Several times, Tanaka had watched people die before his eyes.
Good people.
People he had laughed with, hang out with, and failed to save.
Naturally that affected him.
Sometimes it filled him with horror. Sometimes grief. But that emotional distress only lasted until the loop ended.
Once the loop resets and the tragedies that took place get undone, he quickly recollects himself and starts fighting to prevent that future from becoming reality.
The pain never disappeared, but he forced himself to bury it.
It wasn't because he had grown numb nor because he had become indifferent to death.
Quite the opposite.
His humanity was the one thing he refused to surrender, no matter how many times fate tried to grind it away. Even when his heart was breaking, he hid it from others. There was no point burdening people with grief over events that, to them, had never occurred.
But...
This time was different.
The instant the world reset and his eyes landed on Zarestia again...
Everything he had painstakingly held together collapsed.
The tears came before he even realized he was crying.
Because, the moment his contract with Zarestia was severed, something inside his chest had been violently ripped away.
An unbearable emptiness.
A silence where another presence had existed only moments before.
It had been so real...
So overwhelming...
...that, for one terrifying instant, he had forgotten Return by Death even existed.
All he remembered was loss.
The sensation had eclipsed everything else, even the fact that he himself had died shortly afterward. He couldn't remember what had killed him.
...
But now, he knew what he had to do.
"Can you explain what's going on now?"
Tristan was the first to break the silence.
He had remained quiet while Tanaka broke down moments earlier, but now his patience had reached its limit.
Tanaka slowly wiped the frozen tears from his face and took a long breath.
"We're not staying here." His voice was calm now. "We're heading down the mountain."
Silence followed.
"...What?"
Tristan stared at him in disbelief.
"Have you lost your mind? If we don't find shelter from this blizzard, we'll freeze to death."
"I know. But staying inside that cave is even worse."
Nora narrowed her eyes.
"Why exactly?"
"I saw them. The witch beasts we encountered by the river."
Nora's expression instantly changed.
"...The Hoarfrost Stalkers?"
Tanaka gave a firm nod.
"I'm certain." His gaze drifted toward the cave entrance, his voice lowering. "If we hide in there while the storm gets worse, we will just going to get cornered?"
Tristan frowned.
"Are you absolutely certain you're not mistaken?" he asked, glancing toward the white curtain of snow surrounding them. "Visibility is terrible in this weather."
Tanaka shook his head without hesitation.
"No. I know what I saw."
He pointed down the mountainside.
"We just need to keep descending. If we move fast enough, we'll get below the storm's altitude. Once we're out of the blizzard, our chances of surviving will increase."
Nora folded her arms, her expression no less serious.
"If what you're saying is true..." she began, "...then we're in danger either way."
She looked toward the endless white landscape.
"Those Hoarfrost Stalkers blend into the snow perfectly. If they've already picked up our scent, they can attack us from anywhere."
Tanaka silently agreed.
The first time they'd encountered them along the river, it had already been difficult to distinguish their pale bodies against the snow-covered banks.
Now...
With a blizzard reducing visibility to only a few meters...
Finding them with the naked eye would be impossible.
He knew that better than anyone.
He had already died because of it.
Fortunately...
This time, he had an answer.
He looked down at the sapphire bracelet wrapped around his wrist.
"Hugo..."
The gemstone pulsed faintly.
"...Come out."
A hesitant voice echoed directly into his mind.
"Master... but didn't you say we should keep our contract a secret?"
"It's okay." Tanaka responded, "That doesn't matter anymore."
Golden light gathered around his wrist before shooting into the air.
The light condensed into the familiar tiny spirit floating before them.
"A minor spirit?"
Tristan's eyes widened in surprise.
Even Nora couldn't hide her astonishment.
"...That's the spirit from Mayor Riften's office."
Tanaka nodded.
"His name is Hugo, he's a spirit I'm contracted with."
"He's contracted with me."
"...What?"
Before either of them could process those words, Tanaka reached over and held Zarestia's hand tightly.
"I've also formed a contract with Zarestia."
Silence.
"...What?"
Tristan looked from Hugo...
...to Zarestia...
...then back to Tanaka.
His expression became one of complete disbelief.
His voice nearly cracked.
"When did this happen?"
