My left leg moves first.
The goddess-controlled leg propels me forward before I even realize what I'm doing. My body follows, momentum carrying me toward her.
Renna's eyes widen, surprised.
I'm inside her guard now. Too close for her to swing the pickaxe effectively.
My torso twists. My head lowers.
And I ram my head into her abdomen with everything I have.
THUD.
The impact drives all the air from her lungs. I hear her gasp, feel her body fold around the hit.
She flies backward.
Her back slams into the dead end wall with a sickening CRACK.
Her pickaxe swings wildly as she tries to catch herself, the point striking the stone wall beside her.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Three more times during the fight she'd struck that wall when I dodged her swings. Each impact leaving marks. Cracks.
This time, the pickaxe punches through.
Just a few centimeters. But enough.
Water starts pouring through the hole.
A stream.
Thin but powerful, jetting out under pressure.
It hits Renna in the face, the shoulder, making her sputter and stumble.
I grab the shovel from where she tossed it and rush at her.
The water has caught her off guard. She's trying to pull her pickaxe free from the wall, trying to wipe the water from her eyes.
I swing the shovel at her.
She sees it coming at the last second. Pulls her head to the side.
The shovel misses her face and slams into her knee instead.
CRACK.
She screams.
The sound echoes through the tunnel, raw and agonized.
Her leg buckles. She collapses, falling hard onto the wet stone floor.
I raise the shovel again, aiming for her head this time.
One good hit. That's all it would take. End this. Make sure she can't chase me.
But I freeze.
She's on the ground, clutching her knee, her face twisted in pain. Water is still streaming from the wall, pooling around her. Her pickaxe is stuck in the stone, out of reach.
She's not a threat anymore.
She's just... a person. In pain. Helpless.
I can't do it.
I lower the shovel.
"Fuck this," I mutter.
I turn and run.
My legs pump.
Left, right, left, right.
The goddess isn't controlling my legs anymore but this time my legs are driving me forward with each step.
I'm going to make it. I'm actually going to—
My left leg stops.
Just stops.
Mid-stride, mid-step, it goes completely dead. No warning. No gradual weakness.
One moment it's moving. The next it's a useless weight.
I pitch forward.
My momentum carries me down. I try to catch myself but it's too fast, too sudden.
I slam face-first into the stone floor.
Pain explodes across my face. My nose. My cheek. My forehead.
I taste blood.
"FUCK!" I scream into the stone.
I try to push myself up. My left leg won't respond. Won't move. It's dead weight attached to my hip, dragging me down.
The goddess.
She helped me. Gave me the peppermint to breathe. Controlled my leg to dodge and attack.
And now she's taken it away.
Right when I needed it most.
Right when I thought I was going to escape.
I roll onto my back, gasping, blood running from my nose down my face.
My left leg lies useless beside me. I can feel it—the sensation is still there—but I can't move it. Can't make it respond.
Behind me, I can hear Renna groaning. The sound of her trying to move.
I'm trapped.
Can't run. Can't fight. Can't escape.
"Fuck you," I gasp out, not caring if Renna hears. Not talking to her.
Talking to the goddess.
Wherever she is. Whatever she's watching through.
"Fuck you, you psychotic bitch."
My vision is blurring. From blood. From tears of frustration. From rage.
I hear Renna's voice, weak and pained, echoing from behind me in the tunnel.
"Kaito..."
I close my eyes.
Fuck you, goddess.
Fuck you.