Ganersam Volume 2

I could feel my eyes widen as I heard that name. Amber. I remembered Nia telling the story about one of her friends getting executed for saving a human mother. A human mother with her baby.

Cademons were known to wear hoods to hide their ears. If Amber wears a hood, she would practically be identical to a normal human. Hearing the story, Nia fell silent for a while.

“I knew... but why?”

Nia asked while looking at the tip of the scythe that struck beside her.

The lady’s face showed a hint of slight bewilderment as she heard Nia’s answer.

“So you knew that N4 sacrificed herself to let N10 escape?”

“Ye... yes! And don’t call them that. Their names are Natalie and Amber!”

“Natalie... I remember her last request, which was to be known by her human-sounding name.”

The lady looked at her scythe. She pulled it off the floor, slowly touching its blade.

“Yes, this blade is the one that took her blood.”

The room fell silent as the lady reminisced about the past. She looked at her blade, and gently wiped it. A slight frown appeared on her face.

“Master... Did you miss her?”

“N4, no, Natalie?”

Nia nodded.

“Yes. She’s an interesting character. Full of energy, very highly skilled. It’s a loss that we need to kill her.”

“Then... why?”

“To send a message. We don’t tolerate traitors, so, unfortunately...”

The lady looked back at Nia and pointed her scythe at her.

“You’re my best apprentice. It saddens me that I would need to be the one that destroys you, but it must be done.”

With her somewhat sorrowful words, the lady gripped the scythe’s handle tightly. She was about to pull it down on Nia when we all collapsed to the floor. The lady doesn’t seem to be interested in us, however, and was prepared to pull the scythe down at Nia.

“Master, why?”

“I... I must...”

“No, why did you tell me about Natalie?”

While asking that, Nia glanced at us, her hand pointing at the exit.

The lady froze at that question.

“I...”

She stopped. Nia started wagging her finger around, still pointing toward the door, a bitter smile on her face.

“I’m the one who was supposed to ask you, why are you smiling? You know you’ll be dead once I pull this down, right?”

While she was saying that, I looked for my gun. I found it down on the floor not far from me. I then looked for the dart. Finding it on my chest, I attempted to reach it. The paralyze still affected my body, making it extremely hard to move.

“I’m satisfied. The last month had been a wonderful experience. I’m happy.”

Nia said, now with a bright smile on her face. I struggled even more, realizing the clock was ticking. My hand simply refused to move, however.

“The outside world, huh? I see...”

She pulled the scythe down on Nia.

“Nia!”

As if hearing my inaudible yell, Nia quickly dashed out of the way. She leaped back toward us, picking up LIAR on the way. She quickly reached for the dart and pulled it off, while her free right hand started firing toward the lady. The lady spun her scythe around, creating some kind of wall that blocked the bullets.

Apparently, the scythe’s ability to block magic meant lethal lasers had little effect on it. She couldn’t stop spinning the scythe, though. Some bullets managed to pass the scythe, causing her to dodge and take a couple of steps back.

“You!”

The second the dart left my body, I could feel my body receiving its strength back.

“WIlliam, get the others out of here!”

I nodded and rushed to Amel’s side and pulled the dart, before going back for Emma. Eventually, LIAR ran out of bullets. Realizing the rain of bullets stopped, the lady pushed forward and headed for Nia.

Amel saw that and came dashing in. She swung her sword at her horizontal arc as high as her chest and slammed it into the incoming scythe. The two blades met and rattled. The second Emma was freed from her paralyze, she took aim and fired. The lady leaped back and once again spun her scythe, deflecting the bullets.

I went in front Nia and took the LIAR from her. I immediately swapped the empty magazine with a full one and continued firing together. The lady eventually got tired and dashed forward. She swung her scythe and pointed the sharp edge at us. She let the laser hit her body, deflecting off her skin. She probably wore something like our shield. She closed the distance quickly. Amel moved in front of us, ready to take the brunt of the attack. The lady brought the blade up and pulled it down on us.

And then there was silence.

“Master, please stop.”

Nia pleaded, her wrist holding the scythe’s handle. The watch that functioned as a shield shattered, its remains fell to the ground.

“William, Emma, Amel... Go.”

She said, not looking back. Her eyes were locked at the lady standing in front of her.

“No.”

I replied firmly.

“We’re not leaving you behind.”

