Is The Super Famous Sorceress The Villain?

Boom! A gigantic explosion destroyed half of the mall, exposing the interior to the outside. I fell to the ground, my clothes were damaged, and my red hat was blown off due to the explosion. Everything around me looked blurry, and I almost passed out.

Within the dust emerged the hooded girl. She approached me with slow but confident steps, her voice serious and sharp "It's a shame. You look like a sorceress with incredible potential, but I can't leave any witnesses. Especially not another sorceress."

The girl's hand began to glow once more, its light even brighter than before. When she was close enough, she crouched down and placed her hand on my head.

"Don't take it personally. That's how world we live in is—cruel and unfair."

I tried to move my body, but none of my limbs responded. To make things worse, my vision was growing more and more blurred; I was about to lose consciousness.

Will I die here? At that moment, I remembered the people I love most in this world: my dad and my mom… Damn it, forgive me if I die here.

In that brief instant, I also thought of my brother. Heh, I won't be able to keep my promise after all, Milovan…

However…

"Ahhh!" A knife grazed the girl's right arm, a thin stream of blood spread across the ground.

"W-Who… who's there?" she exclaimed in confusion, jumping backward and scanning in all directions. However, there was still a lot of smoke due to the bomb's impact, and it was difficult for her to see through the thick dust.

Fwoosh! Another knife flew toward her at terrible speed, but she managed to block it by lifting one of the tables from the food court.

Tap, tap, tap Calm footsteps echoed. Slowly, I could see how a figure emerged from the smoke until, finally, a familiar face appeared.

"W-Warren..."

"Jeez, Mila, I told you to wait… Anyway, leave the rest to me" said Warren, slightly annoyed. I felt great relief when I saw his face. If he hadn't shown up, I was certain I'd be dead right now.

Warren walked over, picked up my hat, shook it off carefully, and delicately placed it back on my head.

"W-Warren! Gris! Rescue her and leave—"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about that. I've already taken care of everything" he replied calmly.

He showed me a photo on his phone. He had moved all the hostages outside the mall, where police units and fire trucks were already waiting. When did he do that? And how did he get here so quickly?

"Stay here and don't make a sound, all right?" Then, Warren stood up and, with a blood-chilling gaze, looked at the hooded girl.

"Lara, first robberies all over the city, and now you attack a shopping mall with your bombs. You're exposing yourself too much, you know?"

When she saw Warren, the girl cried in anguish:

"Warmonger..." Pure rage reflected in her eye. "Don't tell me what to do. I don't take orders from a coward like you."

"I don't care what you think of me, Lara." he replied, shrugging, which clearly irritated her even more, because from a distance, I could hear her breathing quicken.

"But, if Trío Encanto shows up here, neither of us will be a match for them. And if that happens, all our plans will be ruined. Are you aware of that, right?"

"Nghh!" At hearing this, the girl let out a small grunt, as if Warren's words cut her more than those knives.

"You're talented, Lara, I'll admit that, but a level three sorceress can't match a level five's power.So the best thing is to follow the boss's orders and stop drawing so much attention."

The hooded girl, after regaining her composure, laughed mockingly. "Boss? Who are you talking about, Warmonger? Boss Luna? Or Katrina Erlenbaugh?"

The comment startled him slightly, but he quickly recovered. "Let me repeat myself... I don't care what you say about me. But this girl right here!" he pointed at me "has caught Boss Luna's interest. If you harm her, do you know what will happen?"

Lara's gaze turned to me. From her body language, I deduced she was thinking something like 'This girl?' However, with a more severe tone, she said

"It doesn't matter. I'll prove to Boss Luna that I'm all she needs."

Boss Luna? Who are they talking about? I remembered Warren saying "join us," so there had to be more people involved with him.

"Lara, stop. I don't want to harm you!"

As I tried to process everything, the girl's hand began glowing again, this time with more intensity. The ground shook from the force of her power. "Shut up, Warmonger. The only one who can give me orders is Boss Luna!"

"Well, in that case, you leave me no choice, Lara. I'll have to use force" Warren said, closing his eyes with an expression of resignation.

From within his black gloves emerged a glow, and a santoku-style knife appeared in his hand. With a confident smile, he added "Besides, it won't hurt to dance with you a little."

"Huh? Do you think I'm afraid of yo—? Ahhh!" Another knife grazed her other arm.

"What's happening?!" Lara shouted, visibly confused. However, the explosion's dust began to clear, revealing the answer... Dozens of knives surrounded her from every direction. They were embedded in the floor, the walls, the tables… they were even sticking out of her own clothes.

"My sorcery allows me to extract objects from any shadow" Warren explained with a mocking smile "Well, what will you do? Will you continue with your childish tantrum, or do you want to test my technique?"

"Tch!" Lara clicked her tongue in frustration. "I surrender, but I'm doing it on my own. Don't think I'm following your orders, Trio Encanto's pet."

Her hand glowed even brighter as she chanted "0.1 kiloton bomb."

"Idio—!" Warren's eyes widened, but he didn't have time to insult her. He ran toward me with urgency.

Boom! Debris was sent flying everywhere. The explosion was so strong that it destroyed all the floors of the mall.. However, there was no trace of the girl. Only Warren remained there, shielding me with his body.