—I did a good job, didn't I?
Rynan let out a small laugh and felt very proud of himself, like he could do anything in the world right now. But deep inside his heart, he felt confused because he was doing all of this for a girl he had only met one day ago. He could not understand why he was acting this way, and the strange feeling in his chest made him wonder what was happening to him. The more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became about his own actions.
"Lumi," Rynan called her name in a soft voice, and she turned around to look at him just as she finished putting all her things into her bag. "I have news about your mom," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. The words felt heavy in his mouth because he knew how much this news would mean to her. He watched her face carefully, waiting to see how she would react to what he was about to tell her.
"Y-yeah...?" Lumi asked with a shaky voice, and her hands started to tremble because she was so scared about what might have happened to her family. She hoped with all her heart that everyone was safe and that nothing bad had happened to any of them. Her eyes were wide with worry, and she could feel her heart beating very fast in her chest as she waited for him to speak.
"They're alive and well and healthy, and so are all the other people too," Rynan said with a gentle smile on his face. The moment those words left his mouth, Lumi's eyes filled up with tears of happiness and relief. She let out a small crying sound and started to sniffle as the good news hit her like a warm wave. Her whole body felt weak with relief because she had been so worried for so long.
"Please don't cry because they're okay, so you can feel safe now, and I promise they'll stay protected no matter what happens!" Rynan said quickly, trying to comfort her. But Lumi was crying even harder now, and she could barely speak through her tears of joy. "W-Rynan! T-thank you!" she managed to say in a broken voice as she rushed toward him. Before he could react, she threw her arms around him and hugged him so tight that it hurt, but she was too happy to notice.
"Gah!" Rynan made a sound of pain and tapped her back gently, trying to let her know that her hug was too strong and was hurting him. But Lumi was so grateful and emotional that she didn't notice his signals at all. She kept holding him tight because she felt like he had saved her whole world, and she wanted to show him how thankful she was. The hug went on for what felt like a very long time, and Rynan just had to wait for her to calm down.
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—That hurt way too much...
Rynan let out a long, tired breath and looked down at the ground with a face that showed he was still in pain from her strong hug. His back and chest felt sore, but he didn't want to make Lumi feel bad about it. He rubbed his chest slowly and tried to make the pain go away while he waited for her to say something. The silence between them felt a little awkward now that the emotional moment was over.
"S-sorry..." Lumi said in a quiet voice, and her cheeks turned red with shame as she played with her long, soft blonde hair around her finger. She felt terrible about hurting him and thought that what she had done was like a terrible mistake that could never be fixed. Her eyes looked down at the ground because she was too embarrassed to look at his face. She wished she could take back what she had done and be more careful.
"Hey, it's okay and not a big problem at all!" Rynan said with a big smile and gave her a thumbs up to make her feel better. He wanted her to know that he wasn't angry and that she didn't need to worry about it anymore. His kind words and warm smile made the air around them feel comfortable again, like everything was back to normal. He could see that she was still feeling bad, so he tried extra hard to show her that everything was fine.
"Heh..." Lumi made a small, happy sound and looked up at Rynan's face for the first time in a while, really paying attention to how he looked. She noticed his sharp, handsome eyes and his long black hair that was tied back and fell down to his back like a waterfall. Even though he was still young, his face made him look more like a teenager than a little kid. The way he smiled at her made her heart feel warm and fluttery inside.
—He's so good-looking and so kind to me!
—Wait, wait, this isn't the right time to think about things like this because I have to save my mother first, and then I can think about other stuff later!
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"It looks like this is the place we need to go," Rynan said as he pointed at the old, broken building that stood in front of them like a giant pile of rocks. Lumi looked at how sure and confident he seemed, and without thinking twice, she decided to trust him completely. She believed in him so much that she didn't even question if he might be wrong about anything. The building looked scary and dangerous, but she felt safe because Rynan was with her.
"Mhm!" Lumi said with a quick, cute nod of her head, not thinking much about it or asking any questions about the plan. She just smiled at him and waited for him to tell her what to do next. Her trust in him was so strong that she was ready to follow him anywhere he wanted to go. She felt like everything would be okay as long as he was leading the way.
"Wait, you're not even going to doubt me or ask questions?!" Rynan said in surprise, but he kept his voice quiet like a whisper so no one else could hear them. He couldn't believe that she trusted him so much without even thinking about it first. Most people would ask lots of questions or want to know more details before following someone into a dangerous place. But Lumi was different, and her complete trust in him made him feel both happy and worried at the same time.
"Yeah!" Lumi said with another nod and a bright smile that made her whole face light up. "I just... trust you completely!" she told him in a simple, honest way that made his heart feel strange. Her words were so pure and full of faith that Rynan didn't know what to say back to her. He had never had someone trust him so much before, and it made him feel both good and scared.
"Haah..." Rynan let out a long sigh and put his right hand on his forehead, feeling overwhelmed by how much she believed in him. But even though it felt like a heavy weight on his shoulders, it also made him feel warm and happy inside. Having someone trust him this much was both a wonderful gift and a scary responsibility that he had to carry. He knew that he couldn't let her down no matter what happened next.
—This time, I won't let anyone die.
Rynan thought to himself with strong determination, and his mind became clear and focused on what he had to do. He made a promise to himself that he would protect Lumi and her family no matter how hard it got. The memory of past failures made him even more determined to succeed this time. He would not make the same mistakes again, and he would make sure everyone stayed safe.
