Bhurm [2]

There were currently two monsters fighting beneath me, with one of them carrying the skin of one as well.

A huge, red-skinned monster with hindlegs similar to that of a goat with its head proudly adorned with two massive horns.

Despite the fact that they had fought for hours already, both of them seemingly evenly matched, I had still not gotten bored of watching the insanity that was two [S]-rankers fighting.

*BOOM!*

Once again Mr. Naut had sent out an attack made up of invisible energy, and once again the man in the skin of a monster had repelled it with his claws. Following this, the head of the Daemons dashed forward, creating a small shock-wave in his wake, fully intent on dislodging Mr. Naut's head from his shoulders.

Yet, his desperate tries once again fell short, stopping mid-dash for some unknown reason and taking a step back.

*BAM!*

A huge indent was made in the spot he was about to reach, another attack that had been made by Mr. Naut.

Flaring his huge claws, he instead slashed the air in front of him, sending multiple lines of purple energy forward, forcing Mr. Naut to dodge to the side.

At this point, I had already figured out that he must've had some kind of way of sensing, or maybe even seeing, the invisible attacks that were aiming to claim his life, but I had no idea how he was doing it.

Still, it didn't matter much anymore. Though I had no idea why or how it was obvious from the start that something was wrong with the Daemon. Even before their fight had started, his body appeared to have some sort of ailment that prevented him from moving as he liked, something that had caused him to already eat several attacks during the battle.

Adding to that was the fact that it looked like Mr. Naut was just playing around, taking his time to enjoy the moment in which he would finally get rid of one of his biggest opponents. It was to the point where I doubted that even if the head of the Daemons were in his best condition, he still wouldn't have been able to win.

No, this was merely a performance. A performance that was dedicated to a certain someone that had proclaimed himself to be here merely for entertainment.

'-Then, shall I show you something even more entertaining?'

His words still echoed in my head, as I finally understood what he really meant. His first attack had merely been an appetizer for this show, a show where he truly showed me what he was capable of.

Even another [S]-ranker was merely his plaything, and it would have made no difference if he was in the best of conditions either. Or at least that's what he wanted to tell me through his actions. Actions that caused gigantic craters to be created in the ground, and the already broken buildings could do nothing but be pulverized further by his actions.

'What a crazy man...'

Seeing that the battle was about to end, I let go of the connection to my clone, not wanting to have to deal with the aftermath of the situation. Also, the fact that a certain someone wearing a black robe was watching me gave me the feeling that it was for the best to take my leave.

Unlike the brash man that was Mr. Naut, he had merely stood still on a hill, not even caring about watching the fight between the [S]-rankers. All this time he had only been watching me, making sure to not miss a single thing I did.

So, when my consciousness gathered back into my main body, currently sitting on the corpse of a giant salamander inside of a swamp-like dungeon while meditating, I couldn't help but get excited about the future.

Because those were the ones who would inevitably become my enemies. And those were also the ones I would absolutely, completely destroy with my own hands.

****

[Sophie's Pov]

All of the sophomores were currently gathered in our communal lobby, watching the news report on the big screen in front of us. Although it was hard to see exactly what was happening, it was equally as hard to miss the fact that we were now watching the sights of an entire city disappearing.

"-Although the fighting has now ended between the royal guards and the demonkind, there is no doubt that the loss of lives numbers the thousands or even tens of thousand in Bhurm. Even with the attack ending in the victory of our nation, the damages that were made are incalculable. Words from our..."

As the woman on the screen kept talking about the disaster that would later be known as the Decimation of Bhurm, I felt my heart growing cold. Because the demons were our enemies, enemies that we would inescapably have to fight one day.

"Crazy! That's insane! Are you seeing this?!"

Suzan, who was unable to keep her mouth shut, somehow uttered the thoughts we were all thinking out loud. Insanity, there was no better word for it.

"Quiet down, Suzan. As they said, they have already resolved the matter, so there's no reason to yell."

Putting his hand on the yellow-haired girl's head, Sebastian quickly calmed the girl down, wearing his usual expressionless face. A face that I now, after getting to know him better, could see was also filled with frustration.

There wasn't one person here who didn't feel similarly, even if we all knew better than to just shout out our frustrations like a certain samurai girl.

From the two burly brothers who were clenching their fists, to the usually cool archer that trembled a bit. Even the edge lord himself sat in silence, unwilling to share his inner thoughts with the ones around him.

Then we had the golden-haired princess, sitting on one of the couches. With her hands tightly weaved together and her eyes closed, she was doing the only thing she could right now for her people. Praying.

And although I thought I would have never agreed to someone just sitting and praying instead of helping, I didn't disagree with her actions right now. Because what we had seen was something outside of the realms of mortals.

That hadn't been a fight between humans, elves, dwarfs, or beastmen. No, the only thing that could have caused an entire city to disappear has to have been a fight between monsters. And that was also the place that we would have to reach in the future.

And the man at my side knew so. He knew better than anyone that he had to somehow make it to the same stage if he wanted to attain his goals.

"I'm going to train..."

Uttering just those words, he was on his way to the training room that he spent so much of his time in, the room that I had gotten to know was his safe place. The place where he felt the most comfortable.

For him, getting stronger was salvation. Salvation because it would someday allow him to attain redemption. Redemption for something that wasn't his sin to begin with.

"I'm also going."

"Sophie? Where are you going?

Ignoring Anna's question and following the man I adored, I knew that I was the same. I also had to reach the same stage in the future, the stage that my friend had somehow already reached while leaving us behind.

A stage filled with insanity, full of monsters, and absurdities.

A stage that I had sometimes doubted I would ever reach. But now, I didn't. Because now I had someone to lead me there.

'-You shall become strong, young one. Stronger than you have ever imagined. But you must not lose your way because of it. Impatience will only lead to your downfall.'

Listening to the words of the dragon inside of me, I already knew that she was right. Despite that, I couldn't allow myself to move slowly. Though I didn't know how, I knew that time was slowly running out.

And in spite of that, I felt like I could still face the future with a smile. Because I was not alone, and I knew that I never would be.

Together we would face the dawn of tomorrow, and together we would survive it. No matter how harsh things got, we would support each other.

Me, Arthur, Sarah, and Sebastian. We had already made that promise to each other, and so we were going to see it through to the end.

And then we had everyone else as well.

Anna, Suzan, Bella, Adriana... None of us were alone. So even if they were monsters out there, I knew that by helping each other, we would all be able to attain our goals.

Me included. I also had someone that would help me fulfill my goals now, and this being was probably more of a monster than anyone I knew.

'-Dagahra... Please make me stronger.'