Hallucinations of a Dying Man

"MONTIS!" Aeon yelled at the top of his lungs. He immediately dropped the two people he was carrying and rushed forward like a lightning bolt, his Tenro fully activated.

After reaching a certain distance, he suddenly shot forward! Shooting Star!

Aeon was heading directly towards the exposed back of the man he assumed to be a Greater Demonic Beast. However, unexpectedly, the man turned around at the last moment.

The man with long gray hair blocked using his free hand.

The tip of Aeon's two blades connected with the man's palm! He spun a few times in the air before he finally dropped to the ground.

His attack had even failed to make the beast bleed.

But Aeon was not discouraged!

"Let go of Montis!" Aeon yelled full of rage!

Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing!

Aeon rapidly slashed at the gray-haired man with his full force, prompting the latter to defend! Despite all Aeon's efforts, the man remained unharmed.

Dance of the Celestial Swords: Half Moon Blade!

Zeng!

Tak!

The beast once more successfully blocked.

The situation looked terrible. None of Aeon's attacks were able to penetrate the enemy's defense.

However, Aeon was already expecting this.

The Half Moon Blade was a setup to force the beast to block and expose Montis.

Aeon once more used Shooting Star. But this time, he used it without his swords. He sheathed his weapons and used his hands, instead, and he headed straight towards Montis.

Although Aeon shot forward at an immense speed, he handled Montis with utmost care. It didn't even seem like he crashed on the person.

Aeon grabbed Montis. The Demonic Beast was not able to see through Aeon's plan and wasn't able to keep the other human in its grasp.

Success!

Aeon was able to pull Montis away. After he landed on his feet, he immediately laid Montis down on the ground. Montis coughed multiple times, and his abdomen bled profusely. Without thinking twice, Aeon pulled a bottle out of his pocket and poured down its contents in Montis' mouth.

With the last willpower of the semi-conscious Montis, he was able to swallow the liquid that Aeon poured on his mouth. The wound on his abdomen was visibly starting to heal.

Aeon looked forward once more only to see that the gray-haired man was already out of sight. Then, he sensed immediate danger from his left! Instead of blocking, Aeon grabbed Montis and jumped away.

BOOOM!

Aeon covered his eyes to avoid being blinded by the dirt that flew everywhere. The mushroom cloud formed by the Demonic Beast's attack shot towards the sky.

Then, the muscles on Aeon's arms bulged. He grunted with exertion as he lifted Montis above his head.

"Catch!" Aeon yelled as he tossed Montis over at the others who remained dumbstruck.

Thankfully, the others had paid attention and saw Montis.

However…

Clink!

BOOOOM!

Amongst the group of people, a Burst Solution exploded. Aeon stared at the mages with shock.

After immediately snapping out of his daze. He did a quick 360-degree turn to reassess the surroundings! He was trying his best to identify where the Demonic Beast was!

With the help of his Tenro, he was able to make sense out of the blur he had seen in a split second. The two people they were meant to save were now out of sight. They were probably escaping as of the moment since they haven't been unconscious when he found them anyway.

Or, they were probably killed off.

Aeon did not care anymore!

He gave another glance at the mages and saw that someone had successfully caught Montis despite the explosion and was now running away. Aeon heaved a sigh of relief. At least now he knew that Montis was relatively safe.

But now, he had a bigger problem to worry about. Although he couldn't see the beast, he could still feel its gaze. It was preying on him. The pressure he was feeling was also immensely suffocating. He immediately pulled the potions out of his fanny pack and downed everything at the same time.

Recovery, Focus, Strength, Speed, Stamina.

Aeon did not know if he would suffer some backlash from using all five potions at the same time. But that was the least of his worries.

The potions all took effect after just a second. The good thing about the potions was that they would keep their effects for a certain duration.

Ten minutes.

He had ten minutes to shake off the Demonic Beast.

Aeon exhaled deeply through his mouth. He bent his body forward as he prepared to charge. He faced towards the direction away from where the others were heading. As Aeon felt his resolve burn, he kicked.

The trees within Aeon's point of view rapidly zoomed in as he moved forward. He advanced at a speed, greater than the ones he had demonstrated before. The distance between him and the edge of the clearing shrunk as if it was non-existent in the first place.

Unfortunately, that was the farthest he could reach.

Aeon's enhanced abilities allowed him to see the Demonic Beast's movements at the last second. It moved equally as fast as him in his enhanced state if not faster. It immediately intercepted his escape route and attacked.

The gray-haired man's leg connected with Aeon's abdomen.

Thud!

Aeon heard a clinking sound from his fanny pack. One of the packs was dislodged from his waist and immediately began to expand rapidly. It was torn apart by the crystals that rapidly formed.

The shockwave from the kicked destroyed his solutions. Thankfully, he didn't have any Burst Solutions anymore.

Whooosh!

Aeon shot backward like a meteor, heading straight towards the mountain's walls. With a loud explosion, he crashed. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and it dripped down to his chin. He felt like his internal organs would explode.

However, he didn't stop.

The moment Aeon landed, he immediately readjusted himself. Through the dust cloud formed by the impact, he rushed towards the direction he deemed invisible to the Demonic Beast's last known position. Aeon charged forward at an unimaginable speed despite his caved-in abdomen.

But it still wasn't enough.

A gray shadow appeared within Aeon's vision and the man swung a fist towards Aeon's face. In a hurry, Aeon blocked by crossing both of his arms in front of him.

CRACK!

Aeon wasn't even to let out a scream from the piercing pain he felt from his broken bones. He shot back once more and crashed heavily on the ground. His body continued rolling until he reached the mouth of the cave.

