A Conclusion (II)

Nothing.

No tendrils of red snaked up my arm, no bolts of crimson energy burst from my body, nothing. Just the wheezing sound of my heavy breaths as I gasped for air, and the bitter heat that corroded the insides of my body, destructively pent-up with nowhere to escape.

“Just kidding.” A hair’s breadth from Martha’s arm, Nobelys pulled his foot away with a wry smile, before clapping his hands once. At this instruction, the wind magic binding Martha’s body disappeared, and she slumped into an unmoving position at his feet. “It’s not coming out, is it? Your ‘secret’ power.”

My heart rate was already falling back down in response to my deep breaths, and as the adrenaline faded away, my muscles suddenly ached even more than before. “What… happened?”

“Come on. Did you really think that I would just challenge you to a duel without any preparation? I’d only engage in a fight with you unless I was absolutely sure I could win.” Nobelys shook his head. “If I’m being perfectly honest with you, this wasn’t even intended to be a ‘fight’ in the first place. Nothing but a belated execution.”

As I hung there in the air, wordlessly smoldering within the tendrils of wind magic that still wrapped tightly around my lower body, Nobelys stalked closer to me. Then, raising his arm, the cage of wind carried me down to his eye level.

“You see, when the Blue Phoenix Project was developed in Onimus, their goal was to develop an army of human weapons stronger than even the naturally born blue-haired mages, which could easily be mass-produced from regular people. Along with a higher-than-average magic potential, these prototypes were given the mysterious power to tap directly into their magical potential as a destructive force, like the concept of work energy but heightened many, many times.” When Nobelys spoke, his voice sounded almost wistful, like that of an aged man telling an enchanting story to his grandchildren.

“However, the strength that they instilled in the soldiers were far beyond what the leading researchers had ever imagined, enough that the test subjects could easily grow too powerful for Onimus to even control. Fearing that the Blue Phoenix prototypes would stage something along the lines of a coup d’état, the king of Onimus had the project forcibly shut down before the test subjects could develop to such a level. And of the hundred prototypes, only one ever managed to successfully escape the grasps of Onimus’ Blue Phoenix extermination,” Nobelys drawled in a revoltingly sweet tone, patronizingly running his fingers through my tousled blue hair. “But you must understand, no matter how remarkably powerful your strength may be, it is something that was given to you artificially.”

Reaching into the depths of his robe, among the Manalite crystals that lined his leather belt, Nobleys procured an odd-looking vial. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the object was not in actuality a vial but a syringe, and an empty one at that. Holding the syringe up to my face, Nobelys flicked the surface of the glass, and I could see the last few drops of pinkish liquid pool at the bottom. “As long as something is given artificially, it can be taken away in the same way. Though this serum regrettably didn’t have the effect of removing your increased magical potential, one dose of it was more than enough to completely erase that special ability of yours.”

“That’s not possible. When the hell could you have –” Coming to a sudden realization, my fatigued voice trailed off. He knew about where I was being captured. Did he inject that stuff while I was still unconscious?

“Have you comprehended your current situation at last? Your chances of defeating me were nothing from the start.” Standing just far enough away from me so that I was outside his Manalite’s area of effect, Nobelys grinned widely, basking in his own power. “Considering the pathetically limited level of magic you can muster, without your hidden boon, any chance of victory you might have had is now –”

“You knew I wouldn’t have been able to activate the power.” Without even the energy to summon the feeling of anger, I was virtually pleading to him. “Why… did you have to hurt Martha?”

“To feel your despair.” Nobelys’ answer was without hesitation.

“What?”

“I wanted you to struggle to protect something you cared about. I wanted you to give in to your anger in order to protect that thing, and then realize that even your readiness to accept your rage wouldn’t be enough to defeat me.” His eyes suffused with loathing, Nobelys glared me down. “Before you died, I wanted you to feel the same despair I felt, facing an enemy you knew you couldn’t win against.”

Silently, I let my body go limp, no longer wrestling against the invisible chains that held me in place. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have the energy to fight back. Because, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that he was right. No matter how you looked at it, there was no situation where I would be able to emerge victorious. There’s no way I could defeat him using only my brute physical strength, especially after I’ve already been weakened by magic fatigue, while a desperate bid of going after the Manalite on his belt is far too risky. If I failed, Martha’s life would no doubt be in jeopardy. And even if by some miracle I could still use magic, she’s lying too close to Nobelys for me to attack. Any magic spell strong enough to overpower his healing factor would also be enough to fatally injure her.

“After…” The sound of my voice was one that belonged to a defeated man, someone who had given in completely. “After you kill me, just promise me that you’ll leave Martha alone.”

“Spare the girl?” Delighted at my total resignation, Nobelys mulled over my request, whimsically rubbing his chin all the while. “If you get down on your knees and beg, I’ll consider it. I might even throw in a quick, painless death for you.”

