The Smiling Death

The explosion finally subsided.

A deafening silence settled over the battlefield. Nearly everything within a forty to fifty-meter radius had been annihilated.

Towering trees had vanished completely. The earth itself had been blasted apart, leaving behind a massive crater filled with scorched soil and molten rock.

Smoke continued to rise into the night sky while dust drifted lazily through the air.

For several long moments nothing moved. Then, as the smoke gradually began to clear...

A crimson dome came into view. It stood alone in the middle of the devastation. Its surface shimmered like flowing blood, countless crimson runes drifting across it before fading away.

Inside the barrier, Amon remained kneeling on the shattered ground. His arms were wrapped tightly around Seraphina, shielding her with his own body.

His eyes were still closed. He had already accepted death. Yet no pain came. There was no crushing impact.

There was no burning lightning. There was only silence.

"...?"

Amon slowly opened his eyes.

The layers of blood, darkness and shadow covering both his and Seraphina’s bodies began dissolving into tiny crimson particles before disappearing altogether.

He frowned. he was confused right now.

"This..."

His gaze slowly wandered around. The landscape before him should have been familiar.

Instead another crimson barrier surrounded them from the outside.

It wasn’t his. Someone else had protected them.

His eyes finally settled on a lone figure standing quietly behind him. The person wore a long black cloak that concealed their appearance.

Only their silhouette was visible beneath the blood dome.

Amon blinked weakly.

"...Who are you?"

Then a realization struck him. His pupils shrank.

’That barrier... Blood Magic...’

His breathing stopped for a brief moment. There was only one person he knew who possessed blood magic powerful enough to create such a barrier.

His voice trembled.

"...S-Scarlett?"

The cloaked figure slowly turned. A few strands of brilliantly vivid crimson hair slipped from beneath the hood. A pair of glowing ruby-red eyes met his.

At the same moment the crimson barrier surrounding them began to crack.

Crack

Crack

With a soft sound, it shattered into countless particles of red light before disappearing completely. The true extent of the destruction finally revealed itself.

Everything around them had been reduced to ashes. The forest no longer existed. Only a vast wasteland remained.

Yet Amon never looked at the devastation. His eyes remained fixed on one person. A smile slowly appeared on his pale face.

"...Scarlett. You really came..."

The hood slipped from her head. Moonlight illuminated her face. Her porcelain skin looked flawless, smooth as untouched jade.

Her long crimson hair had become even richer than before, resembling flowing liquid ruby beneath the moon.

The faint red glow within her eyes slowly faded until they returned to their familiar, beautiful amethyst color like crystal.

For a brief moment Amon simply stared.

He was speechless. Even Seraphina, still resting weakly in Amon’s embrace, quietly looked at Scarlett with curiosity. She had never met her before. She had only talked to Scarlett through pager before. And that’s it.

Scarlett didn’t say a word. Instead, she calmly knelt before Amon.

Two crystal vials appeared in her hands. High-grade healing potions. She uncorked one of them and gently lifted it toward Amon’s lips.

"Drink."

Her voice was soft.

Amon didn’t refuse. He silently drank every drop. With gulping down he drank. He might as well drink poison from her hands, healing potion was nothing special.

She then handed the second vial to Seraphina.

Seraphina accepted it with a quiet nod. "...Thank you."

After finishing the potion, warmth spread throughout Amon’s battered body. The cuts covering his skin gradually closed.

His burned flesh slowly regenerated. Even the terrifying wound through his abdomen began healing. His internal injuries remained severe, but they no longer threatened his life.

He let out a relieved breath. At least he could move again and even do few attacks.

Amon glanced around.

"What about the enemy?"

Scarlett calmly answered while continuing to examine his injuries.

"He’s dead. The explosion finished what your attack started. His body is burned beyond recognition. The hole through his chest remained."

"So...You don’t need to worry anymore. You all survived. Your friends also killed that another enemy."

Amon finally relaxed. Beside him, Seraphina slowly pushed herself out of his embrace. She could stand again, although her legs still trembled slightly.

Meanwhile Scarlett continued looking at Amon as though confirming every injury on his body.

Amon smiled weakly.

"You said you’d return in a week... You actually came."

Scarlett remained silent. The next moment she suddenly leaned forward.

Her arms wrapped tightly around him. She buried her face against the crook of his neck, her crimson hair cascading over his shoulders like silk.

For a moment she simply held him as though afraid he would disappear if she let go.

Amon gently returned the embrace despite the pain shooting through his wounded shoulder. Compared to the comfort of her warmth the pain no longer mattered. He buried his face in her hair. Smelling her scent.

After several silent moments.

Scarlett finally spoke. Her usually calm voice trembled.

"...I’m sorry. If I had arrived just a little sooner...you wouldn’t have had to suffer through any of this."

There was unmistakable guilt in her words.

Amon slowly shook his head.

"It’s alright."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I’m still alive. My friends are alive too. That’s all that matters."

Scarlett tightened her embrace ever so slightly. She didn’t answer. She simply closed her eyes, silently relieved that she hadn’t arrived too late.

A few steps away.

Seraphina quietly watched the two of them. She had never seen Amon look so relaxed before. Nor had she ever seen someone embrace him with such desperate relief.

Without disturbing them, she slowly turned her gaze toward the battlefield. The once-beautiful forest had become a wasteland in several meters of distance.

Not far away Alaric’s charred corpse lay motionless upon the blackened earth.

A massive hole remained in the center of his chest. The purple lightning that had once surrounded him had completely vanished.

The battle was finally over.