Yes, I know what you people will say "What in the world? Redo of Healer? That pile of garbage? But that show is the lowest of the low". And yes, yes it is. Watching this "anime" alone is the same as chewing down a knife, yes it will eventually go down your throat, but you will probably have your intestine to shreds afterwards. So of course I couldn't accomplish this strenuous mission alone, I required help, and a dear friend of mine offered to sacrifice himself and watch this abomination with me. The outcome was predictable: the writing was terrible, the characters (especially the villains) were unbearably over the top and annoying and the sex scenes were all but 'sexy'. If somebody out there enjoyed it, well I'm sorry for you.

In short, it sucked. But we had fun. So of course my insane mind came up with something: "why not writing a story of it and trying to make it more interesting at least". Hence I decided to give it a shot. At the beginning, this should've turned out as a 'crack-fic', it wasn't supposed to be anything decent, let alone good, but as time passed, I decided to imprint a more "serious" setting... or at least tried to.

So yeah, enjoy this (if you can).

As he opened his eyes, he felt… a strange sensation, to say the least. His mind was spinning like crazy; his memories were intertwining with each other. He looked around the area, noticing its familiarity and experiencing a strong sense of déjà vu. The place was an open field, surrounded by greenery that exuded an air of peace and tranquillity. But right now, his thoughts were elsewhere, tangled in a riddle he couldn't ignore.

'Shoot… what in the hell happened here…? And what am I doing out in the open?' He grumbled his wondering, his brows furrowing as his gaze slowly shifted left and right. His memories were a bit foggy, but he was still able to bring the pieces altogether. 'That's right, I was about to off that son of a bitch Renard, when everything went blank…'

He pondered as he strolled through the open area, but he came to a halt, looking around. The sensation of familiarity he had wasn't just a gut a feeling.

'Hold on a sec, I remember this side of the kingdom, I ran through this area more than once… and if my memory serves me right, I must be close to the Alban Village…' He paused. 'Tch… damn, it's like I just woke up from a coma or something…' He lamented as he rubbed his head vigorously.

The last thing he was doing just last night was a killing operation, to be precise of one of the major figures of the Jioral Kingdom knights, Renard, a high-ranking captain within the ranks of the Jioral Kingdom knights. The Jioral Kingdom presented itself as a stalwart defender of humanity against the threats of demons and monsters, yet few were aware of its dark and malicious nature. And just like the kingdom itself, Renard was one of the most repugnant, rotten, loathsome men he had ever encountered, on a scale of who was more of a scum, he would put Renard below the royal family itself.

Walking over a nearby stream, the reflection of the water showed the man's facial features, he had a rough and scraggly appearance, he looked like a scruffy rogue man in his twenties, with mussed, bushy and slightly curly black hair that reached down his shoulders, several bangs down his forehead. Dark circles present under his eyes, with pupils also black and a messy short unkept beard. A horizontal scar ran across the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks.

Suddenly something came to his mind, he immediately dashed through the forest to reach Alban Village's surroundings. Taking a quick look at the village in question without getting noticed, he witnessed something he didn't expect in the slightest, while he was expecting a wasteland with a few collapsed buildings lying around, it was perfectly apposite, people walking around smiling and at peace. As he ran back through the forest, he couldn't help but think...

'This can't be right. I remember that village being razed to the ground by a pack of bandits just a few months ago…'

The man crouched down beside a nearby stream and splashed water on his face. However, his attempt to clear his doubts didn't seem to be effective, the question still remained unanswered, why and how did he pop out in the same spot he was a while ago. Had always had a strong memory, having no trouble remembering the details of the places he visited, and he was absolutely certain that the village had been destroyed. He doubted someone suddenly woke up and decided to rebuild the village overnight. There wasn't any possibility, unless… 'If we actually time-warped, then that means that many of my efforts went down the pan and I have to start over. What a pain in the ass.'

