Virt did not know what he had done. In a flash, he was standing in front of the rodent, the impish boy now behind the relative safety of a crumbling cement pillar. A voice in his head reappeared, now less cold, but just as harsh.
'This is the second time. How much saving do you need, Saint?'
Its sound felt like scraping nails against a blackboard, stinging him right where it hurt, harsh but true. Of course, he could now retort mentally, his own voice drowned out by its seemingly passive incessant grumbling. Nonetheless, he could still think, just without his usual voice guiding him.
Before he could form a thought, however, the massive purple rodent lunged at him, its long claws outstretched at his chest, as if trying to pull him towards its warm embrace.
The warm embrace of his bloody body, that is.
Again, his body reacted instinctively, diving to the left and vaulting across an old wooden bench, a child's lifeless body slipping off of it and onto the cold marble tiles.
It felt like he took a backseat in his own body, like he was the horse with someone else at his reins.
'Again? Both you and that Clown are useless!'
As annoying as he was, his presence gave Virt some respite in the fact he wasn't fighting alone.
It gave Virt just enough time to think of a plan, analysing his opponent's weaknesses and formulating a strategy to counter it.
Like he had done with Mane against mountain bandits. Except now, his enemy was an unholy Other.
'Enough thinking, fool. Fight.'
Virt's eyes narrowed, honing onto the beast to his right.
It was still in a daze, its snout having just been rammed straight into a particularly sturdy wall.
He manifested a great wall of yellow Light around it, trapping the Other in a box.
"Children, get out of here! I'll hold it off!"
Instantly, the screams of horrified children bounced off the walls of the presumably ancient ruins, their tiny footsteps mirroring the sound of raindrops on its roof.
Ten, seven, four, two, one.
Then, there were none.
Shaking off its confusion, the rat swiped at the flimsy walls with its great claws, shredding through it like a slice of cheese.
'Alright, now what smartass? Fight it or trap it with Light? Choose now.'
He didn't have time to make a decision before needing to react to the devastating charge of the rodent. Virt leapt backwards haphazardly, cushioning his fall with a wall of light, crashing into yet another bench. Again, the rodent was on him, its hot breath steaming down Virt's neck.
Pushing against the bloody floor, Virt somehow gained traction on the slippery surface, barely rolling out of the rat's pin.
He scanned the building, noticing a particularly sharp stake on a statue of a Goddess next to a firepit behind him, her hand just barely out of reach.
A plan.
Getting up on one knee, Virt pivoted around his left foot in a twirling motion, pouncing across the room towards the brazier. He unleashed a blinding radiance upon his Zone, as if the real immolating flame had been summoned from the divine fire.
'Mana, boy, careful. You're almost out.'
Jumping onto a small bench, Virt jumped up again, as though he was capable of stepping onto the air. And apparently, he was.
Sort of.
The Light conjured beneath his feet, proving a stable platform for his frame. Performing another acrobatic feat, Virt snatched the stake out of the Goddess's hands, its wooden splitters digging into his uncalloused hands and drawing blood.
He still could not heal himself, the green glow surrounding him effectively cosmetic for drawing attention away from the children to him. However, now, with the children out of sight, Virt could finally disable the taunt.
Before Virt could face his adversary–or even disable his Saintly glow–its whiskers were already upon him. Bloody incisors flashed before his eyes, a reflection of his face staring back at him.
He noticed that his eyes were wide, his teeth shivering.
The rodent's stealth seemed to have taken Fang off guard, too. Its hulking mass was supposed to be unable to move with such grace, and yet, it dashed across the room with the agility of a cat, the floor unshaking and world uncaring.
Virt lashed out a stab, his arm extended as far forth as he could manage.
The wooden stake drove deep into a warm and wet nothingness.
A deafening crunch could be heard.
An even more thunderous cry followed.
Stumbling onto the floor, Virt looked the monster in the eyes, its blood red gems gleaming in the dimly lit building, illuminated only by Virt's Zone.
Desperate, Virt kicked the Other straight into the sides of its belly, his kick bouncing off the protective scales of the monster. The force of his kick gathered enough inertia to propel Virt across the room, just under the slamming paws of the rat–sliding in a pool of his own blood into a secluded corner of the ruins.
Finally, he shut off the illuminating green and his Zone.
Now, the building was in complete darkness.
It was a blind game of cat and mouse.
However, the Other had an edge.
The smell of iron and trickle of blood exposed Virt's location.
Not only did his dismembered arm sabotage his chances, his only weapon, the stake, was swallowed whole. The brace surrounding his leg was also gone, now reducing Virt to a vegetable with no more than two effective appendages and a mind in despair.
The silence was broken by a voice in the dark.
'How the hunter has become the hunted. Not only will you die, you have given a death sentence to those kids. Just imagine the brutal winds, lack of food, water or shelter. It would be enough to break a man, much less a child'
Virt wrapped his arm around the stump where his elbow used to be, gripping it tightly.
What could he do? No weapon, no Zone, and a hungry Other.
He had nothing, whereas the Monster had everything.
There were no more cards he held, no tricks up his sleeve.
All he had was hope.
And hope was what gave Saints strength.
He took a deep breath, exhaling as softly as possible. In the corner of his eye, he made out a figure moving in the silent midnight of the building.
Leaping into the air, Virt escaped the wild charge of the beast, its trajectory aimed at the faint smell of iron that lingered in the air.
But there, he was a stationary target.
The brute whipped its long tail, the rough pink leather slamming Virt across his chest, flying into a wall.
Virt coughed blood–the familiar liquid expelled from his body in thick splatters, staining the floor and lips a bright scarlet hue. His body was destroyed, bleeding from every orifice he could think of, some spots bleeding a dark, almost black colour, while others were blemished with a deep magenta.
Not that Virt could see colour.
His vision blurred, his lungs on the verge of collapse and every part of his battered body screaming in agony.
Even in these conditions, Virt fought.
He fought for the children.
He fought for the good of the world.
He fought for himself.
That was all he needed.
Benches were pushed over, the brazier was destroyed and the statue was in pieces. Lifeless bodies of children littered the cold marble floor and countless charred pillars brought down by the reckless charging of the ruthless Other.
To say that there wasn't a more open battlefield would be an understatement.
And in this open battlefield, Virt unleashed his last hail mary.
In the distance, the yellow sunlight drifted from the horizon.
In the ruins, a yellow glow lit up the now empty expanse of the building.
The praying children outside ceased, met with the incandescent Light.
The interior halls of the building shone with a glorious yellow, in the center lay a huge rat, its purple scales reflecting the rays of brilliance. Its tail perked up, the frenzied look in its ruby eyes paling for a moment, scanning the building for its source.
Its source leaned on a crumbling wall of the ruin, his lank frame wreathed in crimson. His free arm still clutched at his stump, his uninjured leg stood straight, balanced awkwardly on the foot of his bent leg, his thigh now a deep red. His body was covered with bruises and he bled from his temple, the blood streaming down his dirty face and further down towards his tattered abdomen.
A big grin surfaced on his face.
A giant blade of Light appeared above the rodent, the clear battlefield and illuminating light giving Virt a precise location to target.
Its head.
He used all his Mana, shaping the sword as big and sharp as he could, so that if he missed–which was most likely with his blurred vision–it would pierce the scales of the Other, ending the whole farce.
Day had come, and with it, salvation.
The next moment, night fell in the building again, judgement brought down upon the rat like an executioner's axe.
A deafening clang shook the edifice.
A squelching noise quickly followed.