Liam didn't know where he pulled the strength or even the courage to move the way he did. He shot forward. Running on nothing but the will in his heart to save the little girl. He didn't want to see her die. He didn't want to use her as bait either.
Not when he was around. That was his bottom line.
How could he ever look his mother in the eye knowing he hadn't just let a little girl die but also used her death to run for his life? How could he ever look at his little sister the same knowing that this little girl would have one day grown up to be the same age as her?
How could he ever live with himself? If he let that little girl die and even used her life to escape, he felt like he would be no different from Dylan and the rest of his classmates whose sense of right had been warped by the view of the world today.
And that was something he could never allow.
His lungs burned in his chest as he closed the distance rapidly. It wasn't that he was fast, not at all. The only reason he was able to close the distance was because the hobgoblin was taking its time.
Liam was already two meters away when the little girl fell down, her foot having been caught by a rock. He was a meter away when the hobgoblin stood over her, axe raised in preparation to fall and when the axe finally did fall…
Liam felt his heartbeat slow to a crawl. It felt as if the world had slowed down. Everything moved in slow motion. No, that was just his perception of the world. He leaped forward, the axe as wide as the length of his back falling with what felt like the weight of the world.
The skin on his back threatened to cut open from nothing but the pressure from the swing. His jaw set as he wrapped the girl's body in his arms. He rolled to the side, barely stepping out of the path of the axe's blade…barely though.
Boom!
The axe cut into the ground, exploding with a force that sent Liam and the little girl tumbling away. Together they rolled and Liam used his body to shield the girl from injury. The girl must have been screaming but Liam's ears were filled with a ringing sound. It felt like a stun grenade had gone off in his head.
A cloud of dust spread out.
Liam's body screamed in agony as he rolled to a stop on his back. The little girl was still wrapped in his arms. Fighting the dizziness he inspected her condition. Apart from a few cuts here and there the little girl seemed fine but she was unconscious.
Honestly how he wasn't as well was a surprise but a fairly good one. If he lost consciousness now they would both be finished.
He slowly stood to his feet, back aching and bleeding. The rest of his body felt as though hundreds of fire ants were crawling about. Still, he grit his teeth and persevered. He had to persevere. He also had to think of a way to get out of this, not only for his sake but for the little girl too.
There were just two problems with that.
One, he was completely defenseless. He didn't even have anything in the surrounding that he could use like he had with the goblin he killed, not like that would have worked anyway but still it would have been better than nothing.
And two, the unconscious little girl felt heavy. He didn't have the strength to not only carry her but also try to outrun a D-Rank hobgoblin and he was injured on top of that.
Liam felt truly and thoroughly fucked.
***
The explosion of force and dust shrouded the entire area around the little girl. He couldn't see what exactly happened but at the same time, he didn't need to.
Norse felt an emptiness he had never felt before. It came from the very depths of his being. Tears fell down his eyes, his fist clenched and veins crawled down the length of his neck and part of his face.
Sorrow was swiftly replaced by rage and before that rage could become blind rage something broke through the dust cloud. It rolled heavily for a time before coming to a stop. And when it did, he could finally see what the rolling object was.
It was a boy, he looked no more than 16. Blood fell from his back. He looked thin and pale and bruised not much unlike himself. But it was the bundle he held to his chest that took his attention. It wasn't just a bundle, in fact it never was.
It was the little girl and she was unconscious.
Norse couldn't help but feel a profound sense of relief. Then in a bout of what could only be described as pure determination, he pushed the debris off and pulled his right foot free. He couldn't tell at a glance but he knew most of the bones in his foot were crushed. The only thing holding his foot together was the boot he was wearing.
Norse made a move to stand but the moment he put weight on his right foot pain shot through his entire body.
"Argh!" a low groan rumbled from his chest. He took a moment to look down then, swallowing the pain, he took a step forward. Then another and another. His gun, which he had managed to hold onto, came up raised to his chest as he limped towards the hobgoblin's direction.
However what he didn't expect was for the boy carrying the little girl to look in his direction and suddenly jog towards him.
Norse froze.
'No…you idiot, don't come here!' Norse said internally. The reason he was standing up now that he knew the little girl was alive was because it only took him a moment to realize that they weren't out of the woods yet.
The little girl was alive but she wasn't safe. Neither was the boy. So he had to take it upon himself to distract the monster while they ran away.
What he didn't expect was for the boy to not only run away but to also jog in his direction. Just what was he thinking?
If he could, Norse would have certainly pulled out his hair in frustration.