Chapter 11: Our Time Was Not Wasted

Chapter 11:
Our Time Was Not Wasted

 

THOUGH SHE PULLED with all her strength, Flum couldn’t get away from the woman, who’d now sucked her arm in up to the elbow. If the ogre hit her at such close range, she’d be dead for sure.

She looked up to see the ogre slowly raising its fist. There was only one option left to her.

“Sara, cast a healing spell on my arm!”

“What?? But that’ll…”

“Just hurry up and do it!”

Sara hadn’t studied magic to cause harm to people, that much Flum knew. But right now, it was what had to be done to save her life.

Pushing aside her reservations, Sara rubbed her hands together. Heal wouldn’t be powerful enough to completely destroy Flum’s arm, so she had to use a more powerful spell.

“Recover!”

Light flew from Sara’s palms and swirled around Flum’s arm before entering her skin. Her arm began to melt from the inside out.

“Aaaaaaaaaaugh!!!”

The pain that tore through her was excruciating, far worse than what she had expected. Every pore felt like it was on fire, sweat drenched her entire body, and she struggled to breathe. It felt as if her bones had been replaced with red-hot iron bars.

As her arm start to slough away into thick, fleshy sludge, Flum yanked it free of the woman’s face and tumbled backward onto the cold floor. THWUNK! She watched as the ogre’s fist swung through the space where her head had been just moments ago, before connecting with the faceless woman instead and reducing her to chunks of meat.

Still wracked with pain and losing massive amounts of blood, Flum heard her gauntlet clang to the floor. She felt as if she might pass out at any moment but clenched her jaw in an attempt to refocus herself and started crawling away from the ogre.

“Fluuuum!”” Sara extended a hand out to her.

“Haah…haaaah…hah…nng. We’ve gotta get outta here!” Flum took her hand and yanked herself up to her feet. She quickly grabbed her gauntlet before they took off at a run.

The ogre stopped crawling on all fours for a moment to watch the two fleeing girls. Flum risked a backward glance to see why it wasn’t following them, only to catch it begin to move. Thud thud thud thud thud! Her face tensed up at the sight of the ogre moving toward them like a large spider.

Fortunately, it crawled a lot slower than it could run. Now that Flum’s arm was healing and the pain slowly fading, she was able to pick up the pace. By turning as many corners as possible, the girls slowly put some distance between them and their pursuer.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Flum??”

“I’m, well, I’m not exactly okay. But…I mean, I think I’m fine.”

Losing a limb was a horrifying experience for anyone, let alone a sixteen-year-old girl. The pain didn’t just impact Flum’s body, but her mind, making it hard for her to focus on the task at hand. However, before it could overwhelm her, the image of Milkit waiting for her back in Anichidey came to mind. She couldn’t just die like this. She had to return to Milkit.

As her resolve recovered, so did her strength. Flum pushed herself even harder as the two continued their frantic attempt to escape the facility. They wove their way through the complex mess of hallways, taking nearly every turn they could in order to put more distance between them and the ogre. After doing this for a while, they seemed to have finally lost their pursuer.

“Think we gave ’im the slip?” Sara skidded to a stop and looked around nervously.

“Maybe, but I don’t think we should relax just yet. We still don’t know how to get out of here.”

“You’re right. And…hey, listen. I hear a lot of voices.”

Flum listened closely.

“Heeelp meeee!”

“It hurts, please… It hurts!”

“Someone please help me! It hurts so bad!”

The voices were coming from practically every direction. Just the sound of them was terrifying. Flum figured that they were trying to pull the same trick as the woman earlier, luring them into a trap.

The faceless ogre hadn’t just been strong but also smarter than a normal ogre should have been. Could that be because of whatever had drilled into its face?

“So what do we do? I don’t even know how we’re supposed to get out of here…”

Finding an exit in this labyrinth was hard enough as it was. Finding an exit while trying to evade monsters was well-nigh impossible. Even if they did find one, their problems wouldn’t be at an end; the ogre might leave the caves to chase after them, possibly putting the nearby villagers at risk.

“We’ve gotta find some way to kill that ogre.” True as that might be, neither Sara’s mace nor Flum’s own sword had had much impact on it. “What about your magic, Sara?”

