Death

*ROOOOAARR!*

*CRASH! *CRASH! *CRASH!*

A beast of unfathomable size charges toward the city gate.

"W─wait! Look over there! There's someone running with it!" A guard by the watch tower shouts.

I look towards the direction the guard points at.

"T─that's?!"

(That's the woman that the civilians were talking about!)

"Ahhh!! Help me!!!"

*ROOOARR!*

*CRASH!* *CRASH!* *CRASH!*

The ground beneath the beast's feet shatters with every step it takes.

"Wha.... What is that!?!"

"Kid!! Run away, Now! That's a prime apex beast from the demon territory! Even a magus can't defeat that thing alone!"

(W...what's a magus? They sound strong but, if they can't handle this thing... What hope have I?)

*ROOOARR!!*

"Ahh!"

*Thud!*

She trip and fall to the ground. The beast directly behind her stomps on the ground, crushing her leg beneath its foot.

"AAAAHHH!!"

The woman desperately struggle to crawl away from the approaching beast. I stare in disbelief at what have just transpired, and quickly regain my composure.

(... Now's not the time to falter!)

I quickly rush towards the field, pulling my bow out as I run closer.

"Boy!!" The guard tries to stop me.

*ROOAAAR!* 

"Eeek!" But his legs give out before he can reach me after hearing the thunderous roar of the beast.

*Fwoosh~!*

Fire starts forming into my arrow's fletching. This time, without me needing to blow fire from my mouth, as I've learned how to cast fire within the palm of my hand.

*Shwoom~* ... *Thunk!*

The arrow bounces off the thick scale of the beast.

"Damn it! ... Then!"

I look towards the eye of the beast that's wide open. I draw another arrow and starts aiming.

(I have a short window for this!)

The beast blinks, then open its eyes wide open.

"...! How about this!!!"

*Shwooom~!* The arrow flies faster than before with the fire fletching speeding up its trajectory.

*Shwoom~* *Doing~*
*ROOOOOAAR!*

The arrow strikes the beast's eyeball and bounces off without penetrating it. But the impact staggers the monster, drawing a pained wail from its throat.

"NOW! RUN!" I shout as loudly as I can at the woman who's on the ground.

"I... I can't! My leg..." The woman tries to crawl away with its crushed leg.

*ROOOAAR!!* *CRASH!* *CRASH!*

The beast becomes agitated, and starts growing more aggressive.

(No... I couldn't save her! Is this it? My arrows don't have any arrow head, it's nothing more than a fancy skewer. If only... I have something that can penetrate it! Something that can... ─!)

I remember the spells a phoenix has from the spell book.

I hold my hand in front of me.

"... Fire spirit, come forth."

*Plop!* A flame shaped like a bird starts flying on the palm of my hand.

"─!!, Then, can I transform it?"

I close my eyes and focus on the fire spirit. Fiery mist covers my hand, and the fire spirit's shape turns to a ball.

"Ah, no! I need an arrow head!"

*ROOOAARR!!*

"AAAAAHHH!! HELP ME! SOMEONE!"

"─!!"

Hearing the screams of a helpless person, I rush my preparation and simply stick the fire spirit in its bird shape into my arrow.

"DAMN IT! TAKE THIS~!"

The beast opens its mouth, ready to chomp upon the crawling prey. Then─

*SWOOOM~!* *BOOOOF~!*

*ROOOOOOAAAR!!!*

The beast staggers once again from an explosion directly hitting its big tongue.

"─!!, Of course! The mouth isn't hard like its scales!"

"U...Ughh... I can't take it anymore..." The woman lays on the ground as her strength leaves her stranded on the ground.

"N─no!"

I quickly pull out another arrow. This time, aiming towards the woman.

(This spirit heals, right?!)

"Phoenix spirit!"

A spirit comes out from my body instead of my hand. Its similarly shaped as the previous and flies around the tip of the arrow. It's also significantly slower and puffier looking.

