Over My Dead Body

Upon receiving the impact of Liz’s spell, the Treetalon was pushed back from me, and just as it was about to take another hit from her, one of the infected adventurers stepped in the way, taking the blow himself and allowing the monster to retreat further. The infected man fell completely immobilized by the force of the attack.

The rest of the infected positioned themselves around the monster, waiting for its next move, but Liz didn’t strike. Instead, she took the opportunity to run toward me.

“Naoya!” she called out as she drew closer. “You’re badly hurt!”

“Liz… what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you…?”

“You and I have a pending talk after this!” she snapped angrily, though she quickly shifted her focus back to the current situation. “Can you stand?”

“My leg’s shattered, and it hurts just to breathe…” I replied while trying to get up, leaning mostly on my other leg.

“Damn it… should we run?”

“… No.” I answered, trying to channel my mana once more. But instead of sending it to my arms, this time I directed it toward my wounded leg.

The limb was reinforced by the mana, and though it still hurt like hell, it was at least more bearable. I felt like I could walk decently, even run if I pushed myself hard enough.

“We’re out of time… We need to finish this thing now,” I declared. “Think you can keep casting spells?”

“Even if I do, it’ll block them with the infected adventurers…” she replied, worried.

“Then let’s take them down first… Cover me!”

I hated having to rely on Liz again, but if we didn’t work together this time, this thing would just end up killing us. Even if it was for the last time, Liz—let’s fight side by side.

I charged at the infected adventurers as best I could, my leg burning with pain, but I had to endure for now. I struck the first one hard, sending him flying, then dodged another’s attack and grabbed him to hurl him into the others. But then my concentration faltered, and the mana in my leg vanished for a moment, causing me sharp pain—something they tried to exploit. Yet Liz’s spells stopped them.

“Focus, Naoya! Feel your mana, I’ll cover you!” she shouted.

Following her guidance, I closed my eyes and searched within myself for the light of my mana while she kept attacking the adventurers. Her spells didn’t seem as powerful as the ones in the cave, surely in an attempt to manage her mana better.

The Treetalon stopped focusing on me and instead set its gaze on Liz. With a roar, the infected adventurers began heading toward her. However, I was already prepared.

“Hey!” I yelled, grabbing one of the adventurers and throwing him at the monster. “You’ll lay a hand on her over my dead body!”

Once again, the Treetalon sent its infected against me. They all struck with their weapons, blows I barely managed to dodge, taking a few superficial cuts, but I couldn’t afford to fail. If I fell, Liz would be next. I had promised Lui that I’d protect his sister, so I couldn’t let myself fall here.

I struck down the infected adventurers one after another, accumulating damage little by little, and finally, thanks also to Liz’s covering fire, we dealt with them all, leaving them unconscious but not dead. I still held hope that there was salvation for them.

Now without his bodyguards, the Treetalon roared in fury and lunged at me, trying to strike.

“Liz, charge your attack—I’ll find you an opening!”

“Yes!”

I dodged the monster’s blows one after another, blocking others and feeling each impact shake my entire body, almost as if I could collapse at any moment. But I had to keep going… Just a little more!

Growing desperate for not being able to bring me down, the Treetalon once again extended its whips and lashed from the side—but I had been waiting for this. I took the attack head-on, resisted as best I could, grabbed the whip tightly, and then ran to circle around the monster. It tried to strike me with the whips of its other arm, but I managed to dodge them—barely.

I circled the Treetalon several times, using its own whip to bind it; luckily it was long enough. Finally, the monster was completely restrained. It struggled to break free at all costs, but by channeling mana into my arms, I increased my grip strength. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste.

“Now, Liz!”

“Ferazka. Bravûm Therenil. Taryon Nalur. Gronthar Therenil…” she chanted as she rushed toward the monster. Her ability to concentrate was truly impressive.

Just like before, a luminous green spear began to form, which alerted the Treetalon, who started thrashing in an attempt to escape. But using every ounce of strength I had left, reinforced with mana, I held it down. As soon as Liz got close enough, she finally struck.

“Spiritual Spear!” she cried.

The spear shot from her hands and pierced directly into the monster’s body, right at the cracked spot I had been striking before, going straight through. Shortly after, the Treetalon stopped moving and collapsed, the ground trembling slightly beneath its size and weight.

There was no sign of life left in that thing. We had won.

The infected adventurers, who had tried to get back up earlier to aid the monster, suddenly fell as well and stopped moving.

“Tha…nk you…” whispered one of them—the same one who had asked me to kill him before.

It was likely that the only thing keeping them alive had been the monster’s spores to protect itself, and once it fell, they were finally freed. But the state of their bodies was obvious. They weren’t going to survive, yet at least now they could rest.

“I thought we weren’t going to make it…” Liz said with relief. “I had to adjust the distance so I wouldn’t waste all my mana on that attack… Naoya!?”

Thud

But as she spoke, I began to lose consciousness until I finally collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion.

“I’ll be fine… I just need… to rest,” I answered, closing my eyes and letting the weariness take me.

That was way too close.

***

Ever since I arrived in this world, it had become rather common to find myself surrounded by darkness at some point, even since the very moment I first woke here. However, this time felt different—it felt warmer.

Far in the distance, a light could be seen, and since it was the only thing around, I decided to follow it. I walked for a while, and when I was just about to reach it, it vanished.

“…Damn it,” I muttered under my breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ahhh!” I screamed in fright.

Behind me stood a glowing girl, literally glowing. She had long white hair, a flowing white dress full of golden trims and decorations matching her eyes of the same color, and a veil that made her face a little hard to see—but even so, it was clear she was incredibly beautiful.

“Who… are you?” I asked, confused. “Wait, that voice…”

The girl nodded at my realization. It was the same feminine voice I had heard on different occasions, especially before awakening in this world. I had so many questions at that moment, but they were so overwhelming that I couldn’t bring myself to ask anything; I only stammered, unable to sort my thoughts.

“Who…? What…? Why…?”

“Hero, please…” the girl said as she bowed deeply. “Save this world,” she asked in a calm tone.

I had thought that meeting the voice that had followed me ever since I awoke in this world would clear up my doubts—but it only left me with more.

Hero? Save the world? What the hell is she talking about?

Seeing my expression, which was surely one of extreme confusion, the girl fell silent for a moment, then, without changing her indifferent face, spoke again.

“… Perhaps I should introduce myself first, right?” she asked.

What the hell is wrong with this girl? Her incredibly relaxed demeanor and empty expression made her seem as if she were sedated or drugged.

“I am…”

However, just as she was about to introduce herself, the light around her began to fade. I would even say she herself started to disappear little by little.

“Oh… it seems the connection isn’t stable yet,” she explained. “There’s no time. Please, seek the elves. They will help you.”

“Wait, wait! I don’t understand anything! Elves, what do you mean!?” I cried out, but she grew more and more transparent.

“This will help you…”

Then, she brought her face close to mine and pressed her forehead against mine. It was so sudden I had no time to process it, for right after that, a powerful light burst from the touch, illuminating all the darkness.

The girl had vanished, and the darkness was replaced by a familiar room. It was the inn room where I had been staying. I tried to get up, but I was still in incredible pain.

“Ow, ow!”

“Eh!?” exclaimed Liz, who had been sitting beside me and had just woken up. “You’re awake!”

“Yes, though everything hurts…” I said with a laugh, but she didn’t laugh back. Instead, her expression turned more serious than I had ever seen.

“… Naoya, we need to talk.”