“Fine. I accept.” Pride, dignity, none of that mattered to me anymore. I’d gladly give my life if it meant atoning for all the lives I had taken in the past, but seeing Martha lying there wounded like that, I felt an indescribable feeling of guilt weighing on my back. I knew that it was entirely my fault that she got pulled into this, so it was the very least I could do to secure her safety.

With a satisfied nod, Nobelys clapped his hands again, and the wind surrounding me disappeared. Feeling the wet grass beneath my knees, I knelt downwards as my muscles continued to ache, slowly pressing my forehead to the soft turf. But the moment before I decided to open my mouth, something glimmered on the inside of my undershirt.

From the position I was in, I knew that Nobelys couldn’t see me, so I peered back at the sparkling ruby light. That’s… a Manalite necklace, isn’t it? Couldn’t I just use it to fight off Nobelys?

No, of course not. My common sense automatically rejected this statement, instantly speaking out against this. The only thing that I can use this necklace for is returning to my old world. That’s been my goal all this time, hasn’t it? Right, I need it for getting back.

Yes, getting… back.

“What’s taking so long, huh?” I heard Nobelys voice inquire from above. “You agreed to beg for the girl’s life. Let’s hear it.”

But, why was it again that I wanted to return to my old world in the first place? Frowning, I moved my right arm to my chest bit by bit, my fingers closing around the cool surface of the crystal. Was it to regain my magic? My power? My fame? That seems like the obvious answer, but then, why would I want any of those things?

“Are you trying to mock me?” The longer I stayed silent, the more irritated Nobelys grew. “If you keep kneeling there without saying a word, I’ll kill both you and your friend.”

It’s because those things gave me an easy life, of course. What am I thinking? I began to shake my head, but stopped midway, as memories started to flood my head. The days that I spent constantly on the run, effortlessly tearing apart military bases and hiding out from resentful kingdom forces. Getting drunk in clamorous taverns, and gambling away all the money I looted from officials. Roaming from town to town as an unstoppable force of nature, never bound by anyone’s rules. With my overwhelming strength, I could have anything that I wanted. Yes, that was how I spent day after day in my old world, but… was that a fulfilling life?

Was I ever actually… happy?

More memories flooded in, but these were more recent. Much more mundane, and yet, much more vivid. Long hours at the Oasis, engaging in casual banter with the Chris and Kin. Sipping from those strange canned beverages, and relishing in the ease in which I could defeat Connor and Jasmine at cards. Always returning to that same cramped apartment each night, watching those cheesy television shows as Martha gradually dozed off at my side.

Yes… There was only one other time in my life that felt lively in the same way, and that was back in my old world, when I was taken under the wing of the Scrappers. My fingers tightened around the necklace, as I came to a certain conclusion.

Magic, power, fame; None of that is a requirement to be happy here. Just by living life as a normal person on Earth, my life was livelier than that of any old mage or magic caster. All this time, I only ever needed to surround myself with people that I cared about to be happy. People that I could laugh with, fight with, play with. People I could call… friends.

I said that I would be happy to give my life, but now I understand that’s not true. Even if it’s selfish, I want to keep on living. I want to spend more time here, on this planet. My muscles bunching up, I prepared myself for one final burst of energy. At this point, I didn’t care what it took, even if it meant I couldn’t go back anymore. Because…

Because, somewhere along the line, I started caring more about this world than my own.

With a roar of determined resolve, I burst up from my kneeling position, crushing my Manalite necklace with my right hand. The ruby crystal shattered with a little shockwave, and its lightning-powered contents came spilling out from inside, imbuing my body with a rush of energy. The roiling pink-purple mist continued to overflow from the shattered vessel, amassing into an aura that surrounded my right fist.

Nobelys recoiled a little at first, as he was surely taken by surprise, but he recovered his stance almost immediately. Extending his two fingers, he viciously lashed out his right arm. “You should have just stayed down, Conqaide!”

I’m not going to make it. As I tore through the distance between me and Nobelys, I instantly knew that I was too far away. Watching Nobelys wind his arm back, preparing to unleash a lethal blade of wind, I recognized that it would hit me before I could reach him. I’m not going to make it, but –

“Perpetual Shock!”

With a flash of bright light, a sudden slew of brilliant yellow lightning bolts erupted from Nobelys’ side. His automatic Magic Shield activating instantaneously, the jagged bolts of curving energy sparked harmlessly off the smooth pink barrier, but it was enough for Nobelys to twist his body in surprise. Turning his body, his eyes almost looked like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. “What –”

At his feet, with a glistening pink crystal tightly clutched within her bloody fist, was Martha. As the final tiny bolts of residual energy finished crackling from around the crystal, she glanced up at me with a debilitated grin, the chunk of Manalite already slipping from her grasp. “You’re… welcome.”

