“Hey! Calm down!! HEXO!!” She shouted

Suddenly, Hexo opened his eyes, only to find himself staring straight at Satire who had her hands on him.

But quickly after his awakening, Hexo dropped to his knees as he began panting heavily. He clenched his fist on the little water which had formed from the evaporated snow.

He then threw it on his face before looking up at Satire. She had a frightened look on her face, and it wasn’t just her. Shara, too seemed slightly off.

“W-What… What happened?” Hexo asked upon seeing this. His face full of despair and fear

Satire who saw this, began to wonder what he could have possibly have seen as she she pointed behind him.

“But before that… your arms…” Muttered Satire as she looked down at his arms

Scales could be seen forming around Hexo’s body at a fast pace, quickly covering his arm. His dragon form which he would only use in dire situations was coming out, and the reason was simple. Fear.

He needed to calm down to keep it under control but couldn’t, or rather, if he could then he would no longer be able to consider himself anything close to human after what he had experienced.

He turned back only to see John looking down on the headless body of the demon which had attacked them.

“So he did this… Are you kidding me…? That was all fake…? Ha… Ha ha… DAMN IT!” Hexo shouted as he punched the ground, evaporating the water beneath him, causing steam to form around him.

Satire was startled, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of John, she didn’t want to miss what would happen next.

Dark spears with electricity traveling through them were slowly formed shortly after. They were each positioned at a certain point, above the body and as this happened, Hexo noticed a flame rampaging on John’s hand.

It was a dark flame and was burning on to something. After taking a closer look, Hexo noticed that what was burning was the demon’s head. 

*Snap*

John snapped his fingers and the dark spears were propelled straight down at the body, leaving behind a trail of electricity. They were propelled accurately each toward a certain point in the demon’s body, piercing it in that very same instant.

*Pierce* *Pierce* *Stab*

They all watched quietly as John then formed a dark trident out of thin air, before thrusting it straight down at the demon’s chest.

*Boom!*

The instant there was contact, a large hole could be seen on the demon’s body and ground beneath it, as it became unrecognizable. It was as if it’s being and core were scraped away.

Even the blood itself was spurted away, yet the remaining part dyed part of John’s cloak in a crimson red as it splattered blood all over it.

It was a horrifying sight. Not because of the deed but how John did it, he did it, effortlessly, motionlessly and without hesitation. 

Pure out of this world strength, will an abnormal amount of blood lust only possible through years of experience. A being which mustn’t be aggravated, under no circumstances. That was the impression they had all gotten from him. And it was because of that, that the distance between them felt as if it slightly grew. 

He dropped the snow-glazed ground before clenching his fist and muttering “Damn it…” as his body reverted back to normal

***

“Sorry… If only I was stronger…” Hexo muttered as he clenched his fist 

“It’s not your fault… I couldn’t even keep track of them or break the illusion placed on us…” Muttered Satire

“Sorry…” Muttered Shera

There was a moment of silence, which felt like it lasted an eternity as they mourned the death of there, comrades, despite it having been Short.

“So? What do we do with their bodies? Do we bury them here?” Hexo asked 

“It’s better to take it back and give them a proper burial…” Said Satire

“Then, let’s just carry them back.” Said Hexo as he leaned forward to pick them up.

He was stopped by satire who grabbed on to his shoulder and said

“But carrying two dead bodies of well-known contributors to the village all the way there… The people will go into a panic…” 

“Then use a spatial storage…” Muttered Shera 

Upon hearing that, the three looked at each other before pondering about whether they should do it or not.

“I mean, it would work but…” Said Hexo, considering the option.

“Isn’t that a little too harsh…?” Satire added

They then looked at the bodies once more, before looking at John. 

“Hey… John, do you have any ideas…?” Hexo asked hesitantly

John who had stood quietly next to Shera the whole time, walked up to the bodies before staring at them intently. The tension within the area increased as they began to wonder what sort of idea he’d come up with. 

John then leaned forward before slowly placing both hands on each of their chest. As they saw this, they all had the same question pop up in their minds, however, none of them were sure, whether it’d be okay to ask. 

“Are you gonna resurrect them?” Hexo plainly asked.

That is except for Hexo. Upon hearing this, Satire and Shera flinched and looked with expectations at John who unfortunately, shook his head before replying.

“It’s fake.” 

“Huh? does that mean, if it was real you’d be able to- Wait, what?!” Hexo asked before his eyes widened.

*Shatter*

The bodies shattered and broke into pieces as if it was frail glass. It was the sort of effect you’d see when dispelling an illusion, depending on the illusion. 

“What?!” Satire asked in disbelief as she made a confused and surprised expression for not realising it sooner.

But not even shortly after, they all felt their hearts fly out of their chest in surprise as the sound of rustling came from the trees in the area next to them, and from there emerged the two very people they had thought had died.

“Is everyone okay!?” The guild master shouted as he ran right through

He then stopped before taking a short look around and letting out a sigh

“I guess, it’s already over…” He muttered

The bright sword who was next to him, seemed surprised, but it wasn’t just him.

“Eh?” they all simultaneously muttered