In truth, she just didn’t want to part with her mother. However, Vera had smiled at her and said, “Please let me protect my daughter.”
Kiara didn’t remember much of what happened after that. All she knew was that she forced herself to stop crying and run. Unfortunately, all of the city’s exits had been sealed off, so there wasn’t anywhere left to run. Before she knew it, she found herself hiding in an alleyway.
If only I was stronger. If only I could fight like she can! Kiara thought back to the one other bunny girl she knew. Sui was an annoying, cowardly, lazy piece of shit, but she was strong. Strong enough to be one of the beastmen nation’s top five warriors.
After the decisive battle, she’d stuck around at Wanda’s Inn until she’d been ordered to go spy on happenings in the capital. At the time, her lips and tongue had been so damaged by the poison she’d used on her enemies that she couldn’t taste anything. And yet, she’d acted like those wounds had been nothing and had spent her days lazing around and making fun of Kiara.
Right now, Kiara wished she had even a fraction of the strength Sui had.
Idiot. Now’s not the time to be wishing for the impossible! I need to get up and move! If I die here, mom and dad’s sacrifices will have been in vain! scolding herself internally, Kiara rose to her feet and wiped away her tears.
“Ah...shit.”
Unfortunately, it was precisely at that moment that she heard footsteps coming from either side of the alleyway. She’d let herself get distracted for too long, and now there was nowhere to run or hide. In a few seconds, this alleyway would be filled to the brim with crazed fanatics out for her blood.
Kiara’s expression was halfway between laughing and crying...when suddenly, someone jumped down from a nearby rooftop and landed directly in front of her. The newcomer covered Kiara’s mouth with her hands and pressed her against a wall as she said, “Quiet. If you make any noise, I’ll kill you.”
To an outside observer, it would have looked like someone was trying to kidnap Kiara. However, Kiara herself felt relief flood through her the moment she laid eyes on her “assailant.”
A moment later, the mob entered the alleyway. Nothing was covering Kiara or the newcomer at all, but the mob’s eyes passed right over them. The people at the other end of the alleyway reacted much the same. A few men stepped into the alley and glanced around with bloodshot eyes, but they passed right by Kiara without ever acknowledging her existence. They then joined the group at the other end and the mob went on its way.
Only after they were gone did the newcomer take her hand off of Kiara’s mouth.
“Pwah! What are you doing? Wait, you’re hurt!”
“Ugh, god, you’re so annoying.”
The person who’d saved Kiara was none other than the bunny girl she’d been thinking about—Sui.
Once Sui stepped away, Kiara noticed just how badly she was injured. She was missing one ear, and her combat uniform was soaked in blood. She was moving sluggishly as well, and at least this time it wasn’t just because she was lazy.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sui said, ignoring Kiara’s question and grabbing her hand as she led her out of the alleyway.
As always, Sui’s treatment of Kiara was brusque, which was precisely why Kiara didn’t understand why Sui had come to her rescue.
“Why? Why did you bother saving someone like me?”
Sui had no reason to come here. As the Haltina Republic’s premier spy, her life held immense value. Meanwhile, Kiara was just an expendable member of the Liberators’ support branch. Making a detour to save her while Sui was so badly injured made no sense.
It wasn’t as though the two of them were particularly close either. In fact, they fought anytime they were in the same room. Sui had even told Kiara multiple times that she hated cheerful girls like her.
It doesn’t make any sense.
Like before, Sui didn’t bother answering Kiara’s question. Thanks to Sui’s special magic, they were able to reach the gate without once getting spotted, and they were then able to pass through the blockade without attracting attention as well.
“Kuou’s waiting in the forest close to here. He’ll be able to take you to a Dark Gate. You should be able to reach the forest within three days.”
After the decisive battle, Kuou and his wolves had coordinated with the beastman army to help everyone retreat. Then, when Sui had been dispatched to the capital, they’d been the spy team’s means of transportation. Though in the end, all of the wolves in Kuou’s unit had been slain when everyone had needed to flee the capital.
“Shouldn’t I head to a closer base? We need to tell everyone what’s happened through Skynet...”
“You really are a dumb bitch, you know that? Do you really think this sudden transformation’s only happening here?”
“Wait, don’t tell me the whole world’s like this?!”
“You bet it is. The apostles who scattered around the world have disguised themselves as priests and bishops and are using charm magic to brainwash everyone.”
“Then...that means the bishop in our city is actually—”
“An apostle, yep. The scariest thing about their magic is that the people affected by it can pass it on to other people, like a disease. But for whatever reason, the Liberators and anyone who truly believes in their message are unaffected. Basically, we’ve got a worldwide inquisition on our hands.”
Kiara stared at Sui in shock as the true gravity of the situation washed over her.
“No way... Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Hell if I know. Maybe Her Majesty’s got an idea? If even she doesn’t have a plan, though, we’re all screwed.”
“How can you accept this so easily?!”
“Because that’s reality. Anyway, for now, we’ve gotta focus on getting back to the Pale Forest. The more people we can safely evacuate there, the more bodies we’ll have to defend our last bastion.”
Man, I really wish we hadn’t lost Lac Elain, Sui thought.
A mobile aerial base that was capable of teleporting and contacting people over extremely long distances would have been quite useful. In fact, that would have allowed the Liberators to ignore the wave of madness sweeping across the world and focus solely on rescuing their own.
I guess that’s why the apostles were so hell-bent on taking it out.
Sui let out a sigh as the pair reached the edge of the forest where Kuou was waiting. Despite Sui’s special magic, Kuou’s senses were keen enough to pick her out, so he started making his way to her the moment she stepped foot into the trees. As he came into view, Kiara noticed that he wasn’t wearing his usual artifact armor. Furthermore, his snow-white fur was matted with dried blood. It was clear from that just how difficult the flight from the capital had been.
“As long as we can get Her Majesty back, she’ll be able to activate the fog barrier again. Then we’ll just have to pin our hopes on Miledi-san and the others—”
As Sui explained the plan, she snapped her fingers to give Kuou a signal. But just then, there was a faint thunk and Sui staggered backward as if she’d been hit by something. She then slumped to her knees.
“Huh? Sui? What’s—?”
Blood spilled from Sui’s mouth and a red stain started spreading around her chest. Soon, yet more blood dripped down her sleeves as a lone silver feather dropped from Sui’s chest and floated to the ground. She’d been sniped.
Where’d that come from? How’d they find us? Have they been tailing us this whole time? Sui thought as she watched Kuou run over while Kiara tried to help her sit up. However, those thoughts slipped away as quickly as they came, and Sui’s vision began to blur.
This wound was fatal. She’d been hunted as easily as a common rabbit. However, Sui was no meek rabbit that would go down without a fight.
“Don’t underestimate meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
With a bestial roar, she took a bottle out of her pouch and bit down on the glass, forcing the liquid within down her throat before she lost consciousness. She’d just downed a powerful poison that was sure to kill her, but she was dead either way, and this poison granted her an immense amount of strength for a few minutes.