As Noctua was hovering over me, I asked her: "Complete the connection of the joints on my shoulder with your energy because I have something in mind. Finish it and cast a veil over us and the fallen."
She hadn't understood why I was saying this. It was clear from her face, but it was fine.
"I know you didn't get it, but do what I say, and do it fast. Either way, have your pistol ready."
I looked at her over my head and I can say... that it bothered me, because she was looking at me with bewilderment, and what was probably going through her head was whether she should listen to me, but she wanted to say what was on the tip of her tongue.
"What are you saying? I just need to-" she continued to heal my wound. Exhausted and on the verge of a frenzy, I left no room for doubt. "LISTEN NOCTUA! Do what I say!" She was startled because I don't usually act like this, but she responded relatively quickly.
Noctua's gaze fell upon me, full of doubt, but she didn't hesitate to start the process for her veil. It didn't take long. As she cast the veil over the group, she chanted: "Relium personum!" (Protection in the shadows!)
To my good fortune, because she started the healing to rejoin the joints on my shoulder, I had a little time to react within the veil. Through the Codex, I communicated with all the survivors in a relaxed but also annoyed way, bordering on humorous.
"Toast, toast, can you hear me? This is Prometheus. Do you still have that pouch of crystals I gave you? If so, great. Now, eat one! It restores half your health and energy. I'll use mine to heal everyone who still has breath. Don't fail!"
The battle continued furiously. "Besides, I want to ring in the new year with food and drink... and good company! I don't know about you... that's why I'm asking you, ladies and gentlemen... What do you desire? Death or life? You choose... end."
Everyone looked at each other and started smiling crazily! They each ate a crystal and their bodies glowed. The battle took a better and stronger turn.
To my good fortune, I was among the fallen too, so I would be healed with them!
The connection of my joint was almost complete. I could hold the crystals.
Time stood still. Everything depended on this choice. If I made a mistake, it would be the end, not just for me, but for everyone. My fingers squeezed the crystals so hard they almost hurt.
When I crushed the large green crystal, I chose its energy and closed my eyes, trying to locate the auras of the wounded. There was a sense of relief when I located Hitomi's aura...
As they glowed with green light, even the large wounds closed... but the severed limbs also regenerated. I had managed to heal them, as well as my own limbs, even though from this immense effort I had no energy or mana left. However, the second crystal held the imprisoned energy of an earth mage, so... I chose to cast two oversized spikes into the beast's eyes.
The ground trembled as the monstrous beast appeared. A huge silhouette, a savage form, like a fusion of a Minotaur and a lion. Its mane had snakes for a tail, and for a weapon, it held a large tree trunk. This thing! You could NOT call it friendly.
As I studied the body of the beast, I absorbed the last crystal. I began to prepare my attack. To my left and right, two huge spikes of earth appeared, turning into rock from the pressure that was building.
But a thought passed through my mind for a moment... After all, a healer like me... they don't listen to him. He wasn't the type to go with the flow. Thanks to the Bargone siblings, Hitomi, and Noctua, we find ourselves here, in such a big battle. "Let's go," they said, "it'll be interesting," they said, "it'll be easy," they said. And now, we're fighting a demon and its hordes. Four teams and we can't hurt it. I'm going to make the difference, right... I'll do what I can since I've helped them, so they can't complain. I hope we get out of here quickly. As I was thinking this, the spikes were losing their power...
"Hey! Noctua, take our team and leave, we have no chance of making it now anyway, so-" But like lightning, Hitomi came close and slapped me! She was quite far away, how did she manage that?! Brek also approached, laughing. "Oh, do you think we'll let you die here?" Laima on the other hand: "It's a good thing you forgot that our communication channel through the Codex is permanently active. And I don't think we'll let you die here, but we'll kill you ourselves when we get back! Huh, what do you say, huh, huh?"
Hitomi lifted her head and spoke with her familiar smile, full of confidence. "Huh, Promi, you must be very naive if you think I'll let you, huh?"
