𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 ♥︎

Chapter 78: (No) Empty Promises

Thud...

Harran fell to her knees, breathing heavily, as if her lungs had been shot out.

Blood seeped down from a gash on her forehead, staining her face. Her eyes remained narrowed as she stared before her, gritting her teeth and holding her sides.

The tip of a sharp blade made contact with her nose, forcing a scoff to emerge from her throat. "Get that... thing away from me..."

In a situation like this, she'd immediately take out her scythe in self-defense. However, in this case, it remained far out of reach for her.

"Are you going to comply?" Stoicia asked, eyeing Harran through her visor covering her eyes. Her state, a complete 180 of Harran's. Clean, pristine, without a single stain of blood or debris.

The Raptures which had once surrounded the witch through ambush had fallen. Their metallic corpses litter the surroundings, now with an Alteisen standing in the center.

Harran's will falters, but only for a moment. She collects herself and lowers her head, breathing a sigh of failure before looking back up. "Who are you?"

"Answer my questions." Stoicia pushes the blade further, drawing blood from the bridge of Harran's nose. "If you care about your life, you will do as I say."

Harran doesn't react to the pain, too busy trying to keep the rest of her body together. She instead shows a ragged smile of confidence, albeit weak and frail. "What if I don't? Would this thing go straight through my head?"

"..." Stoicia closes her mouth and takes in her words. A taunt, in a life-or-death situation nonetheless. "How cocky."

Stoicia withdraws her blade, and Harran takes the moment to relax her body. Though, just as she's about to, Stoicia swings once more, now at Harran's left arm. "!!!"

SHIN!

"G-Gurh-...!" Harran's eyes go wide open as the pain envelops her entire left side. She falls to her back, clutching the spot of her now missing left arm. Squirming in place, gasping in and out.

"Do not play with me." Stoicia crouches down and grabs Harran by the hair, pulling her up and making her face her. "You don't know who I am, or how I would act. Put your self-respect at an arms distance when speaking to me."

"Else, you're paying with your head on the ground, do you understand?"

"..." The witch's features shake, unable to utter a word of defiance. Stoicia takes this as a sign and drops her to the ground. "Ugh..."

"Oh for goodness sake, just put that poor soul out of their misery already." Red Shoes groans. "Playing with your food, that's exactly what you're doing."

"My mission is not with her." Stoicia replies, quietly kicking Harran's body lightly to the side in order to toss her over. "I'm wasting time by just being here. She was the one to attack first, I'm simply protecting myself."

"Sure you are..." Red Shoes rolls her eyes. "She looks like a member of Eden's elite squad. Can't recall her exact name, though."

"Don't care. I got a mission to attend." Stoicia shakes her head and makes her way back to the Alteisen. "I already wasted enough time with this skirmish. I can't afford any more interactions like this."

"..." Red Shoes stays quiet, not replying any further.

Eventually, Stoicia gets back on the Alteisen and drives off, toward Nihilister's lair in order to complete her mission. The train whirrs past Harran, who immediately takes notice of the direction.