As usual, after accepting the mission we made our way to the indicated location and started setting up a trap. We placed a second one around our position as a precaution — in case it found us before we found it. Better safe than sorry on a mission like this.
While we were setting up, Liam started talking.
"In the end, after this you'll finally be able to break through to tier 2, won't you? Are you happy about that?"
"We'll see. We have to complete the mission first, and the breakthrough isn't guaranteed — I might just fail."
"Oh come on, don't be so pessimistic. Think about the good things. You don't always have to focus on the most logical outcome."
We finished setting up and made a loud sound to draw it out.
Everything seemed to go as planned. The moment its silhouette appeared through the mist, we held our breath and tried to slip away quietly to our hiding place.
Then I felt the aura. It was tier 2. Recently broken through, by the look of it — but tier 2 nonetheless.
The moment we felt it, We tried every way we knew to stay silent. It didn't matter. Somehow it still found us. The trap partially worked — it fell in, took some damage, and slowed down. But the speed it moved at afterward was still beyond anything a tier 1 could outrun. It didn't just run; it blurred.
After it broke free, it came straight for me. I pushed my circulation to the absolute limit, forcing everything into my legs. It wasn't enough. The beast closed the gap in seconds.
I braced for the impact, the word 'reset' already on my tongue.
Then Liam slammed into my shoulder, shoving me into the dirt.
The impact sounded like a branch snapping. The Mistdeer's antler drove straight through Liam's stomach, lifting his feet off the ground. He didn't even scream. He just choked, spitting a mouthful of blood over the beast's pale fur.
Liam grabbed the antler buried in his gut to keep the beast from pulling away. "Attack!" he shouted, driving his own knife toward its head.
The blade bit deep. The beast thrashed. It gave me the opening I needed to go for the heart.
I lunged, but missed on the first try as the beast kicked out. The impact caught my chest and launched me backward. I hit the ground hard, the air leaving my lungs, but I scrambled right back to my feet. I couldn't let Liam's sacrifice be in vain. He was still holding on, the wound becoming wider with every second the beast shook him.
I gritted my teeth and threw myself at it again, using everything I had left. This time, the dagger landed. Muscle and bone resisted, but I forced it. I pushed deeper and deeper, feeling the strain in my own arm until my hands went completely numb.
The beast gave a violent shudder and collapsed.
It finally died.
We won.
But Liam—
...
There was no saving him. The wound was completely ruined.
I sat down beside him and held him gently.
Something fell from my eyes.
Tears.
It was...
...
The first time since I came to this world that I had cried.
With his last breath, Liam smiled at me.
"In the end," he said, his voice barely a whisper, "I was able to make you feel something real, wasn't I?"
I held him while he took his last breath.
...
No thoughts.
Not a single one.
Complete emptiness.
I didn't know what to say, what to do, or what was even happening anymore.
...
It wasn't supposed to go like this.