Her eyes rolling up into her head, Martha finally fell unconscious, and her body toppled backwards. Nobelys’ eyes quickly darted to his belt, and he sucked in a sharp intake of breath as he noticed one of the slots was empty. As his eyes widened in a sudden panic, he only just then seemed to remember that I was still barreling towards him. Rapidly twisting his body, Nobelys made a desperate attempt to fling his arm out, but it was already too late.

Slamming my foot down on the ground, I smashed my fist hard into his gut, feeling it sink deep into his lanky body. “Magical Destruction!”

At my command, a light purple sphere of energy exploded out from my fist, enveloping the both of us in a lavender hue. From inside the sphere, bolts of harsh purple light sparked out from the interior surface, piercing through me, Nobelys, as well as Martha’s unconscious form. Swinging my arm out in a final movement, I knocked Nobelys’ body a distance away, and he crashed down onto the asphalt.

The purple sphere faded away, leaving me standing on the soft green grass, breathing heavily. Then, I flung my arm out, scattering the tiny shards of ruby crystal onto the ground beneath me. “Tier 5 spell. No magic remaining.”

Then, there was a wheezing sound from the area in front of me. Clutching his stomach, I watched as Nobelys propped himself up with a little bit of difficulty.

“W-Well.” Patting down his dusty robes, he didn’t look to be in perfect shape, but for the most part looked relieved to know that he was somehow still alive. “I don’t know what you were trying to pull there, but it seems as though it didn’t work.”

As I continued to face him in silence, Nobelys seemed to regain some of his original cockiness. “Whatever the case, you’re out of magic now, so let’s put an end to this farce. This is the end, Conqaide!”

Pulling his arm back, Nobelys glared at me with that bloodthirsty expression, before he thrust it ferociously in my direction. “Gale Scythe!”

And I just stood there, unmoving. However, I wasn’t sliced apart by an unstoppable blade of wind magic. In fact, nothing happened at all.

With a brief look of confusion, Nobelys repeated those same motions without missing a beat, but the result was still the same. He waved his arms in front of him, extending his fingers and grabbing at the air, to no avail. And after the first few seconds, a look of total panic began to seep into his face.

“Hey, Nobelys. You said you wanted an honorable fight, fair and square, right?” Slowly moving a single step towards him, my muscles felt like they were being bound by red-hot chains, but I had regained enough energy to at least stand without collapsing. As such, I raised my horribly aching arms, gradually settling into a fighting stance. “Come on, then. Fight me, man to man.”

“What… what?” Lifting up his silky cloak, Nobelys frantically checked his Manalite belt, and his eyes grew even more frantic when he realized everything was where it was supposed to be. “What the hell did you do?”

“Well, I thought about what you said, and realized you were absolutely correct. Given how things were, there was no possible way that I could hope to defeat you in a contest of magic.” With a smirk, I ran my finger over my throat. “So, I asked myself, why not just remove that factor altogether? If I destroyed both our access to magic, wouldn’t that even the playing field?”

“You did what?” Stumbling backwards, Nobelys’ voice filled with mania, as he tightly grasped his flowing silver hair within his fist. “No, no! No! Do you have any idea what I sacrificed, how many years I studied and trained? You can’t just take my magic away!”

“A fight can’t get any ‘fairer’ than this,” I grinned, biting down on my lip to stave off the pain. “No tricks, no magic, nothing but skill.”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Without our magic, neither one of us will ever be able to return! Y-You’re an idiot, Conqaide!” In the midst of his breakdown, Nobelys let of a despairing laugh. “What did you call yourself, a god? With your idiocy, you’ve brought yourself down to the same level as those filthy commoners! Forget being a god, you’re nothing more than every other magic-deficient insect on this rotten goddamn planet!”

“No, you’re wrong. Like how I was back then, your flimsy god-complex is only backed by the magical power you hold, but I’ve changed my view since that point.” Without breaking eye contact with Nobelys, I began to walk towards him. “Because, unlike you, the name I was given is one that honors and carries the name of an olden god. And I may have once forgotten, but my time here has reminded me of the promise I made to her all those years ago.”

“Promise? What the hell are you talking about?”

“So, it doesn’t matter whether I’m here or back home. It doesn’t matter if people think I’m a respectable magic caster or an ordinary restaurant worker. And it doesn’t matter if I’m strong, weak, or even someone who can’t use magic.” My blood oozing from the wound in my left arm, I started to feel faint, but I still stood there defiantly. Despite the burning in my throat or the throbbing in my muscles, I crossed my arms and yelled out at the top of my lungs.

“It doesn’t matter who I am! Because as long as I continue to stand as the man named Donnelius Conqaide, I will always be a god!”

