"I'll do it."

"I'll do it."

Mira and I said it at the same time.

She frowned at me. "You can use portals. You can cover large areas quickly and search faster. I should stay with Lars and fight."

I shook my head. "You said it yourself. The Cursed Spirit is powerful. Even all of us together can't defeat it. You and Lars won't be able to buy us time. You will be defeated within seconds"

"But you can?" she asked.

"Yes. I can block its attacks with portals. No matter how strong it is, I can open a portal in its path.

"And you're a veteran exorcist, right? You will be able to find clues faster about this domain faster instead of a rookie like me," I said.

The last part was a lie.

I would have a better chance than her at figuring out the clues.

But she wouldn't be able to hold the Cursed Spirit back.

If she stayed to face it, she would either die or get captured.

Then I would be the next target.

We didn't know anything about this domain yet.

What if the Cursed Spirit grew stronger every time it captured someone?

What if killing or capturing people made it summon more of itself?

Anything could happen here.

I wanted to maintain the status quo until we deduced more information about this domain.

And to maintain the status quo, I had to make sure no one else was captured/killed by the Cursed Spirit.

…

Yuna's POV

Yuna stared at the group, stunned.

The smart choice would've been to hand the children over to the Cursed Spirit to buy time.

It was a choice awful, and she would've despised them for it, but it was something she expected to happen.

'Alan' was usually cold and practical.

He did what needed to be done.

And the others?

They were exorcists.

Survival came first for them.

But this… this was different.

"They're weird," she muttered under her breath.

They were arguing over who would stay behind to fight the Cursed Spirit.

"Fighting that thing is suicide."

This wasn't like the Elicoras Warrior from before.

Back then, 'Alan' could predict its movements.

When he couldn't, he used the large open area (forest) to teleport around and escape.

Now, that wouldn't work.

He couldn't predict this Cursed Spirit's attack since it was his first time fighting it.

And portals were useless.

If he made one mistake and made a portal in a place that only he could perceive, he would fall into his personal world, and he would be trapped there permanently.

It was too dangerous.

A single wrong move, and it would be over for him.

And even if he escaped by teleporting, the Cursed Spirit would just target another group.

That would make the whole fight meaningless.

He needed to fight the Cursed Spirit in close combat, without running away or being able to predict its attack.

He must know that.

But he was still planning to stay.

Yuna looked at him again, trying to read his face.

The mask hid his expression.

But she could tell he wasn't scared.

Even in this situation, he was calm, and focused.

That calmness was what scared her the most.

…

Mc's POV

"One group will be me and Lars. Another will be Mira and one of the kids. The last will be Calliope and the other kid," I said.

Yuna frowned. "Lord of Shadows, I don't think that's going to work. Look at her."

I followed her gaze to Calliope.

She was shaking.

"Leaving her with a child…" Yuna hesitated. "I'm sorry, but I don't think it's going to work."

Lars and Mira turned to look at Calliope too.

She noticed our stares, clenched her fists, and lowered her head.

Her eyes were closed tight.

She was afraid.

Even though she was placed in a safer group, she was terrified of being alone.

I wasn't surprised.

She was a coward since the beginning.

'The Mentalist Zephan must've been included in the team by her family.'

'He was supposed to handle her — keep her calm and stable — but he got separated from us earlier.'

Mira opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Calliope shouted, "I'll go with A-Alan and Lars! I'll f-fight with them!"

Her voice shook, but her eyes didn't.

Mira froze, completely caught off guard.

Lars blinked, then slowly smiled.

He probably understood what she meant thanks to his broken English.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Mira asked carefully.

"I—I am a healer," Calliope said.

Her hands were trembling, but she kept her head up.

"With me, they will be able to f-fight longer against the Cursed Spirit. You should take the c-children and protect them while looking for clues."

Mira spoke sharply, "Calliope, think about what you're saying. You were puking after just seeing that monster once. If you freeze or panic during the fight, you'll endanger Lars and Alan's lives—"

"Alright, we'll go with the teams Calliope suggested," I said, cutting her off.

Mira frowned. "Why are you bringing her with you? She's a liability."

"She said she wants to," I replied. "She isn't a kid. I can't tell her what to do or not to do. And she's right, a healer will help.

"If she runs away, well, originally Lars and I were supposed to fight alone anyway.

"And I'll use my portals to make sure she can't run far, so the Cursed Spirit won't target your group."

Mira narrowed her eyes, but she didn't argue.

Yuna could only heal me.

Bringing Calliope would help keep Lars alive too.

Since I spoke in Danish, Lars understood everything. He nodded and said, "I agree with Alan and Calliope."

Mira crossed her arms.

"And what if she runs away?" she asked again.

"Run away?" Lars smiled slightly. "She won't."

Mira clicked her tongue.

She clearly didn't like this plan, but she also knew we didn't have time to argue.

I looked around at everyone. "Let's get ready. We have one and a half minutes before the Cursed Spirit might return. If it doesn't come, good. But let's assume it will."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.