The woman in Piqi's arms was dead.
She seemed to have died long ago. No one knew why she had held on through such torment and despair, but the broken kitchen knife clutched beside her offered a clue.
A weak woman had tried to avenge herself amid the horrors of abuse, but her desperate attempt had cost her both legs and fed the villains.
The ratmen hadn't left her here out of kindness, either. The nest of rat pups nearby made that clear: they had left the woman, who'd lost everything, as food for their "pets."
It seemed her fate had always been meant to end this way, just as this erased town was destined to be forgotten.
Her death filled Piqi with a deep sense of injustice. Why did disasters always befall the weak, who had no way to protect themselves? Why were people with power, like her, always one step behind?
If she'd gotten here sooner, could she have saved her childhood friend?
Well, probably not.
Darkness had descended upon the town two days ago. The woman's husband and children had probably died then.
She had already died back then.
"Sorry."
Piqi laid her childhood friend down in the rubble beside her. Even now, she didn't know her name. Perhaps she'd forgotten it, but it didn't matter. She had accepted a request from the last person in this town.
There would be no reward, but Piqi had still decided to follow her heart and fulfill the request as perfectly as she could.
She knelt beside the corpse. Behind her, Liven had transformed into a true dragon and was battling the ratmen and the Dark Lord's outrageously powerful giant rat avatar. Farther away, not a speck of light could be seen. Only a desolate night, shrouded in gloom, stretched