Oh my, they were all so happily devilish! I smiled.
"Look, guys! Thanks for the kind words! And for the slap!" But the blood rushed to my head! I started clenching my teeth and my left eye was twitching, while my right one was wide open!
"ARE YOU GUYS INSANE?! Who said I would die in something like this!!!" I said, beating my hands and feet on the ground. I straightened my body, sat up better on the earth. "What I said, I said it because if you stay there it's pointless. What's about to hit it now will just delay it enough! Getting more seriously injured without healers around you is extreme, guys! Everyone behind me, NOW! Hitomi, give me your vision! Brek, cover the right. Noctua, back! Laima, left!"
My breath was so heavy that every inhalation was like breathing in blades. My body had surrendered, yet it refused to stop. "If I collapse now, it's the end," I thought, and I squeezed my fist one last time.
As Hitomi supported me with her body and had given me her hand.
I felt my eyes well up with tears. This moment was more than a relief - it was a reminder that my team was the only thing that mattered. "I'll never lose you again," I whispered, gently holding Hitomi's hand.
"Never again. Don't do that again," Hitomi murmured and told me, looking me in the eyes, supporting my body. "What not to do?" "Wanting to sacrifice everything without telling your friends first," she said, smiling bitterly. "You're not alone. Whatever happens, we'll be together."
I began the process to maximize the thrust and better re-composed the material of the spikes, but I heard a trumpet. But since I hadn't fully healed myself, my head was buzzing. Focused on my goal, there was a sense of pleasure.
"Hey, guys? Isn't it wonderful that reinforcements are coming?"
The slight smile on my face quickly disappeared as the others looked right, left, and straight ahead. Fear filled their faces, as if they were seeing a new nightmare unfolding before them. "You're a complete idiot!" they all shouted together, their voices a symphony of frustration and nervousness.
Brek, with his eyes narrowed, carefully looked at the flags fluttering in the air. Speaking in a tone that dripped with seriousness, he explained: "Those banners are from enemy troops. Ahead are two large banners, signifying two divisions with their leaders! And let's not forget the beast! In addition, the other teams are retreating."
I turned towards the direction he was pointing. The air around me suddenly seemed to get heavier. My eyes widened as my mind tried to comprehend what I was seeing. I contained myself as I looked in that direction, my eyes wide, and whispered to Hitomi: "Heh heh... Shiiiit!" My smile now looking more like an awkward admission of my panic.
But deep inside, it was not the time for fear or excuses. I kept my biggest secret. It was not the time to explain that I could draw energy from those who touched me. I hadn't done it like this before... At least not to this extent. Energy absorption was something that always scared me, something I preferred not to use. I didn't want to rely on others for strength. However, now I had no choice. If I took a little of their energy, maybe I could last long enough to make a difference.
I was keeping it a secret that I could take someone's energy if I touched them or they touched me, but this isn't the time for that! "Hey, Laima, Brek, Noctua! Quickly, come close to me and touch me. I'm sorry, but I'll need to drain some of your energy, almost equal to one of your special abilities." My smile was now more convincing, a mask of confidence that hid the tension of the moment. They looked at me with bewilderment, but they complied.
I could feel the weight of this decision crushing me. I didn't want to depend on them, but if it meant saving our lives, I had no other choice. I smiled, and they looked at me with a blank stare. They didn't understand that I had drained their energy, but for me, it was enough.
The two spikes I had formed earlier became six. They were huge, menacing, and the energy around them hissed as if warning of the coming destruction.
When the beast turned its red eyes towards me and looked in our direction, for a moment, I felt like I was seeing something... human inside them. Hatred. Rage. But also something deeper, more primitive. It knew it would die. It knew that I had killed it. And it did not forgive me.
With a menacing growl, the beast threw its head back, and the snakes on its mane hissed like crazy. The air around it changed, filling with electricity and death. The ground under my feet trembled from its power. I knew it - it would not fall without a fight. It roared and tried to run towards us, recognizing the danger, sidelining our leader.