It was a natural reaction, Stride Vollachia, the Sin Archbishop of Pride making a contract with even a minor spirit wasn't something that can be overlooked, let alone making a contract with one of four great spirits.
"Zarestia-Sama... what is the meaning of this?"
Zarestia didn't respond, she was unsure on what to say as her only concern at the moment is her contractor mental well being.
Tanaka cut in before Tristan could continue.
"Listen." His tone became sharp enough to silence everyone. "We're running out of time."
"I know that you don't trust me, I already know that and frankly..." He met Tristan's eyes without flinching. "I don't care whether you do or not, not anymore."
The bluntness of his words left the knight momentarily speechless but he really no longer cared.
He won't lose Zarestia or Hugo again, he will use every card he has from the beginning. No more meaningless squabbles or considering that the others might think of his actions.
"Hugo can sense the Hoarfrost Stalkers even through this blizzard. The moment one gets close, he'll warn us."
He tightened his grip around Zarestia's hand.
"And when that happens, we will all deal with them..."
Tristan let out a slow breath before finally nodding.
"...Fine."
His gaze remained fixed on Tanaka.
"But once we reach safety..."
"...you're explaining everything."
"I am willing to do, despite the fact that I know you wouldn't believe me anyway."
Nora clapped her hands once, breaking the tension before it could build again.
"Enough."
She adjusted the pack on her shoulder.
"We've already wasted too much time."
"We move now."
No one argued.
One by one, they began making their way down the mountain through the relentless snowfall.
Tanaka remained where he was for a brief moment.
Before following, he felt a gentle squeeze around his fingers.
He looked beside him.
Zarestia was watching him quietly.
The anger she'd shown the night before was gone.
Only worry remained.
"...Jay."
Her voice was soft.
"Are you really okay now?"
For a moment...
Tanaka simply stared at her.
He recalled the unbearable emptiness that had swallowed his heart...
It all resurfaced in an instant.
Without saying anything, he tightened his grip around her hand.
"...I am. Thank you..."
A small smile appeared on his face, fragile but genuine.
"...Just..."
He looked away awkwardly.
"...don't let go of my hand, okay?"
Zarestia blinked in surprise.
But in moment, she nodded her head and simply replied, "...Okay."
Side by side, the two of them began stepping down the mountain, following the others as the snow swallowed their footprints behind them.
*********************************************************************************************************
This time, the loop unfolded differently.
Hugo no longer remained hidden inside the bracelet.
Instead, the little spirit floated beside Tanaka, his golden body illuminating the swirling snow just enough to make his presence visible.
With Hugo guiding them, the group abandoned the cave altogether and descended the mountain. Every few moments, the spirit would stop and focus on searching for anything lurking beyond the veil of snow.
As they walked, Hugo drifted closer to Tanaka's shoulder.
"Master..."
His normally energetic voice sounded noticeably quieter.
"Are you sure about this?"
Tanaka looked at the little spirit and smiled faintly.
"Yes."
"If you need to use my mana, don't hesitate. I know you can do it."
That confidence wasn't unfounded.
During the previous loop, Hugo had somehow managed to perceive the Hoarfrost Stalkers despite the blizzard, even while panicking.
If they relied on that ability from the very beginning...
They would never be caught off guard again.
Nearby, Tanaka noticed Zarestia stealing worried glances at him.
She looked as though she wanted to say something.
Before she could speak, he beat her to it.
"I know. I'm probably frustrating you."
He squeezed her hand gently.
"But I promise..."
"I'll explain everything."
Her crimson eyes widened slightly.
Then, after a brief silence...
"...Okay."
She gave a small nod.
Only moments later...
"Master! They're coming!"
Tanaka's expression immediately hardened.
"Everyone!"[1] He raised his voice over the howling wind. "They're here!"
Almost instinctively, Tristan unsheathed his massive sword with a metallic scrape. Nora lowered her stance and pulled her daggers.
Yet...
Nothing happened.
Only the blizzard answered them.
The snowfall danced wildly before their eyes, concealing everything beyond a few meters.
Silence.
An oppressive silence.
Then, a white blur burst from the snow behind Tristan.
Before the knight could even react...
"Huma!"
Dozens of razor-sharp ice shards shot through the air.
The creature was pierced mid-leap.