“I’m not too good at offensive magic, y’know. All my strongest attacks involve my mace. What about you?”

“Pretty much stuck with my sword. I’m not a magic user.”

“Then we gotta find something that’ll help us put the hurt on that thing! There’s gotta be gear of some sort around here.”

“Hey, wait a second. Isn’t there a light magic spell that boosts your stats?”

Sara hung her head. “I dunno that spell, sorry.”

“No worries. That just means that we need to think of something else. Hmm…”

Flum put her hand to her chin in thought. Unfortunately, they didn’t get much time to think about it, as the sound of thundering footsteps reached their ears. This time, they were coming from up ahead.

“He’s back!!”

The ogre stuck its head around the corner and stared at them, blood spurting from the churning organ in its face and staining the floor. Flum took a step back. The creature reached a large, green arm around the corner and pulled itself forward along the wall. Sara took a step back as well, prompting the ogre to reach out with its other arm and pull its blood-stained torso forward.

As soon as the two girls turned to flee, the ogre gave chase again, this time crawling along the wall.

“How did it get in front of us?!”

“It’s gotta know the facility like the back of its hand by now!”

“I’ve never seen an ogre this smart!”

“Was it this fast before??”

Sara was right—the ogre was moving a lot faster than it had been during their last encounter. Despite them taking every turn they could, it was keeping up, and every time they stumbled, it managed to get just a little closer.

“He’s probably clinging to the wall to avoid all the obstacles.”

“This thing’s way too smart for its own good!”

Despite their best efforts, the ogre was closing in fast. They had to do something to defend themselves. If only there was something Flum could do to make her sword more powerful…

Just then, Gadhio’s words came back to her.

“There comes a time for every adventurer when they must fight an opponent many times stronger than them. There’s a certain technique you can use to push past your own limitations in such a scenario.”

Even though she couldn’t use it then, Gadhio had still taken the time to demonstrate this sword technique to Flum.

“The Cavalier Arts…”

“What’re you talkin’ about??” Sara looked back in confusion.

Even though Gadhio had taught her the technique, Flum had been unable to use it for a very simple reason: the Cavalier Arts turned the user’s endurance stat into something known as prana, which in turn boosted their strength. Since her stats were all zero, the technique did nothing for her.

But now…now, things were different. This would be her last stand. If this failed, she’d die here. But if she didn’t even try, she’d die anyway.

“If this works out, then I might just be able to inflict some damage.”

“I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but I guess this means you have a plan?”

“It’s all or nothing, but it’s the best we’ve got.”

“Do you need some time to prep?”

If she said yes, would Sara take it on herself to keep Flum safe in the mean time? Could she leave such a young girl to face this massive beast all on her own?

“I’ll…need a little time to get ready, yeah.” Flum hesitated, but ultimately decided to trust the task to Sara’s capable hands. It was a bad situation all the way around, but what choice did they really have?

“All right then, just leave it to me!” Sara skidded to a halt and turned around, pulling her mace up and at the ready.

The ogre immediately stopped at the sight of its prey giving up the chase. The vortex in the middle of its face contorted in a sick imitation of a smile, as if already celebrating its upcoming kill. Blood dripped like saliva from a dog’s mouth.

Sara stood at the ready. This was her one and only chance, so it had to be good.

Flum stood a short distance behind her and summoned forth the Souleater. Holding the sword in both hands, she lowered it to just below waist level and closed her eyes in concentration.

“Aw’right, I’ll be right back, ’kay? Heck, I might even just kill that ogre myself!” Sara was hyped up and raring to go.

The ogre suddenly lunged forward on all fours toward Sara, swinging out its arm in an attempt to knock aside the girl obstructing its path. The young nun dove high up into the air, flipping over her opponent, and smashed her mace against the back of the ogre’s skull.

THWACK!

Had this been a normal ogre, the blow would have shattered its cranium and sent it spiraling to the ground.

“There’s more where that came from!” Sara cried.

The ogre anticipated where she would land and swung at her, though she quickly ducked out of the way. It grabbed for her with its other arm, but she managed to dive up the wall and escape.

Meanwhile, Gadhio’s words resonated in Flum’s mind.

