While the duelists exchanged blows, the human picked up the angel on his back. In the corner of her eye, the embodiment of sin saw it clearly. She left the duel and swiftly went to attack the two escapees. Though, it was not permitted. The sharp weapons on the sin's arm could not pass through a sword. The other duelist refuse to let his opponent go fight someone else, and instead kept her in, by defending his friend and brother. The two continued exchanging hits, one defended, another evaded, and the strikes were controlled in order to move the battle away from the non-combatants.

  By now, Val and Masako had successfully gotten out of Miras' immediate range, but the other two remaining party members weren't as fortunate. As Riney defended his brother and friend as they escaped, he was not able to prevent the death of the others. Mira, recognizing the fact that she was unable to reach the angel, quickly jumped to the humans who were still, and watching. At incredibly high speeds, that no ordinary person would be able to achieve, she moved her body in the air and struck the closest bystander in the chest, with her sword-arm.

  Riney swiftly caught up, but it was no use. Mira was already on to the next target, with a grand smile on her face. She hurdled toward the other remaining human, and once they made contact, the momentum brought him with her.

  They finally stopped moving once they crashed into a tree. The man she had caught was already dead. She used her arm to cut off the man's head, grabbing it while changing her arm back to normal--

  Riney, who had a slight blue glow around his feet and legs, caught up once more and swung his sword, which instead glowed strongly. Mira effortlessly moved away, jumping into the air, and landing far back where Riney could not catch her before she took a breath. Mira held up the man's head, as a trophy to show to Riney

  Mira Leide: "Look! He's so pathetic!"

  Riney: "Stay silent."

  He didn't let Miras' remarks get to him, or at least, he didn't let it show. His determination would not break.

  Mira: "Doesn't that make you angry? Doesn't that make you hate me? Doesn't that make you want to kill me even more?"

  Riney gritted his teeth in anger, looking down, trying not to show Mira. He didn't answer. Mira though, could see exactly what he was feeling.

  Mira: "You can't hide that from me!"

  Riney: "Do not speak more than that."

  Riney was gripping his sword stronger than ever. A clear signal of some strong emotion, that Mira instantly picked up on.

  Mira: "That's more like it!"

  She held that damn grin on her face. She was enjoying this.

  And then, the girl raised both her arms, even the stump of the one she didn't have. They were pointed at Riney.

  Mira: "You're angry, riiiight??? You hate me, riight??!??!"

  Riney recognized that something was about to happen. He stopped listening and instead put all his focus on his sight. The glow around his legs got brighter, and the one around his sword almost turned from blue to white.

  The ground beneath him trembled. Then, it felt like an earthquake. He looked down, and then by reflex, he sprinted away from the scene. Behind him, an enormous explosion had happened.

  Mira: "Too bad..."

  The same explosions happened all around him, and he evaded each one barely. Wrath simply stood still, with her arms extended. Each explosion, though, was calculated.

  Riney, unknowingly, was quickly approaching the still Mira at his usual high speed. Once she revealed herself wielding a new scythe behind and explosion, Riney stopped in his tracks. But he was moving too fast.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Mira slashed Rineys' torso while he moved back. The cut went from his shoulder to his waist.

  As soon as the two regained composure, the girl quickly raised her arms once more, this time her smile was mixed with concentrated eyes. She was breathing heavily.

  Mira: "There we go! Couple more of those and i'm done!"

  Riney had seen her strategy once. He was not going to get hit anther time.

  Without the time to regain the slightest amount of energy, the explosions continued, even though they were significantly weaker. Riney was not thinking of what the girl had done, but was solely concentrating on countering her attack. He wouldn't make another mistake.

  His legs glowed stronger, brighter, but the glow on his sword stopped. He wouldn't need reinforcements on his weapon, as now he was going to be attacking, not defending. But the more speed he could get, the better.

