The two swords had already collided.
Lina’s slender sword tore through the air as it swept past.
A thin, light blade.
Its trajectory, closer to a thrust than a slash, overlapped again and again.
Once,
twice,
three times.
Its angle shifted like a bee in flight,
and its speed never broke.
But Melanie did not step back.
The chain unwound from his waist, taking on heat.
With the sound of iron growing red-hot, the chain came alive.
He was not simply swinging it.
As if scraping away space itself,
it blocked in advance the path Lina’s slender sword would take.
The tip of Lina’s sword grazed the chain.
Szzzt—
Heat traveled into her blade.
Lina immediately twisted her wrist.
She would not let the swords bind.
The instant they touched, she would lose.
Her slender sword drove in on a diagonal.
This time, toward Melanie’s shoulder.
Very shallow.
Melanie’s sword followed a beat too late.
Heat already rode along his blade as well.
The moment he swung,
the air warped.
Lina did not retreat either.
Instead, she stepped one pace inward and raised her sword.
A thrust.
Melanie’s chain aimed for that instant.
The chain sprang up toward Lina’s wrist.
Lina did not let go of her sword.
Instead, she lowered her hand and knocked the chain away with the hilt.
A split-second judgment.
But in that moment—
Melanie’s sword brushed past Lina’s side.
Heat flowed over her armor.
Lina’s breath lagged by one beat.
Melanie did not miss that opening.
The chain scraped across the ground and curved toward Lina’s ankle.
Lina barely twisted her body aside, evading it.
And in that instant,
Melanie stepped forward.
Sword and chain moved at the same time.
And the heat gathered as one.
In that brief moment, Lina made her decision.
She would not dodge that.
Her slender sword drove toward Melanie’s inside by the shortest path.
The chain scraped across Lina’s arm, sending blood flying.
At the same time—
the tip of Lina’s sword grazed Melanie’s abdomen.
No,
it was too deep to call it a graze.
“Kgh!”
Melanie’s body stiffened for an instant.
The heat scattered in a flash,
and the chain lost its strength and fell to the ground.
Lina did not push her sword in any farther.
She merely stepped back.
The tip of her slender sword remained stopped, pointed at Melanie.
A brief silence passed between them.
Melanie’s breathing grew rough.
Blood dripped to the ground,
and the tide of battle had already turned.
But Melanie did not retreat.
Instead, he drew in another deep breath.
This time, the heat blazed up from within his body.
As if responding to it, the chain rang once more.
This time, it was not smooth.
The heated iron scraped through the air, moving far more violently.
Red marks were left on the ground where the chain swept by.
More heat gathered in Melanie’s sword as well.
Not only the blade,
but the air around it was trembling.
Lina watched him without changing her expression.
She merely raised her speed by another level.
Soon, her slender sword thrust toward Melanie in succession.
Left, right, below.
Melanie erased those trajectories with his chain.
The chain blocked Lina’s sword,
deflected it,
and let it slide away.
But—
the heat no longer lasted.
Melanie’s breathing grew rougher little by little.
And Lina did not miss that instant.
Her slender sword drove in once more.
This time, the chain was late.
Melanie desperately thrust his sword forward.
The two swords collided head-on.
Heat and silver met at a single point.
Kaang!
And then—
Lina took one more step in.
Like a bee.
Changing her angle, twisting her body inside the chain and sword.
In that instant,
Melanie’s gaze wavered for the briefest moment.
That was the end.
Lina’s slender sword pierced Melanie’s chest.
The thin blade slid through flesh without resistance.
The surrounding heat went out all at once.
And Melanie’s body stiffened.
“······!”
The chain fell to the ground with a metallic clang.
Lina did not pull out her sword.
Silence settled between them.
Breath leaked from Melanie’s mouth,
and blood slowly ran down Lina’s blade.
Then—
the air split.
“Melanie!”
The shout tore into the alley.
Lina’s gaze moved at once to the side.
Beyond the orange hair,
white hair was rushing toward her, breaking through speed itself.
It was Miryeong.
Lina lowered her stance, still gripping her slender sword.
Already calculating the next moment.
Miryeong did not stop.
Emotion pushed her body forward first.
Wind wrapped around her legs,
and compressed air gathered into a single point as she kicked off the ground.
In an instant—
Miryeong’s foot flew toward Lina.
Lina twisted her body on reflex.
Pulling free the slender sword lodged in Melanie’s chest, she raised its trajectory.
Thud!
A dull sound echoed through the alley.
Lina blocked Miryeong’s foot.
But she could not cancel it out completely.
The following wind pressure shoved Lina’s body back,
and her back struck hard against the wall.
“Kgh···”
The stone wall rang briefly, and dust scattered into the air.
Even so—
Lina did not collapse.
Her feet held the ground,
and her sword was still raised at the precise angle.
Her stance had not broken.