Upon hearing this, with an intense cry of frustration, Nobelys sprinted forward and wildly lashed out at me. It was similar to that of a child throwing a tantrum; the desperate actions of someone who couldn’t accept an outcome that didn’t appeal to them, and yet couldn’t do anything to change the circumstances. Unfolding my arms, I prepared to meet his assault.

His fist flew out to at my head, which I blocked with my right arm. But following it up immediately, Nobelys shot a punch out at my injured arm, and I stumbled backwards. Another blow flew towards me, but this time I managed to knock it away before it could hit.

Although Nobelys’ body was in a much better shape than mine, he was really just firing off random jabs and kicks. In contrast, my body could barely move, but I was backed with years of close-range combat experience. With a thin smile, I wiped the sweat off my forehead. Truly, this is an even match.

We carried on trading blows, with Nobelys rapidly striking my body over and over, as I tried to fend off the blows that would actually deal substantial damage. Often times I would try to raise my right arm to block, only to find that my body was too fatigued to comply. In those cases, Nobelys would score a hit on my side or stomach, pushing the air from my lungs.

With a scowl, Nobelys swept his foot down at my legs, hoping to trip me down. Sidestepping, I darted up to his now off-balance body, hooking my fist around and landing a solid hit to his torso. This caused Nobelys to fall back a bit, but he moved back in quicker than I could react and rammed his knuckles into my jaw with a roar. But his amateurish punch failed to maximize the damage, and I retaliated with the same attack, though it only glanced off his head.

Hit, block, hit. A punch to the chest, a kick to the thigh. Without the help of work energy, close-range combat was a dizzying, painful ordeal. It seemed like each successful hit would be instantly reciprocated with a blow from the other, until the amount of hits each side dealt and received were almost equal.

However, ever so slowly, the scales began to tip in favor of one side. Though his initial physical condition held a significant advantage, Nobelys was beginning to tire himself out, especially owing to the fact that his wild attacks were harboring on berserk. My skill in this type of combat meant that I ultimately took less damage, even in my weakened state. And without the magically-enhanced rate of regeneration he was used to, Nobelys was being worn down, bit by bit.

Finally failing to react to one of my strong punches, I managed to slug Nobelys’ torso with a hard blow, and he was too dazed to properly counter. Taking advantage of this, with a deep growl, I continued to whale on him with my one good arm. Left, right, then left again. Nobelys’ body was knocked back again and again, and he stumbled further and further backwards each time, unable to do anything more than staying on his feet.

Beads of glistening sweat dripping from my entire body, I slammed my fist into Nobelys’ already-charred silken robes, knocking him down against the line of crushed police cars. As his back crumpled up against the faded metal, Nobelys’ eyes stared up at me in an unfocused, disoriented manner.

Breathing hard, I sluggishly approached him, the knuckles on my fist chafed from so many repeated punches. Watching me slowly get closer and closer, a strangled sound issued from Nobelys’ throat as he attempted to push his body back up, his bony arms trembling with the effort. But something suddenly seemed to catch his eye, he lurched to the side, madly grasping at whatever he had noticed on the cracked asphalt. I tried to lean in for a closer look, but I froze abruptly as Nobelys suddenly surfaced with the dull black barrel of a standard-issue police handgun. Damn it! From the explosion –

One of his eyes swelled half-open, he wiped the spittle off his lips, grinning with a deranged light in his eyes. As Nobelys’ trigger hand wavered in the air and his sight locked down on me maliciously, I realized at once that there would be no chance at negotiation. Springing forward, I frantically leapt to seize the firearm when he pulled the trigger.

There was a deafening bang, and my ears rang painfully, but I didn’t feel anything other than that. Cracking open my eyelids that I had intuitively squeezed shut, I found the tip of the gun smoking, its half-melted barrel pointed just a tiny interval to the left of my body.

Lashing out my foot on instinct, it connected with Nobelys’ wrist, forcing his hand to convulse and drop the weapon. Spinning across the floor, it bumped against my other shoe and stopped, the end still leaking the smallest traces of smoke. Dazed from the near-death experience, I stared down at the gun in a state of disbelief, my heart throbbing painfully in my chest. It was just a stroke of luck that he missed me due to his disorientation. If his accuracy had been a little better, and he had hit me from that range…

With a hiss, Nobelys scrambled for the gun that had slid over me, but I scooped it up before he had the chance to make it over. As I pointed the barrel straight at him, we stared at each other in silence for a few tense seconds, both of us frozen in place and sorely gasping for air.

Then, my grip finally tightened on the handgun, and I narrowed my eyes. “Enough. I’m sick of this.”

