Her mind was in a jumbled mess, thoughts of doubt, confusion, and wonder clashing against intuition, logic, and morality.
'Nothing is adding up…'
'Why am I still alive?'
'Why did Alter sacrifice himself for me?'
There truly was no reason for him to do such a thing. If they had all banded together, perhaps they could have slain the mighty beast.
But that is not what happened. Alter had sent them away to battle the Demon alone, dooming him to a painful death. There was only one logical reason why he had done that, and even then it still felt irrational.
'Had the Oracle manipulated the man into sacrificing his life for me?'
Ira did not know what morals the Oracle possessed, or even if she had adapted to the modern world.
The Oracle was a force of nature that had most likely survived thousands of years, and so Ira was not very sure that the Oracle was particularly sane.
Her plan to save humanity seemed quite impossible. 'I doubt that is her true goal. If I want to live, I must play along.'
Whistling wind that screamed of doom gently caressed the young girl's cheek.
Instantly, her train of thought was replaced by something else; something dark, powerful, and practically unavoidable in its intent to slaughter them.
'Has the Aberrant Tyrant found us? Already!? How has it done such a thing!?'
It had not been long since their encounter with the beast, not much time at all.
They could run, but that would only prolong their impending deaths. That was the only thing they could do—other than be mercilessly slaughtered, of course.
"Bari-." Ira spoke, only to be interrupted.
"I know… I can feel something is off." Her violet eyes scanned their surroundings with slight paranoia.
But it was not paranoia. They knew for certain that a beast of unfathomable power was closing in on them.
Could they outrun it? Could they slay the beast if forced to? Would they die today?
They had thought about the latter quite a lot those past few days. It just went to show how they had overcome the impossible time and time again.
They knew that they could not outrun the beast, but perhaps they could strike it down given the time. Even so, they needed time to prepare, and so they began their desperate sprint away from whatever creature that was hunting them.
Debris collided with the ground, dust filled the air, and the wind whistled. Thundering booms from the rays of light were not the only thing that could be heard.
There were also those gasping for air, their feet clicking and clacking against the ground, and even their teeth gritting together in frustration.
Ira grimaced, they needed time for Bariealla to fully recover her reserves of Realm Thread, for Avian to apply a second layer of poison to her blade, and even for Ira's own reserves to replenish.
Of course, the young girl only needed a few dozen moments to fully recover her own Realm Thread, but the same could not be said for Bariealla.
She did not possess the several attributes that empowered Ira, and so she was not very certain that Bari would be able to recover before the beast showed itself in all its monstrous might.
'This situation could not possibly get worse!'
It could, and it did.
As they scaled down a collapsed and sloped building, Ellendore lost her footing and began to tumble down.
At the very last moment, Ira snatched the girl before she could fall off the building and into her doom. Her grip on the girl was dwindling, and so she yanked the girl back.
It was a rather unfortunate turn of events. Ellendore seemingly had lost the ability to walk. Her ankle had fractured and so she would either be left for dead, or someone like Ira could carry her.
Of course, Bell was not going to let his lover be left behind, and so Ira reluctantly positioned the girl on her back.
Dust fell with each step they took down the sloped building. Then, the sweltering heat of the dimmed sun began to disappear behind the horizon as it always did.
Before the last ray of light from the sun was devoured by the Fallen Terror, they had finally managed to scale the building down, continuing their desperate march forward.
Their breathing quickly grew harsh, and then they all collapsed. Ira, too, was not spared from the burning sensation in her lungs.
They all had not an ounce of strength in their bodies, excluding Ira who managed to remain upright. They did not have more than a few dozen moments before the beast appeared, and so they needed to come up with a plan.
Well, they had already come up with one before.
"A-as I have said before… I will use every last drop of my Realm Thread to hinder the beast, and you, Ira, need to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible. The poison from Avian should also do its part in hindering the beast. In the end, however, only you can truly kill it; you only have ten minutes to do so, too."
There was no need for them to create an intricate or elaborate plan, as they did not have a lot of time nor the resources to do so.
Gently, Ira sat the injured girl down. Her eyes were full of uncertainty. 'Can I truly slay an abomination that has filled us all with dread..?'
Perhaps she could, but she did not have time for thoughts of doubt.
So, Avian began to lather a second layer of poison onto Ira's carbon steel blade.
A slight whimper left Ellendore's lips before they began to speak, "Let me accompany you, Ira. I may not be able to tell you exactly what to do, or how to kill it—but I can let you know just the general information about the creature..! Please… I am tired of being useless. I am tired of being deemed useless simply because my Echo does not relate to combat directly. I only request this one chance… So, please." A silent cry left her lips, tears gently falling down the girl's cheek.
Ira would not refuse, but would Bell allow such a thing? She would be risking her life by doing so, and Ira was not quite sure that Bell would not try to stop them.
In the end, however, he only nodded gently at what his lover had said. He knew her better than anyone, and so he would not dare stop Ellendore from proving her worth.
Thus, a single word left Ira's lips. "Okay…"