They Would Rather Die

Without care of precision, Ryan increased the sound waves of his voice, pouring a large amount of mana into the process.

As if sound had become a ripple of water, it flowed from Ryan pressuring the surrounding individuals and even causing the trees to shake.

Jules, having covered his ears with mana coated palms, heard a ring in his head but moved his body regardless.

He picked up his bag which had dropped earlier and ran past Joel, running deeper into the forest.

Joel, after guessing this could happen, also managed to lighten the effects of the enhanced sound wave a bit a Jules and yelled:

"Kill him! Shoot at him!"

The archer, standing in a distance, was shaken, but managed to release a round of arrows.

But Ryan intercepted the arrows with his sword, blood pouring from his cracked skin with every slight movement.

Joel saw this and cursed. He focused on Jules, preparing a wind spell.

Ryan wanted to turn around and block, but with his senses numbing, he didn't react on time to an attack from his back and got stabbed.

"Die, bitch!" The attacker said, driving his dagger deeper into Ryan's body.

Ryan wanted to bring down his sword on this man, but another organ ruptured, spilling blood onto the attacker from his mouth.

Without any care for Ryan at the moment, Joel shot a tier 3 wind blade at Jules.

Running at full speed, Jules moved to dodge, but the attack wasn't aimed at him.

The wind blade cut through Jules's bag, spilling the remaining potions and pills within.

Jules saw this and cursed his bad luck, throwing the remaining part of the bag away as he kept on running.

Joel wasn't satisfied with this, but Jules was suffering from a paralysis poison and would soon stop moving.

He turned back towards Ryan.

Ryan's body glow had reduced, his body splitting with cracks that oozed blood.

Almost on his knees, arrows were jutting out of his back, and a dagger was stabbed into his stomach.

At that moment, Mark in a battered up state, holding a broken sword, arrived with four others.

With a nod, Joel said, "He ran that way–you can still catch up to him. He is poisoned."

"Alright," Mark replied. "The plans are already scattered and the squads have detected a commotion. We should round up soon."

"I'll do that. I still have to handle my little junior."

Mark gave no response, leading the four to chase Jules.

Crumbling to his knees, Ryan turned to Joel at his words, forcing a smile out as he returned to his near-depleted vitality state.

"I wonder what you want to do with a deadman."

Joel smiled, concealing the annoyance of the situation. "So you're the source of why I used to feel perceived. You're quite talented yet unwise, it would have been better for you to join me instead."

Ryan smirked, blood trailing the corner of his lip. "I would rather die," He spat.

Ryan would have suffered worse at Joel's hands, if not for the squads Mark had mentioned.

But still, it wasn't a fun death as Joel slowly cut Ryan.

'Bye, Mother. Bye, Father.'

Ryan met his sad end.

- - -

Jules had been running for minutes now. 

The cuts on his body were only becoming more concerning as time went by. The arrow stabbed into him was bearable compared to them.

His body was gradually succumbing to the poison too. Mana was barely sufficient to reduce its effects anymore.

Soon, he reached a river that was so wide, he couldn't hope to jump over it.

The distance between him and the river had a bit of grassland, so he refrained from going further to avoid being in the open.

Then, he began casting a spell.

This spell was hard to cast, as it wasn't something the original Jules had practiced much, so memories relating to it were entangled amongst others.

The paralysis poison made it hard, but his control over mana helped make it less hard.

Jules's heartbeat seemed to be the loudest thing at that moment as he didn't relent in casting.

Finally, after making progress, Jules ran across the grassland, but before he could reach the river, a knife dug into his back.

Jules fell to the floor, his blood coating the grass.

He suddenly turned, spotting Mark and a few others approaching.

Jules frowned as he sat on the floor and faced them, his hands on the ground, supporting him.

Walking beyond the trees, Mark said sternly, "If you come with us, I'll give you a cure for the poison."

"Huh?" Jules, visibly shocked, replied, "Come with you and meet a fate worse than death? I'd rather kill myself."

Then he extended his arm to them, revealing a black orb with glowing red runes he had been holding ever since he ran.

"Quite literally," Jules added, throwing the charged bomb between them.

Then, he completed the spell he had been casting since.

A white magic circle appeared beneath Jules, a translucent orb appeared and protected him like a shell.

This was a tier 3 barrier spell—but a poorly made one.

Mark showed displeasure as he took a large jump back, concealing himself behind a tree.

Boom–!

A large explosion was released, a heavy gust of wind accompanying it and spreading its range.

As the explosion engulfed him, Jules removed the arrow from his shoulder, the sound of his barrier cracking ringing in his ears.

The instant the barrier sounded, Jules ran towards the river and jumped into it, sinking deep in and leaving a large amount of blood in his wake.

The blood only increased as he plugged out the knife at his back.

Sinking deeper, Jules's vision became dark, feeling a dreadful darkness absorbing him.

'Ryan must be dead by now…I wonder…is that peaceful?'

But before he could lose consciousness, he bit on a pill he had stuffed in his mouth the same time he prepared a bomb, then he felt the flame of his vitality return.

[Quest "Survive your mission" has been completed.]

Holding his breath, Jules thought, 'Cid… Ryan… your sacrifice was not for naught.'