New Enemy

“C?” spat Kai, blood dribbling from his mouth. His eyes lowered to the spike piercing him all the way to the other side. “You… son of a bitch,” he hissed, then collapsed.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“No… no… no, no!” Mana yelled from inside the cage.

“KAI!” I myself shouted as well.

I’d known Kai for a long time now.

In fact, he must have been the person who retained the longest “relationship” with me. The word being relative, of course.

Boys either hit up on me, ogled me, bullied me or ignored me. Girls would sometimes approach me but inevitably end up hating me, too.

While with Kai it was barely more than a passing acquaintance, he always seemed reliable to me. Even when I treated everyone coldly, he’d still greet me every morning.

As for C… well, he seemed like a harmless nerd.

Now, he actually wore a smile after brutally killing his friend. How did that make any sense?

“Ah, Saga—don’t get the wrong idea here. I have my memories back from my previous summoning, so it’s all clear to me. Look at Kai.”

He gestured toward Kai’s mangled body—or at least where it was supposed to be.

Strangely, it was gone.

“Hah…?” I uttered.

“I know how it looks like—but get this! If we’re killed here, what actually happens is that we get sent right back to our own world!” C explained. He sounded like this was all a game to him. “Haha, isn’t it funny? We didn’t even need Mana or anything, we could have left whenever we wanted to. You can even say I did Kai a favor!”

“A favor?” I asked. “Do you actually think this counts as a favor?”

Even if what he said was true—and I had no particular reason to trust him right now—that didn’t negate anything about what just happened.

“Killing your own friend in cold blood?”

C actually started laughing at that. “A friend? Is that what it looked like to you?” he asked. “Saga, I thought you were a bit more cynical than that? He probably just found me mildly entertaining, that’s all. And I always, always hated him. So no, we weren’t friends at all. Considering all that, it’s actually extremely kind of me to send him home, just like he wanted to. He won’t remember anything from here anyway.

“Now, Saga, really—what’s wrong with you? You were a total ice queen this entire journey until now. Well, I do admit getting you to show any emotions at all is hot.”

I felt a fire blaze into being within my eyes.

Somewhat similarly to how I always felt whenever I fought—but with a different flavor, this time.

It was like and unlike me. Mostly unlike me, considering what I ended up saying next.

“I really thought… all three of us were friends.”

I couldn’t blame C for momentarily looking shocked after hearing that. I couldn’t really fault him for laughing again too, even if his laughter was grating to my ears.

This was how I always lived.

Even when I tried making friends, they’d end up being put off by my behavior and lack of visible emotions.

Even when I dyed my hair to make it less flashy, even when I tied it to braids, even when I wore ugly glasses, I was never able to make real companions.

Here, though…

Here I thought that things might actually be different.

In this world, where I could be myself—where I could fulfill my curse, thirst and ability for battle.

C was somewhat of a jerk, true, but he was also clever and appreciated this world for the opportunities it brought.

Kai could also be a little rude at times, but he was also kind-hearted and caring in spite of his reluctance to participate in this adventure.

Slowly but surely, I felt as if I was getting along with them—even sharing some jokes and telling them about myself a little.

Was I really that stupid?

Having suppressed my emotions for so long, it was hard for me to express them properly. Even now the rage I was feeling at Kai’s apparent death probably only manifested as the flames in my eyes, invisible to anyone but myself.

“Oh, man. That’s hilarious, Saga. Did you actually feel like that all along? Could have fooled me.”

There was no more need to talk. I took a side glance at the cage near us—Mana looked lethargic and despondent. She was conscious and watching us, but it was almost as if she lost the will to live.

I had to save her.

But first of all, I had to do something else.

“I’ll cut you down now,” I announced, raising Tarisha again.

C—no, Three—smiled. “Really? There’s no need for us to fight. I don’t want to have to send you back,” he said. “I’d rather you be my wife now.”

“Hah? Excuse me?”

“I’ve had my eyes on you since the very beginning… yes, even during my previous incarnation here, I thought about you a lot. You’re special. None of the women here are as incredible as you. I want you to be my empress.”

“What a sick joke,” I spat.

“It’s not a joke at all. Why wouldn’t you want something like this? Once I take my rightful throne again, I’ll be able to give you anything and everything you want. Don’t you see, Saga? You’ll be able to have as much fighting and bloodshed as you want.”

C really was stupid.

Hadn’t he asked me this question once before?

Well, I couldn’t fault him for not understanding my motives—considering not even I was able to accomplish that.

“Hah,” I spat. “If you really think that’s some sort of pickup line, think again. Idiot. Loser.”

I did not like using such words, but at some point during my life it became natural. Since people viewed me as a cold bitch, I almost naturally became so.

As expected, C was not pleased at my response. Even his smug smile started gradually melting away.

“Hmm. So you’re actually going to stand against me?” he said, stepping forward and over the fat man’s corpse. “That wouldn’t be wise, Saga.”

As if I cared.

From the very moment we stepped into this world, we were given a challenge—come to think about it, that was probably Three’s own voice. I still didn’t know how that entire thing worked, but I also didn’t care very much.

My mission was simple.

Defeat the three warriors called One, Two and Three.

Well, here we are. After all these twists since we started looking for him, I was finally able to face against none other than Three.

It was time to kill him and finish this quest once and for all.