How did it come to this?
Leaning over the opulent wooden table stood Effie and the Stone Saint. The elbows of their right hands rested on the table, while their palms were pressed against each other.
The Shadow was taciturn and indifferent, while the huntress was full of enthusiasm.
They were… preparing to arm wrestle.
Effie glanced at him and grinned.
"Wanna bet who's going to win? If I overpower your girlfriend, you'll owe me a shard… no, ten shards!"
Sunny sighed.
"What if you lose?"
The unruly huntress winked at him.
"...You know what, I don't even want to know. I don't gamble, so forget about it."
Effie sighed.
"So boring. Anyway… let's do this!"
She gripped the Stone Saint's hand and prepared to wrestle.
"Let's go!"
Instantly, both the Shadow and huntress tried to bring the opponent's arm down. The table groaned, subjected to a crushing amount of pressure. For a moment, it seemed that the Stone Saint was on the losing side, but in the end, her hand only moved by a millimeter.
The monster stared at the young woman with her ruby eyes, her face hidden behind the visor of the helmet. There was no emotion in her gaze.
Effie's hazel eyes, on the contrary, were full of mirth. There was a relaxed smile frozen on her face.
However, Sunny could see that she was putting her all into this struggle. The lean muscles tautened under the olive skin of her back. Her whole body was like a loaded spring, brimming with strength and overwhelming power.
And yet, the Shadow's hand did not move.
It seemed as though neither of them could overpower the other.
'Huh. I wonder who will give up first…'
A second after second passed in silence, but nothing changed. Both Effie and the Stone Saint were persisting, not giving up even a tiny bit of ground. The amount of strength they were exerting to keep this volatile balance made Sunny sweat a little.
'They're both monsters!'
…In the end, the first one to give up was the table. Not able to withstand the pressure anymore, it simply… exploded.
Covering his face to protect it from the flying splinters, Sunny froze for a moment, then stared at the pile of tiny debris.
A feeling of deep sorrow and indignation pierced his heart.
'Oh… oh no! My table!'