Its body tumbled across the snow, staining the pristine white crimson before coming to a stop.
Tristan stared at the corpse in surprise.
Tanaka didn't.
"Don't stop! They're still coming!"
The warning had barely left his mouth before shadows erupted from every direction.
The pack attacked.
Hoarfrost Stalkers lunged through the snow like ghosts, using the blizzard itself as camouflage.
Tanaka immediately began firing waves of ice spears and compressed wind blades.
Beside him, Zarestia unleashed violent currents that shredded anything unfortunate enough to enter their reach.
One...
Three...
Five...
Bodies continued falling.
Yet the attacks never ceased.
Tristan swung his greatsword in broad arcs, cleaving through beast after beast, while Nora dodged them with astonishing agility, her wires slicing their feet before they could reached her.
Even so...
The terrain favored the witch beasts as every attack almost came from a blind spot.
Every dodge was made at the last possible moment.
Soon enough, shallow cuts began appearing across Tristan's arms.
Nora's cloak was torn in several places.
Blood stained the snow beneath their feet.
Tristan gritted his teeth.
"Stride!"
The situation was getting out of hand, this wasn't an exaggeration.
Tanaka knew it too.
His strongest option was Shamak.
But inside that darkness...
His allies would lose their vision just as surely as the beasts.
He couldn't risk it.
Instead...
He exchanged a single glance with Zarestia.
No words were needed.
She immediately understood.
Still holding Tanaka's hand, she slowly raised her free arm toward the sky.
The air trembled.
The blizzard...
Split apart.
Hurricane-force winds carved a massive sphere around the party, scattering snow and dark clouds alike.
Within nearly a hundred meters...
The snowfall vanished.
Visibility returned instantly.
And everyone froze.
"...There's so many..."
Over thirty Hoarfrost Stalkers surrounded them.
The monsters had completely encircled the group without anyone realizing.
Now, exposed beneath the clearing sky, their camouflage meant nothing and the playing field was evened.
Without the blizzard obscuring their sight, both Nora and Tristan immediately fought with renewed confidence.
The tide shifted.
Tanaka slammed both palms onto the frozen earth.
"Huma!"
Dozens of massive ice pillars erupted from beneath the snow.
The ground exploded upward.
Each crystalline spike impaled multiple beasts at once, lifting them into the air before freezing their bodies solid.
The battlefield fell silent.
Almost.
Hugo's voice suddenly rang inside Tanaka's head.
"Master! One more!"
A thunderous roar echoed across the mountains.
A creature nearly three times larger than the others emerged from the storm.
Its crimson eyes burned with murderous intent.
Nora's expression immediately changed.
"...The Alpha."
The enormous beast inhaled deeply.
"No! Cover your ears!"
Everyone reacted immediately.
Tanaka, Nora, and Zarestia all covered their ears.
Only Tristan...
Instead, he bit down hard enough for blood to trickle from his lips.
Then charged.
The Alpha released its howl.
The sound alone shattered nearby ice formations.
Blood burst from Tristan's ears and his vision blurred.
Even, his body staggered.
Yet...
He never stopped.
With a roar of his own, he leapt.
His greatsword descended in one overwhelming swing.
With a flash of steel, the Alpha's massive head separated cleanly from its body.
The monster collapsed with a thunderous crash that shook the mountainside.
Silence followed.
Several tense seconds passed before Hugo finally relaxed.
"...They're gone."
"I can't sense any more."
Everyone released a collective breath they hadn't realized they were holding.
Tanaka looked toward Zarestia.
"You can stop now."
She lowered her hand.
Immediately, the blizzard surged back into the area, reclaiming the mountain.
Zarestia let out a tired sigh.
"...That was exhausting."
Tanaka smiled.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Before either of them could say more—
"You! How reckless can you be!"
Nora's panicked voice cut through the wind.
The group rushed over.
Blood dripped steadily from the knight's feline ears, staining the snow beneath him.
He tanked the Alpha's howl head-on.
Tanaka knelt beside him.
"Hold still."
"I'll heal..."
"I'm fine."
Tristan brushed him away.
Tanaka sighed.
"Hugo."
The little spirit immediately floated over.
"I understand, Master."
Warm golden light gathered around Hugo's tiny hands before gently enveloping Tristan, easing the damage little by little.
