Guilt

This time, it was Eusford who took the role of the main attacker while Theoden looked for blind spots from time to time.

However, it was getting harder and harder for the two of them to even deal any kind of damage to Shye.

On the contrary, they were the ones being suppressed by Shye. 

"Theoden! Should we retreat for now?" Eusford suggested. He couldn't see how they would win here seeing that Shye could now dual wield.

"Are you stupid? How would you explain what happened to Leonardo if Crowley is still alive?!"

Theoden couldn't help but yell in frustration. Eusford was usually the smart guy among the three of them but who would've thought that he would become stupid when it came to life-or-death situations?

In fact, he also wanted to run away but they had to see this through to the end. The only good ending for them is if they manage to kill Shye.

After hearing what Theoden said, Eusford stopped hesitating anymore and charged toward Shye again as he desperately wished for Theoden to land a solid hit on Shye's body.

They knew that he was spent and was also probably on the verge of collapse. This small hope kept them sane and focused as they tried to murder Shye.

Finally, after a few more minutes of intense combat, a chance appeared for the two of them. Theoden's [Blink Strike Lv.1] was finally off cooldown and he quickly used it to appear behind Shye.

However, this was actually what Shye was waiting for. He quickly drank the intermediate restoration potion which had instant healing effects to endure Theoden's attack.

*SPURT*

Shye's blood dripped down from his shoulders as Theoden's [Blink Strike Lv.1] + downward slash combo inflicted a deep wound on him.

If he was using a greatsword he would've probably finished Shye off but unfortunately, a long sword's weight wasn't enough to do the job.

Shye managed to endure his attack and in return, he was slashed diagonally by Shye's Nightbringer.

Black flames suddenly ignited from Theoden's wound as the hidden passive skill of the sword [Nightburn] activated.

[Nightburn] only had a 5% chance to activate after inflicting a wound on the enemy. Luckily for Shye, the passive skill activated and burned Theoden's body slowly.

"AAAAAHHH!! EUSFORD!! SAVE ME!!"

Eusford looked at Theoden in horror. His mind blanked out and he dropped his sword due to how scared he was.

After seeing that Shye was looking at him, every hair in his body stood up and he screamed in horror as he tried to flee.

"AAAAHHH!!"

However, how could Shye let him go? 

He quickly used [Dash Lv.1] followed by [Power Slash Lv.2] to slash the fleeing Eusford in half.

"Haaahh…Haaahh…Haaahh…"

Shye panted in exhaustion as he collapsed on his knees due to the mortal wound inflicted by Theoden.

He then looked around and after seeing the dead bodies around him, he started vomiting.

Although he had been in life-or-death situations before, it was usually against a creature and this was his first time killing a human like himself.

Shye continued vomiting as he slowly lost consciousness due to his wound. He couldn't think about anything and all he was thinking about was "How nice would it be if he simply closed his eyes right now"

After a few more seconds, Shye completely fell unconscious.

Fortunately for him, someone arrived. The person noticed that Shye was still alive so he quickly carried him out of the beginner adventurer zone.

…

…

…

Shye woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling again. 

He was currently inside the academy's infirmary but since he was still a bit dazed, his brain didn't process anything as he absent-mindedly looked around the infirmary.

"Big brother! I'm so glad you're okay!"

A tired voice sounded beside his bed as Maia hugged him while crying buckets of tears. She was horrified after seeing him being carried in a stretcher towards the infirmary.

For Maia, her big brother was all she had left so she begged the infirmary to let her stay beside him and take care of him even when she wasn't allowed to walk around the academy grounds alone.

Fortunately, Instructor Fienna helped her out and gave her special permission to look after her big brother.

After a few days, her big brother finally woke up so a heavy weight was finally lifted off her chest.

As for Shye, everything slowly sunk in and upon remembering that he killed three people with his own hands, cold sweat drenched his back as he anxiously thought about the punishment that he would receive from the academy.

Still, he was happy to be alive. He had to kill them or they would kill him so if he was given the same choice, he would probably choose to kill them again.