“Think of it as if it were magic. Draw all of the magic out of your body and into your fist, and then turn that into strength. The only thing that makes this technique different from normal magic is that it is far more challenging to focus on your endurance.”

Her eyes still closed, Flum imagined her endurance as if it were akin to blood, flowing freely through her body. She reached deep within herself and tried to grab that flowing power, but it spilled like water through your fingers.

“It’s more malleable than magic, harder to get a handle on. Your mind must be pure and completely at ease, much like how a still lake acts as a mirror.”

She tried to block out her surroundings and dig even deeper. Slowly, the sounds of the battle around her began to fade away, and even her own thoughts grew distant.

In this moment of inner peace, Flum was completely at ease. Her mind was a crystal-clear pond, with nary a ripple to disturb its perfect surface.

“Aunnng!!”

Sara blocked the ogre’s fist with her mace, but the blow was still powerful enough to knock her into the wall behind her. The air was knocked from her lungs, and she felt a searing pain run up her back. She immediately cast a healing spell on herself to cure any bones broken in the impact.

The ogre took advantage of this opening and followed up with another blow. SMASH! Its fist hit the wall where she stood mere moments ago, the metal deforming as if it were mere clay. It was only thanks to Sara’s quick reflexes that she was able to dive out of the way in time.

She was giving this absolutely everything she had, and the ogre was just whaling on her with no restraint or strategy. The sheer power gap between them was painfully apparent, and Sara knew that she couldn’t keep this up forever.

“Hey, uh, Flum… How’s it goin’? I still got this for now, don’tcha worry!”

Meanwhile, Flum was slowly but surely starting to get the hang of it. She extended her hand and opened up her palm, allowing that untouchable, invisible energy to run through her fingers as she tried to get a sense for it.

And then, finally—she caught it. Only a sliver of it. She didn’t rejoice. If she lost her focus now, then it would all be for nothing.

It was time to move to the next step.

“Once you’ve managed to grasp the power, the hard part’s over. Next, turn that energy into strength and transfer it to your blade.”

Unlike most magic, which required the caster to clearly visualize their intent, it was relatively easy to mold the energy of prana once you had a grasp of it. Flum focused on the prana gripped in her imaginary hand, and transferred it from just below her heart to her shoulders, down her arms, and into the palms of her hands. From there, she transferred this pure, translucent energy into the Souleater.

“Assuming the prana is completely pure and unsullied, then…”

She’d done her best to follow Gadhio’s instructions, though she had no way of judging exactly how well it had worked. But her sword was now imbued with a powerful energy—she could tell that much.

“Hey, Fluuuuum?!”

The ogre was standing directly above Sara, about to deliver a death blow. Even with nowhere left to escape, the nun didn’t cry out for help. But the fear was readily apparent in her voice.

It was now Flum’s turn to prove to Sara that her faith was not misplaced. She owed a lot to this young girl.

She ran as fast as she could toward the towering ogre as Gadhio’s final instructions echoed through her mind.

“…Then you release all of your power in one mighty strike.”

She put all of the prana energy into her swing and aimed for its neck. This was the power of the Cavalier Arts.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

This attack was known as Shaker Imitation.

Swooompf!

Her sword was a shimmering blade of flame. The prana-empowered Souleater did the impossible: it slashed through the ogre’s skin, straight through its muscles, and embedded itself deep in its spinal cord.

The ogre’s head rocked back and forth as the vortex spinning in the middle of its face picked up speed, sending blood splattering everywhere. It was clearly in pain.

“You did it! Now leave the rest up to me!”

“He’s all yours, Sara!” Flum let go of the handle and stepped back as Sara hefted her mace, dove high up into the air, and slammed down hard on the part of the blade still sticking out of its neck.

The blow gave the sword the extra kick it needed to completely sever the ogre’s neck, sending its head dropping to the ground with a wet thud. The spitting organ in its face immediately stopped moving and the unsettling churning noise ceased. They’d done it.

Sara laughed nervously. “Th-that was pretty hairy back there for a second, huh?”

Flum’s whole body heaved as she caught her breath. “I just hope cutting its head off actually killed the thing…”

She wasn’t nearly as certain of their victory as Sara was. Sure, she hoped it was dead, but there was something alarming about how its body still maintained its posture, propped up in a crawling position. Almost every animal she knew of died once decapitated, but there was nothing normal about this thing.

