I charged at the obvious threat: The woman in glasses and the one with X-scissors.

My other dagger flashed in my hand, reflecting the moonlight as I closed the distance. The woman in glasses didn’t even flinch. She just adjusted her glasses calmly, like I was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

I appeared before her in an instant, my dagger moving sideways in a calculated strike. My legs slid between hers as I prepared to take her hostage—

But the next instant, she was far away.

No... it wasn’t her who was moving.

It was me.

"Ahcckk."

Blood spurted from my mouth as my back hit the ground with a loud, bone-jarring thud. The impact knocked the wind out of me completely.

My legs shot up involuntarily from the force, then fell back down hard against the dirt.

I felt it immediately, a strong grip pressing down on my neck, choking off my air supply.

My fingers instinctively twirled the dagger in my hand, repositioning it so the pointed edge faced sideways.

I clenched my teeth hard, ignoring the pain screaming through my body. My aura sparked out from within me and danced around the dagger’s blade as I drove it sideways toward the arm that was choking me.

Clank!

The dagger broke.

It shattered against her arm like glass hitting stone.

"What..." The word barely oozed out of my choking throat as my brain struggled to register what had just happened.

An aura-infused dagger. Broken. Just like that.

My hands shot up desperately, trying to push the arm away from my neck.

I was reaching my limit. Fast.

My legs moved randomly against the ground, kicking and searching for something, anything, to anchor against so I could push myself upward. But it was no use. There was nothing.

I shot my legs up higher, hoping to reach my attacker, to land some kind of hit. But my boots found nothing. They kicked uselessly at empty air.

I was losing my strength quicker now. Much quicker.

My skirt had ridden up slightly from all the struggling, the fabric bunched around my thighs as my legs thrashed against the ground.

"Ghh..." I choked, trying to push my neck upward, trying to get up, trying to do anything .

But the hand pinning me down had the weight of a mountain.

It was the girl with the black hair, the one with the ex-scissors strapped to her back.

She wasn’t using her weapons. She wasn’t using her attributes. She was using so little of her aura that there was no sign of it sparking out at all. Just raw, terrifying control and output.

A master-level fighter. Easily base Master II, or even peak of it.

My vision started getting blurry around the edges. Dark spots appeared, growing larger.

My waist rose up off the ground in one last desperate attempt to push myself free. My dress shifted with the movement, the fabric twisting around my hips as I arched my back.

But my head didn’t budge an inch. That iron grip kept me pinned exactly where I was.

My hands were losing their grip on the arm choking me. My fingers slipped, weakening with every passing second.

My mouth opened wide, gasping desperately, trying to suck in as much air as possible. But nothing came. My throat was completely closed off.

My hands lost their grip entirely, falling limply to my sides.

My brain was going numb. The world was fading. Everything was getting darker, quieter.

My legs, which had been kicking and struggling so fiercely just moments ago, now twitched weakly against the ground.

My dress had twisted completely around me from all the movement, the fabric bunched and wrinkled.

I couldn’t... I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t move.

I was going to die here.

And Rune... Rune was going to be taken by these people without ever knowing what was happening.

But then, my throat was freed instantly.

The iron grip that had been pressing down on my neck vanished in an instant.

"Ghhaarrggg... Ahhh..."

I inhaled desperately, my chest rising and falling rapidly as air flooded back into my starving lungs. Each breath burned, but it was the most beautiful pain I’d ever felt.

My vision returned, clearing from the dark haze that had been closing in. My eyes were wide with sudden relief, tears forming at the corners from the rush of oxygen.

That’s when I heard it.

Clink!

Steel clashed against steel, a sharp, ringing sound that cut through the night air.

Grrkk...

The sound of boots sliding across dirt came from beside me.

I turned my head, still gasping for air, and saw the woman in glasses sliding to a stop right next to me. Her natural stern demeanor was actually shaken. Her eyes were wider than before, her perfect composure cracked just slightly.

I turned my eyes to the other side, toward the woman who had been choking me just moments ago.

A smile crept across her face. Slow. Dangerous.

"Ohh..." she said, like she’d just discovered something amusing.

"Never expected a kid to sense my attack, much less block it."

Her eyes glinted with something both playful and serious, like a predator that had finally found worthy prey.

Strength was starting to return to my body. My limbs, which had been completely numb and useless, were now getting their supply of oxygen back. They resumed functioning, though they were still sore and partially numb.

Screk... skerk...

Crimson crackles of aura sparked in the air above me, lighting up the darkness.

I managed to raise my neck slightly to get a better view of what was happening.

Whoosh!

The woman with the X-scissors sprang forward in an instant, moving like lightning.

"Heckk—"

It was Rune.

Clang!

Rune gritted his teeth as he met the woman’s fist with the blunt edge of his katana. The impact rang out loudly, echoing across the orphanage grounds.

His entire body shook from the force. His feet dragged backward along the ground as he slid, leaving twin trails in the dirt from the sheer power behind her strike.

"Impressive!" the woman with X-scissors said, actually clapping her hands together like she was watching a performance she enjoyed.

She still hadn’t even drawn her weapons. She was fighting him with her bare hands.

But why was Rune using the blunt edge of his sword?

I turned my head toward the woman in glasses beside me. My neck struggled to move properly, still sore and stiff from being choked.

I saw her expression clearly now.

Her eyes were wide with surprise, genuine surprise. Her expression was impressed, like she was seeing something she hadn’t expected to witness.

I pushed myself up onto my arms, my muscles screaming in protest.

"Rune..." I croaked out, my voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.

His crimson aura crackled around him like living fire, illuminating his face in the darkness. His golden eyes were focused, sharp, completely locked onto the woman with X-scissors.