The red moon kept spilling its crimson light sowhere beyond the horizon, like a wound leaking blood, casting a rust-colored glow over the world.
The rustling of enormous leaves and the skittering of giant insects shattered the forest’s hush. Each sound sent shivers crawling up my spine.
On the brighter side, the cold night wind felt fresh against my face, brushing through my golden hair the sa way it rippled across the waist-high grass.
I had just begun to enjoy the breeze when a spider the size of a small car peeked from the bushes.
The spider’s face, looking disturbingly human, was stretched into an inhumanly wide grin.
It didn’t dare approach. Just stared from a safe distance.
Its many pitch-black eyes stayed fixed on .
And under the haunting red moonlight, the whole scene was ten tis more harrowing than anything my words could ever convey.
"Gods, this place is so fucking creepy!" I exclaid as the spider slipped back into the oversized undergrowth.
"You think so?" Michael’s voice resounded from sowhere behind .
His footsteps crunched closer until he ca to stand at my side.
I threw my hands up. "Too many creatures here look like unholy mashups of humans, insects, and plants! If you listen closely, you can quite literally hear so trees screaming. Screaming! And I just saw a very suspicious spider eyeing up and down!"
Michael shrugged. "Maybe she was interested in you."
I scowled. "Please die."
He laughed.
We stood there for several long minutes in silence, until the quiet grew heavy.
I let out a sigh that could’ve been mistaken for a groan and turned to him. "Michael, I know why you’re here. You want to talk to ."
He arched a brow.
I continued. "You don’t want soone like around. You think I’m selfish and I’ll put you all in jeopardy for my own survival."
To be fair, that wasn’t entirely wrong.
Yes, I wanted to escape this place with all the main characters alive, because I needed them for my future plans.
But if it ca down to or them... I wouldn’t hesitate to choose myself.
Not out of arrogance or cowardice or selfishness. But simply because my life mattered more than theirs.
If I survived this arc, I was confident I could still find a way to stop the end of the world even without the help of the main characters.
Would it be astronomically difficult, maybe even downright impossible? Absolutely.
But I’d still bet on myself over these supposed heroes, these clueless and hopelessly dumb children.
I knew that kind of reasoning was hypocritical, even absurd. But let’s be honest — I am a hypocrite. Sue .
"So don’t worry," I went on. "I’ll stay far behind you guys. I know you don’t want traveling with the group."
Michael’s brows furrowed. "What?! No, Samael. That’s not it at all. In fact, it’s the complete opposite."
"The complete opposite?" I squinted in confusion. "So... I don’t want you traveling with the group?"
"Arghh!" Michael groaned. A vein popped at his temple like he was desperately resisting the urge to strangle . "I an I want you to travel with us!"
"...Oh?" I blinked.
"Yes!" He nodded, then exhaled woefully. "Samael, I’ve seen six Cadets die in half as many days. Yesterday, I ca so close to saving one boy, but I couldn’t. I knew him. He used to sit in front of during Applied Advanced Physics. But I wasn’t fast enough. And I had to watch a beast butcher him right before my eyes."
Michael’s tone grew soft. "He scread my na when he saw . But by then, he was already half-dead. And in the very next mont, he wasn’t even a body anymore... just scattered chunks of flesh."
The silence that followed pressed down on us.
Even the wind seed to halt.
I tilted my head. "And you’re telling this because?"
"Because you were right," he answered at once. "After we returned from Ishtara — when you said I needed to be stronger so next ti there wouldn’t be regrets... you were right."
He turned to , fists clenched and jaw tight. "But I’m not strong enough yet. So I need your help. Please. I need you to work with us so we can all get out of here alive. And I have just one request."
"Which is?" I prompted.
Michael’s eyes locked on mine, the red moonlight painting his face in a grim shade. "Use only . No one else’s life should be put at risk. If you think you need to sacrifice soone at so point, let it be . I’ll gladly go along with any of your plans."
I studied him for a long mont. The way his voice trembled but never broke, the way his gaze held steady even as the wind rattled the branches overhead.
"Wow," I said finally, my lips curling into sothing between a smirk and disbelief. "That’s... noble. Stupid. But noble."
Michael didn’t flinch. "I’m serious."
"That’s the problem," I chuckled. "You really an it. You’d throw yourself into the at grinder just to save soone else. I can’t tell if that’s courage or brain damage."
"I don’t want to hear this from soone who fights like he’s immortal," he shot back. "Regardless, just accept my request."
I let the silence stretch, then shrugged like it made no difference to . "Fine. I’ll keep your deal in mind. I’ll rember you volunteered. But no promises. And don’t cry when you find out I’m not sentintal enough to die for you in return."
"I wouldn’t expect you to," he scoffed, then turned and started heading back toward camp. "We’re setting up. Join us. We’ll discuss what to do from here on out."
•••
I watched Michael leave, wondering if he was insane or just unbearably sincere.
Well, I knew the answer.
He was probably both.
So willing to draw a bull’s-eye on his own chest so no one else had to wear it.
What a perfect hero.
"Stupid idiot," I muttered, feeling vaguely irritated for reasons I couldn’t quite understand myself.
Right then, a dry rustle snapped the mont.
I spun, eyes narrowing toward the bushes. For a second, I thought that grinning spider had co back for another peek.
But nothing stirred. Just the whisper of leaves and the shadow of trees shivering in the crimson moonlight.
Still, the sense of being watched lingered, prickling across my skin and giving the creeps.
After making sure Michael was gone and no one else was around...
I said calmly, "You can co out now."
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