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"Okay, that's how it will be, do you understand?"
Rynan asked after he had just finished explaining all the details of the raid to Lumi while both of them were hiding in a thick bush to avoid being detected by the enemy guards. The leaves around them provided good cover as they crouched low and kept their voices quiet so no one would hear them talking. He looked at her with serious eyes to make sure she had understood every part of his plan. The green bush gave them a perfect view of the building while keeping them completely hidden from sight.
"Mhm!"
Lumi gave him a small nod, showing that she understood his instructions completely, both the simple parts and the complicated parts. Her face showed that she had been paying attention to every word he had said during the explanation. She wanted to make sure she knew exactly what her role would be in the dangerous mission they were about to start.
"So, basically you'll enter first, and I'll cover the rear?"
"Yep."
"Seems easy!"
"It may be, but let's not underestimate our opponents here. You said that they were strong enough to capture hundreds of Luminas. I've read it in the books, how powerful Luminas are."
"Hehe."
Lumi chuckled softly and put her arms on her hips like she had just been praised by Rynan for being part of such a powerful race. Her laugh was light and cute, showing that his words about Luminas had made her feel proud of who she was. She stood a little taller and looked more confident than she had before. The compliment about her people's strength made her smile with happiness and pride.
"Okay. You ready?"
"Yes! I've been ready ever since we came here!"
"Nice!"
Rynan said with approval as he finally stood up from their hiding spot behind the bush, and Lumi quickly followed him to her feet. Both of them looked toward the dangerous building ahead with focused eyes and hearts that were prepared for the battle that was about to begin. The moment they had been planning for had finally arrived after all their waiting and preparing.
"LET'S GO!"
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
Lumi screamed with a voice that sounded like a bloodhound, sending cold chills down Rynan's spine and making the guards' bodies freeze with pure terror. Rynan had never known that she could sound this creepy and frightening when she got angry about something. Her voice was so scary that it made him think that women truly are demons in disguise, hiding their real power until they need to use it. The sound she made was more terrifying than anything he had ever heard in his entire life.
The ground rumbled loudly and shook everything around them as Rynan leaped high into the air, feeling the cool, relaxing wind hit his face as he prepared to unleash his most powerful attack. His body moved through the sky with perfect control and deadly purpose while the wind felt good against his skin. He could see his target clearly below him as he flew through the air like a falling star. The feeling of flying made him feel free and strong, but his mind stayed focused only on the battle that was waiting for him on the ground.
"ASTREUM VANTUS!"
Rynan shouted the name of his most powerful spell as he flipped forward in the air with his right foot leading the way toward his target. The momentum of his movement combined with the bright light magic that he had put into his right foot before he slammed it down hard into the ground below. The impact was so strong that it created a shockwave that spread out in all directions around him. His attack hit the earth with the force of a meteor falling from space, making everything nearby shake and break apart.
"GRAAUGH!"
The enemy guards let out loud grunts and bloodcurdling screams as Rynan's powerful attack crashed into the ground and created a medium-sized crater that was embedded deep into the earth. The force of the impact sent dust, rocks, and pieces of broken ground flying everywhere, and the sound was so loud that it made their ears hurt badly. Some of the guards were thrown backward by the powerful shockwave, while others fell to their knees in terrible pain. The deep crater in the ground showed everyone just how much devastating power Rynan had put into his single attack.
"H-HE'S A MONSTER...!"
The guard yelled in complete terror, his clothes ripped and dirty like that of a bandit as he tried to crawl away from all the destruction around him. His whole body shook with fear as he saw what Rynan had done with just one powerful attack. He moved slowly and painfully across the ground, trying his best to escape before something even worse happened to him. But as soon as he tried to get away from the danger, Lumi, the demonic hell of a girl, had already appeared right in front of him like a nightmare that had come to life.
"Don't you dare forget about me~!"
She said with a jeering voice and a devious smile that made her look like a monster from the deepest, darkest parts of hell. Her sweet and innocent appearance was completely gone, replaced by something dark and terrifying that made the guard's blood turn ice cold. The way she smiled at him was so scary that he knew his life was about to end in the most terrible way. Her voice sounded playful and cheerful, but her eyes promised nothing but death and complete destruction.
"KRAAAAA—"
Before the bandit-guard could finish his annoying scream that would have bothered Lumi even more, his entire body had already been completely destroyed and reduced to a plastic-bone mesh. His whole form was turned into a terrible mess of broken bones and flattened flesh, with his organs and intestines spread across the ground like spilled paint. Pieces of his brain had been scattered in different directions all around the area, and his eyes were sticking out of what was left of his lifeless corpse in a very creepy way. The sight was so horrible and disgusting that it looked like something from the worst nightmare that anyone could ever imagine having.
By the time Rynan had already finished wiping out all the other bandit-guards with his powerful magic attacks, he turned around and saw the terrible thing that Lumi had done to her enemy. He stared at the complete destruction she had caused with her bare hands, not even knowing that she could do something this violent and brutal to another person. The huge difference between her cute, innocent appearance and her deadly, terrifying abilities shocked him more than anything else that had happened during the entire fight. He realized that he had completely underestimated what she was really capable of when she got serious about fighting and protecting the people she cared about.
"Women... the name itself already scares me! Why didn't they use such a weapon in my past life?!"