Mask

Roz couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t get himself to believe that this was happening. The town had worked so hard to build the defenses. The knights of Alexandria were watching over the wall day and night, so there was no way anyone would have passed through without any alarms. There were plenty of rooms in the estate, so it shouldn’t have been easy to figure out where Bianca was.

So how?! How are they here?!

“Shocking, right? I know,” Taiga said. “I can see it in your face.”

“How did they get here?!” he spoke in a mocking voice. “Aren’t we supposed to be in the Farlands?!”

“Did you use your Soul Art to get here?” Roz asked him.

“Soul Art?!” Taiga cackled. “You think I needed to use a Soul Art to get here? No, I didn’t use a Soul Art! I used my head!”

He pointed at his groin. Roz was bewildered by his theatrics.

“Not here, idiot!” Taiga stuck out his tongue. “My head!”

The masked man had fallen for his bait, and he was furious.

Taiga continued to burst out in laughter.

“How did you do it, you fiend?!” Roz said.

“Still haven’t figured it out?” Taiga sighed. “How clueless.”

“Stop fooling around.”

“You’re the one who’s fooling around.” Taiga rolled his eyes. “Morri and I never left the town. All of the barbarians who left were a diversion.”

Damn it! Why didn’t I think of that?! How could I be so careless?!

“But that means it’s just you two, then. You think you can leave this place alive?!” Roz said.

“Sure we can!” Taiga raised his hands. “But what makes you think we have to leave? My men will be coming back soon. Bigger and stronger than you can ever imagine! You should be more worried about everyone else instead of us! Those knights of yours won’t be enough to stop what’s coming, my boy!”

“If they can’t stop them, then I will,” Roz said.

Taiga shook his head. “Tsk, tsk! You should think about who is in control here, ice boy. As you can see, this beautiful Hero of yours has her life in my hands. Of course, I don’t like to hurt women, so I’ll have Morri do it for me.”

Morri moved the blade closer to Bianca’s skin.

Roz took one step forward.

“Don’t you dare hurt Bianca.”

Taiga walked around in circles. “At first, we were just going to steal her away quietly and use her as a bargaining chip, but now you’ve ruined that for us. So instead, why don’t we play a little game?”

“I’m not here to play.”

“I’m not asking.” Taiga’s eyes sharpened.

Roz grunted.

“Anyways, this game is simple. I’ll give you three seconds.” He raised his fingers. “Take off the mask, and she gets to live.”

Taiga’s words echoed in his head, but Roz didn’t seem to understand. Or rather, he chose not to understand. It was like the barbarian was talking to an unintelligible animal.

“What did you say?”

“The mask. Take it off.”

“But there’s nothing for you to see-”

“One.”

Roz’s heart splattered inside. He looked at Bianca, still struggling to break free.

Please don’t make me do this. Not in front of her.

“W-We should just play something else.”

“Two.”

Stop it.

“I’ll offer you my life instead. There’s no need for this nonsense.”

Taiga flapped his lips. “Boo, that’s no fun! We all want to know what’s underneath the mask!”

“Don’t make me do this.”

Don’t you dare say three.

“Two and a half!”

Roz flinched.

Shut up!

Taiga stopped for a moment.

“I can already imagine you cowering underneath the mask. There’s something important you can’t show. I just know it!” he cackled.

I beg you. Please stop.

“Three-”

“Fine!” Roz roared at him.

Taiga and Morri were shocked by his sudden outburst. Even Bianca’s eyes looked like they couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.

“I’ll…..just take off the mask.”

Fine. If it means saving her life, then I have no choice. This is what I must do.

Roz clutched onto his mask. He took a deep breath, then he took it off. The unmasked man looked up at them, and revealed his true face.

Taiga tilted his head.

“I don’t get it. Who are you supposed to be? Do you know, Morri?”

Morri shrugged. “Me neither. But she does.”

Roz knew this was bound to happen. He didn’t want to look at her, but he ended up doing it anyway. The radiance in Bianca’s eyes had disappeared. He knew. She knew. He knew that she knew. There was no way she could forget his face.

“Take your hand off her mouth,” Taiga ordered Morri. “She looks like she has something to say.”

Morri nodded and did as he asked.

Roz had only seen it once. He had hoped that he would never see it again. And if he did see it again, he wished that those eyes would never be for him.

Those dark eyes of bloodlust.

“Tell me,” Bianca said. “Why are you alive?”

Her heavy tone felt like a weight crushing his skull.

Roz wanted to disappear, to run away, but his gaze was locked on to the lady Hero’s ghostly eyes.

“B-Bianca, I-”

“You shouldn’t even be capable of speaking,” she cut him off.

At that moment, Roz felt utterly naked. Exposed. Unsafe. It felt as though every part of his clothing had been ripped apart to shreds, showing nothing but bare skin. Without the mask, he was weak. He could no longer hide the terror in his eyes, all the emotions that made him vulnerable.

“Heeeeey! Don’t forget that we’re here!” Taiga said. “You’re leaving us out of the fun! Who is he supposed to be?!”