As he was about to elaborate forward, the ground shook slightly, causing the water to shake. He spun around his face only to see what he didn't expect to find there. Specifically, a bipedal lizard-like creature, the rogue blinked his eyes in confusion, the chances to find demons in the area was extremely low… if that was an actual demon that is…

'But then again, monsters have been confronting humanity since forever, but this one is too close to the village, which means…'

As he faced the approaching dread, his hands darted to his side and reached for his two weapons, his scimitars dagger drawn from its sheath.

The rogue positioned himself in a fighting stance. 'This ought to be easy.' He narrowed his vision at the monster in front of him.

A few minutes earlier

The rays of the sun made her long pink hair shine conspicuously, riding her unicorn, a young woman was being escorted by her group of loyal knights to a certain destination and with certain plans in mind. She possessed an overwhelming beauty, and a charm that would appeal every man. Her name was Flare Arlgrande Jioral, princess of the Jioral Kingdom and next heir to the throne, and the Magic Hero of this world. She was the embodiment of perfection; her body was sensual and voluptuous and her personality transcended kindness and honesty. Or at least that's what she made people believe.

Under that kind smile lied a completely different person; a liar, vain, sadistic, self-centred woman was what Flare really was, much like the kingdom she was destined to rule over. This was all a set-up, a blatant facade she used to bait people to trust her as a hero and as their princess. At the beginning, she had clear goals in her mind, but something changed slightly recently… while her initial objective was straightforward, to trick the eventual Healing Hero and harness his abilities for her personal goals, one more sinister ambition began to take shape in her mind as the journey unfolded. Although she had no proof whether the Healing hero was present in the village or not, her 'sixth sense' had already half-confirmed her suspicions. And since most of the heroes had been named, there could only be one remaining class left, but she wanted to be patient before final confirmation... Now, while her plan for the Hero of Healing remained unchanged. Now she sought a potential 'battle assistant' to serve her needs, someone who could cater to her desires at every moment and assist her to elevate her status as a hero even further.

As she was about to approach the village with her guards, something, or rather someone caught Flare's line of sight, they were moving at a decent speed through the forest, most likely a man. Her smile vanished for a few moments as she tried to identify who they could be. Noticing the slight change in the princess' behaviour, the blonde man riding next to her couldn't help but glance at her.

"Is there something amiss, Lady Flare?" Renard, the knight captain asked in a respectful tone.

"Oh it's nothing to be overly concerned about, Renard." Flare shook her head with a gracious smile on her face, before resuming her own thought. 'I saw something unusual for certain. It didn't look like a monster or any other sort of creature... the way they were moving with such speed is interesting.' With her conclusion reached, Flare pulled the reins to bring the horse to a halt confusing her knights.

"Princess?"

"Did you see anything relevant?"

"It was a person, I'm certain of that." Flare said with interest as she kept her gaze at the same direction before making up her mind. "And maybe the one I was looking for. I intend to have a look myself. The rest of you may proceed, I'll be joining you shortly."

"Then allow us to accompany you, princess." One of her guards hurriedly offered.

Flare merely smiled as she shook her head. "No need, approaching this person with a retinue of guards in tow might discourage them from speaking with me freely." She reasoned.

With that said, her knights eventually let the matter go, continuing along the main path.

As Flare ventured inside the woods, she tried to guess what kind of person they were. If the shadow really belonged to someone, then they would definitely not be one of the villagers since she didn't recall any of them moving at such rapidity. In other words, this wasn't a chance she could let slip.

Back inside the forest, the roguish man was wandering around still deep in his thoughts, while he was able to notion that someone had rewound time through… some kind of time magic maybe, he still couldn't understand why choose this specific day? He sighed as he reached a small clearing in the middle of the woods.

"Well… now I'm hungry." The rogue man murmured. Stepping under a tree, he sat down and punched the bark which let fall an apple right in his hand.

As he started to take the first bite off the apple and relax, hooves thundering caught his attention, causing the rogue to look the noise's direction. Approaching him was a pink-haired beauty riding a trotting pony; with beautiful green eyes, dressed in a rather short regal white dress that perfectly embraced her large curves and perfect physique, short skirt and high thigh boots that showed her slender, attractive legs. The man noticed she was smiling in his direction, which was clear to him that she was there for him for some reason, and that made him roll his eyes, clearly not in the mood to deal with someone from the royalty.

