Redder Than Red

"Hn!"

"Stop!"

Lyrica was about to shove the short sword into the female assassin's heart, but the voice of the other assassin stopped her at the very last second.

"We lost, we can't chase you down anymore," Said the assassin. "But if you insist on killing someone, you can kill me instead."

"Y-You..." The female assassin mouthed with her frail and stuttering voice. "...This is on me... If you want to die, then fight her as well..."

"Give me a reason."

Lyrica backed away from the female assassin, taking the tip of the short sword away from her chest.

"Reason?"

"Give me a reason why she deserves to live. Why do you think she deserves a second chance in life more than you?" Lyrica inquired, pointing the sword towards the other assassin. "Spit it."

It took a short moment, but the assassin eventually spoke and told Lyrica:

"I don't know if this will satisfy you, but I got nothing left in this world other than these people."

"You..."

Yes, the assassin was a married man with a daughter and son, at least until what happened three years ago. Where the Hari of Kruule showed his true colors to his people. Like the others, the assassin lost his loved ones, although he wasn't there when it happened.

He was one of the soldiers escorting traded goods from other countries who came home just the day after everything transpired three years ago. The last thing he heard about his deceased family was that his wife and daughter resisted against the followers of Uruk who tried to sexually harass them, but in the end, they paid their futile resistance with their lives along with his son.

No words could describe the amount of rage he had been keeping inside him.

"There was a point in time where I thought becoming an Anino with my rage might be the only way to get my revenge from Uruk."

"You thought about becoming an Anino?"

"Yes."

But right as he was having such thoughts, he asked himself, "What's the point of taking my revenge when there's nothing left for me in this world?" Killing Uruk and his followers would only make him just like them, he'd become a cruel monster like those who killed his family. And he didn't want that to happen.

But one day, he was elected as one of Uruk's direct soldiers—A group of assassins was formed along with him, the female assassin, the boss, and the others. He doesn't want to kill the innocent, although he knew he has no other choice, or doesn't he? The assassin remembered what he asked himself.

"There's nothing left for me in this world..."

That's right, he had no reason to obey what Uruk orders him anymore. He might as well kill himself, is what he thought.

"I-I can't...!" Said the female assassin while breathing restlessly and her hand holding her short sword, shaking vigorously. "I need to do it... But I can't...!"

The assassin doesn't want to kill, he doesn't want to kill for Uruk, if he did, he'll turn just like him and his followers. However, when he saw the female assassin hesitating to kill an innocent man badly wounded on the ground, he thought:

'There's nothing left for me in this world, I could kill myself right here or even before Uruk put me into this situation. But you, you still have people waiting for you to come home, you can't afford backing down and killing yourself!'

Right at that moment, the assassin gained a reason to live.

Quelch!

"Y-You!"

The assassin went and killed the man in front of the female assassin. And then, he told the female assassin and the others.

"If you think you can't do it, my hands are all free."

Since then, the assassin has stained his hands with countless blood. He killed people not for the sake of him living and seeing another tomorrow, nor because he's a follower of Uruk, but for the sake of his comrades who have people waiting for them home.

"So you're saying you're living for her and everyone else's sake?"

The assassin nodded firmly.

"And I'm willing to throw my life away if it means they'll live another day with their families." A nervous but genuine smile formed on his face: "I don't want them or their family to suffer like me."

He grabbed his chest tightly as the tears finally came out after holding it inside for so long. "Because I know, losing the people you cared about is the most painful thing in the world."

Lyrica's parents are still alive unlike the assassin's. But after remembering that day, where she saw them going down the wrong path, Lyrica knew that the pain and sadness she felt are just the same as the assassin's.

"Lady Lyrica..." Kael uttered monotonously after seeing a single tear fall to the surface while watching her from behind.

Then shortly after that, Lyrica threw the short sword away from her and the female assassin before rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Kael, was it?" Lyrica sniffled.

"Yes, Lady Lyrica?"

"We're leaving," Lyrica faced Kael. "Take me to Reilaea."

"Understood," Kael replied politely. "I shall lead the way."

Lyrica, replying with a resounding yes toward Kael, began following the man's footsteps.

"Hey!"

But before long, the female assassin's voice halted the two.

"Damn you! You're supposed to kill me!"

"That's enough!" The other assassin interjected. "You stubborn woman, what are you, a brat?"

"...!"

While the female assassin was lost for words...

"If you want to die, make sure it's the right choice." Lyrica turned around and gave the female assassin a strong gaze. "Because the moment you realize you made the wrong choice, there'll be no way for you to change it."

the female assassin's eyes widened after hearing what the girl said before. she looked down to the ground with confused eyes while thinking about it. but just then...

"W-What is happening? Why is everything in red?" Lyrica spoke, stealing the female assassin and the other's attention.

"What? Did you say red?" The female assassin queried.

"S-She came just in time before they leave...!" The fellow assassin added in a concerned manner. "This is not good, they are in danger! She's here, the boss is here!"

Unlike Lyrica and Kael, the two assassins could not see what the young girl and man were seeing, but after what Lyrica just mentioned, they could pretty much describe it.

The brown dirt, the green leaves, and everything Lyrica and Kael are seeing is painted in red. However, only they could see it because they are the boss's target, the boss's eyes are on them!

"I am not quite sure what's going on, but I'm feeling a tremendous sense of blood lust all around us," Kael said as the tone of his voice turned anxious.

"N-Not only did something happen to the scenery, the people lying on the ground and the two other conscious assassins just disappeared out of thin air..." Lyrica replied as she looked everywhere around her and Kael intensely.

Not only can't they see them, but they also couldn't hear what they were saying ever since it all started. They have no idea what's coming their way, they haven't the slightest clue that the boss or the leader of the assassins was already glaring at Lyrica's back either.

The bloodlust Kael and Lyrica made it clear that a deadly foe is upon them, but because that bloodlust is everywhere, they could not figure out where would the enemy be coming from.

Will they appear from behind the trees? Or from the sky? Or even from the ground?

'Tch, the more I think about it, the more I'm feeling unsure where they'd attack us!' Lyrica began gritting her teeth as she gets progressively nervous. 'Where will you come from...? When are you going to attack?'

Glare!

"...!"

Lyrica felt it—a cold glare coming from somewhere around her and Kael froze her on the spot. And then...

Quelch!

"L-Lady Lyrica!"

Kael's loud voice lured Lyrica's attention. She looked at him and asked:

"What is–gwahk!"

But before she could finish her sentence, a pool of blood burst out of her mouth.

"W-What...?"

The scenery slowly returned to normal. But at that moment, she finally felt a sharp pain coming from her guts. Lyrica gradually leaned her head down and was shocked to see a dagger protruding from her stomach, covered in blood that's gushing all over the ground and her uniform.

'W-When did...?'

The dagger was pulled out of her guts from behind. And right then, she started losing strength in her limbs and began flailing about.

'An attack that even I couldn't notice...! So now, we're up against a real assassin...?'

Helplessly, Lyrica fell to the ground, tainting the surface even more with her blood.