Aftermath

Shivan stood still for an entire minute after the Bhalvach died. He was in complete shock. They had just killed a Grade 2 aberrant.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Aleixa leaning against the tree, breathing heavily. Blood was leaking from all her wounds and she was only conscious through sheer willpower.

Shivan suddenly collapsed to the ground and started coughing blood out. His body started screaming pain as if his soul was being torn apart.

He was barely able to drag his body next to Alexia. As he moved, he could feel his connection with mana slipping. By the time he reached her, he felt like he lost all mana. He couldn't feel anything.

"How are you feeling?" Alexia asked Shivan tiredly.

"I can't feel my mana," He responded equally as exhausted.

"You must have entered overdraft. I've heard it's extremely painful. And not possible to do normally. But it's not fatal. You should be able to recover your mana after a long rest."

Alexia's explanation made sense to Shivan. Though the Annihilation boosted his output, it didn't boost his capacity. During that fight, he used far more mana he had in storage to enhance his body.

"If I don't die from mana poisoning that is. Or blood loss." Shivan groaned with a wry grin. He could feel the dark mana ripping apart his body. Due to the massive slash across his body, the dark mana had direct access to his internals.

And due to his present lack of mana, he was basically just an object waiting to be corroded.

"Arlo saving me before was pointless after all." Even though Shivan was in immense pain and was slowly dying, he was still smiling.

"Ha... ha... I had fun." Alexia was barely able to keep her left eye open. She flickered in and out of consciousness.

"I truly had fun. It was more fun than playing soccer back then. I have no regrets. I lived my life how I wanted. If I could wish for one thing, I wish I could have lived for a bit longer."

"ALEXIA!" Chloe shouted from nearby. Arlo and her rushed up to the sitting duo.

"Ah... Chloe." Seeing Chloe gave Alexia a bit more strength.

"Don't talk." Chloe analysed Alexia's body. She bit down hard on her lip seeing her condition. It was a miracle she was still breathing.

"Don't bother. I cannot recover..." Alexia paused as if trying to come up with the right words.

"Huh... last words are hard. I guess I'll just say this. Chloe, you have talen. Don't worry about anyone's expectations. Don't let anyone dictate your life. Do whatever you want. You'll be great."

"Stop saying that!" Tears were visibly pouring down Chloe's face.

"Help Shivan. He has a chance of making it through this." With those final words, Alexia's eyes ultimately shut.

"No... no... no," Chloe muttered to herself. "I won't let you die. I'm sorry Shivan, I can't let Alexia die."

"It's fine," Shivan responded with a smile. "Help her."

"I'm grateful." Chloe then turned to face Arlo. "Arlo, patch up Shivan. There should be some bandages in the bag. Also, expel your mana to remove the dark mana in the area."

"Okay." Arlo did she asked.

Chloe then turned to Alexia. Her mana flared as she focused solely on Alexia.

"Workshop!" She called her the name of her gift as her mana flowed into Alexia.

***

Shivan didn't know how long the four of them were sitting there. Chloe was continuously using her gift to prevent Alexia from dying, but her condition was becoming worse. Chloe was fighting a losing battle. Any minute the scales would tip. 

Shivan wasn't much better. Arlo managed to bandage Shivan up, but he was still losing a lot of blood. But that wasn't the main issue.

It was the dark mana poisoning. Shivan had long told Arlo to conserve his mana. His skin had started turning an unhealthy dark purple.

"Chloe there's no point." Shivan finally told her. "Me and Alexia are both going to die. Conserve your mana and escape. We don't all want to die."

"..."

Chloe didn't respond. She knew better than anyone that Alexia was not making it out alive. She had denied it for so long but was finally starting to accept it. The rational part of her mind had overpowered her emotional side.

After understanding this a wave of guilt suddenly hit her. She just realised that had she not been so focused on saving Alexia, she could have saved Shivan. Had she been less selfish, then only one of them had to die.

"Don't worry about it." Shivan broke Chloe's thoughts. "You wouldn't have been able to save me even if you focused on me from the start. Your gift wouldn't help repel the dark mana."

Chloe realised he was right. The best way to treat him was to place him in an environment devoid of dark mana. But that was not possible in the Hollow Forest. The combined efforts of Arlo and Chloe wouldn't last much longer.

"Leave!" Shivan ordered the two.

"But..." Chloe tried to rebut him.

"You know better than anyone else that Alexia is beyond saving. At least you two save yourselves. It's what Alexia would have wanted."

After a bit more convincing, Chloe finally agreed to leave. She rubbed her tears as she bid farewell to Shivan and unconscious Alexia. They discarded all the equipment they had on hand deeper into the forest as they had become a corroded mess, before running towards the exit.

Shivan could distinctly hear Chloe and Arlo apologising as they ran towards the exit of the Hollow Forest.

Shivan sat there in silence when they left, just listening to his breath. He could somehow still hear Alexia's heart beating.

"She doesn't want to die just yet." Shivan mused to himself. "I guess I am the same. Why am I so desperately clinging on?"

But he understood. He was finally able to break his outer shell. There was a path to his goal. But it was unceremoniously cut off.

"What a shame. I guess that's how life is. But at least I am not dying alone."

As soon as he said had, a wave of exhaustion passed over Shivan. His eyes slowly drooped down as he embraced the feeling of death.

But before he could do so, he felt a massive spike in the dark mana concentration. It was beyond ominous. It felt like the devil had descended.

"What the fuck..." Shivan couldn't understand. It was tens of times stronger than the Bhalvach that left him in that state.

"Well... whatever. It doesn't matter. At least Chloe and Arlo escaped."

Shivan felt a huge spike of mana before everything turned dark.