The knight looked between Tanaka and the spirit but said nothing.
After making sure everyone was still able to move, Nora surveyed the surroundings one final time.
"I think that's the entire pack."
She looked toward the valley below.
"We should be close to the river now." Her expression remained cautious. "But don't lower your guard."
Tanaka nodded.
"Agreed."
With renewed vigilance, the group resumed their descent into the frozen wilderness.
__
___
____
Almost an hour passed.
No ambushes, no witch beasts.
For the first time since entering the mountain, everyone finally began to relax.
Then Nora suddenly stopped.
"...We made it."
A smile spread across her face.
"I can see the river!"
Sure enough, through the thinning snowfall, the silver ribbon of the Albis River came into view far below.
Tanaka let out a long sigh.
"...We actually made it."
This time...
They had survived.
Or so he thought.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Carnivorous Beast."
A voice echoed through the mountain.
The words were spoken so casually that they almost sounded like someone commenting on the weather.
Then...
BOOM!!
A gigantic cleaver descended from above.
Its target was...
Nora.
Everything happened within a single heartbeat.
"Move!"
Tristan threw himself forward without hesitation.
CLANG!!
Steel screamed against steel, his greatsword barely intercepted the enormous blade.
The impact exploded through the mountainside.
The earth trembled violently beneath their feet.
Tristan's muscles instantly bulged.
Veins swelled across both of his arms as every muscle in his body strained just to keep the cleaver from crushing him.
"Ghh...!"
The snow beneath his boots collapsed.
His bones creaked beneath the overwhelming pressure.
Then...
BOOOOOM!!
The mountain shook again.
The cliffside behind them fractured.
An avalanche came roaring toward them.
"Huma!"
Without thinking, Tanaka slammed both hands onto the ground.
A massive wall of ice erupted from the snow, the avalanche crashed against it with deafening force.
The wall held...
But now...
They were trapped.
The avalanche continued piling behind the barrier while the path ahead was blocked by the gigantic man standing before them.
Silence followed.
The stranger slowly rested the cleaver over his shoulder.
He was enormous.
His bald head reflected the pale daylight while his thick beard was stained with dried blood.
Behind Tanaka, Hugo's tiny voice trembled.
"...Master. I'm sorry..."
"I never sensed him."
The giant's eyes shifted toward the little spirit.
His grin widened.
"...Well now. A spirit."
His tongue slowly licked across his lips.
"What a lucky day."
"If I crush that little thing... That lunatic king will probably let me run wild for another few months."
Tanaka stepped forward. "Who the hell are you? What do you want?"
The fat man laughed.
"My name's Beli Hainelga."
He casually rested the cleaver on one shoulder.
"And what do I want?"
His bloodshot eyes lit up with delight.
"I like hearing people scream. I like watching them beg."
"And I really..."
"...really enjoy killing them."
Nora's expression immediately changed.
"...Beli Hainelga..."
Tanaka glanced toward her.
"You know him?"
She swallowed hard.
"He's one of Gusteko's most infamous serial killers."
Tanaka clicked his tongue.
"So just another piece of garbage."
He stepped forward.
"Tristan! Back off!"
The knight immediately obeyed.
Tanaka thrust both hands forward.
"Fura!"
A hurricane erupted toward Beli.
The winds were powerful enough to uproot trees.
Beli didn't move.
Not even a step.
"...That's cute."
Tanaka was taken aback but then quickly used another spell, "Huma!"
Towering pillars of ice erupted beneath him.
The frozen spears shattered into glittering fragments the instant they struck his body.
Not a scratch.
Beli chuckled.
"That's some impressive magic." He narrowed his eyes. "...Are you a spirit too?"
"I honestly can't tell anymore."
"This really is my lucky day."
Tristan seized the opening.
With a roar, he swung his greatsword straight across Beli's chest.
Slash!
A shallow cut appeared.
Only...
For a second.
Golden light spread beneath the giant's skin.
The wound closed before their eyes.
"...Impossible."
Nora's face turned pale.
"That symbol... That's the Church's Seal. And a Blessing?"
Tanaka frowned.
"What the hell is going on?"
"It's a seal given to the church's paladins or the king's temple knights. It is bestowed by the church leader and it grants high resistance against magic and curse arts."
"And that blessing..."
