Suddenly, the ground shook and the trees of the forest danced in an unorganized manner. The two exhausted adventurers heard rumbles and felt quakes from the earth. Their eyes widened at the recognition of the sound they heard. It could only mean one thing.

“Something is coming… Something big!” Marie muttered.

Slowly, yet suddenly, Minataurs began to emerge from the thick forest that surrounded them.

“N-No, this… This is…” Marie said, her eyes widened with despair.

“Oh god!” Nathan said as he turned to look at the monsters around then.

“Four… No… Five?!” Nathan muttered as he stared with disbelief.

Surrounding them were five Minataurs, equally as large and definitely as powerful as the one they just defeated.

“N-No… This is…” Marie said.

Her legs gave up strenght as she collapsed on the floor. Her body trembled as fear and despair began to sink into her. There was no hope… No way out!

This time, it truly was the end.

“We’re… Going to die…” 

Nathan’s body was too weak to even fight back. His broken bones and bleeding body were at their limits. His sword was still stuck in the hand of the dead Minataur’s body, but even if it wasn’t, he wasn’t sure he could even swing it due to his exhaustion.

He looked at Marie who looked helpless and fragile. Out of the two, he knew she was more powerful than him, thanks to her Relic. But, after exerting so much power from it, the Relic was out of energy, which meant it was as useless as garbage now.

Even if they managed to escape, the Relic was never work anymore since it’s energy had been depleted. They both realised this when they gave their last ditch option and killed the Minataur. In exchange for victory, they would lose everything else that made them a powerful team.

After all, Relics have a finite amount of energy imbued in them, and once it gets exhausted, there’s no way to refill it. Such a mysterious and powerful existence is beyond the capability of humans.

In that regard… Marie was now defenseless.

“Gurhhhhh”

Their growls and intimidating glare filled everywhere. No place of escape, no strenght left to fight back… Their death was certain.

“I-Is this… The end?” Nathan asked himself.

He was going to die without getting married to the woman he loved, without having children… He was going to die a wretched death, crushed and dismembered as he watched his woman suffer the same fate.

He didn’t want that.

“Someone… Please, anyone… Please help us… Help Marie… Please save us!!!” He yelled with the last of his strength as he crashed to the ground as well, having no more strength to maintain his standing posture.

The Minataurs ignored his desperate cry and continued to near them. Finally one got close enough and raised its club to smash Marie’s body to pieces. Nathan watched as the beast raised it’s weapon.

Marie’s trembling body could not move as her face could only watch the giant mass of hard wood rise above her body and then slowly decend to render her into nothing but mush and scattered meat.

She couldn’t let out a word, she couldn’t let out a cry… She could only watch.

“M-Marieeeee!!!!” Nathan yelled.

The hand of the monster descended and the club crashed on the ground, causing a large noise which reverberated around the area. A gaping hole was left in the area of impact as dust hovered around the point in which the club struck.

As the smoke cleared, both the wild monsters and Nathan noticed something… Marie wasn’t there!

“Gruhh?” The Minataur let out in surprise.

However, before it could react according to it’s beastly instincts, it found itself unable to move… Or even think. And the reason was simple.

It wasn’t alive anymore.

The Minataur’s head seoerated from it’s body in a clean slice as it fell to the ground where it sent the club. The head rolled on the hard ground as Nathan watched the body fall, crashing heavily on the very ground it treaded on.

Blood oozed from the Minataur’s corpse, and it ceased to live.

“U-uh…?!” Nathan could only express weakly.

“W-What was…?!” He muttered weakly.

“Young man…” A voice came from behind him.

His eyes bulged open. That was the voice of a human!

He mustered up his strength and looked behind him. Tears streamed from his face as he saw Marie’s unconscious body safely behind him, and beside her… Was a man he had never seen before.

“… Are you perchance an Adventurer of Lamar?” The man asked him.

Nathan could not express the sight before him. He was dumbfounded to say the least. The man who appeared before him had a long, dark coat as a jacket and a black inner shirt. He had a confident smile and a youthful expression. The very look… Of a hero!

“Y-Yes… Yes I am…” Nathan stuttered.

“In that case, we have much to talk about. But first…” The man retorted.

He brought out a sharp blade from it’s sheath as it shone a bright blue color. He raised the hand he used to hold the blade and walked past Nathan, with a confident and intimidating air around him. Nathan followed his movements as his eyes could not be taken off the mysterious person.

“… I’ll take care of the trash” The young man said.

“I suppose… I should use the words ‘that man’ called it… ‘Sword of Rupture’… Strike!” He said, slashing from where he stood.

Immediately, the four remaining Minataurs lost their heads as blood gished out of their necks. Their fresh corpses fell on the ground as they all died.

Nathan’s eyes widened as he saw this sight unfold before him.

“T-That was…” Nathan could only let out.

In a moment’s strike, what seemed like a mere slash of the wind cut through the hide of all four monsters at the same time, landing clean and fatal hits to them at once.

“Who is this man?” Nathan could only ask himself.

The man brought down his glowing blade, which immediately dimmed, and returned it back to it’s sheath. He turned back and faced Nathan who lay helpless and weak on the ground and looked in wonder at his savior.

“W-Who… Who are you….?!” He asked the young man.

The young man smiled at the question and looked at him with a soft expression.

“My name is…” The man began.

[MY TURN]

“…. Rio” I said.