The more I thought about it, the more plausible the idea was from how she suddenly gave chocolate to the tis when she would randomly show up unannounced. I wasn't very good at picking up these things, but I also didn't think I was dense.
It was for that reason that I found myself believing the notion.
Licking my dry lips, I opened my mouth,
"You, you can't possibly like -"
"No."
Delilah coldly shook her head and answered before I could finish my sentence.
It left speechless, and at the sa ti a little disappointed. But I shook those feelings away. What was I even thinking?
"Okay."
I dropped the topic there and pressed my hand against hers.
'Right, maybe I'm overthinking.'
Focusing all my attention on her palm, I tried using 'Love' on her. The results were as expected. Delilah didn't react much as she sat in silence, seemingly waiting for sothing to happen.
But that sothing never happened.
"....It's not working."
"Hmm."
Delilah took her hand back before standing up.
Brushing her silky black hair past her ear, she looked around before heading for the door. Just before reaching the door, she paused.
Though I couldn't see her back, she looked pretty conflicted.
In the end, she ended up saying,
"There's an imbalance between your understanding of the six emotions. Your weakest is Love. Improve that."
Clank!
Those were the last words that she said before she left.
In the silence that took over the room, I stared in her direction, at a loss for words. "That..."
I leaned my head back and helplessly stared at the ceiling.
"...How in the world am I supposed to do that-"
My thoughts paused when I noticed sothing from the corner of my vision. Slowly turning my head, I spotted a familiar chocolate bar resting on the desk.
Reaching out for it, I paused when I noticed that it was missing all of its contents besides one small piece.
||
||
I stared at it for a brief mont before putting the bar down and murmuring,
"...You'll be the death of ."
A notification flashed in my vision.
***
Coming out of the room, Delilah stood in silence for a brief mont. Her brows wiggled slightly as she fell into deep thought.
"Like?"
She rummaged through her pocket and took out a small chocolate bar. Unwrapping the paper, she was in the process of bringing it to her lips when she stopped.
11
".....
Delilah then opened her mouth and tried again, but stopped again.
In the end, for the first ti since she could rember, she wrapped the chocolate bar and placed it in her pocket.
Fiddling with her hand, and tracing her finger over the ring on her finger, she quietly mumbled,
"Maybe?"
Her figure started to blur.
"...I don't understand."
***
Within a quiet room in Grimspire.
Creak!
The wooden floor creaked under a certain step as a figure calmly sat down on the bed within the room. The room was neither big nor small. It was large enough to fit the basic decorations as Kiera silently sat down on the bed with a blank expression.
Her ruby-red eyes continuously flickered as her expression slowly started to twist.
The veins at the top of her forehead started to bulge while her face started to spasm. Her eyes shook, and her entire body started to tremble.
"Uuk...! Ahk!"
Foam started forming in her mouth as her eyes lost clarity.
At that mont, Kiera clenched her teeth tightly as she smashed her fist against the side of
the bed.
Bang!
Despite the bedding, the bed shattered in an instant as her body shot up.
"Fucking! Get the fuck out...!"
Regaining so semblance of clarity, Kiera held onto her head as she thrashed around the room, gripping the desk while screaming.
"Akh!"
Her vision grew dark.
In that mont, Kiera stopped struggling as she started hugging her body.
'No, not this place again...'
A blurred figure appeared in her consciousness.
The image of the blurred figure beca clearer and clearer to Kiera as she sank deeper and deeper into her consciousness. It stared back at her with the sa expression. One... that was
filled with sorrow.
'What do you want?'
Kiera scread in her consciousness.
It had been days since she had felt trapped in her own body, and days since she was able to see
the figure. It had slowly started to take control of her body, inserting more and more of its
influence on her.
But she wasn't the only one.
Kiera knew this.
.....There were several others it had affected.
It was just that she didn't know to what extent the number of those who had been influenced
was.
'Say sothing!'
Kiera's ruby-red eyes glowed nacingly as she glared at the statue that stood before her.
But her words were t with an empty silence as the statue kept its gaze fixed on her with its
hollow and sorrowful eyes.
"Arkh!"
Kiera rushed toward the statue.
But just as she did, she snapped back to reality, her eyes flying open as she realized she was back in her own room.
Kiera stumbled several tis before coming to a stop in front of her desk which she used to
support herself.
"Haa... Haa..."
With heavy breaths, she gripped the desk tightly, biting her lip until she felt a warm trickle down her chin. Unfazed by the pain, her eyes frantically scanned the desk, finally locking onto
a small orb. She reached for it quickly-it was a communication device.
So long as she could tell soone...
"Ueekh...!"
But just as she reached for it, her hand froze, trembling uncontrollably. It was as if an
invisible force had seized her arm, holding it in place and stopping her from moving any
further.
