"The Hunt for Lilia 6" - Arailt POV

I was wrong.

The explosion was too severe. Far greater than I had initially presumed. What seemed like a desperate measure at the time was the making of our doom. 

Why was that fake fragment so powerful? Or was it just the residue of Xert's power?

There must be a time limit on that power of his, I'm sure. So why?

Honestly, since it didn't blow up for so long, I thought it really was a dud.

But the explosion blasting away the shadowy attacker, as well as the walls and the entire mill in one beam of purple light, was enough to convince me otherwise.

My mind floods with memories of the zapping bullet that ended my world.

That was peaceful compared to this. It was merely a "zap," and bam, it was over.

This was like an oven, boiling us alive. Only much, much faster. 

Explosions aren't slow like in the movies, I suppose.

"Arailt!" 

It was Beanne screaming, hiding under my body while it burned.

It's ironic...even when the flames scorched my skin, my muscles wouldn't move.

Seriously...fuck this world.

I was like a charcoal. Nothing more, nothing less. I think Erop managed to get Anasa out through the window, but she tried desperately to get back in the flames, maybe to me.

Goddamit, woman, decide already...do you love me or not?

"No, no, no, I don't want to die...I must have written it wrong..."

Beanne was petrified. Her eyes darted out, searching for an escape from this burning Hell that encompassed us. 

"How are you still alive?" 

She was puzzled, as I was burning alive above her like a human shield made of flesh.

I wanted to scream, cry, and run away. All of my survival instincts were there.

But they were all misguided.

For I have...I have felt no pain at all. 

Not in body, only in spirit.

"I...I don't think I'm burning..."

I managed to get out.

"What?" she blurted, hiding her hair close to her chest, as if she was scared the flames would get her. It was then she probably realized that this wasn't enough. The air was getting thinner, the ground hotter. Everything was burning, everything. My old clothes, my bed, the walls.

It was a tragedy.

Yet I recall that, back in the old world, on the old Earth, there was a saying.

Perhaps you know it too.

I believe it was Friedrich Nietzsche who said it.

"Around the Hero, everything else becomes a tragedy."

Yet from that tragedy he is born. To save. To move on. To inspire. To lead.

I could never do anything like that in my previous life.

And I couldn't do it in this one, either.

Didn't I promise myself that no one in this world would suffer?

So why was another Witch about to die before my eyes?

No. I couldn't allow it.

I don't feel the sensation of burning at all. For that matter, it's becoming clear now.

This body is resilient. More resilient than I had initially anticipated. 

I don't remember being hurt at all my whole entire life.

I...I think I am...

"Beanne, look at me!" I shouted aggressively, getting the scared girl's attention.

"I...I am invulnerable! Can you see it too? LOOK AT ME, WOMAN, DAMMIT!"

Her eyes darted in fear, as they always have when it came to me. But then, her gaze softened.

"How is that possible? Perhaps we can use it! I don't want you to die!"

The wooden floorboards were creaking like sinners eaten alive by demons in Hell.

The ceiling was about to collapse.

"I see it...you have it the entire time...I've never heard or seen anything like this...was it dormant...?"

If I could move my hands, I would give her a shake.

"Speak plainly! We don't have time!"

I shouted, as the flames almost entirely consumed my body, and would soon reach her.

It was then that I saw it myself, too.

The fragment. Of course. 

I think Canalyse would have laughed over the irony. She had spent so long hoping I would find it.

It was sewn inside me all along.

Was I made from it? It appeared to be so. Perhaps an aftereffect of that Purple Ball. It touched me, and reincarnated me. But it never occurred to me that I may not be a human at all.

But rather something else. Like a statue, covered in flesh.

A living fragment.

"I will survive! I just can't move! We have to get you out of here! Can you use any magic?"

She just turned her head in fear. She really couldn't do anything. Now, she seemed so much like a little girl. I suppose I forgot that's what she indeed was.

But she forgot that she can do it. She could do the barrier. Maybe she needs to see the Witches' magic to learn it? Of course, she probably doesn't see much of it in the Preacher's home.

I see...I understand.

Never in my old life would I imagine I could think calmly while burning alive.

"Put the barrier on the floor again! Do it!" I ordered her, and she listened, blinking repeatedly as if waking up and then quickly drawing several triangles on the ground.

I'm not letting anyone die. Not anymore.

The golden circle surrounded us, engulfing the flames. But it was small, like a child. It could barely contain her. Was it fear? Lack of mana? Lack of will?

That's fine, this body doesn't mind burning.

"HELP US!" I shouted from the top of my lungs.

"IF SOMEONE WILL COME, WE WILL SURVIVE!"

I just hope suffocating won't be a problem.

"Please..." Beanne was terrified, hiding from all of the flames. Burning alive. Probably the worst fear for a Witch, I presume. Maybe her nature was calling out to her, too. "...Aunt Ruma..."

Yet it wasn't Ruma's, nor Aer's, nor Anasa's, nor Erop's hand that reached us.

"I got it." 

"Now, Beanne, do you think that if I make water, it will explode or vaporize?"

Joking around at a time like this...maybe this blue-haired boy really is a hero.

Xert. At the very last second. Like a hero would. But he wasn't alone. I had to remind myself.

They were outside, trying to reach us. Erop. My mother. 

Yet being outside the flames wasn't enough. Only Xert was bold enough to step in.

"Worth a try!" he said with a cheeky smile, pointing his hand out. Suddenly, streams of water engulfed it, streaming from it like a powerful water hose. But not in a straight line, but rather the shape of a water ball. A water field strong enough to withstand even the collapsing ceiling above us.

Of course, there was that slight chance that it would explode. Or vaporize.

But I was willing to take it, and so was Xert.

"Don't worry, guys...It will be alright." He said, smiling.

"I can make you a new mill too...so no problem!"

He picked Beanne up with ease, who looked merely surprised when she suddenly appeared in the air.

"I'll come back for you, bro, you are just heavier. The flames are coming off. Everyone is coming close. I saw Ruma and Aer nearby. We are not leaving you behind."

Oh, this guy is the real deal, isn't he??

"It is fine. I am like you! I don't think I can be damaged, so go! Save her!"

Xert smirked and then laughed happily.

"Hey man, good for you! Another Hero to the Pact!"

He thumbed up and then started running away from the burn site with Beanne in hand.

And so, in that burning mill...things started to turn out for the better.