After running a few moments, Agawa was the first to make it underneath. Next came the sisters; the older one, in particular, was surprisingly fast. Not as fast as Agawa, but fast nonetheless.
Obviously, I was the next to make it under. I definitely would've been first if it wasn't for the fact that I'd been carrying the lemming around. I mean, Agawa was being a taxi to Sato again, so I could have for sure beaten her! (Not that I couldn't beat her on even footing.)
Grinding the soles of my feet against the hard soil, I slid beneath the roots and swiveled around.
Unfortunately, I must've gone in too hard since a rogue stick pierced my makeshift shoe. Small but noticeable blood spurts exited the new wound in my foot, but I couldn't be concerned.
Though we'd been running around a while, this was the first time I realized that none of us actually had proper shoes. Maybe that's just what the threat of death does to a person. It makes you forget all the pain to worry about later.
I looked back to the final two idiots as they heaved their bodies toward us, the predator hot on their heels. They should've been fine since there was still plenty of space between them and the beast. So long as they kept running, they'd barely escape the bear's clutches and remain in one piece.
At least, that's what would've been true for an average bear. A fact that I'd forgotten was this thing had been anything but average.
Howling, it glowed with green light and accelerated itself forward at even greater speeds.
"Is that...magic?!" Ayame gasped.
It definitely appeared so, but how could a mindless beast utilize what people called magic? I always thought in these situations that magic was limited to people and mythical creatures. But a random bear in some starter town woods was using it?
I felt I had that information at the tip of my mind. Like someone had told me the "why" already at some point since I'd been here. Trying to remember was pointless, though. Not because I couldn't, but because it was literally meaningless information in this situation.
The predator leaped forward and speedily closed the distance between itself and the two idiots. Time almost ticked by slower as the bear approached. Kamida's now grime-ridden hair billowed messily while he ran with the stupidest look of complete fear that you'd ever seen.
As for Nakamura, that guy really was slow with his reactions. His reactions had been so pitiful that he didn't even seem to know how to look in a crisis. His expressions, both now and back when he'd fallen in the manor, were paralyzed and unmoving.
The beast cocked its head and focused on one of the two meals before it. I guess Nakamura looked like the tastier snack since that's who it veered toward. Luckily for Kamida, the beast had been focused elsewhere, so he managed to find refuge with us.
Infuriatingly, I couldn't say the same for the other moron.
"Oh my god!" Ayame shouted as we watched the beast tackle Nakamura to the ground.
Seizing him with its massive jaws, the beast clamped down on his shoulder, causing Nakamura's blood to spray wildly from his shoulder. It'd been so profuse that Nakamura's blood coated the bear in a fresh paint of dark red while he howled in agony.
It shook him in place, throwing him violently from side to side on the ground, with loud, audible crashes being created by his body when it collided against the wet turf. Then, it threw him downwards and began clawing at his back violently.
His blood-curdling screams mixed with the victorious roars of his assailant. Between the sight of a human being torn to shreds and the chilling chorus of sounds accompanying it, I froze. But I had no time to be traumatized; I had to act.
Since my time in the town, I realized that you can't save everyone. Some die, and there's nothing to be done about it. But you? There's no way I'd let you die, old man. Not after I wasted all that energy letting you lean on me…. Not after you promised to carry my burden with me!
"Alright fuck this!" I shouted, dropping the lemming and swiping the sword from my sheath. "I'm tired of running."
I dashed out from the cover of the roots with a look of hateful vengeance on my face. I planted each step firmly into the ground, crunching the grassy mulch underneath, and propelled myself forward.
Once in range, I swiped at the surprised beast, slashing a new wound that followed the entire length of its snout until I nearly split the side of its face in two. A piece of its cheek came undone, revealing a layer of muscle underneath.
It shrieked and flailed from the lost skin, unlatching its jaws from Nakamura in the process.
He fell to the ground, merely laying there deathly still in shock. His back ran slick with a deep red coating, and his right arm was twisted in ways an arm shouldn't be twisted.
With pried open eyes pried a small stream of clear drool leaking from his mouth, his body had gone completely limp. The amount of pain he'd been in must've overwhelmed his senses.
Seeing Nakamura lay there like that, unconscious and covered in blood, I felt my heart constrict tightly and pound against my chest. I was terrified. Terrified that the man I'd put my trust and faith in was about to leave me alone to deal with what I had done, alone.
Light glossed my eyes at the thought of his death, but I couldn't cry. I was never one to cry, and I wouldn't start now.
I took my free hand and wiped my eyes free from tears. "Agawa!" I shouted with a slightly cracked voice. "Get him out of here…." I faked a savage smile and pointed my blade at our furry friend. "I want some one-on-one time with this guy."
She sprinted to Nakamura, who'd been unnervingly quiet. Then, bending downward, she speedily threw his arm over her neck and glanced at me.
"What are you gonna do? Be stupid?!"
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ But I only laughed while waving my sword nonchalantly. "I'm gonna do what we delinquents love doing, " I stopped to point the tip of my blade toward the bear's snout, " I'm gonna teach a weakling to respect his betters!"
Almost to accept my challenge, the bear ceased its incessant wailing and gruffly snorted while narrowing its eyes. At this point, the beast knew I was something to fear. After the fancy wounds I'd given it earlier, it had no other choice.
I swung my sword forward in an amateur flourish, taunting the bear and mockingly smiling at it. "Let's get started," I smirked with complete confidence.
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