Pressing down on the trigger, the air rang out with a series of resounding bangs, my arm shuddering from the recoil of each shot. Firmly gunning down the trigger over and over, countless shining shells were forcefully ejected from the side of the handgun, falling with metallic clinks onto the ground beneath me. Six, eight, ten shots were fired in this way, until the magazine was fully emptied. The handgun began emitting empty clicking noises, and my finger pulled away from the trigger at long last, the barrel of the gun letting out a thick stream of hot smoke. Looking down grimly at my handiwork, I relaxed my arm, letting the gun fall to my side.

As the smoke cleared, Nobelys haltingly blinked open his tightly shut eyes, before noticing that the piece of metal just a few inches from his head was riddled through with bullet holes. Slowly opening his parched lips, he whispered out a faint question. “Why… am I alive?”

I gave no response, and as I continued to stare down at Nobelys’ curled-up form, his voice began to fill with dread. “Hey, I asked you a question, Conqaide! Why the hell am I still alive?”

The more I refused to talk, the more desperate he became. Collapsing back on the side of the caved-in police car, Nobelys’ breathing grew quicker and more sporadic, as he pointed a quivering finger at me.

“Did you forget? I’m the one who killed your mentor! I’m the one who tortured your friend, and burned down her shelter! I’m –” He heatedly swept his arms out towards the overturned, demolished line of police cars behind him. “I’m the one who killed all these people!”

Again, he was met with silence.

“Y-You, you think sparing me is going make you some kind of compassionate hero, Conqaide? You think showing mercy one time will atone for any of your sins?” Nobelys let out a hopeless bout of laughter, his eyes turning blurred and indistinct. “No, it won’t! Eli, Aberon, and all those kingdom soldiers, you killed them all without thinking twice, didn’t you? Even just a few moments ago, you tried to burn a hole through my torso! You’re nothing more than a goddamn murderer, and no matter what you do, you always will be!”

“I know that much.” I stated calmly, without ever looking away from him.

“If you know it, then…” Madly stumbling forward, Nobelys dragged his way across the street, crawling over and grabbing on tightly to the hem of my pants. “Why won’t you kill me?”

Seeing how I lapsed back into muteness, Nobelys furiously leapt up and grabbed ahold of the handgun in my grip. Exposing a forehead that was slick with sweat, he slammed the barrel of the gun against it.

“Kill me! Kill me!” Wrapping his fingers around, Nobelys thrust his fingers through the handgun’s trigger guard, forcing down the trigger along with my index finger. As Nobelys futilely squeezed down, the gun let out two or three more of those empty clicks, before his grip on the gun loosened. His fingers sliding off the side of the gun, Nobelys reverted to that same energy-drained state of his from before, tears of frustration running down his grimy face. “I’m begging you…”

Breathing out a deep, drawn-out sigh, I pulled the barrel of the gun away from Nobelys’ forehead. “Why should I have to listen to the requests of a villain? If you think I’m kind enough to let you take the easy way out and escape from the consequences of your actions, you’re dead wrong.”

Falling to the floor, Nobelys clenched his fists hard enough that his nails dug into his palms, resenting tears dotting the street beneath him. Dropping my combat stance, I folded my arms.

“Besides… I told you, didn’t I? I’m sick of this.” With the hand that gripped the gun, I gestured in the direction of Nobelys’ crying form. “Sick of having to kill people, having to take lives.”

As I spoke, Nobelys hesitantly glanced up at me, and I breathed outwards as I saw the perplexed expression on this tear-stained face.

“Just so we’re clear, this doesn’t mean that I’ve forgiven you. In contrast, I actually hate you so damn much that I can’t even put it into words properly. You can be executed, locked up forever, whatever. You deserve it. Just…” I shook my head, and then rubbed my temples. “Leave that to the police force to decide. Because, now that I’m being given a choice, I just… don’t want to kill anyone ever again. I’ve had enough.”

Upon hearing this, Nobelys’ constrained sobs began to stop. No, actually, his tears never exactly did come to an end. Rather, they started mixing in with a low laughter, which grew louder and stronger with every passing second. But it wasn’t the same twisted, grief-stricken laughter as before, but a laugh that rang out loud and clear. Staring up at me with an irritated grin, Nobelys used the edge of his soiled robes to wipe the tears from his face, pushing the dirty strands of silver hair away from his sweaty forehead with his hand.

“The world sure is cruel, isn’t it? Three times I’ve fought you, and three times I’ve been completely and utterly defeated.” With a sigh, Nobelys’ azure eyes were finally filled with clarity, and he gave a reluctantly accepting smile. “You know… maybe I’m just fated to lose against you, Conqaide.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Holding out my arm, I lifted the handgun up into the air. Then, in one swift motion, I slammed the butt of it hard into Nobelys’ head.

Immediately falling unconscious, Nobelys toppled backwards, silently crumpling onto the side of the police car. Then, tossing the handgun onto the floor, I closed my eyes and languidly turned my head to look up into the air.

It’s… finally over.

