Chapter 52
――I thought I was going to die.
My party members had used me as a decoy and sealed the exit with an earthen wall.
Our opponent was a Quad Skeleton, far stronger than us.
With 【First Blade】 as my last resort, I activated it and somehow managed to fight back.
I barely avoided any fatal blows, but my attacks couldn't reach it, and I was slowly being worn down.
I should have felt the exhilaration that came when I activated 【First Blade】.
But my allies had abandoned me, and I was too shaken to feel anything like that.
Three minutes left.
Two minutes left.
One minute left.
My magic dwindled with every passing minute, and the end drew closer.
At the same time, panic began to set in.
My panic only fed itself, and I couldn't focus completely on the fight.
Even so, I desperately kept swinging my sword.
――But my sword couldn't reach the Quad Skeleton.
The end came suddenly.
Before the Skill could be deactivated, before my spirit could break, the sword in my hand snapped cleanly in two.
――Ah, I'm going to die here.
【First Blade】 was forcibly deactivated, and the red fighting aura enveloping my sword and me vanished.
At the same time, my whole body seized up.
It was the Skill's post-technique recovery lag.
I could do nothing as the Quad Skeleton's four swords closed in――.
――I thought I wouldn't mind dying.
If I had to keep suffering because of my Gift, Ashura Path, maybe dying would be easier.
That thought crossed my mind, and I lost the will to resist.
――If only I didn't have a Gift like this.
I wish I'd had an ordinary Gift.
Something like Swordsman, a common, unremarkable Gift, would have been fine.
If only that had been the case...
I couldn't even hold myself upright anymore.
I collapsed to the ground.
I closed my eyes.
All that remained was to wait for death.
But that moment――never came, no matter how long I waited.
Puzzled, I forced my heavy eyelids open.
A man I didn't know was fighting.
Fireballs poured endlessly from his hands.
Ah, is this a dream I'll see before I die?
Am I already dead?
The man defeated the Quad Skeleton.
Then he came over to me――.
"――Heal."
"――Heal."
"――Heal."
"――Heal."
"――Heal."
My near-fatal wounds healed rapidly before my eyes.
"Huh?"
It was unbelievable, but I was completely healed, and the Quad Skeleton lay dead beside me.
"Th-thank you so much."
I still couldn't process what had happened, but I understood that the man had saved me.
I sprang to my feet and bowed over and over.
"Are you all right?"
"Y-yes. My wounds are fine now."
The man looked at me and gave me a gentle smile.
――I'm alive. I was saved.
At that moment, I thought I was ready to die.
But now, I was glad to be alive.
At the same time, I remembered that my party members had used me as a decoy.
――They'd abandoned me again.
This was the seventh time.
And this time, they'd used me as a sacrificial pawn.
Someone I thought was an ally had betrayed me.
――It was all because of my Gift.
Why did it have to make me suffer this much?
I don't want a Gift like this!
Just as I felt like despair was about to crush me, someone spoke to me gently.
It was the first kind voice I'd heard in a long time.
"For now, let's move somewhere safe."
Thump.
My heart gave a single, heavy beat.
His voice felt like a hand reaching out to save me from the brink of despair.
"............Yes."
Honestly, I still couldn't trust anyone.
But the answer that slipped out of my mouth without thinking was yes.