For an instant, time stopped moving.
The eyes of everyone in the pocket dimension were now completely glued to Klarissa. Particularly to the gruesome hole mangling her abdomen. Blood and guts kept pouring out of it, tainting the smooth crystal floor.
"Ah…" She coughed, her ruddy lips painted crimson by the blood.
Ciel's eyes widened.
'What…? Why…?' He thought.
Her choice made absolutely no sense to him. Yesterday was the first time they met. Couldn't he be an evil scum for all she knew? Furthermore, what was he to do now that she's incapacitated?
The lich wasn't much different. Though the skull concealed his emotions, this situation was outside his expectations. Klarissa had recovered part of her Lumen, while he used up most of his regenerating and casting the deceleration field. If she were to attack him instead of blocking the icicle, he'd probably die.
The monster's bony fists clenched hard. He wanted to prove Klarissa that she was not so different from him. That she would not choose another's life over her own. That this world was kill or be killed. That he was justified in taking those lives.
Klarissa's legs buckled as she fell to her knees, a heavy thud echoing through the air. The lich came closer. He gazed down at her. Face pale. Eyes fuzzy. Skin trickled in sweat.
"Foolish human… Why kill yourself?"
"To protect…him."
"Ah! So the boy is someone special to you."
"To protect… the people."
The lich stayed silent. He wanted to yell. To call her a hypocrite. A liar. A pest. But what right did he have to do that? Did she not live up to her words? Did she not protect, disregarding her life in the process?
He didn't want to admit it, but nonetheless it was true. She truly was different from him. She truly made different choices. But so what? Who stood tall while the other was bleeding out on the ground? If anything, this proved his choices were the right ones.
Still, he felt annoyed.
"You died for nothing. No one will remember you nor the boy. So, how about this—if you admit you regret sacrificing yourself, I will save your life. However, the boy has to die. A fair trade if you ask me. You continue living and saving thousands of lives all at the cost of one."
There was a pause.
"So, do you admit you were wrong?" The lich asked.
"I…I was right. How can I think about saving thousands…if I can't even save one…?"
The lich's teeth clenched—hatred palpable in its hollow eye sockets. It propelled itself in front of Ciel, expelling icy mist from its hands. Then grabbed his neck and brought him before Klarissa, glaring at her.
"You're a fool…" The lich whispered. "Now watch your pointless sacrifice go to waste. Watch the boy die."
The monster tightened its grip on Ciel's neck. Squeezed. And squeezed. And squeezed. Ciel's hands flailed desperately. His red eyes bulged. His ears buzzed. His consciousness was fading away.
Klarissa lifted her head, witnessing the terrible sight. Ah… Would Ciel die? Could she do nothing to stop it? Was she still that weak? Blood trickled down Ciel's neck. He didn't have much left until… Until he…
"...No. I'm not letting that happen again."
Suddenly, her eyes regained their previous clarity. A shudder ran through her body. A fierce, scorching, intense shudder. It was like nothing she ever felt before. Her body ignited with blue flames. She stood back up.
The lich—startled—quickly tried backing away. Icy mist exuded out of its free hand. It was fast. Klarissa was faster. Her fingers extended and pressed together, a spear-hand enveloped by blue flames. She swung it towards the monster's shoulder. The arm choking Ciel's neck separated from its body. Blue flames enveloped it. It vanished into thin air.
"...What?" The lich asked.
Klarissa kept silent, checking to see if Ciel was still breathing. He was—slowly opening his eyes. She let out a sigh of relief and turned towards the lich. The monster had already distanced itself from her.
'How can she move, much less fight with that hole in her stomach? Could it be…' The lich thought.
That didn't matter. It had to get away from her. To escape. But how? It couldn't use the pocket dimension's power anymore—he had far too little Lumen left for that.
Before it could finish its thoughts, Klarissa dashed toward him. Blue flames burst from her hands, propelling herself in the same manner the bony creature had. In an instant, she stood before him.
"Wait—!" The lich's screams fell on deaf ears.
Once again, her hand turned into a burning spear. She swung it toward the monster's remaining shoulder. The creature hurriedly raised its arm. The blue core near its chest flared—a shield of ice emerging before him. But the shield did not help. Nothing could. Klarissa's body burned even brighter, her hand's trajectory unchanged. A sizzle rang through the air. The shield was no more. Then came a hiss. The lich's arm was no more.
"You… how do you have a path?!" The monster stumbled to the ground.
There was no response. Just cold dark eyes staring from above. Their intention was clear. Kill. Klarissa's body burned brighter once again—the whole dimension becoming a furnace. She raised her hand and swung it. The monster's legs dismembered. Gone with the wind.
The lich wildly trashed its torso. Trying to roll or crawl or whatever it had to to get away from its slaughterer.
Was this the end for him? No way… Every choice he made, every life he sacrificed, it was all so he could live forever. All so he could become invincible. Doesn't that mean his entire life was pointless? That he slaughtered all those people for nothing? That all his choices were wrong?
"No! Please… please spare me!" The lich begged.
At last, Klarissa said something.
"Who is in the wrong now, creature?"
"I, I am in the wrong!"
She raised her arm, clenching it into a fist. Her body burned more and more intensely.
"Then, in the name of The Guardians, I, Klarissa Oliver, sentence you to die."
Her fist plummeted towards the monster's core. A fist filled with every bit of Lumen she could muster. More. Even more. The scorching blue flames grew hotter. The air trembled. She had to get rid of the lich.
However, the fist stopped before reaching its target. Klarissa spat a mouthful of blood. Then another. Her vision became blurry. She tried forcing her fist downward. So close. She was so close. But then again, she was so far.
She collapsed next to the lich. What was she doing again? Why couldn't she breathe? Ah, she remembered…
"...No. I can't die yet.. I have to… protect."
Her body was still enveloped by the blue flames. They burned hotter. And hotter. And even hotter. Burns appeared on her body. She tried screaming, but no sound escaped her lips. The fire consumed her.
The lich desperately crawled away from the fire, unwilling to take any chances. Once it reached safety, its gaze landed on Klarissa. Her lifeless body swallowed by the flames. She really died.
"She got consumed. I was right!"
As the creature began laughing, a drove of red embers emerged from Klarissa's body. They rose, advancing toward Ciel—who just witnessed the scene. The embers stopped, pausing momentarily in front of him.
'What are these?'
Suddenly, the red embers infused into Ciel's body and entered his blood stream. He felt a sudden warmth. Then a scorching sensation, like a tempest had been injected directly into his veins. He felt alive. It urged him to move. To react. To attack.
Ciel's eyes focused on the lich.
For the first time in his life, he felt something. An intense, inexplicable rage.