Sabrina's head dropped to the floor with a ‘thud.’ Her face was filled with shock, as if she had never expected this would happen to her.
She had made a deal with Red Eternity to survive. She had received his life force, transcended humanity, and became much stronger than before.
But she had been defeated by Malina.
'That's probably because Malina became stronger too.'
Slashing through the Dead Dagger assassin, Osian looked at Sabrina.
'Sabrina, who uses thief techniques while transcending humanity, is strong. Yes, that's undeniably true. But battles aren't necessarily decided just because someone is strong.'
Sometimes completely unexpected results occur. It could be luck, environmental factors, or mental issues and conditions as well.
A battle is an act of reaching a conclusion through a process where all kinds of complex factors mesh together in one place. A single minor mistake or variable can lead to fatal results for either side. That's why battles always contain chaos. And the biggest characteristic of chaos is...
'It doesn't distinguish between friend and foe.'
It wasn't because of some decisive reason or long period of time. Sometimes people have realizations while sleeping, or even while walking. Such awakenings come suddenly. All that's needed is a trigger to give a gentle push.
In that sense, a situation and place like this was sufficient to provide such a small trigger.
'Rather, it's more than enough.'
In an extreme environment, continuous battles dancing on the edge of life and death. Within that, Malina went beyond simply utilizing the techniques she had honed and developed them in new ways.
'Is she finally breaking out of her shell?'
Sabrina would think that she had become stronger and achieved a kind of evolution. But that was wrong. The one who truly evolved, or rather bloomed, was Malina.
"This can't be!"
Even though her neck had been severed, Sabrina screamed. This was possible because of the life force granted by Red Eternity. But regeneration was impossible.
'She chose the wrong opponent. Malina uses thief-class skills. And she's also one of the playable characters.'
Osian now knew that playable characters were a special vaccine created in this world. The divine power that Martinez wielded was also their natural enemy, and the same was true for the shadows that Malina used.
Yes. They too were possessors of power that could effectively defeat external enemies.
Naturally, Malina's attack acted even more fatally against Sabrina. The evidence was that her severed head couldn't regenerate.
Sabrina felt it too. That life force was draining from her body. The overflowing energy was being consumed at tremendous speed like water being released from a dam.
She would die. If this continued, she would die. Her intense survival instinct rang alarm bells, but there was no proper solution. She had been defeated, and that couldn't be undone unless time was rewound.
Within the fear that consumed Sabrina's mind, one emotion surged up. It was hatred.
Sabrina, who had even forgotten the fear of death, glared at Malina with the most venomous eyes in the world.
"I won't die alone."
With words that were no different from a curse, Sabrina's body's chest split open with a cracking sound. Her sternum and ribs opened like a beast's mouth, revealing a throbbing green heart.
The heart's pulsation cycle was gradually decreasing, but it was still beating. The moment that heart's beating stopped...
-Boom!
The heart exploded, spraying thick green poison in all directions. At the very last moment, Sabrina had concentrated all her poison into her heart and attempted self-destruction.
'This poison is dangerous.'
The Dead Dagger assassin who was closest melted away without a trace when touched by the poison. This was the result even though he had gained resistance to poison by becoming corrupted.
It was then, as the poison spread like fireworks sweeping the surroundings in the slowly flowing time.
-Crackle crackle crackle.
The poison decorating the air all froze below freezing point and solidified in place.
The poison that froze rapidly from the outside soon penetrated to its source, Sabrina's body, and turned it into a giant statue.
It looked like a fountain with water shooting out had been hit by a cold wave and frozen in that shape.
-Crack.
Cracks appeared in Sabrina's body, and then it collapsed in an instant. Sabrina, with only her head remaining, couldn't close her mouth as she watched the scene.
Her drained life had run out. The light disappeared from her pupils. Unable to achieve what she wanted until the end, she couldn't even close her eyes properly.
"She's dead."
Osian was certain that Sabrina could no longer be revived. Having the power of an outer god, her very existence would have disappeared, unable to belong anywhere.
Osian turned around. The culprit who had frozen Sabrina's final self-destruction, Senaka, was approaching.
But...
[Hey! Let go of this!]
Senaka was holding something in her arms. What it was turned out to be Cthulatlap in the form of a starfish. Senaka was hugging the creature like a teddy bear, and Cthulatlap, disliking it, was constantly wriggling its limbs and struggling.
"You, you can't hug too tightly!"
Behind them, Attila was following with restless, shuffling steps, not knowing what to do. It was then, as Osian couldn't find words for that strange sight.
"Well, is the cleanup roughly finished?"
Basilio asked as if to clear the atmosphere. The battle was essentially over when Sabrina died. The Dead Dagger assassins she commanded were swept away like headless pawns in confusion.
It was an anticlimactic result compared to their tension, but that was purely due to good luck. If Malina hadn't awakened, the battle with Sabrina would have been prolonged, and they would have suffered casualties one by one.
Plimene and Maia, who joined the scene, seemed surprised to see that the Blood Brotherhood's numbers had increased.
Especially their gazes toward the most dangerous eldest Grace and second Kudan were full of wariness.
Grace, perhaps sensing those gazes, looked back at Plimene.
Her blood-red pupils clearly captured her appearance. Plimene felt a strange creepiness but didn't avoid her gaze.
As a high-ranking official of Tirna, she couldn't yield to such external pressure. Even if the result of this action led to her own death. People have lines that they must never retreat from or compromise on.
