I was terrified.

I mean, who wouldn't be in this situation?

The two people I care for most in life were both expecting me to be able to stop a creature known as the fucking 'Doomsday Killer'. But it had to be this way. If Kei were to actually use [Time Freeze], he would definitely suffer from mana-drought. And we don't have the resources to cure that.

I didn't know exactly how much mana he had left, but I could tell it was just about not enough to use [Time Freeze] and get off perfectly fine.

Alright, I'll do it now!

But my body refused to turn.

Okay... Th- That must've just been a fluke. Now!

Once again, my body didn't adhere to my orders.

"G- Guys! I... I'm falling... behind!" My brother screamed, through struggled gasps for air.

It was now or never.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I was face to face with the Dragon. It was at most two meters away from me, and probably around one meter away from Lance.

No. It couldn't get him or Kei, no matter what. I would make sure of it.

My eyes lit up with a hazel hue, as I activated my ability, [Telekinesis].

I stuck out both of my hands, and used all of the strength my body could muster to hold it in place. The pure amount of mana it was taking to hold it was enough to physically push me back a little, making my feet scrape along the rock.

Fuck. This was way too much. If it was this draining to just hold it, then something like managing to throw it away was completely off the table.

Maybe... Maybe if I had just trained a little harder... Then, I might've been able to properly push it back.

Wait, no. Now was not the time to fantasize about a perfect universe.

Even if I couldn't leave, those two had to.

"G- Go! Run, goddamnit!"

"What? No, no way! We can't leave you to die!" My brother shouted back, ever the optimist.

Luckily, Kei was there with him. Kei was always a very logical person in these types of situations. Unbelievably reliable. And so, I knew that he would end up either talking Lance into going with him, or forcing him to.

A tear ran down my cheek, as a smile graced my lips. Memories flashed in front of me. I suppose this is what they mean by 'your life flashing before your eyes'. Surprising even myself, the person most of these memories were with was Kei. I had thought it'd be Lance, but I guess Kei had been the person I cared for most.

After around 3 seconds of a freeze from the other two, no words or movements, I grew slightly concerned.

"Kei... You know what to do... Right?"

"Of course I do. You ready to run, prince?"

"I guess. I just hope this works."

Ah, I see. In the 3 seconds, he must've been convincing Lance to leave me behind. I have no clue how, but I also didn't particularly care.

Then, I felt a slight tug on the back of my shirt. I instantly brushed it off as a figment of my imagination.

But after that, there was a shock that ran through my body. I looked down to find what it was, and I saw a small trace of blue lightning covering my abdomen, spreading originally from the back of my shirt.

What? Wait... was this... [Anomaly]'s lightning?!

I was instantly thrown into the air, as Kei sped off, holding me by the back of my shirt. He definitely wasn't increasing his speed with [Anomaly], as if he was, I definitely wouldn't have lived through the air resistance, and there was 0 chance of Lance being as close behind Kei as he currently was.

No, instead he appeared to be focusing [Anomaly] on his fingertips, and then allowing it to spread slightly to my clothing, increasing it's durability so that he could use it as a point to hold me by.

Wow, I didn't even think that a physical enhancement ability like [Anomaly] could be spread! This just once again reminded me why he's known as a genius in mana manipulation and ability application. Anybody below Godly-tier probably wouldn't be able to understand why that was so impressive, but the amount of precision and control of his mana necessary to achieve the effect of spreading an ability meant to be used on himself alone to another person was, if I had to guess, completely unheard of. Even a theoretical 10.0 Doomsday-tier probably couldn't achieve that.

I was instantly very thankful that he had thought to do that, because I obviously didn't want to die. It's just that I would prefer I die over them.

I knew I couldn't relax too much though. I had to maintain my hold on the Dragon, or else we'd be right back at square one, with the beast chasing us.

Please... Please mana reserves, don't fail me now.

80%...

50%...

30%...

Finally, Kei gently placed me down inside a rather tight space in between a circle of large rocks. Kei and Lance then both squeezed themselves in next to me, further crowding the already practically full space.

