"Rayelle... I... I'm so tired..."

"Mmm. Then let’s rest awhile."

"Mm."

Rayelle slowed the swing to a stop and lifted Chriss off before she could collapse from exhaustion. The little girl’s palms were slick with sweat from gripping the chains too long, her whole body tense with strain. Her pristine white stockings had turned translucent from dampness, tracing the soft pink curves of her slender legs beneath. Weak from illness, Chriss’s expression looked hazy, unfocused.

Rayelle gently stroked Chriss’s hair and laid her on the grass. A soft breeze swept across the field, rustling the blades into a soothing whisper.

"Chriss," Rayelle murmured, lying down beside her, "do you really like your sister that much?"

"Mm."

"I’m curious... what happened between you two?"

Chriss closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, a faint, tender smile touched her lips. "Ever since I got sick... Sister’s been taking care of me. After the war took our parents, she’s worked so hard to keep us both alive." A shadow of sorrow dimmed her eyes. "I’ve never been strong enough to help her... If only I could get better. I see how tired she is every day—even when she hides it. And I can’t do anything..."

"Mm." Rayelle nodded quietly, feeling the weight in those words.

"Hey... what illness do you have, Chriss? Can you tell me? Maybe I can help." Rayelle finally asked the question burning in her mind. Knowing the illness might let her treat it properly. She didn’t want to rely too much on Extraordinary Power—not when she was only Rank 1. Forcing a cure could cost her life force. A lot of it. And dying over it would be... bad.

"Sister said... I can’t tell outsiders." Chriss’s smile turned apologetic. "She also said... it’s very, very hard to cure. I’m truly sorry, Rayelle. I just can’t say."

"I see. Okay." Rayelle hid her disappointment, dropping the subject. There must be a reason for the secrecy. She lay back, closing her eyes—

*Huh?*

A strange clamor erupted from the nearby street. Screams. Raw, panicked shrieks. A chill shot down Rayelle’s spine.

"Chriss... something’s wrong over there—" She sat up sharply, scanning the direction of the noise. The market crowd surged like a broken dam. People stampeded out, faces twisted in terror. Crimson blossoms exploded in the distance—heads vanishing under a blood-red blur.

Then came the horror. A hulking man in tattered armor grinned wildly beside the headless corpses. He grabbed one, sinking his teeth into the flesh. His body swelled grotesquely, like a doll stuffed with cotton. A thick, coppery stench flooded the air.

"Rayelle?" Chriss blinked up, starting to turn—

Rayelle lunged, clamping her hands over the girl’s eyes.

"Eh? What’s wrong?" Chriss asked, sitting obediently without prying.

"Something bad’s happening. Too gruesome for you. Don’t look."

"Oh... okay." Chriss nodded, though the metallic tang in the air told her enough. She wasn’t as fragile as Rayelle thought. She’d seen cruelty before—she just chose kindness.

"*Heh heh heh...* The taste of an Extraordinary Being... exquisite..." The armored man tossed the corpse aside, scanning for prey. His gaze locked onto Chriss. His eyes widened with ravenous delight. "*Kee hee hee!* Sweet little morsel—I’m coming!"

His left arm morphed into a crimson chain, its tip ending in a massive spiked ball. He charged.

Before Rayelle could move—

"RAYELLE! GET CHRIS DOWN!"

A familiar voice—Aerin’s.

Golden light flashed at the street’s end. Aerin swung her Holy Sword. Threads of radiance coalesced into a razor-sharp arc, whistling through the air.

Rayelle tackled Chriss flat.

*Thwip—squelch.*

The blade sliced through the armored man’s waist. Blood sprayed. His grin froze mid-sneer. The energy blast tore onward, cratering the garden earth five meters wide.

*Over?* Rayelle exhaled. *Aerin’s strong.*

She lifted Chriss, turning toward Aerin—

And froze.

"*Hee hee hee...* I *will* have you, delicious child..."

The bisected corpse melted like ice cream under the scorching sun. Crimson mist surged toward Chriss in Rayelle’s arms.

"What?!" Aerin’s eyes widened. Too far. Swinging again would hit Rayelle.

Onlookers sighed in hopeless resignation. The girls looked so small against that blood-fog. They already pictured the tearing.