Bianca spat onto the floor.

“If there’s anyone I hate more than the barbarians, it’s Alain Isebran.”

Morri gasped.

“Alain Isebran…” Taiga poked his chin and looked up in the air. “Oh. Oh! Ohhhhhhhhhh! N-No way! The former prodigy who killed Lucian Ashred?! He’s still alive! I can’t believe it!”

He slapped his hand on the table and exploded in a fit of laughter.

“T-This is amazing!”

Taiga dropped to the floor and struggled to breathe. ‘S-Sorry, this is…way too funny!”

It wasn’t funny for everyone else. While Taiga couldn’t contain his laughter, Bianca couldn’t contain the hatred in her eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, Bianca. It was an accident. I never wanted him to die, I swear!” Roz pleaded.

There you are, apologizing again.

“Words won’t bring back my brother, Alain.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why?!” Bianca scowled at him. “Do you really think you can run away from your sin?!”

Roz covered his ears. He didn’t want to hear anything else, but it wasn’t enough to block out her voice. There was no escape for him here.

“Stop…” he muttered.

“You lied to me! You lied to everyone! I can’t believe I trusted you! You! You deceiving piece of scum! How dare you set foot in my family’s house?!”

Bianca tried to break free from Morri’s hold, but the barbarian girl managed to keep her in place.

“Let me go!” she yelled at her. I’m going to kill that bastard!”

“Stop resisting!” Morri said.

The blade cut through the skin of Bianca’s throat.

“Y-You’re crazy! Can’t you see the blade on my hand?!”

“He’s dead! Dead! I’m going to make sure he’s buried in hell!”

“Wait! I have an idea!” Taiga stopped her.

“This is none of your business, barbarian!” Bianca snapped at him.

“”Just hear me out!” Taiga chuckled. “I’m willing to let you go if you join my harem!”

“Fine! I’ll do whatever you ask! Just let me kill that rotten murderer!”

What….

Roz couldn’t comprehend what she had just done.

“B-Bianca! What are you saying?! You can’t let him have his way!” he said.

Even Taiga was shocked by her answer. He probably wasn’t expecting her to agree right away.

“You’ve gone mad, princess!” Taiga guffawed. “But I like crazy women, so it’s a win for me! Let her go, Morri!”

Morri released the vengeful Hero.

“Now isn’t the right time for this, Bianca! What about the town?!”

“I could care less about the town right now, not when my brother’s killer is standing right in front of me!”

Bianca raised her hand.

“Soul of Domination: Arrows of Light.”

She unleashed all ten of her arrows, with each and every one of them aimed directly towards his head.

Roz couldn’t believe how irrational she was being right now.

“Bianca! Listen to me!”

“Just die for me, will you?”

She flicked her hand.

No way….

The arrows fired through the air. All Roz did was freeze in the spot. He never thought she would fire without a second thought. Luckily for him, Sonia managed to pull him out of the room in time.

“Don’t space out, kid!”

She grabbed him by the hand and started dragging him through the halls.

“Run, Roz, run!”

“But Bianca….”

“She’s trying to kill you!” Sonia shoved him a piece of reality. “Stop worrying about her!”

She pulled him in front of her and turned back. Bianca was just right behind them, launching another wave of arrows in their path. Sonia spun her staff around to block the incoming projectiles, her technique masterful and precise as she deflected each one with perfection. She moved as one with the long stick, like it was as an extension of her entire being. Every attack that came at her felt slower than it was supposed to be. It was a mystery how long she trained with the staff, but it would be easy to assume she clung onto it like a sibling she had since she was a child.

“Get out of my way, elf!” Bianca screamed at her.

“No can do!”

Sonia caught up with Roz on the stairs, then they both slid down the railings all the way to the second floor. They ran through the main balcony and made it to the stairs leading to the first floor, but they were intercepted by Bianca’s arrows yet again. They blasted right through the railings, destroying the handrails and deforming the metal balusters to prevent them from riding away. Sonia continued to deflect the incoming rays, while Roz ran down the steps with his hands held over his head.

“Why are you siding with that criminal?!” Bianca asked her.

“Not all criminals are bad people, you know?” Sonia said. “But you don’t seem to see that. You’ve been blinded by rage.”

“You wouldn’t understand it, elf!”

Roz and Sonia ran over to the entrance doors and opened it together, only to find themselves standing before a violent thunderstorm.

The unmasked man sighed. “Even the weather doesn’t want me to leave this place alive…..”

Sonia eyed him with irritation.

“Enough whining, it’s just a little rain!”

She grabbed him by the hand once more and pulled him out into the storm. They sprinted out into the grassy plains, clothes and hair all drenched and heavy from the excess water, and their bare feet soiled in wet mud. Unfortunately, their shoes had been left behind at the estate.

When they reached a certain distance, Roz turned his head back. There he saw Bianca, running after them from afar.

“Get back here, you bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll make sure you suffer a painful death!”

Roz bit his lip.

“Don’t look back.” Sonia grabbed his hair and used it to pull his head forward. “There is only one way we can go, and that is the path ahead of us.”