'This is gonna be a pain…' He grumbled internally.

As she hopped off her unicorn, Flare took a moment to observe the stranger, he was a ragged-looking man, his dark features and clothes blending in with the shadows of the tree he was sitting under. Putting two and two together, she approached him, finding this mysterious man rather fascinating, especially with his unkempt look and unshaven face. He looked like a perfect candidate to be her next "assistant."

Flare decided to take things slowly, not wanting the man to be on alert by her offer. Feigning kindness, she stood in front of him, her hands clasped behind her back and her head bowed.

"Hello, sir. I hope you don't mind me interrupting your rest, but I couldn't help but notice your presence from earlier and I must tell you that you are quite the interesting individual..." She spoke in a soft, soothing voice trying to seem sincere, almost innocent. 'Yes. This would do.'

The rogue man wasn't particularly fazed by her presence, but a small hint of annoyance flashed on his features, the last thing he wanted was someone bothering him just now. He looked up to the woman, raising one of his eyebrows.

'Just when I thought I could rest a bit. Hold up... isn't she the princess of this cesspool of a country? Why is she here of all the places?' He wondered in his head while pronouncing. "Hm?"

His slight change didn't go unnoticed by the princess in front of him. Swallowing back her disgust, Flare coughed as she forced a smile as she continued speaking to him, doing her best to keep him from noticing her true feelings.

"…Furthermore, I noticed that you look quite tired, so I thought you may need my help. My name is Flare, I'm the princess of this kingdom and the current chosen one to be one of the heroes, the Magic Hero to be exact. Surely you've heard of our exploits, haven't you? As heroes, it is our vowed duty to protect this kingdom and its residents..." She paused for a moment, trying to gauge his reaction. 'He seems unbothered by my presence, which is a bit unsettling.'

The sitting man kept staring at her, seemingly studying her moves and body language. For now, he decided to remain cool, maintaining his natural poker face.

"And I'm guessing you're the one who calls shots in the bunch huh?" He asked.

Surprised by the man's sudden statement, Flare quickly recollected herself, her patience was starting to be tested.

'Such a disrespectful tone! How dare he speak to me like that, ugh… even so I would have to be patient if I want to convince this stubborn fool that I'm nothing but kindness personified.' Flare thought, holding back her annoyance. "Why yes, I am, and it's a true honour for me to make your acquaintance." She said with a gracious bow. "Again, I hope you can forgive me for interrupting your rest... but I wanted to give you an offer that will benefit us all greatly."

The rogue kept his scowl, but decided to humour her. "What is it, princess?" He asked.

Flare fought back a smug smile as she continued to put up her façade. "You see, we have been working hard to improve this kingdom, and we need help from loyal subjects such as yourself... that's why I want to hire you as the assistant to the Magic Hero!" Flare continued in what appeared to be an act of humility. "If you accept, I would be able to provide you with food, shelter and clothing, all at my own expense. You would live a life of luxury, serving as my close retainer."

The man didn't immediately reply and swallowed the apple in a not-so civil manner before letting out a sweet loud burp out of his mouth, while scratching his neck repeatedly.

Flare took a step back in disgust by the man's impolite behaviour, her expression turning from a soft smile to a frown. Once again trying her best to hide her disgust towards the man, she continued speaking to him.

'This disgusting barbarian has no manners whatsoever!... Not to mention he isn't reacting to my offer in the slightest. What else am I supposed to do?' She was trying her best to be calm and still placed her offer. "Well, what do you think? Will you accept my offer?" She asked.

Flare was becoming rather impatient by it all, so she waited for an answer, holding back her annoyance for now.

The rogue emitted a grunt in response that appeared to be a chuckle. "Princess, let me give you a piece of advice." He formulated. "Never leave your cozy little nest in the palace. This ain't the place for you, am I right?

"What did you just?" Flare couldn't believe her ears as the man carried on to disrespect her and her status.

"Has daddy ever told you not to talk with shady strangers?" He continued nonchalantly.