My smile became devilish, full of rage and pleasure.
"Goodnight motherf***er... life is fun!" I shouted and unleashed the spikes.
The gigantic spikes were launched with a deafening sound, pummeling the monster. I launched 3 spikes, at the eyes and forehead. 2 on the shoulders. 2 on the knees, completely destroying them.
The spikes were launched with such force that the earth shook. The beast's cry echoed in the air, but it didn't fall immediately. It struggled, pulling the spikes out of its own body, until its last spark of life was lost. And the last one, to the heart... opening a large hole. The beast fell back.
The moment froze. Everyone looked on in awe, leaving everyone stunned. The kids were left with their mouths open! "I'm glad I took lessons from that old couple of professors who visited our school!" I said in a voice filled with false confidence.
But, there was no time for pride. I grabbed Hitomi's hand and started running. "Hey! If you want to stay there, we don't have a problem. We'll be at the tavern! See you!" I shouted with sarcastic flair, leaving behind a trail of doubt and... laughter.
Hitomi started laughing, while Brek looked ready to strangle me. Laima and Noctua were running beside us, their gazes full of bewilderment, but there was no time for questions.
Brek, in a voice that broke with tension, shouted: "A moment ago you were finished, and now you're acting like a runner? You rogue! What did you do?!" I looked over my shoulder, smiling with relief. "I'll tell you later. Run now!"
I had started laughing with pleasure, I had crazy energy, until we heard the drums of battle in front of us from the defense troops of our continent, Astraeus. We stopped and watched them advancing.
We saw the aerial forces, the support from the air commanders, the infantry with either swords or guns, or magic, with the epic cavalry on horses, and tanks with tracks. The cannons started firing either with magic or with a volley of projectiles, the armies of demons were falling faster than rain. The drums of war beat relentlessly.
A squad guided us to leave. We simply nodded to them as we ran through this endless army that was rushing to get into the battle. The air was filled with the sound of thousands of boots rhythmically hitting the ground, while the voices of the commanders echoed like war cries: "VROOOM! GAN! GAN!"
A commander stepped forward and shouted, his voice piercing the noise of the battle: "This is an attack from the Continent of Zephyrus! Our commanders had detected their movement long before they arrived here. Get out of here quickly. The battle will be fierce!"
I was thinking only one thing: "They all saw what I did to the demon... I'm probably screwed. Tch... I knew I would pay for this." These words echoed in my mind like a harsh reminder of the consequences.
And then... "AAAAAARGH!" A scream interrupted everything. It was so piercing that it froze the air around us. We stopped. We turned around at the same time and looked behind us. Our eyes widened as the dust from the battlefield rose like a cloud. There, a huge knight was slowly rising from the ground. His white light was almost blinding, as if it had been created from pure energy. His movements were slow, but full of power. His presence was like an unstoppable pressure in the air. "It must have been our leader's power," I thought, trying to understand what I was seeing. They say that the stronger and purer your soul is, the more powerful you are. Despite all that, I didn't particularly care at that moment. My gaze turned to my chest, where I felt the seal. I felt its warmth penetrating my body, as if it were hiding a living force, but there was nothing there.
A soldier of ours shouted: "Hey, you there, leave quickly! Only people above the platinum rank should stay, the rest of you go back. QUICKLY!"
We simply nodded to him and ran towards the city.
As we all left for the city, I let my legs lead me forward. But... something wasn't right. I felt it before I even saw it. An inexplicable shudder ran up my spine.
I stopped abruptly and looked down. My shadow... it wasn't obeying. It was as if it had a will of its own. Its smile... wasn't mine. It was dark, almost triumphant, as if it was happy about something I couldn't understand. My heart pounded. I felt my breath catch. And then, my shadow... smiled. Not with my smile. With something that belonged to someone else.
I could almost see it swirling through the battle, enjoying the destruction and the chaos, as if it craved the conflict. "What's happening to me?" I thought, while trying to ignore this bizarre feeling. I let my mind go back to the events that led us here.
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