[Amara's POV]
I didn't know what I was seeing anymore.
Cross, who was supposed to be just a noob, was in lock combat with the Scarebear. He even managed to cut the bear's arm and kicked it to the side.
I was too engrossed in watching their fight to even care about what happened with the bear's severed arm. I was too mesmerized by Cross's swift movements that I even forgot to heal Thomas!
I wanted to help but there was no opening. I couldn't jump in. I couldn't follow the speed of their movements. Those creatures were on different levels.
If I jumped into the match, I'd feel nothing but death on my skin. I couldn't move because I knew I'd be nothing but a hindrance if I jumped in to help.
In just a matter of ten seconds, everything was over. Cross won, and the Scarebear was on the ground with gory cuts on its body.
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Although the Scarebear fought back with a flurry of desperate blows, Cross batted each one aside and decisively cut the beast down.
I was already on my feet but was too shocked to react. The only indication I saw that everything was over was when the beast was slowly turning into particles.
"Hmm . . . is this its mana core?" Crossed picked up a shining rock that was the color of a bright brown.
The shinier the mana core was, the more its value was high.
I wasn't interested in the mana core the least. I was more interested in the fact that Thomas was on his feet now with his limbs intact, his spine straight, and his head in the right place. There was blood on his mouth while the Scarebear's arm was nowhere to be found.
Thomas's eyes were on Cross the whole time like he only saw him while Cross, on the other hand, only ordered him, "Wipe the blood off your mouth."
Thomas quickly did what he was told, and Cross was muttering under his breath that I couldn't quite hear before he stored the mana core in his inventory.
Before I knew it, all eyes were on me.
I didn't know what was happening, but I suddenly found Cross more dangerous than the Scarebear.
"Y-you . . . what are you?"
There was no way that Cross could kill that bear. He was just a noob with ATPs in his twenties. And Thomas . . . Thomas should be dead!
Cross disappeared and reappeared right in front of me, holding a blade against my neck.
The knife sat precariously on my skin, soft enough not to pierce my neck, hard enough to enforce the intended message.
The harsh metal should have been cold and raw against my bare skin, but I could not feel anything except for the excruciating pain of his coldness.
My throat and heart held in a silver grasp, and all I could do was stare lifelessly at his silver eyes with a terrifying coldness I had never seen before.
I had always thought that his silver eyes were beautiful. But I could no longer see any trace of emotion it once held, nor trace of the man I once knew.
Trembling, I tipped my shin into the sharpened edge, tempting him to end my struggles, half hoping that he would. A small stream of blood trickled from the feeble cut I could not feel. He did not flinch or remove his eyes from mine, and a cruel smile stretched out from his lips.
My frozen heart shifted at the sight of his merciless gaze, my legs almost failing beneath me. His steadfast grip on the polished weapon shifted, causing more crimson liquid to flow from the raw wound he had inflected.
I was really sure that he would end me. But he only retrieved the blade and stifled a laugh.
"You know me, don't you? You're just pretending you don't."
". . ." I couldn't speak. The question came out of nowhere, and all the words I had prepared and practiced before all went down the drain.
When I couldn't speak, he stored his blade and said with an even voice, "If you know what's good for you. Forget that you saw anything."
I finally found my voice again. "But . . . you. Your ATP is only low level, but how did you kill that beast? And him? He is supposed to be dead."
Thomas only shot me a lethargic glance before he looked away. Not a care that I was pointing a finger at him.
"And why would I tell you that? We don't know each other remember? We're strangers." Cross then walked ahead. "Let's go, Thomas."
"Wait! Are you just going to leave me here alone?" I asked in incredulity when the two walked ahead and left me here.
Cross didn't spare me a glance, and he didn't even stop nor paused. "You have two feet, right?
". . ." I didn't know which was worse. Finding out that he no longer had feelings to me or . . . finding out that I still had feelings for him despite how many years had passed.
Of course, he would move on. I bitterly smiled.
In his eyes, I had betrayed him first and casted him aside.
I thought that I was ready to face his wrath . . . but nothing could prepared me even to this day.
Realizing that he moved on . . . broke my heart.
----
[Cross's POV]
I was glad that I made it in time though I exhausted all my [Teleportation] skills to get here.
If the Scarebear killed Amara, then that 100 000 EXP points were gone to waste.
<And the thousands of Evil Points>
Thomas was also up to his feet and walking towards me. He ate the arm of the Scarebear, but his ATP didn't copy the Scarebear's ATP.
I wonder why that is?
My eyes then locked on the Mana Core in my hand.
Just maybe . . .
For now, I stored it in my inventory and finally faced Amara.
"Y-you . . . what are you?"
She didn't get the chance to finish her question as I pointed a knife to her throat.
I applauded her for being calm and watching her brave enough to even push her neck against my blade, I finally saw why my other self was charmed by her.
<Are you sure you're not charmed yourself, Host?>
I stifled a laugh.
"You know me, don't you? You're just pretending you don't."
". . ."
I stored my knife and added when she went silent. "If you know what's good for you. Forget that you saw anything."
I didn't care if she told others what happened here. No one would believe her anyway.
She had no evidence but her own statement, and I doubt she would tell anyone about what happened here in the first place.
( . . . continuation on NOTES)
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A/N
So half of you love sushi and the other half don't 🤣
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