"ASH!!"
Seraphine was the first to react, leaping from the tree with reckless urgency. She landed with a stumble but barely noticed, rushing to Ashen's side and kneeling beside him.
Her hands trembled as she gently lifted his head onto her lap, fingers brushing against his bloodied face. She didn't care about the grime, the sweat, or the filth.
"Just breathe. Please just breathe."
"..."
"P-please… Please, you have to be fine… C'mon…"
Desperation clawed at her throat as she gathered the last dregs of her mana, forcing herself to cast Desire's Renewal.
"C-caught—!"
The moment the skill took hold, Ashen stirred.
Seraphine sucked in a sharp breath.
"Oh, thank god! Ash! Can you hear me?!"
His eyes fluttered open; heavy, sluggish, but open.
"...Sera… I'm… fine."
That only pissed her off.
Her voice dropped into an indignant whisper, somehow fierce and adorably ridiculous at the same time.
"How can you be fine?! What does 'fine' even look like to you?!"
That, finally, snapped Braun out of his daze.
With a heavy thud, he collapsed onto his ass, staring at the carnage around them.
"...Haha… We're alive."
It seemed his brain was only now catching up to the fact that they hadn't died.
Ashen exhaled. His body still felt like lead, but he forced himself to turn toward Braun.
"Caught... Is that Braun? Well, I'm glad he's alive…"
Seraphine didn't let him.
Her hands grabbed his cheeks, forcing his head back down with an unimpressed glare.
"Geez, stop moving and focus on yourself for once! Mister Braun is doing much better than you."
"...I don't know about that…" Braun muttered weakly from his spot on the ground.
A dry chuckle rumbled from Ashen's throat.
"...Aha–Caught!—haha–ha…" He groaned, eyes fluttering shut again. "Well... I might have gone too far this time… This skill did quite a number on me…"
He could feel it now… Trance didn't just push his body beyond its limits; it ignored them completely. It forced him forward, making sure he finished the task, consequences be damned.
"Might? No, you most definitely did." Seraphine scolded, brows furrowing.
Ashen went silent for a moment before forcing out, "...Sera, we have to get out of here. Now. We don't know what else might crawl out of this forsaken place."
Seraphine nodded, her expression sharpening.
"You're right. Prepare yourself for a piggyback ride."
Ashen grimaced.
The mental image of Seraphine, the petite and barely reaching his chest Seraphine, trying to carry his dead weight, was enough to make him reconsider his life choices.
"Mister Braun! Can you still walk?" She turned toward their other teammate.
Braun exhaled and cracked a stiff grin.
"I still have a bit left in the tank for the trek back… no piggybacks for me!" He waved a hand and slowly pushed himself up.
Ashen groaned.
This was going to be humiliating.
.
.
However, a moment later, Ashen knew he wouldn't be experiencing Seraphine's piggyback ride this time.
Even with his body battered beyond recognition, his senses remained razor-sharp. And those senses now screamed at him… doom was inevitable.
Another wave of mana clusters was approaching. This time, slowly… leisurely….
That should have been a relief. It wasn't.
Because trailing behind them was a mana presence ten times denser and bigger than the rest.
Ashen's gut twisted.
'That's why they're in no hurry…'
Their next enemy had a leader. And this leader, whoever or whatever it was, moved with the kind of arrogance that said, Run if you want. It won't matter.
Ashen stiffened.
Seraphine, who had been bracing his weight, felt the change immediately.
"Ash…?" she murmured, glancing up at his face.
A rare sight greeted her, one she had never seen before.
Terror.
Her voice snapped him out of his daze.
He inhaled sharply, then spoke in a voice that dripped with quiet resignation.
"…Guys. We have company."
The shift in his tone made both of them tense.
Braun swallowed before asking, "…How many?"
Ashen hesitated, trying to soften the blow. But what was the point?
"…Enough to keep us here forever."
A heavy Silence descended.
Then, as if answering his words, something shuffled through the trees.
A lone goat… or rather, a Hircus, its monstrous counterpart, ambled toward them.
Seraphine's breath hitched. This was their mission target.
Or at least… it should have been.
Another came. And then another one…
More and more Hircuses emerged from the trees' shadows, forming a wide circle around them. None moved to attack, as if they were waiting.
For what?
The answer came swiftly.
A suffocating pressure crashed down on the clearing.
A final figure stepped forward.
This one was different.
It was larger, twice the size of the others. Its coat was pitch black, its hooves much thicker and more gnarled.
Seraphine's voice wavered.
"T-that's a Gorefiend… isn't it?"
Braun exhaled shakily, then sighed.
"…Seems that way."
Ashen barely registered their words. His mind was running on overdrive, burning through every possible escape route.
None existed.
Even if they ignored the minions, the Gorefiend alone could play with them until they died of exhaustion.
To put it into perspective, every beast they had fought so far had been 1st-stage Wild Beasts.
This thing, however, was a 2nd-stage evolution.