Taken aback by the man's harshness, Flare narrowed her eyes in irritation. 'I would not let him disrespect me like that any longer than he already has.' She hissed before speaking. "I believe you have the wrong idea, you scruffy commoner..." She took one step towards the man with a hand on her hip, standing close to him. "I do what I please, when I please. And I certainly don't need to listen to the words of a dirty vagrant."

Seeing this coming, the rogue just let out a huff. "It was merely a tip. No need to get your panties in a twist, you know?" The man shrugged.

Flare was caught off-guard by the man's casualness and calm demeanour.

'He doesn't seem to be bothered by any of my harsh words, instead choosing to annoy me even more!' Flare fumed in her mind. "Excuse me, but how dare you speak to me like that? I am one the most powerful and influential figures in this kingdom." She tried to keep her voice low, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one else had witnessed this.

"Well, you can't blame me, princess. You did just approach a thief after all." The rogue revealed with a shrug.

Surprised by this sudden revelation, Flare froze in place. 'I knew something seemed off with him. But a thief? What should I do? Could I really ignore this?'

"So you admit to being a thief then?" She frowned, trying to control her growing anger.

The rogue nodded bluntly. "Yeah, that's what I just did. Still plan on making me join your little entourage?" He asked, there was no hint of playfulness in his voice as his expression remained rather serious.

That was the final tip of Flare's patience with this man, now revealed to be a thief of all the things.

"Of course not, why would I want a despicable thief like you at my side?" Flare's voice turned from soft and sweet to haughty and arrogant. "No, I have no further interest in you, criminal."

The man suddenly got up on his feet, still without moving from his previous spot under the tree. "The fact you're not screaming like a little girl means you have at least guts; I'll give you that princess." He continued with his careless words.

Flare grimaced, trying to keep back her anger. 'This commoner's words are seriously starting to get on my nerves.' She clenched her fists. "Don't call me 'princess', you filthy scoundrel." She glared at him, while her expression darkening each second. "And I obviously don't need you to teach me about "having guts", you pathetic excuse of a human being."

"Huh, revealing your true colours so soon, princess?" The thief inquired with an unsurprised voice.

Sniggering in response, she stepped closer to him. "Oh, I don't mind. My patience tends to be... rather scarce when it comes to scum like you." Flare scoffed, looking down on him. "Know your place, commoner. I am the princess of this kingdom, and you are nothing more than a worthless thief. I could easily punish you for your crimes, but since I'm merciful, I'll let it slide. For now." She said, trying to impose herself on him.

"Tch. Lucky me." The rogue man grumbled with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "I'm surprised, but then again, if the so merciful princess Flare is letting the matter go, who am I to deny this chance?"

Flare rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Don't act so smug. As a criminal you should be on your knees right now, begging for my forgiveness. I've spared your life, show me some respect." She continued speaking to him, her expression turning colder. "But make no mistake about it, I won't be that nice next time..." She leaned close to him and whispered, her voice turning cruel. "The punishment for thievery is death you know?"

"I'm so shitting my pants." The rogue stated dryly, without a hint of fear in his voice.

Again, Flare's eyes widened in irritation. The man's insolence was pushing the limits of her patience, he was treating her like she was a mere joke.

"Is that what you want? For me to cut off those thieving hands of yours? Maybe you'll learn some manners then..." She let out a vicious snicker, looking the man right in the eyes.

To the man, it was kind of amusing, even though he wasn't showing it, keeping his scowl intact. "Hm." He looked at his hands. "I actually like my hands. They help me out on what I do pretty well you know?"

Flare grinded her teeth in irritation. 'I've never talked to such a carefree, sarcastic and bold commoner in all of my life…' She thought… and for the first time, she was starting to feel nervous, as if she was the one in danger here. '…is it the thrill that I'm feeling?' That sense of danger was making her heart race with excitement. 'I find this hard to believe, but this man's attitude is... kind of hot.' Not wanting to show how she truly felt, Flare simply ignored his response as she stepped back.

The rogue carelessly cracked his neck to the side, letting out a loud crack as he continued speaking. "…And besides, I don't steal for hell of it. Let's just say it's a direct comeback due to how fucked up this country really is."