Amel said, moving forward closer to Nia. Amel repositioned herself, giving her a straight, unobstructed line toward the lady. She did not attack, however, as if waiting for Nia’s orders. Realizing that we refused to retreat, Nia let out a sigh and addressed the lady in front of her.

“Master, are you really happy?”

She asked, causing the lady to look down. The lady then shook her head, her grip on the scythe loosening.

“No. Losing Natalie was devastating...”

“It’s not too late to stop.”

“It is for me.”

Nia reached out her left hand, the one that blocked the attack. She slowly reached out for the lady’s hand. Seeing an opening, Nia moved closer to the lady, going face-to-face with her.

“Come with us.”

Nia said.

“... Fine, you win.”

She let go of the scythe, letting it fall into Nia’s hand.

“Go, carry Natalie’s legacy with you. I can’t handle this anymore.”

“Master...”

“Call me N1.”

“N1... thank you.”

“Save your thanks for later. I’ll give you ten minutes. Now go before I change my mind.”

She then turned around and reached for the polearm on the floor.

“Wait, I thought you were coming with us?”

N1 glanced at her, a smile forming on her lips.

“I have something else I need to do. Now go.”

She said as she disappeared into the darkness. Nia watched her disappear, before collapsing onto the floor.

N1 walked down the dimly lit corridor. At the other end of the corridor, a group of demons ran toward her.

“N1, have you disposed of that traitor?”

The demon on its lead stopped to ask. It spoke in demon language, its voice cold.

“Hmm? No, I did not.”

“Then what are you doing here!? Did you abandon your mission!?”

The demon said loudly, its chilling voice enough to freeze the air. N1 stared at her ‘superior’, her gaze cold as ice.

“Maybe?”

“You...! That means you’re a traitor as well! I thought you were the most loyal!”

“Loyal?”

N1 chuckled at that word.

“I don’t remember ever saying I’m loyal. It’s just that I don’t have the courage to fight until now. I had enough, though.”

She casually replied, her mind reminding her of the smile on Nia’s face. She chuckled once more. She knew herself. She was never loyal. Not now, not eight months ago.

“You survived such a painful experience... you were so close to kissing death... yet you continued fighting. You return here, to do what you think is right.”

She mumbled. A small smile appeared on her lips.

That day, eight months ago, when she went against orders and secretly carried Nia out of the battlefield. That day, she hoped that she would never need to see her face again, but fate says otherwise.

But even so, she couldn’t say she regretted it.

“So, you’ve chosen death?”

The demon asked her with a threatening tone.

N1 pulled the polearm and pointed it toward the group of demons. She stared at the demon on the other side.

“Yes, yes I have!”

After that, Emma picked up the paralyze darts, and Amel picked up the scythe, while I carried the unconscious Nia out. We ran through the hallways, which were now empty.

We notified Riko and Amber, and they’re turning back to pick us up.

The alarms were still on, painting the corridor with a shine of red. Since there were no demons, it didn’t take long to arrive at the entrance.

The two ships landed and waited for us, but we didn’t have time to split. Amel followed us into Amber’s ship.

“What happened!?”

Amber yelled in shock as she saw the unconscious Nia. Not waiting for an answer, Amber stood up,

“Ye grab medical kit at the rear!”

She left the cockpit seat and kneeled beside Nia. I gave her the medical kit. She pulled up Nia’s left sleeve, revealing the wounds on her hand. Some parts were swollen, others had scratches and wounds.

“Wait.”

Emma put her hand on Nia’s wound. She was about to use heal. I was about to stop her, but her body glowed.

“Heal.”

The glow engulfed the two girls. After a short while, she pulled her hand off.

“Now you could treat her.”

“Alright!”

Amber cleaned Nia’s wound and started bandaging her.

“You’re not going to collapse?”

“What kind of question is that? Besides, the reason I collapsed back then is because I need to heal both you and Nia. Nia’s wounds are not that serious, she mostly collapsed from exhaustion.”

“Ah, I see...”

While we were treating Nia, Amel had closed the door before going into the cockpit and grabbing the controls.

“You can fly?”

Hearing that question, Amel looked back.

“I could. I mean, I’ve flown before, when I and Riko chased that dragon.”

“Ah, sorry, I forgot.”

She redirected her attention back to the controls. She pulled the stick, and the ship lifted up. We quickly flew away from the research lab. A few seconds later, a massive explosion rattled the entire ship.

Curious, Amel took a quick turn, the sight of blazing fire and thick smoke filled the front window of the ship.

We looked in awe at the sight, before turning back to Kalagai.