…And then her worst fears were confirmed.

“Sara, run!!”

“Wha? Why?? We just killed it, and… Huh?”

The open wound at its neck had begun to move and transform into a familiar shape.

“N-no way! Is it spinning??”

A new vortex appeared in the stump of the ogre’s neck, once again spinning and sputtering blood, as if to announce that it would be serving as the abomination’s new head. Its whole upper body shuddered before the ogre began to move again toward Sara, who was too stunned to move.

“Watch out!!” Flum dove into Sara and wrapped her arms around the younger girl, shielding her from the impact with the floor.

“Th-thanks.”

“Let’s get out of here!”

The two girls scrambled back to their feet and immediately took off running again.

Just as Flum had feared, this was no normal living creature, and it was hellbent on killing them. Running was the best option left.

Fortunately, the ogre didn’t seem to be accustomed to functioning without its head. Its movements were jerky, allowing the girls to get a fair lead on their pursuer. But unless they found the exit sometime soon, their predicament hadn’t really changed. It was just a matter of time until the ogre found and killed them.

They needed to kill this thing once and for all.

Flum could stop again, refocus herself, and let loose with another prana attack, aiming for a vital organ this time. But even then, she couldn’t be sure it would kill this thing…

The girls continued to sprint through the facility, turning at every corner they came across, until they could no longer hear the ogre following them.

Flum and Sara stopped and leaned up against the wall to catch their breath.

“I d-don’t get it. We cut its head off, didn’t we? There was so much blood…!”

“Maybe it’s… Maybe it’s like me?”

“But that’s because of a curse, right?” Sara meant there had to be some other power that was keeping the ogre’s body moving.

“If only we knew what its weakness was…”

Flum slowed down her breathing and let her mind run over the possibilities. She knew, deep down, that the answer lay within her Reversal affinity.

Increasing stats was no easy task, but maybe there was some way to lower them instead?

“Mind if I try something else out, Sara?”

“I got nothin’, so I’m game for whatever you’ve got! I trust your judgment.”

“Don’t put too much faith in me. Anyway, I want to head back to the first room we landed in.”

“The one where you told me not to look?”

“Right. I really didn’t want to show you, but we’re running out of options here.”

The two retraced their steps, being sure to avoid any dead bodies that might be booby-trapped, and headed back to the room they had originally plummeted into, all the while hearing the cries of the dead echoing from every direction.

Suddenly, they heard the rapid thumping of the ogre moving through the halls. The girls froze at once. Flum’s heart was beating so hard she worried it would burst right out of her chest. Sara didn’t seem to be faring much better, judging by her ragged breathing and sweat-drenched forehead.

They stood deathly still until, fortunately, the sounds grew more and more distant and eventually faded from hearing.

The two girls let out a sigh of relief and continued moving again. Flum felt certain that the only reason why it hadn’t found them was due to the loss of its head. With many of its vital senses gone, the ogre couldn’t pursue them with quite the same tenacity as before. At least that meant she’d done some real damage with her last attack.

When they finally made it back to the corpse-filled room, Flum told Sara to keep her eyes pointed upward as much as possible before opening the door. The reek of rotting flesh assaulted them, causing Flum to scowl and Sara to bring her hand to her mouth.

Flum led the way into the room and activated the switch embedded in the wall, illuminating the tragic scene in all its gory wonder.

Sara gagged and heaved audibly as she struggled to speak.

“Are…are these… Were these… Are they all dead?”

The mountain of corpses sported bodies in all states of decomposition, from bleached bones to rotting flesh, with a few mummified husks thrown in as well.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t want you to see this.”

“N-no, don’t worry. I…I’m used to seeing this stuff.”

Part of the church’s duties, after all, was to tend to the sick and injured. Even someone as young as Sara had probably already seen more than her share of bodies. But this…this was beyond the pale.

They had no time to just stand around. Not when the ogre could show up any minute. Flum ran over toward the mountain of bodies and, after a moment’s hesitation, grabbed one and dragged it free to check its clothes, shoes, and accessories.

“What’re you doing?”

“Looting corpses.”

“Looting…corpses? But why?”