Fortunately, Grace withdrew her gaze from Plimene as if she had no further interest. She knew that there was nothing they could do anyway.
"We're finally reunited."
Grace said, looking at the people gathered in one place. The members who had initially entered were gathered in one place. There were even a few more unfamiliar faces.
Grace's strange gaze turned toward Cthulatlap that Senaka was holding.
"Senaka."
"...?"
"Let go. If you keep doing that, it's a nuisance."
-Shake shake.
Senaka shook her head as if she didn't want to, but when Grace made a slightly stern expression, she reluctantly let go of Cthulatlap.
Finally freed, Cthulatlap flew through the air and landed on Attila's shoulder.
[Little one. If you try to touch me carelessly again next time, you'll get a taste of heat.]
Cthulatlap glared with its single eye and shook one fist. It was a kind of warning. Since it was an outer god saying this, it should be taken seriously, but... The problem was that saying it in such a cute appearance didn't convey any dignity at all.
While everyone was chattering like that, Malina stared at Sabrina's severed head with complex eyes.
'I thought I'd feel refreshed with something blocked, finally opening up when I defeated her, but it's not exactly like that.'
It wasn't frustrating, but there wasn't any particular sense of achievement either. Perhaps that was because Sabrina wasn't in perfect condition. If she had used the power of shadows in human form without using mutation, it would have been a much more difficult fight.
In the end, Sabrina died without abandoning the arrogance she had been so wary of. It was a terribly bad relationship, but its end was quietly empty. However, Malina didn't pray for Sabrina's soul. The sins she had committed were too great for that.
So please, suffer for a lifetime even after death to pay for those sins. Malina turned her back on Sabrina's head and headed toward where her companions were.
Osian examined the faces of the assembled members.
'What a spectacular combination.'
The exclamation that came naturally wasn't meant negatively. At this level, it seemed they could handle not just Cardinal Zaxilos, but even the Pope of Red Eternity.
Of course, he wouldn't let his guard down. The current Zaxilos was handling something even more dangerous than that - the Sun Ring.
"What are you planning to do now?"
Then Plimene spoke up. She asked the question while looking directly at Grace.
She's a woman with guts. To boldly ask questions when she should be quietly keeping her mouth shut. It was indeed an unexpected action, and even Maia beside her looked startled. The same was true for Grace. She opened her red eyes wide, then curved them like a crescent moon.
"Are you that curious about our purpose? High-ranking person of Tirna?"
"...I need to judge whether your actions will harm the city or not."
"We're already terrorists with red warrants issued. What would change if we did more here?"
"At least, I have to prevent you from doing more dangerous things."
"Who?"
"Even if it's just me alone."
Before long, there was no trembling in Plimene’s voice. As if it were her mission and duty, she gazed at Grace with an upright look.
Rather, it was Basilio who didn't know what to do. If friction arose here and a fight broke out, he would inevitably have to fight to protect Plimene.
Having backbone was good, but such behavior in this situation was closer to recklessness.
'She wouldn't not know that, but the fact that she brought up this topic means she has some kind of conviction.'
Plimene had eyes and ears too. In her view, the Blood Brotherhood were dangerous terrorists, but she had noticed that they weren't so unreasonable.
Indeed, it was as Plimene thought. Grace relaxed her eyes and smiled.
"You're a bold person. To not waver in a situation like this, it's admirable."
"...That's not a pleasant compliment."
"How good it would have been if all the high-ranking people in this city were like you."
There was a strange meaning in Grace's words. Plimene felt it too, but didn't dig into the details. What was important now was what they would do going forward.
"Grace Seeker. Are you planning to leave this place now?"
"If we said we would, would you try to capture us?"
"I couldn't. There are forces outside the building, but with your abilities, you could shake off their pursuit."
She was speaking as if she had no choice, but she also had no intention of stepping forward to capture them. At least for this moment, the Blood Brotherhood weren't enemies.
"Unfortunately, we can't leave here right away. In the end, we have to eliminate the culprit who caused all this."
"Cardinal Zaxilos..."
Basilio muttered the name as if chewing on it. A survivor of the Eternal Church who had lived since the distant past. A monster that hid in the darkness of the world, secretly growing its power and parasitically infiltrating the city.
Zaxilos was currently preparing a dangerous ritual. If they failed to stop it, Tirna would suffer great damage. The casualties would probably be incalculable.
"Well, in that sense, our purpose aligns with the Tirna city government. Though I don't want to admit it."
"...I see. Then we'll help too."
"W-wait a minute! Plimene!"
Maia cried out Plimene’s name in shock.
Grace squinted her eyes and asked.
"Is it okay to say that? If news spreads that a high-ranking city government official joined hands with terrorists, the aftermath won't be good."
In other words, let's part ways here and you and we move separately. But Plimene firmly shook her head.
"This is for the city. I can't bring personal feelings into such a grave matter."
This was sincere without a trace of falsehood. Since Plimene spoke so definitively, Grace couldn't refuse anymore.
"And I have my own moves, so I won't be a burden."
"If that's the case, then fine."
With the situation settled, the group prepared to move again. Their target was Cardinal Zaxilos. They had to stop whatever ritual he was attempting.
'The most likely thing is probably trying to make Red Eternity descend into this world.'
Even if only a part of that god's body descended, not the main body. This world would become a hell on earth.