If I was being honest, I wanted to just collapse right there on the spot and fall into a deep, deep slumber. But I knew that there were still some things that I had to take care of, and so I begrudgingly got to work.

Ripping off another piece of my already-torn undershirt, I tightly wrapped the wound in my left arm again, making sure that it was secured properly this time. Then, I dragged myself over to where Nobelys’ blacked-out figure had fainted, and began rummaging around the shells of the police cars. It wasn’t long before I emerged with a charred pair of handcuffs, which were slightly warped from the heat of the explosion, but looked like they would serve their purpose. Handcuffs were still rather unfamiliar to me, but after several unsuccessful attempts, I was able to get the cuff to lock around Nobelys’ arm. Soundly securing Nobelys’ body to a light pole on the side of the road, I wiped my moist palms down on my pants. As the thick crimson barrier of Tempest Field started to flake away from its crest, I felt a few rays of warm sunlight shine down on my face from the cracks in the dome, as if assuring me that everything was okay.

And now that the life-threatening urgency of the crisis was beginning to wear off, my mental state was slowly but surely returning to normal. As such, when I cast my eyes back over to the torn-up plaza, I suddenly felt my heart seize up.

Martha!

Instantly forgetting about everything else, I stumbled across to where her body was lying, barely noticing the burning pain in my muscles. Quickly turning her body over, I laid her out over my lap, her head resting on my arm. Grabbing her shoulder with my right hand, I tried to shake her back into consciousness. “Martha? Martha!”

Seeing no response, I cursed under my breath, gently lowering her body down. Continuing to tear pieces of fabric off my shirt, I began to bind the oozing wounds on Martha’s palms and feet in order to stop the bleeding. Just as I finished binding the wound on her left hand, Martha’s pale face scrunched up, and she wearily peeked open her eyelids.

“What… happened?” She whispered, before her eyes widened as she laid eyes on me. “Don?”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to worry anymore.” At the sight of her motionless body speaking again, my body was once again flooded with raw emotion. But, unlike before, it wasn’t despair. Nor was it anger, or even guilt. As I looked upon her face, I was only filled with a sense of relief beyond compare. “We’re… safe now.”

At this, a thin line of tears began to spill out from Martha’s eyes, and she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. As she buried her head into my torso, I placed a hand lightly over her trembling body, and I got the feeling that she was doing everything she could to not fall apart. “I was… really scared…”

“I know, Martha. You did real well.” As I held her in my embrace, I wasn’t sure whether I was the one comforting her or if it was the other way around. I had almost forgotten, but as her warmth spread through my body, I was reminded that Martha really was just an ordinary person in this world. An ordinary person who should never have had to suffer this much. How is it that someone so strong can also… seem so fragile? “Real damn well.”

As her breathing returned to normal and body stopped quivering, Martha released me from her grasp, and I laid her back down. While I moved my fingers over to brush the hair out of her face, Martha opened her mouth to speak. “How… did you do it? You were out of magic, weren’t you? Not to mention, that guy said he took away your power…”

“Yeah, I have to admit, it was looking pretty hopeless. But I realized that if I couldn’t defeat him using the magic that I had, I’d be better off removing magic from the equation entirely. So, I used my Manalite necklace to destroy his access to magic, and kind of just went from there.” Fingering the necklace hanging out of my shirt, my fingers traced the end of it, where the tiny piece of metal that once secured the crystal remained. With a profound sigh, I dropped the metal nib, shrugging my shoulders. “Of course, that also meant I had to destroy my own magic in the process, but that was a necessary sacrifice.”

“What?” Her eyes widening, Martha shot up from my lap. “But, without your magic, you won’t be able to return –”

A sudden wave of pain seemed to shoot through her body, and she fell back with a cry, cringing in agony.

“Take it easy!” Hurriedly catching her with an arm, I lowered her back down all the way. Then, closing my eyes, I gave a nod of acknowledgement. “Yeah, I know that. With my magic gone, paired with Nobelys’ planet-wide Area Lock, my chances of returning to my old world have effectively become zero.”

“O-Oh.” Looking up at me with an apologetic expression, Martha slowly lowered her eyelids, before she glanced away from me. “Um, I’m sorry about that.”

“But you know…” Seeing her reaction, I shook my head, and then breathed outward deeply. “I don’t really mind. If I can continue to peacefully live out my days on this planet, and spend more time with you and the others… I’ll be more than happy.”

“So… you’re really staying?”

“Yeah, whether I like it or not,” I chuckled, scratching the back of my head. “I guess whether I made the right decision or not is up to you guys. Though… I have a feeling that it’s going to be worth it.”

