Their eyes widened, they shuddered, the dark air entered their ribs.
Kunti froze, her body could not move at all when she saw Tirta covered in blood, and... The creature, small in body, slender legs, very long hands, pitch black skin.
BANG!!!
Kunti's body staggered to the side, avoiding the attack from the creature, and when she caught Astri's figure she saved her. The wall behind them cracked, almost destroyed instantly by the creature's fast movement.
"Kunti!? This is dangerous, I beg you to move away! Let me hold him back, you run first!" Astri shouted in a loud voice.
Kunti gasped, her breath was a little choked, then she turned to the creature who was starting to try to get up again, they didn't have much time.
Kunti nodded, then started running away. Meanwhile, the creature charged again, kicking Astri with all its might, Astri's body was thrown, destroying the wall behind her.
Kunti hid in the dark, her chest heaving and falling rapidly, her tightness increasing.
"What did I do? I... I'm so useless." Kunti thought to herself, feeling the pressure on every word.
Kunti raised her hands, covering her ears to block the sound of the creature beating Astri until she was black and blue, the corners of her eyes were watery, her chest felt tighter.
"True... I'm just a free spirit... I'm just a lowly spirit... Even my existence won't change anything."
Her tears flowed heavily, her sobs filled her heart and mind, her chest felt tighter.
But then... As soon as her eyes turned to Tirta who was lying unconscious, her brain began to spin. She approached Tirta, seeing her wounds that were so open.
"Tirta... Tirta wake up!" Her voice was sad, but there was also a little hope there.
Even though Kunti shook Tirta's body several times, she wouldn't wake up.
"Tirta... Wake up Tirta, Tirta Astri is in danger!" This time she was much louder.
Kunti's efforts made the creature divert its gaze, its attention was diverted. Meanwhile... Astri lay covered in wounds, seeing the creature starting to be interested in approaching Kunti.
"No... Kunti is in danger."
Astri tried to make a sound, but it was so heavy, her voice couldn't come out properly.
"I beg you Tirta to wake up... If you disappear too... Then I will, Lose my guide." Kunti continued to beg.
Her hand went down to rub the cheek of the figure near her, seeing her helplessness made her day hurt... More painful than anything.
The creature smiled disgustingly, its dirty shadow began to dart, the hard stomping of its feet surprised Kunti, and for her last hope she screamed with all her might.
"TIRTA!!!"
BLAR!!
Kunti couldn't open her eyes, silence enveloped her after the loud explosion, she slowly opened her eyes slowly.
Her eyes widened, when she saw Tirta, with his blood red aura that infiltrated her body. She... With her bare hands blocked the kick from the creature. From the other side, Astri came, kicking the Creature's body until it bounced and smashed the wall.
"Take it bastard!"
They stared at each other for a moment, Kunti's lips widened with a beautiful smile. Her tears were still flowing.
"Thank God you're okay."
Astri started to pull their hands together, tightly.
"Let's run first!!!" She said in a panic, while leading them to run with her.
***
Silence filled, nervousness crept in between Tirta and Kunti, they were both speechless, staring at each other.
"Thank God you're okay Tirta, I thought you were going to die, you know?" Astri said in a joking tone and tried to lighten the mood.
Tirta was provoked, one eyebrow raised in offense.
"What do you mean huh? I won't die from an attack like that," she said with a little annoyance and arrogance.
Astri laughed bitterly, then responded to Tirta's words.
"Come on, just admit it Tirta, if it weren't for Kunti you would still be lying there unconscious."
There were no more complaints from Tirta, instead he turned to Kunti, still sitting still, his gaze softened.
"Hey... Do you like it?" Astri whispered near Tirta.
Hearing that Tirta clicked his tongue, his sharp gaze immediately directed at Astri.
"Don't be stupid... After all we are just friends, and... Besides—" his words were cut off at the end, now he was staring straight at Kunti with dim eyes.
Astri sighed then got up calmly.
"Okay... It seems we were a bit off, I thought the Runner was a middle spirit, it turns out he is an upper middle class spirit who... Well, he is quite strong, so we need a strategy, my friends," Astri explained at length.