"That's not an excuse. You're nothing but a filthy outlaw who's upset with how his life has turned out. You should've worked hard to become a respectable person, just like me." Flare stated as she looked at the man with a haughty smirk, her words dripping with venom. 'I may have secretly found him hot, but this scruffy criminal doesn't deserve the praise. He would learn to respect me, one way or another...'

"Just like you?" He narrowed his gaze at the princess. "You gotta be shitting me, right? You're one of the main reasons of this country's conditions."

Flare stared back at him in shock and anger. "How dare you?! How dare you make such false and grave accusations against me?!" She fumed, glaring at him with a seething fury. Her pride has been hurt, and she would not forgive this slight without demanding proper punishment.

The rogue couldn't help but grimace. "Are you seriously going to deny the obvious here? The whole 'kind-ass princess' act is a façade, and the proof is right in our conversation. You don't care about people, especially those from the boonies. Referring to me as a 'filthy commoner', which is actually true, doesn't exactly paint you in a positive light, you know? Your true intentions are laid bare."

The man had crossed her every limit. Flare could feel her rage boiling over. 'How is he able to see through me so easily?! It's so infuriating!'

"Who do you think you are, insulting me and making me look bad? I'm the princess of the Jioral Kingdom, I'm doing nothing but fulfil my duties! You're the one who doesn't care about the people, stealing from them for your own selfish desires." Flare accused sharply. 'Never in my life had someone gotten under my skin like that, yet it feels... kind of nice. Why am I feeling like this?'

"Pfft. Don't give me that bullshit. As if you have any idea if I do this stuff for my own selfish needs or for any other motives. You basically don't know anything, and you claim to be the princess. What a joke." The man countered.

Despite her anger, Flare let out a sinister laugh before speaking, enjoying the moment as the man continued to anger her further.

"Oh, I do know... your type is quite familiar. Criminals are all the same. You take advantage of the system for your own gain." She scoffed. "But you won't be doing that any longer." She said and gripped her staff with both hands, glaring at him with a menacing expression. "You've pushed too far, scum. I'm giving you one more chance to apologise for your insolence before I punish you."

The rogue still kept his features intact, ignoring her threats. "Nice staff you got there." He noted with no real interest.

"You'd better run, you filthy commoner." Flare spoke in a chilling tone, preparing to strike. A little part of her was actually excited, as if she was looking forward to see what he could or couldn't do.

"Or what, prissy?" He dared, his voice sounded like a growl for a second.

"If that's the case then…" Flare showed a wicked wild smirk. "Behold my power!" Her eyes glimmered as magic started to form on the tip of her staff, its gem started to glow as mana slowly coming out of her body as it built up. "Last chance. Apologise. Now." She demanded with a smug neutral look.

"How about... got to hell, where you probably belong."

Flare narrowed her eyes dangerously at the man. He wasn't afraid of her at all, and that was starting to piss her off again. Her magic now started to come at a rapid rate.

"Then you shall die..."

With that, Flare backed away several meters from the man, once she was distant enough, she unleashed her magic, a large bolt of fire was fired from her staff, shooting it right at the scruffy man, hoping to burn him to ashes with that spell.

'Oh, that was a high amount of magic she's got there.' The rogue noted as he took a few moments to witness the spell. In an impressive display of agility and precision, he defied the fire blast by gracefully leaping into the air, executing a flawless front flip.

Flare was genuinely surprised by the man's agility as he managed to avoid her spell easily. 'Maybe he's more interesting than I thought. This might be fun.' She thought in excitement, looking forward to test him, yet clearly underestimating the man's abilities.

"Phew." The thief feigned a worried tone after observing the now burned tree he was resting under earlier.

"Very impressive, you managed to avoid my fire bolt. Now then... what else can you do?" Flare smirked again, feeling giddy as she tightened my grip on her staff, preparing for another attack.

The rogue wasted no time to reply, as he immediately took off at inhuman speed, while deftly unsheathing his scimitars daggers. Although that was far from his full speed, his movements were too fast as Flare's eyes could hardly keep up with them. Regardless, Flare swung her staff horizontally, generating a dozen fireballs towards him. The man wasn't intimidated in the slightest as he easily dodged them.

