Chapter 47: Diosia, Part Sixteen
{Liri}
The three of them ran for a while. Eventually, the guards' yelling grew more and more distant, as they made it deeper into the forest beyond Diosia.
A glance behind her let Liri know that, unfortunately, the main threat was still on them.
The blonde Inquisitor continued to give chase. She extended a hand toward Liri, and, as she used one of the Inquisitor's strange Mantras, a wave of air spread out from her right palm. It moved ahead of Liri and tried to pull her back.
If Liri wasn't as strong as she was, the ability would have worked, but Liri pushed past it. Her emotionless eyes connected with Liri's, and the ven gauged that she was not suffering from the same thing Liri was currently dealing with.
See, there was a problem affecting Liri at the moment. One she hadn't had to deal with in a very, very long time.
Exhaustion.
She had done quite a bit over the last half hour. From breaking her friends out of that prison to running through the streets of Diosia to fighting the Inquisitors. She wasn't so tired that she couldn't run anymore, but she was breathing heavily, and her movements were becoming noticeably slower.
The Inquisitor, however, looked like she was fresh. Her movements looked practiced and mechanical. It almost made Liri feel like she was being chased by a robot rather than a human.
[What do I do?] Liri thought. [At this rate, she'll definitely catch up.]
If she caught up to just Liri, it wouldn't be a problem. The issue was what would happen if she caught up to her two partners up ahead. Arisa and Caitlyn ran side-by-side, jumping over fallen branches and large rocks. If the Inquisitor reached them, Liri could have a harder time protecting them than before. Especially since she hadn't yet regained her armor Mantra.
With this in mind, Liri tried to think of a solution. The one that came to her left a bitter taste in her mouth, but, it seemed like it was all she could do.
Liri stopped and turned, holding the blade she'd taken out in front of her. The Inquisitor stopped, seeing that she was essentially asking for a fight.
"Huh?" Arisa asked, stopping as well.
"Liri, what-"
"I'll be fine," Liri told them both. "Keep going. I'll catch up."
The Inquisitor took a few short breaths, holding her blade by her side.
It was eerie, seeing her showing no emotion at all as she took up a fighting stance. Liri did the same.
"Arisa, come on," she heard Caitlyn say. "Just trust her."
"B-But..." Arisa replied, but Liri looked back and smiled a little, nodding.
"I've got this. Go."
Reluctantly, as Caitlyn started running again, Arisa followed.
Liri breathed a sigh of relief, turning back toward the Inquisitor.
Neither of them moved. On Liri's end, she was only hesitant because she didn't know this Inquisitor's speed well. She was the weakest of the three, but she was still fresh and breathing easily. She was still a threat.
Before, Liri had assumed that a specific Soul Rating could mean different things. One person with a Soul Rating of 3000 could be incredibly fast, while a second person with the same rating could be incredibly strong. Now, that assumption had been all but confirmed, as Liri came to understand that the majority of her own Soul Rating was strength and power, while this girl seemed to possess incredible cardio.
She still felt like one wrong move could be the end.
And yet, more than wanting to fight, she found another desire appearing within her. The desire to understand.
Maybe she just felt like she wouldn't have a chance like this in a while, to speak to the enemy. So, she asked:
"How can you do something like this?"
The other girl tilted her head. Her posture visibly softened as she heard Liri speak. She seemed confused.
"Hm? What do you mean?" She asked, so politely. As though they weren't about to fight to the death.
"Hunting people down. Killing innocents. Tearing apart families. Why? Just because people are different?" Liri asked, feeling herself getting angry.
The Inquisitor blinked.
Then, she shrugged.
"I haven't done anything yet. I'm still a rookie."
Now, Liri was just as confused.
"But... You're going to, right? You're going to be killing innocent people?"
"Um, not really?" she replied. "Just people who go against the Purity Act."
"Y-Yes! And, these people haven't done anything, right? So, they're innocent."
"The God-King says they aren't."
"And you just take his word for it!?" Liri asked, yelling as her frustration mounted.
The Inquisitor paused, taking that question into consideration.
"Well... Yeah," she said, finally, after a few seconds of thinking. "He's the God-King."
To say Liri was stunned would be an understatement. The worst part about this was that judging by the extremely simple, blank, and dumb expression on the Inquisitor's face, she genuinely believed that her reasoning was valid. It didn't seem like she held any sort of hatred, vitriol, or any other emotion that would explain why she was so willing to go through with the God-King's demands. It truly seemed like it was as simple as "he commanded it, therefore, I'm doing it."
And that angered Liri more than anything else.
It was almost as infuriating as seeing her people be wiped out.
Liri had enough.
And, thankfully, she sensed something inside of herself.
"Juvin melnir, na coran!"
Her body was covered in wooden armor. The cooldown had passed.
The Inquisitor's eyes widened. Liri closed the gap between them in an instant, her body empowered even further by the armor she now wore.
She slashed at the woman's sword hand. The Inquisitor's right hand went flying, still holding the blade in it.
With her shoulder, Liri pushed the opponent down and pinned her to the ground.
It could hardly be called a fight. Liri stood over her then, holding the sword over the girl's chest.
But, she stopped.
Not because she felt any sympathy for her, or because she couldn't bring herself to kill the Inquisitor, but because of the look in her eyes.
Again, no emotion at all. She barely reacted to any of what had just happened. She was still incredibly calm.
[... How does a person end up like this?] Liri found herself asking in her thoughts. [It's not an Inquisitor thing, because the other Inquisitors weren't like this. So... Why?]
The girl blinked.
Liri asked:
"You really don't understand why any of what you're doing is wrong?"
The girl moved her head a little.
"It isn't my job to understand," she replied. "I..." For the first time, then, it actually seemed like she was thinking about her words. "I have expectations. My teacher, my family, the God-King... I don't want to disappoint anyone."
"And you'd kill people just because of that?"
"I told you, I haven't killed anyone yet."
Liri set her sword aside, mounting the girl's abdomen.
"But, you would? Look at me," she said. "If the God-King asked you to kill someone who had never hurt anyone in their lives, would you want to do it?"
"I... It's my job."
"I'm not asking about your fucking job! I'm asking YOU! Would you want to do it?"
"Would I..."
For the first time, the girl actually showed some emotion. Frustration.
"W-What I want doesn't..."
"Don't tell me it doesn't matter," Liri replied. "It's all that matters right now."
To emphasize that point, she held that blade to the girl's neck.
"Tell. Me. Would you want to do it?" She asked quietly.
The girl's pupils trembled a little, and she looked away.
"I don't know," she replied quietly. "I haven't thought about that."
Liri's hand shook.
It would be so easy. A simple shift of her hand to the right would end this girl's life right now.
But, a thought came to her as she looked at the girl's face. She thought she saw something at that moment. A feeling that might have been the reason the girl turned away.
If she was right, then... Liri hoped this could be meaningful.
[If I'm wrong, then... I could always just kill her the next time I run into her. I hope I'm right, though.]
So, instead, she got up. Taking a deep breath, she said:
"I'm not going to kill you."
The girl looked back at her.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to," she replied. "So, I'm making the choice not to. Maybe, you should think about that. You might learn something."
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