I felt rather satisfied with this statement, as it left me sounding like some kind of competent storybook protagonist, but Martha was staring at me with a look in her eyes that I couldn’t quite comprehend. I was about to ask her about it, but then she reached up with one of her blood-soaked hands, tenderly placing it over my cheek. And I don’t know why, but this action started to make my heart race. “W-What?”

“Hey, Don.” Propping herself up, Martha gazing at me with those same distant eyes, before using her hand to softly drag my head closer to her. “Can I… do something really selfish?”

Huh? Huh? Wait, what? Something selfish… she doesn’t mean what I think she means, does she? My pulse increased faster as faster as we drew closer, and I felt my face start to heat up. No, no, there’s no way! I mean, this is Martha we’re talking about! Or… is there? I don’t know!

“Um, y-yeah, sure,” I answered without thinking, as my thoughts devolved into a perfectly jumbled mess.

“Really?” Martha gave me a happy look, as she brought my face down to her eye level. “Thank you.”

Why? Was it because I mentioned I wasn’t planning on leaving anymore? Well, I guess under that light her actions would make sense, but… I swallowed, the inside of my chest burning as I stared at Martha’s face in front of me. Bottom line, a-are we actually doing this right now? Is she really going to –

Taking a deep breath in order to steel herself, Martha squeezed her eyes shut, and in one swift motion… slapped me hard across the face.

The sound of the slap echoed through the air, and I was instantly snapped out of my light-headed stupor. The side of my face stinging from the force of the blow, I blinked once. Huh?

“Idiot! You’re a big, stupid, idiot, Donnelius Conqaide!” Martha fumed, crossing her arms and glowering at me. “You swore that you’d stay by my side, and do anything you could to protect me from harm! And yet, out of the blue, you just… left!”

“What? Hold on a second!” Waving my left arm in front of me, I clamped down on my stinging cheek with my other hand. “You’re mad about that? You know I only did that because I was afraid that I’d end up hurting you! Look, even you asked me to leave you behind and escape, right? It’s the same idea!”

“I know! I know I’m being selfish in saying this!” Clenching her fists, I saw two tiny tears well up in the corner of Martha’s eyes, and she wrung her head. “But, you promised! You promised that you wouldn’t leave me…”

Seeing her sniffling there on the spot, I froze in the middle of my sentence, before closing my mouth. My expression softened, and with a conceding nod, I placed my hand on top of her head. “Right. I’m sorry.”

For a few seconds, we just sat there facing each other, without either side saying a word. Then, with a determined look on her face, Martha finally straightened herself up and dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a sleeve. “No, I’m… not going cry. If I cry any more today, you’re just going to end up teasing me for it later.”

With a smile, I lifted my palm from the top of her head. “Yeah, you got that right.”

“So?” Sighing, Martha tilted her head up at me. “You said that you ‘destroyed’ your magic along with the enemy’s, but what does that mean? If I was close enough to you, does that mean I was affected by your attack as well?”

“Hm? Well…” Thinking back, I remembered that Martha had also been lying down on the ground next to Nobelys, and had actually been caught in Magical Destruction’s sphere of effect as well. “Yeah, I guess so. Why do you ask?”

“Jeez, you really are an inconsiderate guy, aren’t you?” With a little pout, Martha jabbed at my forehead. “Remember, after your initial lesson, I’d been practicing using magic by myself whenever I found the time. Lunch breaks, after work, at night, whatever. I did everything that you taught me, remembering how the flow of energy felt through my body and trying to reproduce that same feeling. And you probably don’t know this, but I got it to work after a few weeks of on-and-off testing. And around a few weeks ago, I had almost fully mastered using work energy. I mean, it was still pretty weak, but I was at least able to split a small rock in half with that Iron Arms spell.”

“Really?” My eyes lit up, and I felt almost proud of her, in a weird kind of way. Sort of like when a teacher meets one of their students after a few years, and finds out that they’ve improved significantly. “Then, is that why you were able to activate Perpetual Shock?”

“Basically. Like you explained to me before, I just directed the energy in my body and thought up a clear idea of the spell that I wanted to activate. I saw your lightning attack up close, which is why I thought I had the best chance of replicating it. Although…” Martha rubbed her head sheepishly. “Since I’d never used any magic other than work energy, I had no idea if it was going to work or not until I actually got ahold of that Manalite, so it was honestly more of a gamble than anything.”

“No, what you did back there was amazing!” I exclaimed. “Even most experienced mages take one or two tries before they can activate their first Manalite spell. For a complete amateur to get it right on the first try is almost unheard of!”

“Well? Am I a prodigy or what?” Martha smirked over to me, before glancing back. “Oh, speaking of which… that Nobelys guy still has Manalite on him, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, but they’re nothing more than pretty rocks at this point,” I shrugged. “Magical Destruction rendered them completely useless, since they were in range of its effects. You can keep one if you want, but it’ll only act as a souvenir.”

