Page 177 of A Soul to Touch

He was unsure if she knew that she was being snuck up on. He also didn’t care. He’d been separated from her for too long, hadn’t been by her side to protect her.

If I cannot let go of this tether...

He eyed the Demonslayer whose feet slipped against the ground to get purchase as they walked to the side to draw him away from the battle... from her.

Then I will take it with me!

With a snarl, Faunus twisted his hand around the whip line until it had made a singular loop around his fist. Then he dragged that sorry excuse for a human with him as he stomped, walking on his paws despite usually being on all fours in his monstrous form, in the direction of Mayumi.

The medallion wearer allowed his arm to be caught in her whip and then grabbed it with his fist. He yanked it as Mayumi was pulling, and she staggered forward. She wisely let it go so she could stab her dagger forward, then leapt backwards to avoid being hit.

He didn’t know when it had happened, but Mayumi’s cheek was bruised, and his little female was limping. The medallionwearer had a slice across his cheek and a nasty gash across his chest.

But the second Demonslayer was slinking ever closer, and Faunus knew when she stepped backwards blindly towards him... that she didn’t know he was there, that he was coming for her.

Just when he was almost upon them, he was jerked back. Faunus looked behind him to see the whip holder had shoved a discarded sword into the ground as a stake. He turned his skull to Mayumi.

He was almost there, almost to her. They were almost at his claw’s tips.

The enemy rose their weapon behind her as the medallion wearer spoke to Mayumi, shouting some grand speech he cared little to listen to.

“Mayumi!” he roared.

She began turning her head towards him but halted when the medallion wearer took a step forward with his sword raised. She couldn’t greet Faunus’ gaze, which would have let her know of her oncoming demise from behind. She couldn’t safely take her eyes off of the enemy in front of her.

But she was distracted already, the medallion wearer lining her up for a surprise attack from another.

There wasn’t time. He could see that. If she stepped one way, the two enemies circled each other in opposing ways to match her. If she escaped one, the other was sure to get her.

I came here to protect her.His grip on the whip line tightened.My life is already fading.His heart pounded in fear at what he was about to do.Nothing can change my fate.His breaths huffed in and out rapidly to take in courage as though it was in the air.I will not watch her die and do nothing.

A deep breath stuttered out of his nose hole, spraying blood, just as he let go of the whip line and his final tether to this life.

With a bellowing roar that was cut short when his skull broke apart, he leapt forward.

All his pain faded, as did the sounds around him, the smell of his own blood. Sensations like warmth, iciness, and the very wind died away to nothingness.

With the last of his sight, Faunus watched his body break away into tiny pieces of glittering black sand that plumed around him.I must reach her.As his body faded, he reached, and reached, with all his strength, will, and might.

The last sensation he felt as his form dispersed from his neck before going down his limbs, was the very tips of his claws catching on something.

He didn’t know if he managed to kill the Demonslayer as his sight exploded in darkness, but he hoped he had done what he’d come here to do.

To protect her even if it cost him his life.

Mayumi...

She would be the last thing on his mind as he finally faded to the afterworld, and he held not an ounce of regret in the action that caused it.

Mayumi glared at Cordon with every bit of resolve within her.

She’d intended to kill Cordon herself, the man far too skilled and experienced for any of her friends to take on. At the same time, she’d been fighting Jace. He was strong, but not to the skill both herself and their Head Elder wielded.

The only reason Mayumi hadn’t reached the Elder rank, despite being recommended multiple times, was because they rarely left the keep. She had chosen not to progress to remain in the field killing Demons rather than training new Demonslayers within the safety of a fortified mountain castle.

She spared a glance to her left, just the barest peek.

Yoshida had only just emerged from the forest, having taken down the bowman hiding within it, and was assessing the clearing.

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