"It was bestowed directly by the Holy King. It grants extraordinary regeneration, even fatal wounds"
Tristan stared in disbelief.
"...You're telling me..."
"...that even if I cut him down... He'll just regenerate?"
"...Why does someone like him possess both?"
This wasn't a laughing matter, the man's skin was sturdier than concrete and the fact that he also had a healing factor.
Beli burst into laughter.
"Because His Majesty's just as crazy as I am."
"He wants every spirit dead and I simply told him that I would land a hand."
He lifted his cleaver.
"Now enough talking."
"I'm getting hungry."
He charged.
__
___
____
Tanaka's mind raced.
An inhuman physique that allows him to withstand powerful attacks, he was also in a possession of an ability to land powerful blows.
A seal that makes him highly resistant to magic.
And a blessing that allows him to regenerate wounds, most likely what Riften described to them back in Kararagi, so semi immortality.
What the fuck...
Like what in the actual fuck...
What the actual hell were they supposed to do against something like this?
Running.
That was the only logical answer.
Except...
They couldn't.
Every impact from Beli's cleaver triggered another collapse as he continued swinging at Nora and Tristan.
More snow thundered down the mountainside.
Avalanche after avalanche sealed every possible escape.
They were trapped inside a shrinking battlefield.
"Move!"
Zarestia's voice snapped at both Nora and Tristan to get out of the way.
Mana gathered around her and wind began to form.
in a mere moments, a massive tornado manifested on top of Beli, engulfing him.
Tanaka immediately understood.
If magic couldn't injure him...
Then she'd simply throw him away to be swept by the avalanche.
For a brief moment...
His feet left the ground.
"It worked!"
Then...
"Hah!"
Beli slammed his cleaver into the earth.
The mountain shook.
His body crashed back onto solid ground.
"You still don't get it?"
He grinned.
"You can't move something that's stronger than the wind."
He exploded forward.
Far faster than anyone expected.
His cleaver descended directly toward Zarestia.
"Zarestia!"
Tanaka threw himself forward.
He shoved her aside.
"Huma!"
A wall of ice rose between them.
It exploded instantly.
The cleaver never reached its edge.
Instead, the flat of the weapon struck Tanaka.
BOOM!!
It felt like being hit by a speeding truck.
His ribs shattered.
His body became weightless.
Then...
CRASH!!
He slammed into the glacier he had created to block the avalanche.
Everything went black.
__
___
____
"...Master!"
"...Master!"
Hugo's desperate voice dragged him back.
Tanaka forced his eyes open.
Pain flooded every inch of his body.
He couldn't move.
"...Hugo..."
"What happened...?"
The little spirit sounded on the verge of tears.
"Tristan and Nora..."
"...they were swept away."
"...Zarestia Nee-Sama stayed behind."
Tanaka's heart stopped.
"...What?"
He looked up.
There she was.
Alone.
Floating through the air.
She danced between Beli's attacks with impossible precision, every gust of wind barely carrying her away from another devastating swing.
Her magic had become far more violent.
Every blast now carried enough force to tear through the seal.
Cuts opened across Beli's body.
Only...
To heal moments later.
The giant laughed.
"You've slowed down. You can't keep flying forever."
"When you reach your limits..."
"...I'll kill you."
He pointed toward Tanaka.
"And then I'll crush your little friend too."
Zarestia was breathing heavily.
Her body trembled from exhaustion.
Yet...
She smiled.
"...No. You won't lay a finger on him."
The wind beneath Tanaka suddenly stirred.
"...Zarestia?"
His body slowly rose into the air.
"What are you doing?"
"...Stop!"
She looked back one final time.
The smile she wore was painfully gentle.
"...Thank you. For everything Jay."
For saving her, for being by her side.
It has been long since she left her bed, but she didn't never regretted for a moment following him here.
Her eyes softened.
"Please live, you and Hugo."
"No!"
"Zarestia!"
"STOP!!"
The wind carried Tanaka away against his will.
No matter how desperately he reached toward her...
No matter how loudly he screamed...
He only drifted farther away.
Her figure grew smaller...
Until she became nothing more than a silhouette standing before an endless storm.
A massive hurricane then erupted and the avalanche burst through the shattered barrier.
The entire mountainside disappeared beneath a sea of white.