Aeon despaired.

Aeon was a mage, a superhuman. His body was tempered by magic and was extremely tough. Even mid-size magical beasts would have a hard time breaking Aeon's bones.

But the creature in front of him shattered the bones in his arms in a single hit. His ribs were probably broken as well and were most likely puncturing his lungs at the moment since he was starting to have a hard time breathing. 

Aeon felt absolute despair.

The Demonic Beast was just toying with him. Maybe even with its magic, it would've performed the same way. It wouldn't have killed him right away.

Aeon smiled crookedly as he looked at the night sky. He knew that the potions were not capable of healing bones. Just as Doctor Marie had told him before, they weren't at that point in the research of alchemy just yet.

He cursed at how stupid he was. How he was too emotionally driven. He couldn't believe how he sacrificed his life and his freedom just to save Montis Leroux's life.

Then he began to question himself.

Did he really do it to save another person? Or did he do it to save a teacher? A second father?

Was it worth it?

Maybe.

Would he still be able to escape?

Probably not.

Tick.

One second passed.

Dad would be really mad for sure…

Tears began to stream down Aeon's face. He dreamed that the Eclipse Phenomenon would suddenly be lifted and that the rescue unit would suddenly return with Montis alive and well.

They would burst in, magic prepared, and save him from the clutches of the Greater Demonic Beast.

But it was only fantasy.

It would've happened in the stories that Aeon heard from his father.

But not today.

Aeon gave up on escaping. But he still attempted to stand up.

Surprisingly, he was able to hold on to his swords earlier when he got blown away by the punch. He used his swords to prop himself up despite all the pain he was suffering. Every time his swords connected with the ground to support his weight, Aeon would feel a jolt of pain from his mangled arms.

Aeon didn't head towards the edge of the clearing anymore. Instead, he went inside the cave. He walked in slowly as he carefully avoided the large gaping hole he saw earlier when he rescued the two researchers.

His mind was completely blank.

He did not know what to do. But he wasn't panicking.

Strangely, the persistent green glow of the Eclipse Platform calmed him down.

Weirdly enough, although he moved like a snail, he didn't get attacked from behind.

Aeon moved all the way to the back of the cave. He leaned on the wall to slide down on the ground slowly. His butt hit the ground with a soft plop and he repositioned himself in order to relax.

Then, he faced the Eclipse Platform. Why? He didn't know. Maybe because it was really very soothing.

Behind the platform was the figure of the gray-haired man. His features were lit dimly by the dark green light. Now that Aeon gave him a closer look, he realized that he was about the same age as him appearance-wise.

"You wanna have a chat?" Aeon asked.

No response.

Aeon shook his head. He really wasn't expecting the beast to know their native language. At that moment, Aeon realized that he was strangely feeling at peace. He felt neither fear nor terror. He felt no anxiety.

In the face of death, everything was clear to him.

At least with his short life, he was able to free his father from his disguised captivity.

Aeon hummed a tune as the beast remained unmoving. He was halfway through the song when he suddenly realized that he couldn't recall where he ever heard it.

He simply dismissed it as something he randomly overheard from somewhere.

After he finished, Aeon closed his eyes.

The Demonic Beast started moving.

CLICK! THUD!

Aeon subconsciously peeled his eyes open when he suddenly felt the entire mountain sink by a few feet.

Then, he witnessed something incomprehensible.

The Eclipse Platform's green glow slowly disappeared. However, a miniature ball of white light was starting to form at its center. It was pulsating when it suddenly grew in size. But something told Aeon that it wasn't stable. It was about to explode.

Weng!

Aeon heard the ball of light hum, then…

The 'thing' released a beam of light upward, disintegrating a good portion of the cave's ceiling. It lingered to form a ray as the entire mountain violently shook. Aeon desperately found himself holding on for dear life as he saw the Demonic Beast get blasted to the side by the power of the white light.

The ground continued quaking, stronger than any earthquake that Aeon had experienced.

Are the Gods smiling down upon me?

Aeon propped himself up despite the burning pain in his arms. He took uneven steps as he struggled to move forward.

Even when he only took three measly steps, he encouraged himself that he was almost there.

Yes. Almost there.

With a burst of speed, he could bolt out of the place in a short second. If he could just find the right balance.

Sadly the moment Aeon was looking for never came.

The beam of white light slowly dissipated, and the quaking died down. The light only lasted for a brief moment. The people outside might not even notice it unless they were staring at the tip of the mountain the entire time.

The Demonic Beast was finally able to regain its balance and stood up. With this action, Aeon knew that his struggle was over.

On top of that, the ground beneath Aeon's feed suddenly cracked. 

Crack! Crumble!

Aeon lost the feeling of carrying his own weight. He felt like floating.

How unlucky.

Aeon fell through the hole that opened right beneath his feet. He resigned himself to fate. At least he didn't get eaten by a Demonic Beast.

But he couldn't help thinking about the last thing he saw as the white light dissipated.

The moment before he fell, he was sure that he saw a figure.

A figure of a human standing on top of the Eclipse Platform.

He had long white hair that flowed all the way to his lower back.

His nose was pointy, and his skin was pale.

What was weird was that he was wearing something completely out of the usual fashion, though it looked quite formal and majestic.

Aeon inwardly laughed as he was falling to his doom. What was he hallucinating all about? Had he finally lost it that he was now imagining some sort of savior?

Ha!

He eyed the hole that was slowly getting smaller and smaller. Aeon let go of Zephyr as he subconsciously reached upward. Tears continuously flowed down his face.

"Please..."

"I need help."

Aeon's figure was soon swallowed by the shadow of the abyss.

….