*pant pant pant*

  Quroe has finally accepted Luna’s past with the Sword of Purification.

  *pant pant pant*

  He is breathing heavily after experiencing her painful past.

  *pant pant pant*

  “(You’re telling me. . . the reason she’s been. . . craving for attention. . . was because of all these?)”

  Luna was a bit confused. It hasn’t even been one second since Quroe absorbed her negative experience. Yet to Quroe it feels like it’s been years. It feels like he has been running away from home, being chased all over the place by various people, both Non-Believers and Believers.

  *pant pant pant*

  Quroe is trying to stabilize his heavy breathing.

  “Q-Quroe-san? Are you okay?”

  *pant pant pant*

  “Y-Yeah! Don’t worry! The weight you carry. . . I never expected it to be this heavy. . . I’ve underestimated you, Luna! How could you even have the sheer willpower to survive all those years ago, all by yourselves? If it were me, I would’ve given up, two months tops!”

  “You’re giving yourself too little credit, Quroe-san! You’re far stronger than I am, proven by how strong your Faith power is!”

  “Heh! What are you talking about? You have a Faith power to stun someone for five whole minutes! In a fight, that’s basically a sure-win technique! You’re the one who’s giving yourself much less credit, Luna!”

  *pant pant pant*

  Quroe continues to stabilize his breathing. It has become slightly less heavy for now.

  “I-I guess that is true. Thank you for cheering me up, Quroe-san! You’re a really sweet person, aren’t you?”

  “I am just stating the truth! No sugar-coating!”

  “That’s high praise! Thank you, Quroe-san!”

  “You’re welcome, Luna.”

  Quroe breathes normally now. His heavy breathing has finally stabilized. The emotional pain he felt in his heart has also mellowed down because he is starting to get used to it.

  “Luna. Let’s hurry and find the First Judge pair and have the Queen of Time heal your hands!”

  “How are we even gonna find them in this world, Quroe-san? You realized how big this earth is?”

  “. . .Maybe I can bait them to come. . . somehow. . .”

  *!*

  “AH! Q-Quroe-san! I forgot about Kasumi-chan! She was fighting someone strong! Please hurry to her! She needs your help! That guy is an absolute monster! I doubt Kasumi-chan can win!”

  “WHAT? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I-I’m sorry, Quroe-san! I was too focused on my cut hands. I apologize. . . If anything happens to her because of that. . . I. . .”

  “Never mind that! It’s not your fault! I understand! I apologize for putting the blame on you! Anyway, can you stand up?”

  “Y-Yes.”

  They both stand up on the snow. Luna is still experiencing the constant wave of sharp pain coming from both of the stumps in her hands, but she has been getting used to them and has endured them greatly now.

  “Will it hurt if I carry you on my back? Can you even hold on to me?”

  “I. . . don’t think so, Quroe-san.”

  *!*

  Quroe suddenly picks Luna up in his front, princess carry style.

  “Does this hurt?”

  “N-No. Let’s go to Kasumi-chan, Quroe-san! Hurry!”

  “I know!”

  Quroe engulfs his entire body with his black and red aura. He starts floating 10cm off the snow.

  “That way, Quroe-san!” said Luna as she pointed with the stump of her right hand towards where Kasumi was, up on the hill in the distance.

  The hill was full of trees before, but now it’s clear, even from a distance, that the trees have disappeared.

  *grrrtt*

  Quroe tightens his grip on Luna gently without trying to hurt her.

  *BWOOOSSHHH*

  And he starts flying off the snow at the speed of sound towards the bald cliff at the other side of WASP’s building, where Kasumi is.

  .

  .

  .

  Both Quroe and Luna have arrived and found Kasumi’s remains. There is no snow or trees at all in the vicinity. They are both standing completely still and silent for a few seconds. They have a disbelief look on their faces.

  “Kasumi. . .chan?” said Luna in a dejected tone.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Luna. . . Is this really Kasumi? Is it possible that you’re mistaken? After all, I don’t see any resemblance to Kasumi at all from this corpse.” said Quroe, fully intending to reject reality.

  *Sobs sobs*

  “Quroe-san. . .”

  Luna starts crying as she points her right hand stump towards Kasumi’s missing left hand.

