And with a sidelong glance, the mercenary now observes the situation of his companion while picking up Lozar's shield and sword.
"Hurry up there! We already got what we wanted." The words come out along with a restrained smile at the corner of his mouth.
The other mercenary exhales very quickly and also takes a small crystal from his pocket, this one has a blood-red tone and is more rounded, almost like an N2 core.
"By blood life is..."
He even tries to recite, but soon finds himself forced to pause as he throws himself to the right and performs a side roll to dodge a short burst of shots from Draus who longed for that moment. Even before the mercenary can afford the luxury of getting up, he needs to force another roll to dodge another burst of shots, but this time he executes it more cleanly, enough to end in a more comfortable position and thus be able to throw the dagger toward Draus.
When the blade hits his thigh, a short and rebellious grunt escapes from between his lips. Even with the pain, he does not let himself be shaken and prepares to fire another burst, but is interrupted when an arrow sinks into his back and timidly emerges through his chest. It is not the side of the heart, but it does not matter when he begins to feel the air stop flowing inward, and the place be taken over by blood.
The archer perched on the branch exhales in relief as he closes his eyes for a moment. His grayish gaze along with his garments made of fine fabric of the same tone almost hide him completely among the treetop, if it were not for the red strands that sway outside the hood and at times shine with beams of light that pass through the leaves.
Then he remembers something important, when he turns toward the hill on the left again, there she is, lying down and aiming. He already begins to prepare a new arrow, a little longer than the previous one.
First the blade pierces the torso through the side, and then buries itself in the heart, and lastly, the sound of another shot echoes across the plain.
Already without strength and feeling the cold touch of the one who awaits him at the end of everything, he still forces a shot downward toward Miriane who observes him from the ground with a focused gaze and breath panting. The arrow sticks into the ground a few meters away from her, and the body falls already stripped of the veil that covers everyone.
While walking with slow steps and breathing in a more prolonged way, Miriane looks to the side to see the situation in the middle of the cornfield. The man with blonde hair holds Lozar's shield and sword while casting a distant look toward the hill, beside him a corpse, and in the background, three more.
After picking up the sword and cleaning it on the archer's clothes, she already turns toward him with a serious and focused gaze. The sword in her hands assumes the same position as when she was still at the top of the hill.
The mercenary then sees her under the tree in such a pose beside his companion's body. Immediately he drops the sword and shield, and takes another bluish crystal from another pocket while drawing his sword from the sheath.
"A thousand nights and a thousand days.
Infinite deaths and a single life.
Before those who threaten me.
I will use you for a single end.
And when the blood is shed.
May this act be forgiven."
"Even under the eternal sun.
Or before the fire itself.
My vastness shall endure.
For in this game.
I am the one who carries his own end."
When he finishes, with the sword in one hand and the crystal in the other, he observes that she is already approaching at a speed that would make even the fastest of boars feel envy.
At the end of the run, placing her left foot forward, Miriane executes a horizontal cut while holding the sword with both hands and twisting her torso with all her strength. Her sword is longer than his, the range of the movement is also greater than he expected, thus Miriane ends up at the limit of the freezing zone.
The mercenary even manages to position the sword to block. But just as the blue blade shatters before his eyes, his head separates from the body before hers.
From the top of the hill, through the weapon's scope, Sarah begins to relax her body for a moment, but soon in her peripheral vision, a pair of legs and boots position themselves beside her, making her heart lose its rhythm.
"You can relax." Miguel's voice blends with the wind and slides through the place, disappearing behind Sebastian who, even with his hands bandaged, carries Lafral on his back.
Sarah does not respond, nor does she even look at him or back, she only returns to observe through the scope with a neutral gaze.
"Even if you tried, you would hardly hear me arrive." Miguel speaks already with the binoculars in his hands analyzing the situation. "Just be careful, because focusing too much on something can make you vulnerable. The rest, you already know."
The gaze that passes through the scope falls for a moment toward the ground, but soon returns to what matters.
"Beautiful day for a test." He lets the words out already looking downward in search of Iris and Bernardo.
His gaze even becomes more serious and focused when he sees the scene.