  One after the other, the explosions appeared under him, effectively guiding him toward the girl. This time, he knew it perfectly. Wrath wasn't stupid though.

  As soon as Riney got too close, Mira moved aside as she thought he had swung his sword at the first opportunity. But that was not the case. Riney followed the girl once she moved, only now preparing to swing his sword. Mira lost her grin.

  The girl was mid-air, and as she had just made a movement, another in such quick succession was difficult. But Riney was already close enough to cut her head off. Only now did Rineys' sword shine blue. And he swung--

  Mira was able to move back in the end-- At the cost of her other arm. She raised whatever remained of them, and one last explosion followed, serving as distance between her and Riney.

  Then, she spoke. Looking at her arms, then around herself.

  Mira: "What am i even here for at this point?"

  She seemed to not even care about the fact she had no arms left.

  Mira: "My goal was Greed, but you guys took him from me! Now, I can't get to Greed, i don't have any arms left, and you are trying to kill me!"

  She spun around on one leg, pouting.

  Mira: "What did i do to deserve thisss!!!"

  Riney took the opportunity to attack. In a flash, his sword was about to cut her neck once more. But Wrath only grinned.

  Riney fell to the ground face first missing the target completely. He swung against the air.

  He quickly turned around expecting some sort of counterattack, but nothing came. No one was there anymore.

  He was sitting on the grass, trying to find the one he was trying to kill up to moments ago. But no one was there.

  Mira Leide had escaped.

  --

  Val was sitting at the usual table at the inn. And the two brothers returned, one more damaged than the other.

  Val sat up from his chair.

  Val: "Riney!"

  Riney waved, with a smile. Then Val noticed the big cut in his armor that went from his shoulder to the start of his waist. Fortunately, he didn't seem more injured than that.

  They all sat back down at the table.

  Val: "What happened?"

  Riney: "That thing is fast."

  That was the first thing he said.

  Riney: "Turns out it has some other type of explosion attack. It was a whole mess. But after exchanging many attacks, i was able to damage her a bit. I cut off her other arm."

  Val widened his eyes.

  Riney: "Once she had realized that you were gone, she decided there was no use in staying and fighting me. So she very simply left."

  Masako sat down and brought water for everyone.

  Riney: "Which i consider a fortune, since if she had stayed, i probably would've gotten much more hurt than this."

  Riney looked down, pointing at the clear slash in his torso.

  Masako: "She probably ran away since she had no arms. And since you (looking at Val) weren't there, it was all the more reason to."

  Val was relieved that they had been able to survive the ordeal. Even though not all of them returned, the people he cared about were here, and that's all that mattered to him.

  --

  Val had returned to his room. This was his final night at the inn, and after that, he either paid for himself or he had to find some other solution. He wasn't able to think about what he was going to do then, and instead he tried going to sleep.

  He checked the window. Torches were lit all around the main square, and people with stringed instruments played them and sang. More people gathered round, and danced. Some people ate at the table that had been set up, with snacks and other food items available for anyone. It was most definitely, a late night party for the villagers.

  And Val could not care less to join in. In fact, he hated the idea of it. He would much prefer staying in his room, listening to the music, and going to sleep.

  He removed his collar and placed it in it's usual place over his head, becoming a halo. He observed the outside as he tried to prepare for bed.

  He lay down, closing his eyes.

  But the music stopped before he fell asleep.

  --

  _Click_

  Val: "----"

  _Bump_

  Val: "---huh?"

  He was still sleeping, but the sound from outside his door was able to wake him.

  He got up suspicious, and once he wasn't able to get the door open, suspicion turned to worry.

  Turning around, he saw that the window was different than what he had remembered.

  This time, it was not transparent, but it was as if it was colored white.

  The first thing he did was trying to kick down the door. No use. No matter how hard he tried.

  The second was breaking the much more fragile window. It wouldn't budge. And in giving it a solid punch, Val even hurt his fist.

  He quickly realized; He was trapped.