The air felt thick and viscous as Shalltear moved through it at incredible speeds, heading toward the place the man would land. As she descended, she observed his posture as he leapt down with glacial slowness. Although she could not harm him directly while the spell was in effect, she could still set up an ambush and make other preparations.
Just as well. I'll open my arms to receive him as he falls. Surely a human like him will be overjoyed to be embraced by a beauty like myself.
The corner of Shalltear's mouth quirked up as she thought of the expression that she could see on his face. As she landed on the ground, just before the spell ended, she sensed another presence close by.
—What's this?
It was a young man in a suit of pure white plate armor with a roguish-looking companion.
Brain landed in the alley and looked back up, but Shalltear was no longer there.
She didn't pursue me? No, that's not right, what if she wants me to lead her to the others, like last time?
He had not planned to flee at first. His thoughts had been that it would be easier to buy time for Climb and the rest by escaping to lower ground.
Brain's every action had been to let Climb escape. It was because of that that he had put on this entire show of running away.
But as he ran, he discovered something that should not have been. That something was Climb and the thief, who were waving to him.
How could this—
Brain's mind filled with emotion— intense anger and frustration.
His face distorted by wrath, he charged toward the two of them, grabbed them by the collar and kept running. This was obviously slower than just running by himself, but Brain was not calm enough to have considered that.
After they had run for some distance, and after checking repeatedly behind him to make sure that Shalltear had not caught up with them, he slammed Climb against a nearby wall. Because Brain had not thought to control his strength, Climb practically bounced off it.
"Why? Why didn't you run?!"
Although his emotions were on the verge of overflowing, Brain still had enough presence of mind to keep himself from shouting out loud.