'What?!'

Flare narrowed her vision before realising a bigger fireball in attempt to put him down for good, but the result was him effortlessly sidestepping the spell with little effort. As she watched him dodge her magic so easily, Flare began to feel uncomfortable.

'How can he be so fast and evasive?!' Flare widened her eyes uncomfortably and quickly moved her staff in front of her.

A cluster of razor-sharp ice blocks of various sizes materialized in the air. Immediately after, the icy projectiles were shot forward with incredible speed, leaving a trail of frost. Swiftly, the rogue brandished his scimitar-shaped daggers, expertly slicing through the oncoming ice shards with remarkable precision as he increased his speed, all the while deftly evading others. Despite the speed of the ice shards, they were still moving slowly for his eyes.

On the other hand, in Flare's eyes, the man suddenly became a blur. She barely had time to look around before he 'appeared' right behind her, the sharp blade of one of his weapons was placed near her neck.

"H-hey, wait a minute…" Flare startled nervously, completely taken aback by the sudden turns of event. "W-what do you think you're doing?!" She exclaimed.

"Hm? Getting all freaked out in a flash already?" The roguish man inquired as his grip on his dagger tightened.

Flare's pupils shrunk the moment she felt the cold steel of his weapon being pressed against her throat. "Now now… let's try to be reasonable here and not do something you might regret..." She attempted to murmur, her voice drastically changed, but the rogue already understood what she was trying to do, it was an attempt of cowardice.

'Just as I figured. She acts all high and mighty as long as she has the illusion to have everything under control, but the moment someone shatters her bravado, she gets all wimpy and wussy. How sad…' The thief commented without voicing it. 'Well I might as well be done with it.'

"Y-you wouldn't try to hurt the next heir to the throne, would you?" Flare voiced with a trembling smile.

The rogue wasn't fazed. "I usually don't let slip away my chances."

"I surrender!" Flare suddenly freaked out, in a last attempt to escape unharmed.

"Huh... just like that?" He was genuinely taken aback by her sudden cowardice, but he still didn't let her go. "Are you being serious? All I did was move past you and lock you. Are you that much of a coward?"

Flare's features irked in response. "I… I can't help it! You're just too damn fast! I've never met anyone like you before."

"Tch." The rogue let out a snort in contempt. "How pathetic."

"E-excuse me?!" Flare protested, darting her eyes at his direction.

Before the rogue could muster a reply, the two of them were interrupted by loud roar as the sound of imposing footsteps grew closer and closer from the thick forest. While it was unknown to the princess, the thief couldn't help but make a grimace of clear irritation, as if he knew who, or rather, what was approaching them.

'What? The freak survived?' The rogue shifted his attention to the noise's direction, letting Flare go, which she immediately took the chance to step away from him.

The monstrosity emerged from the forest and fully revealed itself in all its grotesque glory, it appeared to be a large, wart-covered, muscular mutated monster, its head was shown as a lion with buffalo horns and bright red eyes. Its arms were maroon-coloured and muscular, covered in spikes, with sharp claws, while its torso was bulky, covered with dark-grey fur, and its legs were bulky. Black bat-like wings were on its back.

'Hold up, what the hell?! I was sure I was fighting some lizard earlier, not a goddamn chimera!' The rogue visibly cringed, as he narrowed his vision. 'Just where did this one pop up from?'

Flare glanced at the creature, her looks of annoyance and disgust back on her face. "And what sort of abomination is that supposed to be?"

'Shit, it may've sensed her magic when she tried to roast me… I have to whack it out before it smells the folks in the village…' The rogue prepared himself to fight.

"Ugh, no matter, I'll simply dispose of this filthy creature in a mere moment." Flare carelessly declared as she stepped forward with a confident smirk on her face.

'What is she doing?'

Raising her staff with one hand, it began to gather magic in its tip, preparing to unleash a bolt of electricity to fry the chimera alive. Much to her surprise, the creature didn't move, seemingly waiting for the attack.

"You fucking idiot! Step away, that thing's a chimera! It can resist to magic!" He yelled, but it was too late, her attack was already fired.

