"Oops. Too late" - Unexpectedly, Taisuke's mouth appeared next to Takuma's ear, whispering those words. A cold shiver ran through the Grimbrook warrior's body, who couldn't believe what had just happened.

*zac* - The pain Takuma felt in the next instant was so intense that it took his breath away and immobilized him. He slowly lowered both arms and the outline of Taisuke's body slowly crumbled before his eyes like the corpse of a demon he had just defeated.

The enemy had used a copy of himself to trick his opponent, circle around him, and stabbing him from behind. The blade of his rusty weapon was stabbed into the side of the red-haired tamer, now forced to grit his teeth to withstand the pain.

"Did you really think I could attack you head-on for no reason? Too bad, you were so close, boy," Taisuke commented maliciously, standing behind Takuma. In his evil voice, a subtle laugh emphasized his physical enjoyment in hurting another human being.

That Demon Hunter, not being part of a guild and not abiding by any rules, felt no mercy in striking a tamer younger than himself in the back, whose only fault was that he was traveling with a friend of his to the north.

When Takuma suffered the wound, his scarecrow demon lost its balance, too: its wooden legs vibrated until they spread downwards and its body fell to the grass, supported by its arms broken at the ends.

With a twist of his wrist, Taisuke rotated the blade of that short sword of sorts, increasing the damage done to Takuma and forcing him to his knees. "AARGH!" the young tamer from Grimbrook screamed, unable to contain himself.

His knees fell to the ground, and the moment the blade of Taisuke's weapon was drawn from his side, it was lifted by his arms. Taisuke spread the ends of what had previously been a bow, and the metal bowstring that joined them stretched out, shimmering in the moonlight.

Without waiting any longer, as if accustomed to that kind of execution, the Demon Hunter wrapped the bowstring around Takuma's neck, who dropped the two sticks. Trying to grab the thin string with his fingers, Takuma flailed and the oxygen in his lungs began to run out after only a few seconds.

"AAAGH!" Takuma choked, opening his eyes wide and pulling his tongue out of his mouth as if his instincts wanted to get more air inside his pharynx. His vision blurred and the outlines of Karasu, a few meters away from him, became more and more confused and clouded.

"Poor boy," Taisuke commented, with his usual wicked chuckle. "You should have stayed home. The night is known to be dangerous, especially in northern Tentochu. You will repay this mistake with your life," he added. His hands pulled the two halves of the bow back, further tightening the grip of the bowstring around his throat.

The senses began to leave the Grimbrook warrior's body and mind, and a tear ran down his face. I'm sorry, Yoichi, Takuma thought. I wasn't able to protect you and I won't even be able to save the Emperor's daughter either. Maybe this man is right. Perhaps fate would have wanted me to stay in Grimbrook forever, taking care of my family.

On those sad notes, Takuma's eyelids closed, resting on his bitter tears of defeat. The cold night air seemed to turn hot for a few moments, while the blood's path to his brain was gradually stopped.

The Grimbrook warrior's heart slowed down and his last beats echoed like war drums in his rib cage. His life was about to meet its end on that cold hill in the Valley of the Northern Waters. The place that had been the protagonist of his grandfather's thousands of stories was about to become an open-air coffin for him.

Takuma thought of his mother's face and that of all his siblings during the last moments of his life. He also thought of his father, the poor man he had never known and who had lived a life of poverty and hardship, carrying the burden of growing a family on his own.

Suddenly, just as his last breath was about to be taken, his head recoiled and a dizzy feeling prevailed over suffocation.

"AAARGH!" - Takuma's body, as if following its own free will, frantically breathed in all the oxygen necessary for its vital functions. His lungs filled instantly and his eyes opened again in panic.

His tongue could taste the blood that had pooled in his throat, and his limbs moved frantically like the body of a fish out of water.

When the Grimbrook warrior's gaze finally managed to focus on the images before his eyes, what he saw saved his life: a butterfly was resting on a white daisy-like flower. Its black and red wings flapped happily as Takuma's strong breath reached them and it took flight, leaving the hillside and returning to its brief life as a free creature.

The soft cool grass of the valley caressed the left cheek of the young red-haired warrior. The ringing in his ears faded until it disappeared, and sounds of battle became sharper and sharper to his hearing.

Using all the strength he had at his disposal at that moment, Takuma managed to use one arm to turn on belly-up. Until his eyes saw the next scene, he was convinced that he was in the afterlife, far from Lumya and the present he knew.

Beyond the tips of his bare feet, his faithful traveling companion had just saved his life and was intent on fighting Taisuke. Yoichi's flaming arms warmed the air and the tongues of fire roaring from his forearms expressed his pure draconic power.

Behind the long blond-haired tamer, his black-horned demon roared with vigor, lifting the black scales on his back and enhancing the flames of its tamer. Under the relentless blows of the knuckles of those huge clawed hands, Taisuke's elusion skill could do nothing.