(Hinaria's Perspective - Oakhaven Village, Midst of Battle)
The desperate hope brought by the Kingdom soldiers flickered, overwhelmed by the sheer tide of monstrous bodies pouring into Oakhaven. Hinaria, still huddled protectively over the small girl near the well, watched in horror as the armored Captain fought like a demon, his lightning-infused sword flashing, his small squad holding a desperate line. But they were too few. The insectoid creatures from the hole surged forward again, their claws tearing through shields and flesh.
One of the creatures, larger than the others, scuttled past the overwhelmed soldiers, its multifaceted eyes fixing on Hinaria and the child. Before she could react, before she could even raise her trembling hands to form another shield, a long, segmented limb lashed out, wrapping around her neck with crushing force.
She gasped, claws digging into her skin, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. Her feet dangled uselessly. Air became a desperate, burning need. The world tilted, sounds fading into a dull roar. Through the haze of pain and oxygen deprivation, a fragment of memory surfaced – the book! She knew this scene! The description of the heroine (or was it just a random villager girl?) being choked, seconds from death, right before he arrived.
"He's coming", she thought, clinging to the memory like a lifeline. "Any second now. Like the book said. A flash of light... he'll save me..." She scanned the chaotic sky, the burning village, searching for the sign, the hero.
Now... please, now...
Silence. Only the screams, the chittering, the roar of flames. No flash of light. No hero.
"Why isn't he here?" Panic, colder and sharper than the creature's claws, pierced through the fog. "Did I remember wrong? Is he not coming?" The world began to dim, black spots dancing in her vision. "Will I die like this?"
Just as consciousness began to slip away, just as the last vestiges of hope faded, it happened.
BOOM!
A blinding flash of golden-yellow light detonated amidst a dense pack of Goblins near the forest edge, accompanied by a shockwave that momentarily silenced the battlefield. Bodies flew like broken dolls. Where the light had struck, only scorched earth remained.
(Multiple Perspectives - Instantaneous Reactions)
(Kaito - Stonecrest Hold):Kaito leaned forward instinctively, eyes locked on the Scry-Shard displaying the explosion. The energy signature was unlike anything else on the field – potent, controlled, almost... artificial. Then, a figure strode out of the dissipating light. Tall, golden-haired, clad in practical traveler's gear but moving with impossible speed, a longsword glowing with the same intense golden light held ready in his hand.
"So that is him", Kaito thought, his analytical mind clicking into high gear. "Aelric. Finally."
(Reika - High Above):"Whoa!" Reika exclaimed, genuinely impressed, momentarily forgetting her own planned chaos. Kagari shifted beneath her. "Now that's an entrance! Look at that particle effect! So cool!" She zoomed her magical lens, getting a clearer look at the newcomer carving through Grak auxiliaries. "Okay, maybe the MC isn't totally boring..."
(Elias - Oakhaven Battlefield):Elias wiped sweat and blood from his cheek, momentarily stunned by the sheer destructive force of the golden explosion. He saw the figure emerge, saw the glowing sword moving in impossibly fast, clean arcs, dispatching enemies with contemptuous ease. He recognized the stance, the focus, even from a distance. A name surfaced from the depths of his five-year memory, pulled from those old handwritten notes. "Aelric!"
(Aelric's Prowess - General View)
The newcomer, Aelric, was a whirlwind of destruction. He moved with a speed and precision that seemed inhuman. His glowing sword blurred, slicing through goblins leather and graks hide alike. He didn't fight like Elias or his soldiers, relying on parries and blocks; he flowed through the enemy ranks, dodging blows with uncanny foresight, his blade finding fatal openings with every strike. Enemies simply... fell. A creatures swung its massive claws – Aelric sidestepped effortlessly and severed its head in one smooth motion. Three Goblins lunged – a spin, a flash of gold, and three bodies hit the mud. He seemed untouched, untouchable, a golden storm cutting a path directly towards the village, towards the well, towards the creature holding Hinaria.
(Hinaria's Perspective - Continued)
Through the dimming haze, Hinaria saw him. A figure wreathed in golden light, moving like a vengeful god through the monsters attacking her village. He cut down the horrors as if they were wheat before a scythe. He was running towards her. Hope, fierce and desperate, surged back. "He came!" He was real. He was here to save her. Her savior. Just like the book promised. He was handsome, even amidst the carnage, his features sharp and determined, his eyes burning with golden intensity. "He'll save us. He'll save the village." Relief washed over her, so potent it almost made her pass out. She could barely see him now, the creature's grip tightening, her vision blurring completely, but she knew, with absolute certainty born from the pages she cherished: Aelric had arrived.
Hero reached the clearing near the well, his golden sword dispatching two more insectoids with contemptuous ease. He was only feet away now. Hinaria tried to cry out, to reach for him, but the claws around her neck tightened, cutting off her breath entirely. Her vision swam. "Save me..."
Aelric looked directly at her, his golden eyes meeting her desperate gaze for a fleeting second.
Then... He ran past. He didn't stop. He didn't slow. He completely ignored her plight, his focus fixed on something beyond her, beyond the immediate chaos.
(Multiple Perspectives - Instantaneous Reactions)
(Hinaria - Oakhaven Battlefield): "What?" Disbelief, sharper than the claws at her throat, pierced through the fading hope. "He... he just ran past? Why? Why didn't he save me? I saw me...but ignored me completely" The image from the book shattered, replaced by cold, terrifying confusion. Darkness closed in.
(Kaito - Stonecrest Hold): Kaito frowned, zooming the Scry-Shard feed on Aelric. Deviation. Significant deviation. Narrative dictates Aelric saves the villager girl in peril. He bypassed her. Objective unknown. Analyzing trajectory... "Why?" he muttered aloud, forgetting the servant boy beside him.
(Reika - High Above): "Huh? Did he just... ignore the damsel in distress?" Reika blinked, lowering her mana-lens slightly. "Lame. Seriously lame. What kind of hero does that?" She scoffed. "Is he Hero at all?!"
(Elias - Oakhaven Battlefield): Elias, having just cut down another Grak near the well, saw Aelric run straight past the choking girl. He saw the creature holding her prepare to crush her throat. "WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!" Elias roared in disbelief and fury. There was no time for complaining, no time for orders. Pure instinct took over. He launched himself forward, dropping his shield which was taken from dead enemy, bringing his Storm-Forged sword around in a desperate two-handed swing. The blade severed the insectoid's arm before driving deep into its carapace. The creature shrieked, releasing Hinaria as it stumbled back. Elias followed through, severing the choking limb, then driving his sword through the creature's head, silencing it permanently. He caught Hinaria as she collapsed, unconscious, into the mud.
(Aelric's Action - General View)
Ignoring the chaos around him, ignoring the soldiers fighting, ignoring the girl he'd left choking, Aelric skidded to a halt near the center of the village clearing. His golden eyes scanned the sky, filled with an intense, almost manic focus. Suddenly, his empty hand reached out, and thin air shimmered. A sleek, silver spear materialized in his grip – summoned from nowhere, likely a function of his 'System'. With a guttural roar filled less with heroism and more with weary frustration, he hurled the spear upwards with impossible force, straight towards the patch of empty sky where Kaito's Ravens had detected the hidden command element.
Aelric screamed at the sky, his voice raw with an emotion none of the observers could understand:
"I AM SICK OF KILLING YOU!"