her pursuers were, but she knew she could not let herself be caught.
Unfortunately, no matter how much she ran, her pursuers were always behind her.
Every time she looked back, she could see the shadows behind her, approaching little by little, meter by meter. Each second, they were a bit closer to her.
'Someone, save me!'
Gina tried to scream, but her words were caught in her throat. She tried to speak, but she could not open her mouth.
Looking around, she realized that the streets were desolate. The merchants that normally were selling their wages were not around, the adventurers and hunters going to hunt monsters had disappeared, and the people chatting with their neighbors were gone.
There was nobody there to help her.
'Sister, where are you?' Gina's eyes turned red.
In a panic, Gina could only keep running.
Gina did not know how much she ran. She only knew that her body was incredibly tired, and her legs hurt. Even taking one step more was hard for her.
It was normal, though. Gina's body had always been weak. The fact that she managed to run all this while was a mystery.
However, now that she was tired, she could not run anymore.
Gina did not want to give up. She tried to continue, but her legs gave up and she collapsed in the ground.
'No…!'
Gina's face was dyed with despair. She looked back and saw the shadows approaching and laughing mockingly to her futile attempts to escape.
"… Please…" Gina managed to blurter out, but her pleading was answered by cruel laughs and smirks.
Then, one of the shadows extended her hand.
But–
"Don't you dare to touch her!!!"
Salvation finally appeared.
"Gyaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!" With a cry of pain, the shadow grabbed its severed wrist. It cried and screamed in pain and rage while rivers of blood spurt out of its wrist.
She stood there, in front of her. Sara, her sister and protector. She confronted the shadows without fear, unafraid of the unknown enemies. Strangely, the blood of the shadows could not touch her, as though she was an ethereal existence untouched by mortal dust.
"Sister!" Gina cried happily. Sara looked back over her shoulder and smiled at her little sister, telling her that everything was going to be alright.
Then, she looked at the shadows with a look of anger.
And pounced forward.
Her daggers danced under the moonlight. Each slash of her dagger drew blood, and each stab pierced a heart. Bodies fell around her, corpses of the shadows that tried to devour Gina.
But the shadows were unending. They advanced unstoppably, like a flood trying to swept everything in its path.
Sara fought, and fought, and fought, and fought. Mountains of bodies formed around her, and rivers of blood formed below her feet, but eventually, she was injured.
"Sister!"
And injured again.
Gina's face turned pale. She wanted to stand up, to fight beside her sister, to protect her, but she could only look while the shadows killed her sister slowly, leaving wound after wound in her sister's beautiful body.
Soon, Sara's arm was severed.
"Sister!"
And her leg was crushed.
"No!"
A sword pierced her belly.
"Please!"
And a dagger stabbed her back.
"No, stop it!!!"
Gina closed her eyes. She did not want to see it, she wanted to wake up. She did not want to see any more of this nightmare.
But it was futile. Even when she closed her eyes, she could see. Even when she covered her ears, she could hear. Even when she tried to ignore everything, she could feel the pain her sister was feeling.
Finally, when Sara could not endure anymore, she collapsed in the ground.
"Sister…" Gina sobbed. Her body trembled in fear and her eyes cried blood.
She could feel the shadows extending their hands to grab her. To take her away. To bring her to the darkness.
She was the reason behind everything. Behind her sister's suffering, behind her sister's pain, behind her sister's death.
Because she was alive, her sister had to serve the people she hated the most. Because she was alive, her sister was trapped in a cage of constant suffering.
And now, because she was alive, her sister was going to die.
"Please… someone…" Gina begged. "Someone… save us…"
At that instant, she recalled someone.
Blue eyes, blue hair. It was him, the hero of her dreams.
So, Gina made a wish–
"Save me…"
–And the shadows were erased.
.
..
…
"Gah… cough…! Cough cough…! Cough cough cough…!"
"Gina?" Sara rubbed her eyes sleepily. But when she looked at her sister, her expression changed.
"Gina! What is wrong!?" Sara grabbed Gina's shoulders in panic.
"Cough cough… Cough… Sob… Sob…"
"Gina, what happened!?"
"… Thank god…"
"Gina?"
"… Thank god, sister… Thank god you are alright… Wahhhhhhh!!!"
"Shhh… Calm down, calm down… Everything is alright." Sara sighed and hugged the fragile body of her sister. "Don't worry, It was only a dream."
"Waaaaahhhhhh..."
That night, Gina hugged her sister as tightly as she could.
And she cried as bitterly as she could.
"Are you sure about it, Liu Ying?" Bloed asked with a serious look.
Liu Ying nodded. "Yes. I heard the news when I was in the market. I was not sure if it was just a rumor, so I asked around and in fact, it's the truth."
Bloed fell silent. He was thinking about the news Liu Ying brought just now.
Several hunter parties and adventurer parties were attacked in the last two days. The attacks happened mainly in the south and east of the city.
The ones behind the attacks were monsters. The survivors spoke about several species of monsters working together to kill the parties.
A powerful A-Rank hunter went to investigate the situation and returned gravely injured. He said that the number of monsters is incredibly high, and they are approaching the city slowly.
