Confusing situation

POV Julian Kingscrown

All I could see in front of me was total darkness, but I couldn't say correctly that this was an empty space because little by little my senses began to return.

The first thing was the penetrating smell of dampness and dust, then it was the taste in my tongue, there was a strong iron flavor in my mouth, followed by the sense of hearing, as I was assaulted by a horrible tinnitus noise and finally the sensations in my body; I was incredibly sore and tired.

Due to the pain, thirst and fatigue I had, I couldn't think properly, at this moment my mind was approaching unconsciousness.

But I was able to concentrate enough to scan my surroundings and understand my situation better, how did I end up here?

Little by little my eyes adapted to the darkness, so I could better distinguish the shapes of the place where I was and also the sounds around me became clearer.

I could see that I was in a cave, leaning against one of the walls, I tried to use my mana vision to have a better understanding of the place, but it didn't activate.

It was as if I had lost something I always had, that scared me and also increased my discomfort for not being able to understand my situation.

I checked my numb body and was surprised by what I saw, I had lost one of my hands that had now been replaced by a magic ice prosthesis, I also couldn't feel my left leg even though I was seeing it.

But the strangest thing was not any of the above, but the girl with horns sleeping on my lap, due to the low light I couldn't correctly distinguish her identity.

However, just by the shape of her silhouette, her soft breathing, the faint smell that emanated, but above all how well endowed she was in the right parts, it was clear that she was a girl.

And a very attractive one at that, my mind was filled with doubts, I didn't remember meeting someone like that and let alone that we had this kind of trust.

Trying to clear my mind to find answers to what I was seeing in front of me, I decided to feel our surroundings as I usually did, sending mana pulses.

But now it felt strange, besides I didn't have half the range I normally felt and lastly it was less precise.

What the hell is wrong with my abilities?, worried, I checked my mana core to rule out abnormalities and I got a huge surprise.

Apart from being in a backlash state it was completely fine, but when did I reach the white core stage?, surprised by what I was seeing, I focused even more on remembering how the hell I got here.

Unfortunately, I kept coming to the same conclusion, the last thing I remember is practicing the third phase of the will and then I was here.

Wait why haven't I activated the will?, realizing that I was injured, I tried to activate the will to recover, but it didn't work.

I turned my attention back to the core and saw that there was no will inside, my face turned completely pale.

My mind entered a state of chaos, confusion, fear and anxiety, plus the beats of my heart began to sound loudly in my ears, where is the will?

The hard work I had done for so many years had disappeared like a sand castle in the wind, I immediately felt a huge hole in my own existence.

I felt a void for having lost something important, in fact now that I thought about it I didn't feel my connection with Sylvie, the Acclorites or any of my beasts.

"Badum, badum, badum, badum, badum, badum".

Because of all these thoughts my heart sped up so much, that the sound in my ears became unbearable, but I couldn't care less.

Why was I so distracted imagining various scenarios that went through my mind: from being in a nightmare, to waking up from a sweet dream, the death of important people for me was repeated over and over again like a scratched disc regardless of my will.

I felt that reality had broken in front of me and was devouring me, taking me to an infinite void of absolute despair.

I'm sure that if someone saw me now they would think I'm pathetic, by the lifeless and empty look in my eyes they would probably think I gave up living.

Due to my mental state without realizing it at some point, I don't know if it was due to the sound of my heartbeat, or the small movements of my body, the girl began to wake up and now she was in front of me with tears in her eyes.

"Please don't make that kind of look," she spoke gently and almost pleadingly as she caressed my cheeks.

Despite the darkness that surrounded us, strangely she had a bright halo around her that allowed me to recognize her easily.

Her precious and pristine skin looked bruised, with some blood stains, she also had traces of being beaten on her body, as the traces on her clothes were evident.

Even with all that against her, she did not stop showing how beautiful the appearance of the woman in front of me was, she was Caerá.

"Please don't leave me alone in this devastated world," she spoke again in a pleading tone.

"You are the last person I have left after not being able to save my teacher," she spoke in a hoarse and breaking tone.

"I know we have lost everything, but we still have each other, so please don't make such an empty expression" she commented again between small sobs.

"If it's because you lost your hand and now you can't move your body properly, for trying to save me from the specters I apologize, but don't leave me alone, I beg you," she said finally breaking into tears as she hugged me.

"waaaaaahhhh, waaaaaahhhh, waaaaaahhhh".

Her warm, but affectionate tears that fell on my neck took me out of the stupor I was in and I immediately hugged her as hard as my body allowed me.

Only for this moment, only for this instant I felt that she was everything to me, I didn't want to let her go, she was the only thing I had in this world.

That was the only feeling that deepened from the bottom of my heart and it was the honest longing that I felt at this moment after having lost everything.

I didn't care about the way I got here, the only thing I could trust was what I was seeing in front of me at this moment.

And that was a terrible feeling of defeat filled with desolation suffocated by the warm embrace of the woman in front of me.