  “. . .”

  Quroe’s face became even more dejected as soon as he saw her missing left arm. That confirms it. This is really her.

  *thud*

  His knees grow weak, and he falls on his knees to the ground below.

  “K-Kasumi. . .?”

  He tried calling out to her, hopelessly hoping that she would answer.

  . . .

  But there was only the deafening silence that follows.

  “This has to be someone else! There are a lot of people with a missing left arm! After all, it’s not like not having a left arm is exclusive to her! This must be someone else!! Let’s go find Kasumi somewhere else quickly, Luna!”

  “. . .”

  Quroe starts talking strangely. He can not accept the reality before him. Luna looks towards him while crying, and seeing Quroe acting in disbelief makes her cry harder than before.

  *sobs sobs*

  “Quroe-san. . .”

  “QUICK!! HOP ON MY HANDS, LUNA!! LET’S GO FIND HER!!”

  “QUROE-SAN!!”

  “LUNA!! QUICK!! BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HER!! COME!!”

  *DAHK*

  Luna suddenly headbutts Quroe right under his chin.

  *THUD THUD*

  They both fell to the ground. Quroe falls on his butt while Luna falls on her face. Quroe’s chin turns red a little bit from the impact. Luna quickly sits up and crouches on all fours on the ground, looking at Quroe with tears rolling down her face.

  *sobs sobs*

  “Quroe-san! Please stop!”

  “. . .”

  Quroe looks at Luna with a dejected expression.

  “Kasumi-chan is gone! My new older sister is gone!”

  *sobs sobs*

  She continues to cry as she tries to bring Quroe back into his senses.

  “Please open your eyes, Quroe-san!”

  *sobs sobs*

  “. . .”

  Quroe could not respond to Luna. The person who’s supposed to be the most level-headed among the three of them is currently being lectured by the most childish and the youngest.

  “It’s all my fault.”

  *?*

  “It’s because I was so weak, I couldn’t help Kasumi-chan during the fight at all.”

  *sobs sobs*

  “It’s because I was so weak that I was captured by those men and lost my hands.”

  *sobs sobs*

  “I gained a new ability for my Faith power, and that amounts to nothing. I am still a burden to people I care about.”

  *sobs sobs*

  “I couldn’t even fight them back at all! I ended up being used as a hostage to shake you, Quroe-san!”

  *sobs sobs*

  “It’s all my fault!”

  *sobs sobs*

  “Kasumi-chan is gone because I was so weak.”

  “. . .”

  Luna slowly crawls on the ground, approaching Quroe.

  “Quroe-san. *sobs sobs* Did you know that Kasumi-chan and I just became sisters? *sobs sobs* I was just thinking of doing some sisterly stuff with her in the future. *sobs sobs* I already told her about my past. *sobs sobs*, and she was going to share with me about hers, Quroe-san! *sobs sobs* I was eager to learn what her childhood was like. *sobs sobs* What are her parents like? *sobs sobs* How did she awaken her Faith power? *sobs sobs* But now I’ll never know her story. *sobs sobs* Forever! Because she’s gone! *sobs sobs* All because I was weak, Quroe-san!”

  Luna is talking in the middle of her constant sobbing. Her heart cannot take or process the fact that Kasumi is really gone from her life. They have only ever known each other for a brief time, but it feels like she lost an actual family member, and she cannot contain her sorrow anymore. She starts crying harder.

  “Huwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

  “. . .”

  Quroe was heartbroken hearing Luna’s story and seeing her tears.

  “I see. I know about everything that happened inside the maze. But you telling her your stories is news to me.”

  “. . .”

  Quroe looks down and places his hands against the ground.

  “Luna. . . I was starting to have a crush on her.”

  *!*

  Luna was surprised. Quroe has never been one to be open to talking about himself. This would be the first time since they both met each other.

  “I was starting to think that she was reliable. I was thinking that she’s a proper woman, looking back at how she always acts.”

  “She’s strong, she’s sturdy, she’s tough, she’s pretty, she’s beautiful. Her body is attractive. She has proper etiquette. She’s diligent. She cares about others. She places others above her own well-being. She’s not selfish. She was always thinking first before she acted. She’s calm and collected.”

