Fear hit its breaking point, and Rafi’s mind shut down under a tidal wave of terror.

Only instinct remained, chalked crude on the wall: fear it → kill it → fear fades, a beast’s straight path.

Instinct knew no restraint. She flipped every switch and fought like a full-gale storm.

That was Gill’s guess, a shadow of an answer, not carved in stone.

He still didn’t grasp the little wooden box in his hand; maybe some hidden effect was a fox in the works.

By the way, is that the Demon King’s true form? A succubus body? A succubus as Demon King is rare, like moonlight on iron.

“Uwah~”

Gill’s gut flared like a spark. His head snapped left. A claw scythed the air where it had been.

The near miss sent cold ants crawling over his scalp. Miss it, and his neck would be empty as a cut reed.

Rafi didn’t stop. She swung her claws like a rabid dog, a beast with storm-fire in her eyes and no brakes.

Her careless flurry turned to rain. Gill couldn’t track it, and that fickle gut—his auto-dodge cheat—was a wind vane at best.

He was slower, a reed in a river. Footwork barely kept him afloat. Nicks bloomed like thorns. Time was a grinding millstone.

Even with the sky falling, Gill couldn’t make any bold moves.

If he split focus to attack, his head would fly like a leaf. That line couldn’t be crossed.

Shame burned, yet he wished for a white princess riding a rainbow cloud to sweep him away.

“Ora!”

A girl’s shout fell from the sky like a bell. Gill froze. In that heartbeat, Rafi’s claw hovered inches from his nose.

Bad! I’m dead—like a moth to flame!

Death brushed him for the first time, cold as winter. Training said don’t blink, yet his eyes shut in that doomed beat.

“Ding—”

He couldn’t see, but his ears stayed open. Metal scraped on metal like ice. Sparks hissed past his cheek like fireflies.

A heartbeat passed. No stab came. Reality settled like dust. Someone had actually stepped in to save him.

That girl’s voice… Did the Ulu Empire even have female powerhouses in its iron ranks?

Didn’t seem like it. Maybe a hidden master from the streets, a blade in the alley shadows.

Speculation was smoke. Better to trust what eyes catch like nets.

Gill opened his eyes. Blood-red hair drifted inches away, carrying a light fragrance. He couldn’t see her face, but her back cut a dashing silhouette.

Did fate answer his joke? She didn’t ride a seven-colored cloud, but she dropped like a comet.

“Get away from my back!”

Her rebuke drilled into his ears like a spike. Did he offend her, or block her blade, or both?

Gill swallowed pride like bitter tea. He obeyed and slipped to the back of the field.

Even as Gill moved, Rafi’s eyes stayed hooked on him. Anger flared. Her clenched teeth showed raw unrest.

Before stepping in, Alicia had pieced the cause together like shards in a bowl. This frenzy was Gill’s own mess. Could Rafi still hear words? If she could, things might ease.

“Hey! Calm down!”

“ROAR!!!”

Tch. She’s no different from a beast. How deep did that fear burrow, like worms in the root?

“Stop! I won’t let you hurt that guy today!” Her resolve rang like steel.

If Gill died, the long-laid plan would crumble like sandcastles.

She couldn’t speak the reason. Gill’s fox-brain would sniff out the oddity from the sideline.

“Grr…”

That beastlike low growl lit a spark of hope. Rafi wasn’t hitting everything. She seemed to resist fighting. Knock her out, or let her sleep a while.

To knock someone out, the Demonblade was off the table. It’d be fists, bare as rain. She wasn’t used to it, but fine.

She skimmed what little hand-to-hand she knew, like flipping thin pages. Hands rose to her chest, a loose Sanda stance. For Alicia, that was the limit.

“Then, little one—I won’t use your name—pain’s only a heartbeat~”

Rafi sensed Alicia’s fighting will like heat. She accepted Alicia as an enemy. Her tiny heart-tipped tail slammed the ground like a hammer. A low growl slipped through clenched teeth.