Well, I couldn't complain about space right now. At least we were safe for now.

Lance and I instantly began panting - him for air from all the running, me for mana from my mana reserves being so low. Kei was rather quiet, compared to us at least, but he was definitely breathing very slightly faster.

We were finally free. Or we thought...

Flap...

What was that sound? The three of us all paused to listen closer.

Flap...

Wait... Shit! That was the Dragon. It must've begun flying to try and find us from a birds-eye view.

Flap...

Lance and I covered our mouths to lower the volume of our breathing - however, Kei seemed confident that he could just hold his breath, despite not knowing how long the Dragon was gonna be hanging around for.

Flap...

I, however, was not so confident. So, I put my remaining hand over Kei's mouth for him.

Flap...

...

Flap...

...

Flap...

...

Finally, the sound started to die down, suggesting that the creature had decided to abandon the area and look elsewhere.

I removed my hands from both Kei and I's mouths, sighing in relief as I stared at the ground. I suppose I had nothing to be worried about as, defying my expectations, Kei had managed to hold his breath the whole time. Albeit, the Dragon didn't stick around for as long as I had thought it would, either.

"I am so done with today..." Started my brother, trying to start a conversation.

"Ah... Aren't we all?" I replied.

"I mean, I know that you guys are tired and all, but I don't think you can quite grasp how terrifying this is for me. You are both Doomsday-tiers. At the very least, most individual mana-beasts within the Lost Region are weaker than you. I'm Leviathan-tier. Most, if not all, mana-beasts in the Lost Region are an entire tier above me, Godly-tier. I don't know if we've encountered a single mana-beast so far that I could've beaten myself."

"Oh yeah. I forgot how weak you are for a second." Interrupted Kei, invoking a small hushed snort-chuckle from me.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not weak, you two are just freakishly strong! Only around 7% of the population are Leviathan-tier or higher, but less than 0.2% of the population are Doomsday-tier!"

Huh. I suppose he must've gotten fed up with Kei and I constantly joking that he's weak, because he usually just gives a slight 'Come on!' or something in response, before completely ignoring it.

Well shit, now Kei and I needed to find something else about him to make fun of.

Shockingly, surprisingly and petrifyingly, that wasn't one of my main concerns at the moment.

Things were finally peaceful for a second.

"I guess that's two that I owe you for saving me from flying beasts in the Lost Region, huh Kei?"

A small smirk danced on his face, "Yeah, I guess so. Though, if you ask me, I would've much preferred it to stay at one. I'm good with saving you from flying beasts outside of the Lost Region."

Lance quickly glanced between the two of us, before stating, "...I... I don't get it..."

"It's an inside joke, don't worry about it." I responded, resisting the urge to turn it into a joke and call him an idiot for not understanding.

Lance glanced suspiciously between Kei and I for a second, before looking down at the ground with a defeated expression.

<Lance's Perspective  -  Lost Region  -  01:35  -  9th / August / 2081>

Man, I'm totally third wheeling, aren't I?

What has my life come to?

Third wheeling with my own sister and our personal bodyguard?!

To be fair, I guess I definitely should've seen this coming. The signs have been there since the first day that Aria returned home. I mean, she practically begged mother and father to let him stay.

I wonder what father would think of this? Well, it's not like Aria would care what he thinks of it, so I suppose I shouldn't either. They'll figure something out with him, I'm sure.

<Aria's Perspective  -  Lost Region  -  01:36  -  9th / August / 2081>

It was nice to have this time. Nice to have a second to recollect my thoughts and rest.

Wait... What happened to everyone else?!

We're just 3 out of 11. Where the fuck is everyone else?!

"..."

I heard something. I couldn't quite place what it was or where it came from, but I definitely heard something. It was just indescribably faint.

"..."

There it was again. I wonder if the others heard it? I glanced over and Lance definitely didn't, but Kei did seem interested in something. Perhaps he was listening out for it.

"..a....aa"

Wait... No... No... I finally figured it out, and I knew Kei did too, by his look of slight annoyance.

That was definitely screams. Screams that were so far away, they were just barely audible.