"Let... go... damn it!"
Kiera's eyes turned bloodshot as the veins down her neck bulged, her expression contorting in
agony.
Gradually, she felt her consciousness begin to slip away, sinking back into that dark place...
"No!"
The thought of returning to that dark place sent her into a panic. She forced her eyelids open and, with every ounce of strength she had left, reached desperately for the communication
device.
She ca close to the communication device.
Kiera extended her hand, her fingertip almost brushing against it.
Just a little...
Bang!
"Akh!"
Her entire body was suddenly flung backward, crashing against the wall at the back of the
room. She collapsed to the floor, coughing violently as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Cough! Cough!"
Her mind spun, and her eyelids grew heavy.
In her fading vision, she could see the darkness creeping in from the edges, slowly closing in
around her.
"Ugh..."
With a groan, Kiera turned to her left and opened her palm, revealing a small communication
device. She silently smirked before she mustered the little amount of energy in her before and
speaking,
"Angel... Statue... Possess..."
Kiera faded into her consciousness shortly after that.
11
The room fell silent as Kiera's grip slackened, and the communication device slipped from her
hand, rolling across the wooden floor.
It tumbled for several seconds before a foot ca down on it, stopping it in its tracks.
Kiera bent down, her ruby-red eyes glowing faintly as she picked up the device. She stared at
the na displayed on it, her expression unreadable.
Then, without a word, she crushed the device in her hand, shattering it into fine powder.
"Aoife K. grail..."
***
After the first round of fights concluded, the injured combatants were escorted to Grimspire's dical Facility. The facility was situated far from the Plaza, toward the lower end of the city, where space was more abundant-a necessity for such a large establishnt. Fortunately, Grimspire wasn't a particularly large city. It was only about one-tenth the size of Bremr, with a population of roughly 100,000 people.
In the dical Facility.
"...How are you feeling."
All quietly observed Agatha, who lay on the bed with a pale complexion and lips pressed
together. Her long platinum hair was spread out over the pillow, and her icy blue eyes
reflected a glimr of sorrow.
She lay like that for several seconds before murmuring,
"I thought I'd win that. I really thought..."
Agatha bit her lips, recalling the last fight.
In that mont when she thrust her sword, she could rember sighing in relief and feeling a
weight lift off her shoulders. She thought she had won... And yet...
Clench.
Not only did she carry the heavy burden of representing her Empire, but she also carried the
burden of bearing the title of the next 'Sword Saint'.
Losing was unacceptable for her.
Especially when it ca from soone who was ranked far beneath her.
She felt as though she had let down those of her Empire, and her family. The more she
thought about the situation the more her chest stung.
"If only-"
"I get it."
All stopped her before she could continue. He could see the regret on her face as she
blankly stared at the ceiling. Agatha was usually the cheerful one while he was the brooding one, always thinking about his past and his brother.
Seeing how weak and frail she looked, All knew that it was now his job to act like her
support.
But not only that, he was also the only one left who had any chance of granting their Empire
victory. Before he had Agatha to share that burden with him, but now...
"Hooo."
He took a deep breath and took out a small rectangular device. Noticing his actions, Agatha tilted her head to look in his direction, wondering what he was
doing. Without looking up at her, he answered,
"I'm looking at the matches of all the other participants. I want to study each one of them so
that I don't lose carelessly or unexpectedly."
"Really?"
All's words surprised Agatha as she sat up from the bed.
Having known All for as long as she could rember, she understood his personality best.
Coming here, he showed no regard to the other fighters nor did he care who was ranked first or
second. He acted like soone who couldn't care less about competition, but this was actually the furthest thing from the truth.
All was quite competitive, but he was also arrogant in his own way.
He never once looked at a profile, be it on paper or in real life, because he was confident in his
own abilities.
It was his unconscious way of saying that he looked down on everyone. Agatha on the other hand was usually the cautious type, always looking at her opponent's
profiles and whatnot, but that was in the past. Spending so much ti with All, his attitude started to rub off on her as well, hence her lack of preparation for her opponent.
||
As the room fell into a state of silence as All started to look through the profiles, he
stopped after a certain point, his expression slowly starting to stiffen.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the abnormalities in All's expression, Agatha reached for him, but just as she did,
All raised his head abruptly, dropping the device in his hand and hurrying out.
His actions shook Agatha as she tried to reach for him with her hand.
"Wait! Where are you going!?"
But she got no response as he smacked the door behind him, leaving her in the room stunned.
It was then that she lowered her head and noticed the profile flickering on the device. Her eyes
widened in surprise as she read the information:
[Leon Ellert]
[Age: 19]
[Empire: Nurs Ancifa]
[Weapon: Sword]
[Eye color: Gray]
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