“Listen, I don’t like it either, okay? But with all these bodies here, there just might be some equipment that’s been imprinted with a powerful curse.”

“And you plan on using that??”

It was the only way she could think of to make herself immediately strong. If she collected enough cursed equipment, and boosted her stats enough, she could get off an even more powerful Cavalier Arts attack. That just might do the trick.

“Nnng, this is so nasty…”

Blood, rotten flesh, flayed muscle, and shredded organs stuck wetly to Flum’s hands. She yanked a body out of the way, sending something wet and slimy splattering across her cheek. With a shudder, she wiped it away with her wrist and moved on. The bodies were absolutely crawling with insects, which she had to frequently shake off her hands.

Tears stung the corners of her eyes at the gruesome work, but she pushed herself on. Flum fixated on her goal of living long enough to escape from this hell, fought back her growing desire to cry and run away, and scanned every item she came across.

Suddenly, Sara sat down next to her.

“Sara, hang back and wait for me.”

“I’m…I’m gonna search, too.”

She absolutely was not about to let a ten-year-old girl take on such a gruesome task. “No, I’ve got this.”

“We’ve gotta do this to survive. Both of us. I’m not just gonna let you do all the work.” Sara scrunched up her face and clenched her jaw as she reached hesitantly toward a body.

“Thank you, Sara…and please forgive me. I’ve asked so much of you today.”

“You’ve done a ton for me too, Flum.”

“Once we get out of here, let’s go get a nice dinner, huh?”

“I’ll hold ya to it. Personally, I’d like to have some of Milkit’s home cooking.”

“That’d be nice. Let’s do it.”

“Deal.”

Flum had no idea if she could even make good on that promise, but it helped keep things light. She scanned anything and everything she could but just couldn’t find the cursed items she’d hoped for. Maybe all the curses had become concentrated in just one item—or at least, that’s what she told herself.

“He’s here…”

They could hear approaching footsteps. The fact that the creature was even moving through nearby hallways was proof enough that it had somehow followed their trail, and here they were, in a figurative and literal dead end.

They didn’t have much time left.

Deciding this would be their last try, Flum and Sara tugged together on the body of a woman stuck deep in the pile. Despite her advanced state of decomposition, the items she wore on her body were all in pristine condition. Flum started from the top and scanned her way down: necklace, ring, bodice, skirt, and finally her boots.

 

Name: God Hater Leather Boots

Tier: Epic

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Strength by 257]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Magic by 330]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Endurance by 885]

[This equipment lowers its wearer’s Agility by 731]

[This equipment freezes its wearer’s body]

 

As soon as Flum saw those stats, she immediately yanked the boots off the woman and put them on herself. They were clammy and sticky; an overall disgusting sensation.

But she could feel power well up in her, and she didn’t seem to be freezing—or burning, for that matter. Since her Reversal affinity seemed to turn everything on its head, she couldn’t help but wonder how “this equipment freezes its wearer’s body” would manifest.

“We found one!” Sara cried.

“It’s all thanks to your help, Sara. I don’t know what difference this will make, but we’ve gotta try.”

Flum’s total stats were now at 3,396, with her strength and agility both exceeding over 500. Her endurance had gone past the 1,000 mark. She felt her fear ebb away and her breathing settle down.

“Thank you, Sara. Truly, thank you.”

“Bit early for thanks! We still gotta nuke that thing.”

The ogre stuck its neck into the room. Its shoulders were too wide for the doorway, temporarily pinning it in place; the swirling organ on its severed neck twisted and wrenched around, almost as if it were inspecting the room, before coming to a halt pointed in Flum and Sara’s direction.

The two girls tensed up.

Green fingers slowly came into view and latched onto the doorframe. One powerful tug and the metal gave way with a terrible screech. The veins on the backs of the creature’s hands bulged as it pulled even harder. When the doorway was finally large enough, the ogre forced its right arm in. Its powerful fingers dug deep into the floor as it dragged its whole body forward, literally sliding into the room.

Now free of the doorway, the creature stood up and punched the air straight in Flum’s direction. The resulting blast of wind drilled a hole in the mountain of bodies, covering Flum and Sara with flecks and shreds of what had once been human.

The ogre remained fixated on its target: Flum. But her new equipment had made her an entirely different force to reckon with.

