Xiao X Reader [A Fragment of My Memories]

[08] Karmic Debt

The sun was starting to set by the time you left the Harbor. You carried the bag of medicines from Bubu Pharmacy close to you, with the book you bought tucked inside. 

"I wonder if I'll be able to see him today..." you mumbled, watching your shadow grow longer with the setting sun.

Suddenly, you hear a tree branch snap nearby. You stopped in your tracks, instantly turning your head to the source of the noise. 

'There's nothing there, just trees and ruins...' you thought, raising a brow. You were about to continue walking until you noticed something moving. 

You couldn't see much, only the fact that what moved had a humanoid figure with dark red skin. It turned its head, immediately noticing your presence.

Your eyes went wide. "A hilichurl!"

The hilichurl jumped in its spot, screaming out sounds you don't understand. It wastes no time bolting towards you, flaming torch on hand.

You nearly drop the bag you were holding as you stagger backward. 

'Calm down, (Y/N)...' you thought.

Taking a sharp inhale, you carefully placed the bag behind you as you got into an offensive stance. A strong gust of wind blew just as the hilichurl swung its torch at you. You managed to dodge, stepping to the side as you clenched a fist. 

In one fell swoop, you punched the raging hilichurl right in the face, cracking its mask in the process. 

"Hah, take that!" you exclaim, ignoring the pain seeping through your knuckles from the hardness of the mask. 

You watched as the hilichurl regained balance. It carefully touched the cracked mask, before screaming bloody murder yet again. 

This time, more hilichurls showed up, including a mitachurl carrying a flaming axe. 

"Uh..." you took a step back. "Okay, maybe I can't handle that..." 

You took the bag of medicines and placed it in front of your body like a shield. 'This is an emergency situation. I hope boss won't mind!' Shutting your eyes, you braced yourself for the incoming attack from the mitachurl.   

But nothing came. 

Another gust of wind tousled your hair as you peeped through your eyelids. As soon as you did, your eyes shot wide open. 

"Xiao?!"

His back was turned, but you recognized his tattoo right away. It glowed a bright green, just like the spear he held by his side. Strangely enough, his whole body was engulfed in an aura of black and turquoise. In front of him were the hilichurls, also shocked by his sudden appearance. 

Xiao turned his head towards you, mask glowing an ominous color as it covered his face. "Stay back. You can't fight all of them," he orders, shining turquoise eyes staring right at your soul from the mask.  

You only stared at him, mouth wide open as you took a few steps back.

Meanwhile, the Adeptus glared at the hilichurls through his mask. You watched as they quickly readied to strike. 'There's so many of them! Where did they all come from?!' you thought.

Your breath hitched as the mitachurl swung its axe at Xiao. 

"Watch out!!" you thrust your hand forward.

But he was already gone. 

'Huh...?'

You looked up at the sky, seeing Xiao right above the hilichurl group. His glowing spear faced downwards along with the rest of his body. Yet somehow, he managed to keep a perfect balance in the air.