"W... What happened here?" Roka asked as she took a step closer.

    Liz was standing with her back to them, completely still and immobile.

    A dozen steps away from her was Cero, lying on the ground, his chest pierced through by a machete.

    While Roka, Rea, and Raya stared with narrow eyes, trying to put the pieces together, Kris immediately ran forward.

    ''Cero...'' Rea''s hand shook.

    "Liz!" He shouted. "What happened? Did you get attacked?" Even as he stood right behind her, she didn''t turn around or make a sound. "Liz...?" He circled around her only to find a completely emotionless face.

    Kris stared with a frown, before turning away from Liz and towards Cero. He ran towards him but stopped a couple of steps away, his face twisting with horror as Cero''s twisted with pain. The latter''s gasp made his inability to breathe obvious.

    "S-Someone...!" Kris yelled. "Someone come help!" Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire

    The three flinched as if woken up from a daze, and moved one by one.

    Roka ran towards Liz, and Rea towards Cero.

    Raya frowned momentarily, noticing the paths taken by those two, and stayed slightly between them.

    For reasons that Rea couldn''t explain, she had decided to stay away from Liz, moving towards Cero by circling around the Soldier and staying a dozen steps away from her at all times until making it to Cero.

    Roka, on the other hand, ran straight towards Liz.

    ''If this is what I think it is then...'' Raya bit her lip anxiously.

    The moment that Roka reached for Liz'' shoulder, the latter lowered her upper body and unleashed a powerful back kick!

    ''Tsk.'' Raya clicked her tongue.

    "What''s wrong with you, Soldier?" The Commander asked with a cold tone, her reflexes having been just fast enough to react and cross her arms in front of the targetted area.

    Her elbows stung a bit, but she wasn''t about to show it. Still, the hit, despite being blocked, had forced her feet to dig into the ground and leave a trail. Roka had been pushed two steps back.

    "Hey, hey! Can you hear me? Cero? Can you hear me-"

    A gasp interrupted her and his hand moved hers closer to the machete in one rough motion.

    "I should pull it out, right? R... Right?"

    Neither his gasping nor his face gave any clue as to whether it was the right thing to do or not.

    Rea gulped and stood to her feet. Her shaking hands moved towards the machete''s hilt.

    "I''ll pull it out, okay? Alright... I''ll-"

    Just as Rea was about to, Cero''s hand squeezed her ankle for a moment.

    ''Do you want me to...?''

    ***

    ''Can I beat her...?''

    Roka wiped the drop of sweat going down her cheek.

    ''Can I beat my Soldier? Can I beat Liz?''

    She took a deep breath in.

    "That kick..." Roka''s eyelid twitched as she noticed. "It wasn''t her usual strength."

    "Are you sure?"

    Roka slowly breathed out, clenching her fists.

    "Pretty sure."

    As if taking those words for the whistle, Liz leaped forward, machete in hand.

    ''At least it isn''t the kind that uses up fuel-'' Roka''s thought was interrupted as the swing of the machete she had moved to dodge turned out to be a feint. Liz''s goal was a left punch to the liver. Roka''s eyes allowed her to barely react.

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