  “. . .”

  Luna is listening carefully. She was saddened that the more Quroe praised Kasumi, her non-existent presence became more apparent and hurtful as he kept going.

  “So basically, what I am saying is that she’s the ideal woman for me. She has everything in a woman that my mother was looking for. And now I wouldn’t even get the chance to spend time with her anymore. I never even confessed my feelings for her. I was just thinking of dating her. I was going to choose her as my Support on top of that. I already prayed about this to God previously.”

  *!*

  Luna sees that a single drop of tear finally rolls down from Quroe’s right eye.

  “Luna. . . *sobs sobs* I like her. . . *sobs sobs*”

  Quroe is finally crying, but his expression remains stagnant while sad. His tears keep running down his face.

  *Srrrt srttt*

  Luna crawls closer towards Quroe. She hugs him and starts crying harder.

  “HUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! KASUMI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!! HUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

  Hearing her crying this closely, Quroe’s tears came down his face a lot harder. He hugs Luna back, and now they are crying together, lamenting over Kasumi’s passing.

  They cried for a good few minutes. Luna kept crying hard for that long, while Quroe’s crying was stagnant the whole time. They let go of their hugs and stand up.

  Luna almost fell when she was trying to stand up, but Quroe caught her hand and prevented her from falling. He grabbed her hands gently without hurting her.

  “I got you.”

  “Thank you, Quroe-san.”

  They both walk closer towards Kasumi’s remains. They close their eyes and look down. They both pray for Kasumi in their own heads.

  “(Lord. Please accept Kasumi’s spirit into your hands. She was yours from beginning to end. Please take care of her, Lord! She’s your daughter after all. Amen.)” prayed Quroe.

  “(Dear God! I don’t know what or who your name is, but please accept my sister, Kasumi-chan into your house. I bet she’s happy now that she came home! Please take care of her, Dearest God! Amen!)” prayed Luna, although she never prayed before in her entire life.

  They both open their eyes. They stare silently at Kasumi’s remains for the last time.

  “Luna. Let’s bury her. Give her a proper burial. She doesn’t deserve to be left in the open like an animal carcass in this place.”

  “Yes, Quroe-san. But where do we wanna bury her?”

  “That. . . I don’t know. I’d prefer it if it’s a place where she has any strong memories, too.”

  “But we don’t know anything about her. . .”

  “. . .That’s true.”

  They both fell silent at the fact of their lack of knowledge regarding her.

  “. . .”

  Now they are just staring at one another, at a loss for what they should do for the moment.

  *GRAAAAHHHKKKKK*

  *SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH*

  “OHORRGGH!! OHOORRGGHH!! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!”

  Suddenly, someone crashes on the ground, about a hundred meters away from Quroe and Luna. The crash was so loud that they both could clearly hear it from a distance.

  “WHO THE FUUUCCCKK ARE THOSE TWO? THEY’RE SO STRONG IT FEELS LIKE CHEATING! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!! I HAD ZERO CHANCE AGAINST THEM!!! OHOOORRGGHHH!! OHOOORRGGHHH!!”

  It was Vega. He had just crash-landed into the ground with his back. He is coughing up blood from the impact. His spine cracked from the fall.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHH!!! IT HUUUUUUUUURRTTTSSSS!!! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!”

  He was constantly cursing as he tried to endure the great pain from the damage he sustained.

  “Where the fuck am I?”

  Vega looks to his left and right.

  *!*

  And he sees Quroe, Luna, and Kasumi’s remains at a distance, but he only focuses on Kasumi’s remains.

  “Oh. . . I’m back here. . .”

  “OHOORRGGH!! OHOORRGGHHH!!!”

  Vega continues to cough up blood. He already spilled quite a lot on the ground.

  “WAIT!! I’M BACK ALL THE WAY HERE?? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!”

  He screams in frustration over his predicament.

  “Who the heck is the loud and annoying guy?” asked Quroe.

  Luna’s expression turned to anger, and Quroe quickly noticed this. She points to Vega from afar with the stump of her right hand.

  “That is Kasumi-chan’s murderer, Quroe-san.”

  *!!*

  As soon as Luna finished uttering the person’s identity, Quroe’s facial expression quickly turned sour.