The Berserk Princess (The Flash Danmachi Oratoria)

(Ulfheoinn) Chapter 57 Memorial 3

No one's POV

Night's curtain had descended over the city. Pitch-black shadow enveloped the empty streets, the broken magic-stone lanterns flickering softly and the stains of blood still peppering the back-alley cobblestones. The rain had yet to let up, still pounding the city streets as though attempting to bore into the stone itself. It was this never-ending rain that Bete listened to now, sitting in silence atop a rather plain sofa.

Asuna: Have you calm down yet, Bete...?

Asuna murmured from where she stood next to him. Simply gazing down at the werewolf, she asked for his well being. He hadn't even bothered to wipe the rain off himself or tend to his own wounds, still bleeding from the curse. Darkness yet reigned outside the window of their room in the Dian Cecht Familia hospital. Aiz had led Bete there after the attack. The werewolf hadn't said a word as the rain continued to pelt his skin. Even now, she could tell his weather-beaten and bleeding back needed to be looked at as soon as possible.

Asuna:...You should...really dry yourself off...

She started. If there was nothing she could do about the wounds, she could at least dry him. She immediately tend to Bete's wound as well.

Aiz: Big Sis, have you...been using your magic...all this time?

Aiz asked anxiously. Her normally white uniform was now covered in blood, and deep bags sagged beneath her eyes as sweat ran down her skin. Aiz could tell immediately. She was dangerously close to a Mind Down.

Asuna: Mine and Amid are the only magic currently capable of lifting the curse...

Asuna replied, voice calm and face showing no signs of strain. Both Asuna and Amid had been working nonstop, attending to the endless stream of Amazons who had been brought to the hospital after the attacks. Holding her right hand over the multitude of scratches on Bete's back, as well as the deep gash in his shoulder, she began her spell, the white glow of magic enveloping his skin.

Bete:...The Amazons...How are they doing?

Asuna: We've saved who we can. But there were still some who were simply brought in too late. We did everything we could...

Asuna explained. Though they'd done her best to save them all, some had simply been too far gone. The attacks had likely started the night before, and by the time the victims had been found and brought to the hospital, even Orario's highest-level healer, Dea Saint, could no longer save them. Though her delicate, doll-like features betrayed nothing, by the looks of her tightly clenched fist, knuckles white from the strain, her head must have been a whirlwind of self-reproach and regret.

Bete: Did the...body of a kid get brought here?

Asuna:...Those who did not make it were taken to the First Graveyard.

She explained, not quite answering Bete's question. There would be no room for extra bodies, after all, in the hospital. Bete's expression didn't change. Instead, his amber eyes simply stared down at the hardened face of the girl on one knee in front of him. Water dripped from his damp gray hair. Aiz was the only one to look away.

Asuna: The assailants have been identified as Sekhmet Familia, the shadow of the mainland.

Asuna continued, trying to change the subject to something more neutral. As beads of sweat formed on her temples from the fatigue, she kept her thin lips moving.

Asuna: Considering the targets were former members of Ishtar Familia, I would gather this is the work of Valletta. A god with a deep resentment toward Ishtar... A goddess, plagued with jealousy, who hired the assassins to take out the last of her familia. At least, that is what we told the Guild.