We spent several minutes in the same position sharing our warmth and affection that each one transmitted, until we heard sounds of crunching far away in the cave.

Caerá detached herself from my arms, dried the traces of tears on her face, gave me a warm smile and began to caress my strands of hair, at the same time she said, "fate is very cruel, don't you think Julian".

I felt she was forcing her smile, but at this moment I couldn't even speak properly to comfort her.

"I'll be gone for a while, but I'll be back soon," she said, giving the most reassuring smile she could.

Instinctively, I knew it wasn't going to be like that, so I tried to stand up, but my body was too hurt, I couldn't even breathe properly.

What the hell is wrong with me, I have to be so pathetic, get up, get up, get up, please I don't want to lose her too.

Tears and moans began to arise due to the helplessness I felt at this moment, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do it.

I saw Caera with a somber complexion, full of sadness and regret, which quickly cleared up, as she said for the last time before leaving the place where we were, "I'll be back soon".

I felt as if the world was completely over when she disappeared from my sight, so somehow I began to crawl on the floor, regardless of the damage I could do to myself, I wanted to tell her to escape, to abandon me her life was more important than mine.

But I arrived too late, after what were hours crawling through the cave full of scratches on my chest, I saw Caerá on the cold floor, her body was completely inert, with no sign of life, surrounded by a puddle of her own blood.

With a sore heart and my mind seemingly broken, I approached her and hugged her.

I cried inconsolably like a child for a long time, I didn't really know how much time had passed and I didn't care either.

Everything was over for me, while that was happening I fell into a deep sleep.

After a very long time I was standing again in a black space.

Now I was much calmer and began to reason correctly, why did I do that in the dream?

The strange thing is why I had that dream in the first place, it felt so real, so vivid, I still have the sensations stuck to my heart and the tears in my eyes.

My hands began to tremble as they touched my face, terrified that that dream would come true.

Immediately afterwards I felt an overwhelming pressure that brought out the most primitive instincts of my being and screamed at me to run away.

At the same time hundreds if not thousands of eyes appeared that looked at me with voracious appetite.

I felt that to their eyes I was an exquisite dish of fine meat ready to be devoured, from here their intentions were as clear to me as the sunlight.

I wanted to get out of here quickly, but my body was not moving because of how terrified I felt, what was in front of me was a being, many scales above me.

I couldn't even look at it directly because the moment I did I felt like I would be devoured, because of that my gaze was always stuck to what I could consider the ground.

Unfortunately, for me there also began to appear eyes and as that happened my pulse accelerated by the instinctive fear that the being in front of me caused me.

"Badum, badum, badum, badum, badum", was all I heard as nervousness and stiffness invaded my existence.

I clenched my teeth in the hope of being able to endure, even if it was one more second as myself, putting some kind of resistance, which might seem useless, but for me it was the last line of defense to not disappear.

Fortunately, it seems that my prayers were heard, as there was a strong tremor in the space and everything was destroyed in an instant, that is the last thing I remember before waking up in Hearth.

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POV Mordain Asclepius

How did we get to this, I wondered as I watched the boy in front of me.

Because I had not seen the parasite do anything in his soul for these two months that I had been observing him, I thought it would be okay to remove the safety of the third phase that Yimir had left, but I was wrong.

After removing the seal, that thing moved like a hungry beast that had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.

First it took control of the boy's artificial core and then invaded his third phase mixing something that I assumed was Miss Silvia's aura present in his dragon body.

Definitely, you are the perfect definition of anomaly and the prominent incarnation of chance.

I thought as I saw the horns on his head that reminded me of Kezess's daughter.

Now the question is how I solve it, he does not represent a real threat to me, I could stop him at any time and from what I can see the boy's condition will not last too long either.

So, what will you do mysterious being?, as I thought that way, the boy moved at high speed with a gust of wind around his body.

The variant of Mirage Walk?, it seems that he can use the boy's skills too, "Chul don't let him escape, but avoid knocking him out", I shouted as I saw the boy heading for the exit of Hearth.

Evascir also moved forward, as soon as he saw his high-speed movement and generated earth walls to prevent him from escaping.

Chul approached the boy who had the path blocked and threw a punch to try to prevent him from continuing to flee.

But the boy was much faster, deflecting his attack, while using his momentum to throw him and smash him against the wall created by Evascir.

I saw lady Sylvie about to run towards them, but I stopped her, she looked at me furiously, so I tried to calm her down, "Don't worry, the situation is not as bad as it seems, it still has a solution, I just want to observe him a little more", I said.

"How can you say that, it's my brother who's there being controlled by I don't know what and you're just going to watch", she replied, letting out some of her pressure.

"I know you're worried, but I want to try to understand his situation better; that's why I'm asking for your cooperation", I replied.

She just clenched her fists and withdrew her gaze from me, but she didn't move from her place.

I nodded as I saw that she listened to me and continued to watch the boy as I saw his exchange of blows with Chul.