"Duck."
That single word slammed into my brain, an instinctive command. I started to obey, muscles coiling to drop—
But something felt wrong.
Don't trust strong emotions, especially in a dream.
Oh, damn it all.
"Thwunk!"
The sound cracked through the air. I risked a glance while still running.
An arrow.
Wait.
That height...
Fuck.
If I'd actually ducked, my head would be decorating the nearest tree.
Wait... isn't that...?
A human?
"Stop running."
Another command, even stronger this time, punched into my gut.
Holy fuck.
That's no human.
The figure ahead was shaped like a girl, but now that I looked closer...
It had no freaking face.
Wait.
Its hands just multiplied!
Fuck!
Two bows!
Who the hell is dreaming up these freaking abominations?! Some sick bastard can't control their imagination!
Whoosh!
Tunk!
Wait.
Oh god.
This time, I had to dive. The first arrow slammed into the second mid-flight, knocking it off course—but redirecting it. Now, the second arrow was aimed straight for me.
THUNK!
"Haah! Haaah! Haaah!"
Narrow.
I escaped by a hair's breadth, the closest I could get to being skewered and still be alive.
I scrambled to my feet, sprinting.
I have to get away from this.
Fast.
"KEEP RUNNING!"
Wait.
What?!
What do I do now?
Do I stop running?
Or do I keep running?
Stopping could be the trap!
Whoosh!
The hiss of released arrows.
What do I fucking do?!
Run or stop?!
BOOOM!
"ARCK!"
I collided with a tree with enough force to snap it in half. My back exploded in pain.
"Ahhh!"
"Worthless. I don't even know why I'm saving you," I heard.
Leon.
I'd recognize that bastard's voice anywhere.
I forced myself up, despite the agony that felt like shattered bones. My body was still moving, somehow, so I forced it to stand.
"What?" I frowned.
Leon stood before me, arms crossed, watching the nightmare unfold.
The two creatures were actually—
"STOP THINKING, YOU IDIOT!"
I cut off the thought instantly.
Damn.
I almost restarted the whole thing again.
He sighed. I collapsed to the ground.
Spitting blood and saliva.
I am toast.
I can't do anything.
No amount of high-grade potions can restore me to optimal condition, not for at least four hours.
"Let's go," was all I heard before he placed his hand on my shoulder, and the next thing I knew...
Whoosh!
"A... grassland?" I muttered. In an instant, we were here, under a tree.
Lush grass stretched as far as I could see.
What the hell?
"I found and killed the creature initially keeping us in a loop in that dimension. It was weak, just extremely good at hiding," he sighed, rubbing his temples as I stood up.
Wait.
"We were in a loop?"
"Yeah, realized it after finding you. I wasn't initially in that part of the mystic world, came there to find you. But then, even though I clearly remembered my way out, it's as though something was blocking my perception. I couldn't even teleport to my initial drop point," he said, his face impassive, but I could tell...
He was annoyed.
Looks like, for the first time, things didn't go according to his calculations.
"So you managed to find it while fighting that... thing," I said, not wanting to dwell on it. Who knows what could happen?
"Forget about it... Let's go. I just located your girl." He put his hands into his pockets and began walking casually.
Hm.
He seems more... open with me for some reason.
I'm not an idiot. I know he's trying to get me to let my guard down, but why is he even doing this in the first place?
Wait.
Could it be because...?
"Tell me something..." he suddenly said.
Bingo.
"That thing you said about your bloodline... What exactly does it do? It can't be future telling; if it was, you wouldn't have been attacked in the first place. So what exactly did you do back there? My calculations never fail, but they did for the first time, with you. I know it's not because you outsmarted me. I know you did something..." He suddenly stopped. "What?" he added after a brief pause.
I looked at him.
Then I grinned.
Oh, it seems I now really have a way to handle this fucker.
"You have a blessing and a bloodline, don't you?" I asked, to which he frowned.
Rather deeply.
If there's one thing I know about this bastard—well, two things, to be exact—first, that he hates revealing his cards, and second, curiosity.
So, he would have tried to kill me for actually starting to figure out his actual abilities, but the thing is, he's curious about me. So yeah, he can't kill me now.
"Fine, we keep our secrets," he finally said, then we began walking.
"Ethan, is that you?!" I heard, and I froze.
No.
It can't be.
It just can't be.
"Sasha?" I muttered.
"YOU IDIOT, WHY DID YOU ANSWER?!"
That's all I heard, and then...
...
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