After hearing that, they started to think hard, except for Tirta who looked away indifferently.
"Astri... I think I understand something "There," Kunti's voice was heard, faint but soft.
Astri turned her face to Kunti, ready to listen to whatever she would say.
"Her attack pattern... I think she can only attack horizontally, besides... After running she won't be able to stop—" Kunti said, but at the end she fell silent, to think again and weigh her words.
"I think you're right Kunti, when she attacks me, she always destroys the wall near me, like... There must be something blocking her," Astri muttered, while rubbing her chin with her hand.
A gloomy silence enveloped her again, Tirta took a deep breath, until finally he began to speak.
"So we just need a strategy, right?" He asked indifferently.
Astri nodded slowly, responding to his question.
"But we can't just make any strategy," Astri muttered, starting to trace the corners with her eyes.
Just as her gaze fell on Kunti, she fell silent for a moment, then stepped closer.
"Kunti... Do you have a plan?"
Hearing Astri's question, Kunti gasped, she was silent for a moment, her expression looked very hesitant.
"I... Maybe have a plan, but I don't know if you guys will agree or not," she whispered softly and quite vaguely.
Astri became enthusiastic, she immediately grabbed Kunti's hand quickly.
"Please tell me, what kind of plan do you have?" She asked with a very curious expression.
Kunti looked hesitant, finally she nodded slowly to answer Astri.
"It seems you have better endurance than Tirta—" she said vaguely.
Hearing that Tirta turned his head with a surprised and annoyed expression, he turned his face away again, as if throwing away the fact that Astri was much better in endurance.
"So... I intend to make you bait, and Tirta will end it, just a very simple plan."
Astri nodded quickly, now her gaze was diverted to Tirta who still had an annoyed face.
"So what? Do you want to join the plan?" Astri asked in a slightly teasing tone.
Tirta sighed softly, then he began to nod with a little force.
"It doesn't mean I'm giving in to you, but it's just a logical plan."
***
Now they walked through the station that was starting to be swallowed by the darkness even more slowly, their eyes examining and watching every detail they saw.
Tirta was at the forefront, while Astri and Kunti were behind to stay protected.
Then... A terrible howl was heard, the creature... With its slender legs starting to be visible, its form somehow became much more frightening.
It stomped its feet hard, and ran very fast, they heard and dodged, trying to avoid the attack.
Now the creature turned around, its breath was very sharp, and its eyes were red with rising anger. Astri spread both her arms, and her expression was made as arrogant as possible.
"Come on, attack me! You little thing!"
The creature screamed loudly, then quickly ran and gave Astri a kick as hard as before. Astri almost bounced, but before that happened, her hands crawled to grab the creature's legs tightly.
"NOW IT'S TIRTA'S TIME!" Astri shouted loudly.
Suddenly from above, Tirta appeared with his signature blood red aura, a long sword made of that thick red aura.
"HEAHHH!!"
The blow came down accompanied by a supernatural energy thrust, making the creature scream loudly and in pain, slowly... The creature turned into dust.
Astri fell to the ground, her entire body completely limp, and the powerful kick began to hurt in her body.
"Finally it's over." Astri said with great relief.
Tirta gave Kunti a sincere smile.
"This is all thanks to you, if you weren't here I don't know what would have happened to us."
Hearing that, Kunti shook her head gently, she flatly rejected the flattery.
"No, it's just a normal plan, after all you guys are the ones who defeated the Runner, you guys are great."
Laughter filled them, for once again Astri sighed in relief, now trying to get up.
"AHHHHH!!!" Astri screamed suddenly.
Hearing that Tirta panicked, he approached Astri.
"What happened? Is there another spirit?" Tirta asked in an irregular panic tone.
Astri's eyes were shaking violently, her body too, her hands tremblingly raised to point at Kunti's back. There... A black lump piled up, twitching like a heart, the smell of something disgusting was smelled.
Tirta widened his eyes, and for a moment was pensive for quite a long time.
"Wait... Is Kunti contaminated? But since when?"