"Ah..."

I stumble on my feet and my head feels heavier.
(Is this... The burning life I'm spending? It feels like I've taken years off my lifespan.)

With my body still injured, this can be fatal if I kept summoning a phoenix spirit.

"Ahh... Aughh"

(─!!, now's not the time to think!)

"Miss!! Catch this!"

"..." She stays silent, laying on the ground.

(Damn it, she's on the brink of death!)

I shoot the arrow directly towards her leg.

*Shwoom~!* *Thwack!* "AAH~! My leg!"

*Bofoom~* The spirit explodes, and covers the woman's leg in flames.

"Ah... AH! Fire!"

"Wait, it's not a normal fire─"

*Step step step*

"Wha─ what the? The kid from before?"

The adventurers from last time came up from behind. It looks towards its friend with its leg on fire.

"Wha─!? What the hell did you do?! Are you trying to kill her!!"

"N─no, I─"

*ROOOAARR!!*

*CRASH!*

The beast stands its ground once again. It comes charging toward us, pulverizing the ground beneath its feet. The woman still lying on the ground is about to be trampled.

"N─no!"

*Fwoom~!* I quickly turn into a bird, then─*Swooosh~!* I quickly rush over to the woman.

"Phoenix spirit! Fire spirit!"

Two spirits comes out of my body, and circles around beneath my wings.

*Swoom~!*

*ROOOAARR!*

"There!"

*Swoom~!* *Boof~!*

*GROAN~!*

One spirit fly directly into the beast's mouth, I fly past the beast and grab the woman with my talons.

"Now, heal her!"

The other spirit flies towards the woman, lighting her entirely on fire.

"Y─YOU!!! GIVE HER BACK!!"

The adventurer with a dagger runs after me, shouting to bring down the woman I'm trying to help.

"W─wait! I'm currently helping her─"

*Boom!* "Aack~!"

The other adventurer shoots a fireball at me.

"D─damn it! I shouldn't have told that random kid how she looked like!"

(N─no, please, you all got it wrong...)

*ROOOOOOARRR!*

"─!!, Wha─"

The beast stands directly behind the person who just shot at me.

"Oh no!" *Fwoosh~* I veer off back towards the beast. 

"Take her!"

*Swoo~* *Thud!*

"Oof!"

I fly past the adventurer that was chasing me and drop the woman who's on fire with my flames onto him. 

"Ah... Ah!!!"

The beast reaches out with its front legs, attempting to grab the person who shot me. I rush towards her and─

"GET AWAY~!!!"

*Thud~!*

"Gah!"

I manage to push off her off before the beast could get a hold of her.

"I─I did it!"

*SLAM!*

"ACK~!"

At the cost of saving someone who's trying to kill me, I've now become the beast's target.

*Shwoom~!* The transformation spell breaks and I turn back into a humanoid child.

"AAGGH!"

My small body is now taking a full force of a beast's grip.

(NGGHH~! I have to wait, once it opens its mouth, I'll shoot my fire into─)

The beast turns me upside down with my head fully exposed. 

"H... huh?"

Without a second thought, the beast start's slamming my head towards the ground.

*SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!*

"ACK─!"

The ground beneath me gets pulverized. Tremors can be felt throughout the kingdom as the ground around the beast starts to crack.

*SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!*

(Ah... I'm... dead...)

*Shwooosh!*

"KOHAKU!!!!"

A woman clad in white cloak and white witch hat flies in the sky above, looking down on the beast and shouting my name.

"Ah... Miss... Mocca..."

*ROOOOOOOOAAAAR!!*

The beast unleashes a deafening roar directly into my face, rupturing my eardrums. And finally─

*CHOMP!* ... *CRUSH!* *CRACK!*

The beast puts me into its mouth, biting off whatever's left of me.

"No... Kohaku-kun... NOOOOOOOO!!!"