"...Zarestia!!"
His scream vanished into the blizzard.
The next time Tanaka opened his eyes...
He was at the foot of the mountain.
The storm had finally cleared and he could see clearly now.
His vision blurred once again.
Not because of the weather.
But because tears silently overflowed from eyes that refused to look away from the mountain, because of gnawing hollow in his chest.
It was unbearable.
Beside him, Hugo remained silent.
He didn't need to speak.
Through their contract, he felt the same unbearable absence.
Then...
The mountain of snow shifted.
A massive figure slowly rose from beneath the avalanche as if the crushing weight meant nothing.
"..."
Tanaka's breathing stopped.
"I didn't expect that at all..."
The man brushed snow from his shoulders before stretching his neck with an audible crack.
"...To think she was actually a spirit."
Beli Hainelga emerged completely from the snow.
Dozens of deep wounds covered his enormous body. Torn flesh, shattered muscle, cuts deep enough to expose bone...
Yet thin wisps of golden smoke drifted from every injury.
Before Tanaka's eyes, the torn flesh knitted itself back together.
The wounds disappeared.
As though they had never existed.
Beli rolled his shoulders before resting the cleaver on one shoulder.
"You should've seen it."
A sick grin spread across his face.
"When I split her in half..." He chuckled. "She turned into glitter."
"..."
Something inside Tanaka snapped.
"You..."
His voice trembled.
"You..."
"I'll kill you..."
The words escaped through clenched teeth.
"You piece of shit..."
His entire body shook.
"I swear..."
His voice broke into a scream.
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"
Beli burst into laughter.
A loud, vulgar laugh echoed across the frozen valley.
"Hahahaha!"
Without another word, he casually lifted the enormous cleaver overhead.
The blade descended.
A golden barrier instantly blossomed in front of Tanaka.
For the briefest instant, It held.
Then...
Crack.
The barrier shattered like fragile glass.
The cleaver continued downward without losing even a fraction of its momentum.
Everything became black.
*********************************************************************************************************
"...Master!"
"...Master!"
Hugo's frantic voice reached him from somewhere far away.
"Huh...?"
His consciousness resurfaced.
The cold returned first.
Finally, the world.
But the moment he realized where he was...
His mind went blank.
"...What?"
His eyes widened.
Why...?
Why here?
His breathing became ragged.
He had died.
Return by Death should have taken him back to the cave.
Back far enough to think of countermeasures for that bastard.
Instead, he was lying face-first in the snow.
Exactly where he had been moments before.
The avalanche had already buried most the mountain.
Nora and Tristan were nowhere to be seen.
"...No."
His heartbeat quickened.
His gaze slowly turned.
There, Zarestia was still fighting alone.
The checkpoint...
...had changed.
It had moved forward.
Only minutes remained before all three of them would die.
"Cepheus!"
His voice echoed across the mountains.
"What the hell is this?!"
No answer came.
"Cepheus!"
Still nothing.
He was the one who one who controls the checkpoints, so what the fuck is the meaning of this?
Tanaka's fists clenched until blood seeped from beneath his nails.
"...I don't care anymore."
His voice became hoarse.
"Just help her."
His eyes never left the battle.
"Help Zarestia."
He would lend him his body or whatever.
"I don't care anymore."
His shoulders trembled.
"...Just save her."
No answer.
Cepheus remained silent.
"Zarestia!"
His scream echoed through the blizzard.
"RUN!"
She glanced toward him, confusion filled her golden eyes.
He begged her, from the bottom of her heart, to run away.
This large... Fat... Obese bastard was the worst matchup for them...
'Think dammit! Think!"
All the magic he casted, all the devastating sword strikes from Tristan did nothing to him.
'Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think Think!'
Magic, physical attacks, spirit arts, they all didn't work on him.
There has to be a way to get through him.
'Think dammit, think!'
His eyes watered as he saw Beli Hainelga corner Zarestia staring at him straight in the eyes, grinning from ear to ear as he saw his expression.
He was delighted when he saw Tanaka's desperate expression, he savored it.
"Tia..."
His voice barely escaped his throat.
For the first time in days, he called her by the nickname he had once used so naturally.
"...Please."
The word trembled.
His voice was hoarse.
Zarestia was taken aback by the sheer grief in his eyes.
