Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)

Chapter Thirteen

Kaede stood frozen for a moment, every instinct screamed at her to act—to charge into the fray and bring this chaos to an end.

“Dammit!” Britta’s voice cut through the roar of flames and the cries of battle. The adventurer was crouched low, her blade angled defensively as two bandits closed in on her. “I am so drinking myself under tonight.” The bandits laughed, knowing that she was just trying to deny the inevitable.

Kaede’s jaw clenched. Her eyes flickered to the soldiers behind her, pinned down by volleys of poison-tipped arrows and crude explosives. Another wave of flame surged, momentarily illuminating the swamp in hellish orange. The soldiers were faltering—her side was losing.

She stepped forward, only for another explosion to rock the clearing, sending her flinching back. Mud and water sprayed across her face and armour forcing her to spit out. Her heart kept beating fast, if she used any of her skills, the fight would be over in an instant, but, she would reveal that she was stronger than she had let on. She would have to leave falmuth then.

Did she want to leave? Yes, without a doubt. She didn't fancy the Idea of being a prisoner in all but name and then used as a weapon. With her power, it would be very easy for her to escape falmuth.

But. Kirara. Shogo. Kyoya. Kids who, just like her, were stolen from their lives. Each of them were younger than she was, and she couldn't but feel responsible for them. As long as the <> remains branded in their souls, Razen had absolute power over them.

Artificia needed time, time to analyse and then devour the <> Time she wouldn't be able to get, if she was on the run. If she wanted to free Kirara and the others, she had to remain in falmuth.@@@@

Another explosion, tore through the chaos, and Kaede grit her teeth. 'But, people in front of me are dying. I couldn't look Risa in the eyes again.'

She tightened her fist, her fingers digging into her palm, she would have bled had it not been for her high defense. "Artificia!" She tensed her legs.

"EVERYONE STOP!" A voice, calm and yet carrying a strange intensity, cut through the chaos.

Everything stopped.

Kaede looked around in shock. Everyone that had been fighting, from the soldiers, to the adventurers, to the bandits, all stopped moving as if their strings had been cut.

"What the hell." Kaede murmured. 'This is freaking me out.' Kaede's sharp inhale was the only sound that broke the sudden silence. Even the ambient noises of the swamp—the incessant croak of frogs, the rustling of unseen creatures—seemed to vanish. Her gaze snapped toward the source of the voice, her body trembling with a mix of unease and awe.

Kirara stood in the heart of the battlefield, her small frame silhouetted by the residual glow of smoldering fires. Her lips were slightly parted, as if still resonating with the echoes of her command. The air around her seemed to hum faintly, a vibration Kaede could feel in her bones, like the aftermath of an earthquake.

The bandits, who moments ago were jeering and lunging forward with weapons raised, now stood slack-jawed and still, their weapons hanging loosely in their grips. The soldiers, too, had paused mid-motion, their arrows half-drawn or swords halted mid-swing. Even Britta, with her usual bravado, had stopped, her defensive stance faltering as she blinked, confused.

“Kirara...” Kaede’s voice was barely above a whisper, but her words didn’t seem to reach the girl.

Kirara’s eyes glinted faintly in the firelight, an unnatural sheen to them that made Kaede’s stomach churn. It wasn’t malice or hatred in her expression—it was something far colder.

“So like, I'm bored with all the fighting, and I have places to be. So,” Kirara said, her voice resonating in the head of everyone in the swamp. "If you're not a soldier... Kill yourself."

Kirara bit her lip, her hands trembling as they gripped Kaede’s shoulders. “I didn’t mean to...” Her voice was small, fragile, the arrogance from before completely gone. “Kaede, I—”

“Save it,” Kaede interrupted, her head drooping. “Just... make the bandits tie themselves up, and then release the skill.” As Kaede’s consciousness slipped away, Kirara sat there in silence, her hands clenched into fists. The faint glow of the swamp fires reflected in her eyes, but their light couldn’t dispel the shadows that seemed to cling to her. For the first time, she realized the weight of her power—and the cost of using it so recklessly.

---

Kaede’s head throbbed as consciousness slowly returned, the dim haze of pain receding just enough for her to register the muffled sounds of movement around her. Her body ached with every breath, every movement sending ripples of discomfort through her battered frame. She blinked slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dim light filtering through the smoke-choked air of the swamp.

The first thing she noticed was the silence. Gone were the cries of battle, the clash of weapons, the screams of desperation. The battlefield was eerily still, save for the rustling of those who were left to clean up the aftermath. She could hear the soft splashes of footsteps moving through the wet mud, the occasional clinking of armor, and the distant murmur of voices—fragments of the chaos that had just consumed the land.

Kaede groaned again, her chest tightening as she tried to push herself upright. The world tilted for a moment, her head spinning as she fought against the dizziness. She could feel the phantom bruises and gashes beneath her skin, a reminder of the price she had paid to stop the madness.

"Kaede, you're awake?" Kirara's voice, soft and filled with concern, cut through the haze. The girl’s presence was a small comfort, but it did little to ease the strange heaviness that weighed on Kaede’s chest.

She forced her gaze upward, finding Kirara kneeling beside her, a look of deep exhaustion on her face. The cold sheen in her eyes was gone, replaced by a weariness Kaede could relate to all too well.

"Yeah, I'm awake..." Kaede’s voice was hoarse, her throat raw from the force of her earlier shout. She ran a shaky hand through her matted hair, the blood still sticking to her skin. "What... happened?"

Kirara sighed, her fingers hovering just above Kaede’s body, as if unsure whether to help her up or not. “The bandits, they're all tied up and ready to be moved. As for the adventurers—you... you saved them all.”

Kaede's gaze swept across the clearing. The swamp was littered with bodies, but there was no longer any fighting. The adventurers had regained their senses, some standing awkwardly in the muck, others tending to the wounded. The soldiers were working in groups, binding the remaining bandits and clearing the area. But it was the silence that unsettled her most—there was no victory cheer, no sense of relief. Just a hollow, empty stillness that seemed to hang over everything.

"Is it over?" Kaede asked, her voice quiet, almost unsure.

"Yeah..." Kirara's voice faltered, and she bit her lip, her gaze shifting to the far side of the battlefield where the remaining soldiers were gathering up the injured and the dead. "It’s over."

"But it's not the way I wanted," Kaede cut her off, the weight of the decision sinking in. “I just thought... Damnit, I'm in over my head here.”

"I know," Kirara whispered, her eyes dropping to the ground. "I didn't mean to..."

Kaede shifted slightly, pushing herself into a sitting position, though her muscles screamed in protest. She winced as a wave of dizziness threatened to overtake her, but she managed to steady herself. She had to see this through.

"I’ll be fine," Kaede said, though it was more a reassurance to herself than Kirara. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Alright." Kirara's gaze softened, but she didn’t push further, allowing Kaede the space she needed to regain herself.

Kaede looked out across the battlefield, her eyes scanning the fallen adventurers, the soldiers working tirelessly to restore some semblance of order to the chaos. The weight of what had just happened, of the things she had done, or in this case, not done, pressed down on her chest like a heavy stone. There had been no glory in this victory, no clean ending.

She just hoped that when the time came, the choices they’d made would be enough to set things right.