When the creature launched its next strike, Flum deftly dodged out of the way and swung up with the Souleater, slashing its arm as it flew past. A red line appeared on the green flesh, confirming that her strength had increased.

The injury was minor, of course, but it meant she was now in a position to fight back.

She dashed forward, circling around her enemy, and concentrated all of her newly enhanced strength into another powerful slash. This, too, inflicted only a thin cut on the ogre’s body. Much to her surprise, however, the blow was immediately followed by a crackling sound and the formation of ice crystals around the edges of the wound.

Bjooo, bjoooop! Blood sputtered out of the ogre’s neck as it jerked around in a desperate attempt to figure out the strange sensation of its wound freezing up. It lunged in to grapple Flum, but she had already ducked between its legs and was once again behind her opponent.

Flum let out a slow breath and began to let the energy flow from her body, down through her arms, and into her sword. She leapt up into the air and swung down with her blade as she unleashed another prana-powered Shaker Imitation.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaauuuuh!!”

Zwooosh!

The attack was much more powerful than before and cleaved straight through the ogre’s right arm with little resistance. The creature howled in pain, but the stump of its arm began to spin and contort within moments, halting any further blood loss.

“Yeah!!” Sara cheered from the sidelines.

The ogre spun around and threw another powerful punch at Flum, who dove backward just in time to narrowly dodge. Sara lunged in to take a swipe at the creature’s now-exposed back.

“It’s my turn!”

CRACK! Her mace shattered the ice, leaving cracks in the ogre’s frozen flesh as it fell away. The freezing effect had given her the chance to deal damage her mace had previously been unable to.

The green giant stumbled forward toward Flum, its right leg shattering on impact. Sara swung again, landing a blow in the exact same spot her mace had struck last time, while Flum used another prana-empowered slash to lop off the ogre’s left leg.

Bjoooop! The ogre writhed in pain as blood sprayed from the stump of its neck like a fountain. The tides of battle had finally turned in their favor.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!” With one final, powerful swing, Flum used another Shaker Imitation strike to chop off the ogre’s last remaining arm. Divested of all limbs and even its head, the creature’s torso squirmed on the ground like a blind insect. All its wounds had been replaced with the bizarre, spiraling vortexes, though it couldn’t move anymore.

“That thing’s still alive?!”

“It certainly seems that way. But I have no idea how we’d even kill it at this point. Let’s just get out of here.”

“Yeah, you’re right. No point in bangin’ our heads against a wall.”

“Besides, I’m beat.”

The two exchanged a wry smile. Sara was drenched in sweat, and her shoulders heaved as she sucked in oxygen. Flum wasn’t much better off, her mental and physical resources thoroughly depleted.

Though they had healthy reservations about leaving the squirming mass of muscle behind, the girls slowly made their way to the torn-open doorway. Flum stepped through and stopped.

“Hey, Sara?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you feel that? It feels like…wind.”

It felt like a gentle breeze was caressing her cheek. She was certain she hadn’t felt it last time they were through here.

“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Sara seemed to agree, so it wasn’t just Flum’s imagination. The wind was getting stronger and stronger by the moment, until it felt like there was a full-force gale whipping through the hallways.

Flum turned around, Souleater in hand. Sara moved in step with her, her own mace at the ready, as they faced the mauled remains of the ogre they’d left behind.

Much to their surprise, the mass of green flesh was no longer squirming around on the ground but floating in the air. The vortexes on all its severed body parts—its neck, arms, and legs—were spinning rapidly, spraying thick, goopy blood everywhere. It was hard to tell what the creature felt without a face to look at, but the way it moved gave Flum the impression that it was angry—murderously so.

No matter what happened to its body, no matter how much damage they did to it, the ogre seemed hell-bent on killing Flum. Or at least, the entity that inhabited the ogre’s body did. She’d never seen anything so obsessed before. And why should it be? She was just a simple farm girl from a backwoods village.

The spinning grew faster and the wind picked up, jostling the dead bodies littering the floor. Based on their experience fighting it so far, the ogre needed time to build up power to attack.