Lina steadied her breath once, then slowly lifted her head.
She looked straight at Miryeong.
There was no anger in her eyes, no mockery.
Only the eyes of someone who recognized that the battle was over.
The tip of her slender sword did not point at Melanie again.
Instead, Lina lowered her sword.
“Stop.”
The short word flowed out.
The wind was still swirling violently around Miryeong’s legs.
Blood was pouring faster and faster from Melanie’s body.
Time was moving.
Miryeong checked Lina’s stance once more.
She was holding her sword,
but she no longer came forward.
The wind gradually unraveled from Miryeong’s legs.
Only then did her gaze fall to Melanie.
“Hey.”
Miryeong dropped to her knees and grabbed Melanie’s shoulders.
“Hey, you—”
Melanie’s eyes moved faintly.
His lips lifted ever so slightly.
“Ah··· you came?”
His breathing had already grown thin.
Miryeong’s hand pressed down on Melanie’s chest.
But the blood would not stop beneath her palm.
No.
Lina’s voice came from behind her.
“Take him away. Quickly.”
Miryeong did not answer.
Instead, she lifted Melanie as if embracing him.
Then she carried him on her back.
“Hold on.”
Melanie’s arm weakly wrapped around Miryeong’s neck.
Once she confirmed it, Miryeong did not look back.
The wind burst once more beneath Miryeong’s feet,
and her body shot forward.
The alley was pushed behind her in an instant.
Lina watched her back for a moment.
The blood remaining on the tip of her sword fell to the ground.
The battle was already over.
But the matter was not finished.
Lina slowly turned around.
—
Miryeong did not stop running.
Each time her feet struck the ground, the wind burst.
Alleys and crossroads slid meaninglessly behind her.
Miryeong looked only ahead.
And she clung only to the fact that the warmth against her back was still there.
Then—
a familiar presence brushed past in front of her.
“Lady Miryeong···?”
It was Erdin.
Miryeong did not look at him.
She gave no answer.
She simply swept past Erdin’s side.
The wind violently shook the hem of his clothes.
On her back, Melanie’s breathing continued faintly.
“I still···”
“have so much to do···”
“Don’t talk!”
Miryeong shouted through clenched teeth.
“Right now—”
“Right now, just—”
Melanie’s hand weakly gripped Miryeong’s shoulder.
“With you···”
“Shut up!”
Miryeong’s voice cracked.
“We’re here.”
“We’re almost there, so—”
In that instant—
strength entered Melanie’s hand for the briefest moment.
And a voice so low it could scarcely be heard slipped out.
“Hey.”
Miryeong’s feet faltered.
“Don’t die.”
Just like that, his hand went slack.
But Miryeong refused to acknowledge that it had gone slack.
Her hand moved to the place where Melanie’s had fallen.
She gripped it even harder.
No.
The words did not leave her mouth.
Instead, her body moved first.
Miryeong lowered herself and hoisted Melanie up again.
There was still warmth.
That alone was enough.
Miryeong ran toward the door in front of her.
Thud—!
Her foot kicked the door in.
The wood was driven inward with the sound of splitting.
“Here!”
Miryeong’s voice struck the interior.
“Healer!”
Startled presences burst out from inside.
“W-what—”
“Hurry!”
Miryeong entered, clutching Melanie in her arms.
The healer pointed to a bed.
“There,”
“Lay him there!”
“Quickly!”
Miryeong did not wait for the words to finish.
She laid Melanie down on the bed.
Blood seeped into the bedding.
Miryeong did not take a single step away.
She could not yet say it was over.
The healer looked at Melanie once, then fell silent.
His hand went over the wound.
Pressed down.
Blood leaked between his fingers.
The healer’s face hardened.
“···It’s too late.”
The words fell.
The sound did not reach her.
Miryeong did not hear it.
No,
she chose not to hear it.
“No.”
Miryeong shook her head.
“He’s still breathing.”
She placed her hand on Melanie’s chest.
Faintly, but certainly, it was moving.
“Look.”
Her voice was strangely calm.
“He’s still here.”
The healer turned his head.
Because he knew what that small movement meant.
“···This is,”
“already—”
“Don’t.”
Miryeong’s words cut him off in a low voice.
“Don’t say that.”
Time stopped at that point.
The sounds in the room disappeared one by one.
The breathing of the people,
the footsteps from outside.
Only what lay before Miryeong’s eyes remained.
Melanie.
Only then did Miryeong look at her own hands.
They were red.
And not only her hands.
Her once-white hair had been stained red from below her shoulders.
It was the trace of blood that had flowed down while she carried him here, spreading through her hair.
Miryeong did not wipe it away.
She could not wipe it away.
Her hand took Melanie’s again.
This time, no strength returned.
“···Hey.”
Miryeong’s voice began to tremble.
No answer came back.
Miryeong’s world was collapsing without a sound.