Sezel palmed his face, a gesture of profound and utter exasperation, as he hid behind the relative safety of a skeletal, dead bush. Just moments ago, she was saying that we needed to kill them, and now she is saving them. Great. He sighed.

In the time Sezel had spent with Vesta, he had learned that she was, in fact, a true princess. Not Just by her profound looks, but also by the sheer purity of her soul.

He was sure, that if she saw someone in danger, she wouldn't think twice before putting herself between them and whatever monstrous, chitinous, multi-limbed horror was trying to kill them.

And things here had pretty much played that out.

He had no time to move now, the beast was looking at Vesta with a sense of fury in its eyes. And then it threw away the body of the dead slayer like a useless doll.

Vesta raised her sword, her posture shifting into a fighting stance, her form a small insignificant "Ant" before the towering, six-meter-tall ant. Such an irony, Sezel thought.

Sezel's puppet was now looking after Mari and Shiki too stood there, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

What should i do now? run or hide? The question, the existential dilemma of his life, echoed in the empty chambers of his mind.

The best thing to do, the most logical and the most Sezel thing to do, in order to save his own skin right now, was to hide and let the battle end, before he went in and got out of here "safely," or so one could call it.

Either way he decided to hide and wait till the heat of the battle is diffused. The beast, with its sturdy, chitinous armor and its big, oafish body, its hind legs or maybe spears, grating into the earth to fix it in place, while its frontal limbs, attacked at the beautiful and defiant girl who had dared to step in its way.

Vesta was not someone weak, either. She deflected every single one of the beast's attacks, her movements a deadly dance, and still managed to stand straight, without a single scratch.

Sezel imagined himself in her place, and the image was not pleasant at all. How could it be? He was a gremlin compared to the pristine, noble lady.

No, I am not, he sneered. I am as handsome as a human can get. White hair and crimson eyes. I don't think there is another human like me.

Then he thought about the previous scenarios he had been through, the dirt, the grime, the blood, and, No need to think more, maybe, I look bad.

Anyways, back at the battle, the heat had further increased as Vesta's blade was enveloped in flames, a swirling chaos of power. Even the mindless beast, seemed to feel a bit of fear. But it didn't stop. It pressed on, its attacks a relentless and futile assault.

Soon, after a series of soul-crushing exchanges, of steel on chitin, of fire and fury, the ant had its fears confirmed as it laid in a pool of its own dark, viscous blood, all its limbs severed and burning, the flames slowly, catching up to its body.

It screeched a dying, agonized roar, but it was cut short as Vesta pierced her blade through its skull. And the beast's body fell limp, the pool of blood slowly becoming larger, a dark, spreading stain on the broken earth.

Sezel let out a sigh of relief and stood up, his shoulders releasing the tense, coiled posture he had been holding. It's over… for now. Let's get out of here.

But his relief was short-lived, as he felt a series of tremors, of violent, concussive blasts, behind him, and some ahead of him.

Sezel gulped hard, standing straight at a place. He didn't need to open his eyes to tell it. The wretched… that damned ant beast had succeeded in calling for its allies.

Shit, why the hell does it always has to happen with me? Sezel scowled inwards.

He stood there, frozen, as if he were a statue carved up of human skin, his senses on high alert. He needed to look for a precious, fleeting moment before moving.

There were beasts in front of him, and even more behind him. While standing still, Sezel's mind reeled into different questions. How many beasts were there?

Two in front, I can see. And how many are behind? If we keep my terrible good luck as a factor, then I guess three, and they are all staring at me.

Sezel was starting to tremble under the pressure of the knowledge that the beasts were on him, that they would soon attack. Should I turn or not?

If he didn't turn, the beast behind might just kill him without him even trying to save his own skin. The best course of action would be to turn around and face the beast behind, to at least die with some semblance of dignity.

He looked ahead for Vesta, but she was gone. The red-haired girl and the boy were, too. He concentrated on the vision through his puppet's eyes, and there was no one there.

Vesta and Shiki had already hidden somewhere with Mari. And his puppet… his puppet stood there like a moron, waiting to be slapped in the head to work.

Of course it's a moron. What is it even doing there?

While he was getting angry at his puppet, something suddenly stirred behind him. A creep, a cold, sharp feeling, ran through his entire body. He had almost forgotten that there were beasts behind him.

Well, it was a miracle they hadn't attacked him yet.

Sezel slowly tilted around, his movements stiff, his body a tense, coiled spring. Just don't be looking at me. Just don't be looking at me.

As he laid his eyes on the abomination behind him, his body froze.

"Wha… What the hell is this?" the words escaped his lips on their own, his voice a low whisper. The scene behind him wasn't what he had expected at all.

Well, yeah, not even in his wildest, most terrifying nightmares would he be thinking of strangling a six-meter-tall beast to its death.

Uh… that sounds like a k—! Back to the scene.

There were actually three beasts behind him, as he had suspected. And all three of them, yes, all of them, were being strangled by chains, thick, impossibly strong chains that seemed to appear from the ground, making unyielding grip around the beasts' necks.

Yet none of the beasts screeched. Well, their vocal cords were precisely bound to not allow that.

Sezel was frozen in disbelief, looking at the hell that was unfolding before his eyes. It must have been the work of a Slayer, and a high-ranking one at that.

Oh, shit! I should be running. I don't have kinks of getting strangled by chains.

As he was about to turn, everything shuddered. The ground below, actually the hollow expanse, was about to break apart. And before the thought had even crossed Sezel's mind, it did.

Cracks appeared in the rock-hard ground, moving like spiderwebs in all directions.

Why the fuck does this have to happen now, of all times?

Sezel's mind reeled, his puppet won't be able to make it here in time and get out, even with its speed, it wasn't enough.

Sezel gritted his teeth, It hasn't yet fully broken, i still have time.

But he forgot, there was never time. They were already running on extra time.

Up until now, Sezel hadn't noticed it, but there was a strange, chilly wind. Only now, when he felt the cold, did he notice that the boundary of the expanse was hidden behind a light fog that had appeared out of nowhere.

He knew what that meant. He knew exactly how things were going to unfurl now. I am definitely stupid, he cursed at his own stupidity.

It was all his fault that now he was going to be witnessing a fight between two high-ranking Slayers, live. And if he was lucky enough to leave alive, maybe he could tell others how powerful the human weapons are.

He twisted and found his place behind the bushes, the tremors in the ground increasing with each passing second. And soon, the cracks would split open and tear the ground apart.

Suddenly, his leg slipped, and he barely kept himself from falling on the ground. Looking down, Sezel squinted his eyes. There was ice on the ground. No, he looked up and around.

The whole expanse was covered in ice, the dead grasses now pointy, deadly weapons made up of ice.

Hell no. Death by becoming an ice cream is the last on my list.

But that wasn't for him to choose, was it? He just silently hid behind his old friend the bush, but now he maintained a safe distance, as the bush was now a porcupine.

Sorry buddy, but i am not inclined to having holes in my body.