She knew that he was a good person, she knew despite what everyone said, despite he himself insisting that he was a bad person.
That pissed her off to no ends, it pissed her off to no ends, how he always put walls between and the people around including her, how he always put his life in danger.
He had a lot of secrets that he was keeping to himself and she knew that it was eating him from the inside, and even when she confronted him, he still didn't tell her.
But looking into those trembling eyes, she finally understood one undeniable truth.
He truly...
Truly cared about her.
...Don't look at me like that.
Her chest tightened.
Tanaka bit down so hard that blood filled his mouth.
She was smiling.
It was the smile of someone who had already accepted their own death.
He refused to accept it.
Never again.
Never.
His fingers dug into the snow.
Ignoring the agony in his twisted ankle, ignoring the frost biting into his skin...
He crawled.
One arm.
Then the other.
Again and again.
He kept crawling.
Magic exploded around them.
The ground shook with every clash.
Beli's cleaver smashed through storms of wind.
Each impact sent shockwaves ripping through the snow.
Tanaka's fingers bled from clawing at the frozen earth.
He wasn't going to make it.
Not in time.
So out of sheer desperation, he chanted...
"Fura!"
The incantation escaped in a whisper.
Wind erupted beneath him.
The blast launched him into the air.
It was reckless.
No, It was suicide.
The battlefield between Zarestia and Beli had become a storm of flying debris and murderous force.
Anything entering it should have been pulverized instantly.
Hugo threw himself forward.
Golden barriers appeared one after another.
Each shattered almost immediately.
But it was enough to alter Tanaka's trajectory.
"Jay!!"
Zarestia screamed.
Even Beli paused.
"Hm?"
The next instant...
Tanaka slammed directly into the giant's leg, wrapping both arms around it.
His palm pressed firmly against Beli's leg.
Compared to the massive man, his calf was bigger than his torso.
Beli looked down with amusement.
"I said I will get back to you in a second... Actually, I want to see the expression on that woman as well so I might as well crush your legs..."
His foot lifted.
Ready to stomp.
Then, It stopped.
His leg refused to move.
Not just his leg.
His entire body was paralyzed.
"What... Did... you..."
"I'm getting my compensation you fat fuck..."
Veins appeared all over his body.
Beli's eyes widened.
He felt his entire strength leaving his body.
With a guttural roar, Beli forced every ounce of strength into his arm.
The muscles across his shoulder swelled grotesquely.
Little by little, the cleaver began to rise.
It wasn't enough to free himself.
But it was enough to kill.
The blade started descending toward Tanaka.
"Jay!"
Without any hesitation, Zarestia shot forward.
She simply threw herself at the giant with everything she had.
"Get out of our way!"
She spun through the air before driving both feet into Beli's chest.
The impact finally broke his balance.
Unable to brace himself while his body remained paralyzed, the giant stumbled backward.
One step.
Then another.
His heel slipped into the torrent of snow rushing down the mountainside.
"...!"
The avalanche swallowed him whole.
His massive frame disappeared beneath countless tons of snow before his furious roar could even finish echoing.
Only the distant rumble of the avalanche remained before even that slowly faded away.
For several long seconds...
Nobody moved.
Then Zarestia let out the breath she had been holding.
"...We did it."
A weary but genuine smile spread across her face.
She turned around.
"We actually did it, Ja..."
Before she could say another word—
He lurched toward her.
His legs nearly gave out, but he didn't stop.
He wrapped both arms around her as tightly as he could.
The force nearly made them both lose their balance.
"...Eh?"
Zarestia froze.
Tanaka buried his face against her shoulder.
His body shook uncontrollably.
The dam finally broke.
He cried without holding back.
*********************************************************************************************************
Okay, regarding Beli Hainelga, he's a cannon character that actually exists.
He is one of the most fearsome serial killers from the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko. His gruesome reputation is second only to the Bowel Hunter (Yes Elsa is from Gusteko too). Until the climax of Arc 6 (In the cannon story), his name and memories have been eaten by Lye Batenkaitos. Currently, his status remains unknown.
But hey, do you guys remember that at the end of arc 3 in this story, Tanaka killed Lye so yeah lol.
[1] Get in the car! (My brain is so rotted, I'm cooked xD)