Flum and Sara yelled out in unison as they lunged in to strike. Thanks to the infusion of prana, Souleater cut deep into the creature’s chest, but the gash quickly began to spin, staunching the blood as the wound froze over. Meanwhile, Sara’s mace did little noticeable damage. Frustrating as these results were, they had to stop this thing before it got any stronger. Flum decided it best to focus her efforts on delivering as many cuts as she could, and Sara followed up with blows to the frozen wounds, knocking off more of the ogre’s torso chunk by chunk.

But the spinning didn’t stop and the wind only grew fiercer. What had once been a strong gust was now a mighty gale. They were nearing tornado-level wind speeds.

“How much of this thing do we need to cut off before it stops?!”

“I don’t know! Gaaah!”

The metal plating attached to the walls screeched as the wind ripped them free and sent them flying. Flum and Sara struggled to keep their footing in the maelstrom. The ogre’s heart and even the majority of its organs were already destroyed, leaving only the stomach with its bizarre helix-shaped markings.

“We’ve already cut out your heart, okay?! Just die already!”

“It’s just a hunk of twisted meat at this point! Why won’t it stop?!”

“Just…stoooooooop!!!”

The spiral markings covering the last bit of the ogre were just too hard for Flum’s sword to cut through. Even freezing them and smashing them with Sara’s mace had no effect. As far as Flum saw it, there was only one choice left: she’d need to pierce the thing with another prana-powered strike.

She clasped the hilt of Souleater in both hands and reached deep within herself once more, seeking to grasp that familiar sensation. This could be the decisive blow. Focusing all the prana into the very tip of the blade, Flum thrust Souleater into her target’s stomach.

“Nnnng… waugh?!”

She looked over to see Sara lose her balance and slip on the blood-soaked floor.

“I…I know you got this, Flum. I’m… Don’t worry ’bout me.”

“Sara!!”

If Sara got sucked into the cyclone of debris and dead bodies, it would be over for her. She was clinging desperately to the floor, but it was only a matter of time until she lost her grip as her palms grew slick with sweat and her muscles twitched.

The only way Flum could help her now was to end this as fast as possible.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”

With that final cry of frustration, she grasped every last iota of prana she could muster and forced it into the blade to bolster her curse-enhanced strength. And yet, it still wasn’t enough. She felt the tip of the blade sink just barely beneath the surface. Though it was slowly plunging deeper and deeper, it wouldn’t be in time to save her companion.

She needed to do this if they were going to live. She needed to reach deep within herself and dump everything she had into this. If she was out of power, then she needed some way to find more.

That was when it dawned on Flum: she had someone waiting for her to come home. Milkit was waiting for her, and Flum couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the girl all alone. Maybe it was co-dependent, even unhealthy, how they needed each other, but she didn’t care. Death was simply not an option—not if it meant causing Milkit any further sorrow.

No. She wouldn’t die. Not until she’d turned Milkit’s life around.

Flum focused on the image of Milkit seared into her mind and extracted more energy than she ever knew she had, pouring it all into her blade.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!”

She screamed so hard that her throat felt like it would tear. Her arms began to split, blood running down them as the impossible torrent of prana surged through her small frame. The moment one injury was healed, yet another tore open. It felt as if Flum, too, were being stabbed.

And yet the young girl pushed on through, as if in defiance of fate itself.

Her blade finally plunged through the floating mass of hardened flesh. There was a loud crack as something inside snapped, and a moment later, what was left of the ogre’s body dropped to the floor. The wind died immediately, sending debris and dead bodies slamming down into their final resting places.

Flum gasped for air as she dropped to her knees, thoroughly spent. Her arms dangled weakly at her sides and she stared blankly up into the air.

“Did we… Is it really dead?”

Nothing remained of the ogre, not even a slab of flesh. All they could see was a shattered black crystal on the floor. Flum wasn’t sure if that had been what was controlling it, but she could think about it later. All she wanted to do right now was rest.

“Y-you did it, Flum! You finally killed it!” Sara slumped to the floor, utterly exhausted.

“I…I really did do it, didn’t I? Wow.”

Flum’s breath came out in ragged gasps, but she felt aglow a deep sense of pride over her achievement. Unable to fight back the exhaustion any longer, she slumped back onto her elbows before just rolling over on the ground. It felt so cool and supportive. She couldn’t get up.