"What?!" Flare exclaimed in disbelief, but it was too late, the spell was already on its way to the lion-faced chimera. To Flare's surprise, it didn't even try to sidestep as her bolt was easily wiped out with a sole swing of its claws.

The rogue grumbled in annoyance before lunging forward causing the monster to react with a powerful swipe of its arm, using his lightning reflexes, he danced around the chimera's attack, dodging its attempt to smack him with its sharp claws, the force of the creature's blow was so forceful that sent an air burst reached Flare several metres behind. Swiftly avoiding the second massive strike, he spotted an opening, but the lion-headed monster suddenly opened its jaws and unleashed a dark-azure destructive beam, which the rogue barely avoided with an agile backflip. As the rogue landed on the ground, he rolled to the side, narrowly evading another swipe of the chimera's claws, they impacted with the ground that it caused a substantial crater, accompanied by an earth tremor.

Backtracking to gain some distance, the thief lunged forward and closed the gap with a burst of speed. The chimera swiped its claws downward multiple times but the rogue anticipated the move and used its hand to leap upwards, this time aiming for the chimera's flank. But the chimera shifted its head to the side, avoiding the blade narrowly, but the thief twisted his body and delivered a powerful knee strike right in its muzzle, strong enough for the monster to spit some blood.

'What?!'

Although hitting the target and making it lose blood, the chimera was far from being seriously injured, its eyes were once again focused on the thief as it swung its other arm in a sweeping arc. The rogue instinctively kicked into its head, causing it to be sent several metres snapping its head to the side. Taking advantage of this, he rushed forward, but he was surprised by the chimera's sudden move, performing a breathtaking backflip in mid-air, he narrowly avoided the incoming blow. As he ascended on the ground, the thief's irritation was beginning to manifest.

'I should've put more of my energy in that strike…'

Without wasting time, the rogue sprang forward once again. As soon as the thief saw the monster gathering energy in its mouth he thumped his left foot on its chest and bounced backwards.

'I can hardly reach its head, or any other vital point… with that massive frame and those bulky arms, a single blow could mess me up big time. I'll have to change strategy.' The thief pondered before charging forward.

Flare couldn't help but feel once again surprised by the man's extraordinary agility, speed and endurance, what left her most in awe was the fact that, unlike the heroes, he apparently didn't need any god-given power to fight, being perfectly able to use physical strength alone. As the fight progressed, she could tell that the commoner was an oriented in close-ranged combat, not only he appeared to be experienced in martial arts, but he was also skilled with weapons, his reflexes were sharp, allowing him to react a millisecond before his opponent could get to him.

The chimera's raging roar, opening its jaws realising the previous move.

'Now's my chance.' The rogue noted as he zoomed through with high speed, and threw himself in the air while escaping its beam, his blade in hand.

Time seemed to slow as he brought his daggers down with incredible force. The blades pierced one of the chimera's eyes, causing it to realise a loud growl in agony. The rogue ripped the dagger out its bleeding and blinded eye, a guttural scream of pain filled the air as he ripped the daggers out, leaving the eye blinded.

Seizing the opportunity Flare approached the monster from behind as quick as she could, raising her magical weapon, she unleashed a massive torrent of magical flames from her staff. The spell raced toward the partially blinded chimera, but despite its pain the monster was able to once again swipe away Flare's spell with little effort; bringing out its serpentine tail, the creature twisted and suddenly transformed into a snake-like head before lunging upward. Flare barely had time to register the sudden movement as the serpent's fangs sank into her leg, causing her to cry out in pain as the venom coursed through her veins.

'Dammit! I told her to sit this one out!' The man cursed in his thoughts. Performing another high jump, he aimed one of his daggers and threw it straight at the snake's head, causing it to move and let go of Flare's leg.

The rogue leapt back retrieving his dagger, bringing himself in front of Flare in a battle stance, giving the chimera a dirty look; despite blinding one of its eyes, he knew that was far from being enough to defeat it. His knowledge about chimeras wasn't vast, but he did know they were 'mutated' monsters, and not only they possessed great durability, but resistance to magic and destructive power to boot. Sweat started to drip down his forehead, but he did his best not to lose his temper.