According to him, Calice city will be hit by an unprecedented beast wave. It's estimated that the beast wave will have at least twenty thousand monsters, and he confirmed the existence of three A-Rank monsters, but perhaps there is more.
The city lord has asked for the assistance of all the practitioners in the city in order to defend against the beast wave.
The city lord already asked for assistance from the palace. Apparently, a demigod who was nearby is rushing to the city at this moment.
Bloed sighed. This was the worst.
"… Master, this is not your fault." Regina comforted Bloed.
"You don't have to comfort me, Regina." Bloed smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Wait a moment, I will confirm the situation."
Bloed then closed his eyes and connected himself to the satellite.
With a thought, he made the satellite focus in the zone between the exiled lands and Calice city.
Instantly, his expression crumpled.
"Dammit, this is bad."
"Master?"
"Bloed?"
"… Twenty thousand monsters? There are at least fifty thousand of them, perhaps more. And more monsters are still coming from the exiled lands."
Liu Ying paled, and even Regina wrinkled her brows.
That was not a piece of good news.
"… But, don't we killed the black mass-like thing last time?" Liu Ying asked anxiously.
Bloed sighed. "It looks like it was not the only one. Now, its companions came for revenge, and they brought an army with them."
The three of them fell silent.
"… Dammit, what is Chorius doing?" Liu Ying grumbled.
Bloed could not help but smile wryly. "Chorius's duty is only to stop the Blight if it appears again. With its character, it probably does not care if a monster wave destroys the entire kingdom."
"You are right." Liu Ying made a bitter smile.
"Master, what are you planning to do?" Regina asked with a frown.
Bloed did not know how to respond. To be honest, he wanted to simply board Leto and leave this city. Anyway, he doesn't care if this kingdom is overturned for monsters or not.
However, it's different if he is the cause behind the monsters' attack.
Bloed could not live with the guilt of causing the death of thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of people. At the very least, he had to do something.
"… Regina, sorry about this."
Regina was startled, but she soon understood. "Why are you apologizing master? I'll support you if you want to fight, and I'll support you if you want to escape. You are my master, supporting you is my raison d'etre."
"Thanks." Bloed smiled.
Seeing that, Liu Ying could not help but smile too. "Well, it looks like we will have to fight soon. Mm, Bloed, do you think my gloves will be ready for then?"
Bloed nodded. "They will."
"Perfect. Nothing better than some monsters for their first battle." Liu Ying smiled savagely.
Bloed could not help but return her smile.
Both of them ignored the fact that once the gloves were done, they were going to part ways.
At that moment, someone burst through the door.
"My hero!"
"Gina, stop!"
"Sister, let go! I need to talk to my hero!"
"Gina, stop this nonsense! I told you that was just a dream!"
"Why don't you believe me!?" Gina bellowed in anger and sadness. "I told you it's real!"
Watching the commotion, Bloed and the others looked at each other in confusion. In the end, the three of them went to see what was happening.
"Gina, miss Sara?" Bloed asked.
"My hero!" Gina instantly freed herself of Sara's grasp and charged towards Bloed's chest, hugging him. "Please, help me!"
"Help you? Gina, what is happening?"
Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying were confused. Bloed looked at Sara to ask what was happening, but Sara just shook her head and sighed tiredly.
Fortunately, Gina calmed quickly and explained the situation.
"… So, you are telling us that you have prophetic dreams and that in your dreams Bloed saves you?" Liu Ying could not hide her skepticism after hearing Gina's story.
"Liu Ying, I'm telling the truth!"
"I told you, Gina. That was just a dream. Stop bothering other people."
"Sister, you have to believe me!" Gina was already between tears. "Bloed, you believe in me, right?"
Sara sighed. She wanted to tell her sister that nobody would believe such nonsense, but when she saw Bloed and Regina's thoughtful faces, her words got caught in her mouth.
A few seconds later, Bloed opened his mouth.
"Gina, are you not joking just now?" Bloed asked.
Gina shook her head. "Of course no, Bloed. You have to believe me."
"I see… Then, you have seen Regina, Liu Ying, and I in your dreams. How long have you been having these dreams?"
"Since I was a child… But Regina and you only started to appear around two weeks ago. Miss Liu Ying appeared a few days later."
Bloed and Regina looked at each other. Both could see the astonishment in the other's eyes.
"… Bloed, do… do you believe me?"
Bloed did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked another question. "Gina, when you told me a few days ago that you knew about the city lord's purpose... You saw it in your dreams too?"
Gina was startled, but she nodded one second later.
Bloed exhaled.
After a few seconds, he patted Gina's head. "Yes, I believe you."
Gina's eyes opened wide. One second later, her eyes were filled with tear and she started to sob.
"B-Bloed, you… Y-You are the first person that believes me… I knew it, you are my hero…" She then hugged Bloed tightly.
Bloed smiled wryly and Regina could not help but frown; but in the end, none of them stopped her.
Liu Ying and Sara looked at the scene with a stupefied look. Finally, Liu Ying could not help but open her mouth.
"H-Hey, w-what is happening?"
"I will explain it to you later." Bloed said. "Regina, prepare the ESP activating capsule."
"Understood, master."
...
Two chapters tomorrow~
P4TRE0N: patre-on.com/aidnovels
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