“Oh, come on!” Groaning, Martha planted her head onto my torso. “I just find out I’m a total magical genius, and you ruin all chances of me ever becoming a super-wizard? Now I won’t even be able to use those crystals to teach Chris and the others how to –”

Her body was once again abruptly racked with pain, and she winced from the wounds on her hands and feet. Grabbing ahold of her, I watched as Martha let out a few dry coughs. “Hey, are you really okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Martha’s voice was a little strained, but her breathing quickly returned to normal, and she cradled her punctured hands close to her chest. “Seriously, though… you really couldn’t have come up with a way to defeat that guy without destroying all your magic? The adrenaline is starting to wear off, and my hands and feet hurt like hell. On top of that, the fact that my personal healing station has now been turned defective doesn’t really help to ease my conscience.”

“Hey… you’re really going to make fun of a guy who just lost all his magic for your sake?” I shook my head, shooting her a disapproving grin. “Your sense of humor is horrendous.”

At that, Martha let out a tiny chortle, covering her mouth with her hand. Not understanding what the joke was, I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

“Don, no normal person uses ‘horrendous’ in conversations anymore,” Martha smiled up at me in exasperation.

“What?” Feeling mildly insulted by her comment, I crossed my arms with a frown on my face. “Well, forgive me for sounding more sophisticated than –”

Without warning, Martha grabbed ahold of my head, before she firmly locked her lips onto mine. With her eyes closed tight, she held me there for a few seconds. And then, without even giving me a chance to react, she broke away from me.

“Ew. Tastes like sweat.” Sticking her tongue out, Martha rubbed at her mouth with the fabric of her shirt. “Also, you stink. How long has it been since you’ve taken a shower?”

As my stunned brain finally managed to process what had just happened, and I realized the full gravity of the situation, a vivid red began to flush into my cheeks. “W-W-What –”

“Well, I saw how disappointed you had looked after I smacked you, so it made me feel a little bad,” she replied with a playful shrug.

“But, just now –” I desperately flailed my arms in front of me. “Why would –”

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m perfectly sober this time,” Martha said, cutting my disjointed string of words off. Then, she softly slipped her hand into mine, as to not further agitate her wounds. “If you really aren’t going to leave, then… there isn’t anything stopping me from doing this, is there? Unless, of course, you’re against it.”

“Huh? N-No, of course not,” I said, hastily shaking my head. But even though I had collected my thoughts to some extent, I still couldn’t really think properly, and I found it hard to meet Martha’s eye. “I was just, you know, a little surprised. That’s all.”

“Right.” With a smile, Martha wrapped herself around my arm, resting her head on my shoulder. “After everything you’ve been through, you at least deserve something. Really, this is the only thing I can give.”

I was a little hesitant at first, especially since I couldn’t shake the ardent pounding in my chest. But, eventually, I gave in to myself and pressed my head to Martha’s. As I sat there surrounded by the sweet aroma of Martha’s dirt-cheap convenience store shampoo, and the afternoon light filtered down from the cracks in the swirling barrier above me, I felt a warm feeling in my chest. It was a little different than the intense throbbing of my heart that I had felt before, instead something a little fainter, yet more familiar. I wasn’t able to pinpoint it at first, but as I continued to sit there with Martha by my side, it dawned on me at last. In that moment, I was just… really happy.

After some time had passed, something came to mind, and I lifted my head up. “Hey. Since you went and did something selfish, am I also allowed to say something like that?”

Martha peered up with a curious expression. “Yeah, feel free.”

“I just want to apologize again for leaving like that. I know that I had my reasons, but I should have at least considered your feelings. I know…” The image that I had seen through Chestnut’s eyes flashed back into my mind, and I took a deep breath. “It couldn’t have been easy on you. Actually, it wasn’t easy on me, either. I had convinced myself that leaving you was what I really wanted, on top of it being the right thing to do in order to protect you, but looking back now…”

As she continued to train her eyes on me inquisitively, I spoke again. “Deep down, that wasn’t what I truly desired. And, those weren’t the words that I wanted to say to you. So… will you listen to the question that I really wanted to ask you back then?”

She gave a little nod.

“Alright. At that point, I had completely ignored my feelings because I was obsessing over what the ‘right thing to do’ was, but this is what I actually wanted to ask you.” Closing my eyes, I prepared myself. “I realize that this might put your life in danger. But even so, I don’t really care anymore. Because, at this point, I can’t even imagine what it would be like living my life without you.

So, I know I’m being completely and utterly selfish when I say this, but… even if I might end up hurting you, will you allow me to continue staying by your side, Martha Flores?”

Martha was silent for a few seconds. It might have been shock, or awe, or some other emotion, but then she broke into a tiny smile. Curling up against my arm, she lightly tapped on my forehead with her knuckles.

“Of course you can, you big dummy.”