In the meantime, Flare was still on the ground suffering from the snake bite. Although in pain, she couldn't help but notice the same man she was threatening to kill just a few minutes ago standing before her. 'Is he… is he protecting me?' Even if only for a few seconds, Flare showed genuine surprise at the display in front of her. However, her brief confusion was set aside, instead thinking how she could take control of the situation and play it to her advantage. Being a manipulator, it was simply normal for her to bend people to her will to make them do whatever she pleased, but this thief was different, he wasn't as naive as most other naïve and foolish commoners.

'If I want to safely emerge from this situation, I need him to kill this… abomination first. My guards would then have to arrive, provide me with a healing potion... and eventually I would put this lousy commoner in his place… yes, and I exactly know what I will do with you…' Various thoughts began to shape in her mind, about what she could inflict as 'punishment' on the thief who had dared to challenge her and speak ill of her. 'Please my little thief, save this poor, defenceless princess… I'm begging you...' A satisfied wicked, sadistic grin slowly growing on her face while looking at him.

The chimera still howled in pain, clutching its bleeding eye from the rogue's dagger strike, which he didn't fail to notice.

'Looks like I could damage it more than I thought. Now…' The rogue's eyes fell on the chimera's second eye. '…how about the second one.' The man immediately surged forward, his scimitar blades in hands ready to strike. However, the lion-headed beast snarled as its body became outlined in a red energy, in seconds it let out a loud roar, realising multiple shockwave-like invisible circles directly to the running rogue, slowing down his movements.

'Wha the fu…' The rogue widened his eyes, caught by surprise by it. But he soon snapped back to reality to narrowly avoid the beast's slamming fist on the ground.

Unfortunately for him, the chimera didn't cease its assault, as the second fist crashed into the field, dark-purple, razor-sharp spikes erupted from the ground. While he was able to escape most of them… a sudden, searing pain shot through his leg thigh as one of the spikes had struck, leaving a bleeding wound in his thigh.

The rogue grimaced as he fell on the ground. "Son of a bitch!" In a quick attempt to escape, he immediately raised his arm and stabbed straight at the beast's still-lying fist with much more energy. The chimera snarled in pain as it paused its assault, giving him the opportunity to raise and step back from it, despite the remaining of the spike still present in the wound.

'At this rate, I won't last much longer…' The rogue cursed under his breath as the pain of his injury intensified each second. 'What the hell is it doing?'

Then, to their astonishment, the chimera snapped back, and it began to emit a powerful, swirling dark energy. A vortex of shadows and dark matter swirled around it, rapidly forming a gaping black hole in the air. Despite his efforts, the rogue's wound was hurting more and more, causing him to fall to one knee. Flare wasn't fairing any better as her own pain caused by the snake's bite and its venom was very much present.

'Shit! This is bad!' The thief quickly glanced at Flare. "Oi pinkie! You've got some spell to stop black holes up your sleeve?!" He hurryingly asked.

"What… what did you just call me, you dirty..." Flare turned to him with an offended glare.

"You've got it or not?!" The rogue snapped, not wanting to deal with her complains.

"O-of course I don't!"

As the black hole in front of them expanded, the situation grew increasingly dire. With a mixture of urgency and desperation, the rogue turned to Flare, his voice filled with urgency.

"Think of something, anything!"

Flare's teeth clenched in desperation, her brow furrowed as she concentrated, her magical energies swirling around her, before suddenly vanishing in the air. "What happened... I've never dealt with anything like this before. I-I don't know!" She exclaimed out of desperation.

The black hole's pull grew stronger, although her efforts, it was futile, Flare couldn't summon anything. With an overwhelming force, the black hole consumed them.

I admit I had fun writing this; especially the interraction between the thief and Flare, her getting pissed off and all. And as you've noticed, the guy won't take shit from anyone, one of those based fellows. In all seriousness, I have no idea if this will get a continuation. But I wouldn't mind you leaving your thoughts with a review.

This is all everyone, adios and thanks for reading!