And from what he knew, only someone at the 6th step of their Pathway would stand a chance against it.
They weren't even close to that level.
Then, Braun spoke.
"Ash. Sera."
His voice was somber.
Ashen's gaze flickered to the Gorefiend. It still hadn't given the order to attack, content to let them grasp that death was only moments away, savoring the rising flavor of their despair.
Even so, they had seconds at best before it tired of playing with its prey and struck.
"Yeah?" he replied a beat later, not taking his eyes off the monsters. "If you've got an idea, I'm open to suggestions."
Seraphine perked up. Hope flashed in her gaze.
Braun's voice was steady. Too steady.
"Oh, I've got one. It's simple, really."
Ashen frowned. That tone bothered him.
"…Really?"
Braun smiled faintly.
"If I burn every last bit of my mana and use Taunt at full force… I can grab their attention long enough for you two to run."
Silence.
"..."
"..."
Even with over two hundred beasts growling, hissing, and snarling, Ashen felt the quiet pressing in… so loud it was almost deafening.
Ashen's breath caught in his throat.
Seraphine's lips parted in shock.
Braun's smile didn't waver.
"You'll have a chance, no matter how slim. Seize it."
Ashen opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He wanted to refute it… Wanted to tell Braun it was suicide.
But then what?
If he shot down the idea, he had to come up with an alternative.
And he couldn't.
His traitorous mind refused to think of anything else once Braun's plan had been spoken aloud.
Seraphine, however, didn't care for logic.
"No way!" she snapped. "Mister Braun, you'll die!"
Braun chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"Sera… we're all dead either way. If my sacrifice means at least two of us can live… that's a win in my book."
Seraphine trembled.
"But…"
She had no counterargument.
Braun gave her a resolute look.
Then shook his head.
There was no changing his mind.
He tightened his grip on his shield, bracing it with both hands.
One step.
Then another.
This wasn't about heroics. It wasn't about sacrifice.
In this moment… this sliver of borrowed time… the only face in his mind was his daughter's.
He was going to die anyway. That much was certain.
So why not use his life to carve a path forward for them?
He had seen it firsthand; Ashen's terrifying potential, Seraphine's unwavering resolve. If they survived, they would look after his little girl, right?
They had to.
His lips pressed into a firm line as his resolve settled.
Turning back, he caught sight of Ashen, still scanning the beasts for an opening, desperately searching for the impossible.
Braun chuckled to himself.
The kid thinks too much.
Some walls weren't meant to be broken by sheer intelligence alone.
When Ashen's eyes finally met his, Braun gave him a simple nod before mouthing two words:
My daughter.
He knew Ashen would understand.
And sure enough, Ashen's expression shifted.
His jaw clenched. His shoulders tensed.
He wanted to nod…
Wanted to turn away…
Wanted to run…
Seraphine was counting on him. He had yet to make things right with Alice. His family… they'd be shattered if he never came back.
His mind threw every rational argument at him, every reason to leave Braun behind.
And yet…
His feet refused to move.
Seraphine's gaze bore into him, her worry like a weight pressing against his chest.
Would she blame him if he let Braun go? No. She wouldn't.
She would be devastated. She would cry. But she wouldn't hate him.
Then why—
Why couldn't he move?
Why was his body deciding before his mind could?
Braun stepped forward.
Unconsciously, Ashen's foot moved too, shadowing him.
Chris's face flashed through his mind.
The way he had thrown his companions to the monsters.
This was different. Braun was choosing this.
But in the end, wasn't it the same?
Another step—Braun's.
And another—Ashen's, trailing his.
Braun wasn't willing to throw his life away. Not really.
Ashen clenched his jaw.
'If I let him do this, I'm no different than Chris,' he declared silently.
He refused to be that man.
Then—
Something sparked in his mind.
A skill.
One he had shoved to the back of his consciousness.
One he had refused to use.
Because of its implications.
Grab.
Braun barely had time to react before a firm grip yanked him backward.
He turned, wide-eyed, only to be met with Ashen's cocky grin and Seraphine's relieved sigh.
"Your daughter…" Ashen began casually. "Wouldn't it be better if you took care of her yourself? I mean, I'm quite handsome, I might accidentally make her fall for me."
Braun blinked.
"…What?"
Ashen smirked before pulling him back and taking another step.
Now at the front, he exhaled sharply and turned to face them.
"I might have a way out of this hellhole."
Seraphine gasped. Braun's brow furrowed.
"But," Ashen added, voice lower now, "I don't know how much of it will work in this condition… And I might not be myself afterward."
His smirk faded slightly.
Then, as if dismissing the thought, he muttered, "Not that it matters at this point."
Braun exchanged glances with Seraphine.
She merely tilted her head and said, "We should trust Ashen. He is our captain, after all."
Braun scoffed.
"Hah… Right."
Ashen took a slow, steady breath.
Then, in his mind, he called out—
'Recall.'
.
.