Iris comes out of the forest with Bernardo on her back, he is without the helmet and unconscious. She also drags the unresponsive body of one of the mercenaries by the hood.
Miguel then leaves the position and begins to descend to meet her, Sarah even observes for a moment the scene of him transferring Bernardo to his back, but soon resumes her focus on Miriane.
"That arrow passed brushing my head."
"Good thing you did not decide to jump at that moment." Lafral laughs still making a grimace of pain.
"If I jumped there, I would lose all support that allowed me to defend that blow."
"If it were not for her, we would be screwed." Lafral looks forward and downward, but when his eyes first meet Sarah's backside, he forces himself to look away until Sebastian drops him at the foot of the tree beside her.
"Damn! There is no one left!" Sebastian even lets his tone rise unintentionally for a moment.
"What? What do you mean?" Lafral asks him while even daring to turn a little, but soon gives up upon realizing he cannot see anything. The only thing he manages to observe is Miguel arriving there while carrying Bernardo and being followed by Iris along with the mercenary still being dragged.
In silence, he and Sebastian observe the white strands with purple streaks that flutter with the stronger breeze of the place.
"Rip his hood with that sword and tie his legs and arms." Miguel pulls the sword from Bernardo's waist and hands it to Iris who nods.
"What happened to him?" Miguel asks her without looking while placing Bernardo lying on the ground and beginning to examine him.
"While we were facing the merc..."
Cutting the explanation, the deafening sound of another shot makes everyone there place their hands over their ears. Even Bernardo and the mercenary wake up startled. The first thing Bernardo sees is Miguel standing while bringing the binoculars to his eyes. The mercenary, however, first glimpses the blue gaze focused on him, and then feels the cold and sharp blade threatening to pierce his throat.
He can barely breathe.
"Teacher, drag him to that tree please." Iris speaks without losing her composure and focus.
"Sarah, save ammunition, she can handle them." Miguel, more relaxed, walks to the mercenary and does what she asked. Iris, in turn, does not remove the blade from his throat for even a second. The moment after being placed at the foot of the tree, he even dares to move his lips and pull in some air, but quickly feels the blade press a little more as Iris places a finger over her own lips in a clear signal for him to stay silent.
His tiny moment of rebellion fades as quickly as a fine pile of sand in a hurricane.
And so, they remain seated facing each other.
"How many were there?" Miguel asks Iris while returning to Bernardo who remains silent with his hand on his head.
"Three, they appeared right when we were about to take this one down. Bernardo could not dodge, he even tried to jump, but took a shock straight to the legs, and still on the ground, another came and ripped his helmet off with its tusks."
"It does not make sense, it was supposed to be only one." Miguel runs his hand over Bernardo's head and finds a slight bump on the back of his neck, drawing a grunt of pain from him.
"At least this one served to kill one of them that knocked him down and was already starting to bite his clothes." Iris lets the words into the air while staring at the mercenary and his medium black hair.
"That was when we split up, because he started to run and flee, and she went after him after throwing her sword at one of the boars that was coming to strike me while I was still on the ground."
Bernardo takes advantage of the moment to explain with his gaze lowered and distant.
"But the other came at full force, and I was without the sword, he hit me right in the middle of the armor, so I ended up hitting the back of my head on a tree and getting dizzy. But since I managed to grab the sword that was near the tree, at least I could thrust it into the eye and kill it. After that everything went dark and here I am."
Miguel shifts his gaze to Iris for a moment, then returns to Bernardo.
"Good work!" He gently strokes Bernardo's head while standing up. "I will get the other one, do not lose focus."
He speaks while turning and disappearing behind the hill.
Through the scope and the binoculars, Sarah and Sebastian refuse to miss a single second of that clash. With explosive bursts and low and precise cuts, Miriane cuts the front legs of some and the back legs of others. Seven boars in total are on the ground writhing and growling in pain. One by one, they are finished with precise blows to the neck that make them lose their heads.
After a while, Miriane, who has already returned to the hill, stands facing the mercenary who still has a piece of the arrow stuck in his leg.
"I think we should kill one of them. Two will be too much work to take care of." The words that come out of her mouth make their dirty hearts lose all the warmth they had until then.