Chapter 283:Near death?

Chapter 283: 283:Near death?

The ground collapsed and Silver’s body dropped. He tried to activate Short-Step.

[Short-Step Lv2 Activated]

Nothing happened.

His reserves were too low. He tried again but still nothing. Silver’s eyes widened as the floor disappeared completely beneath him.

He fell.

The world turned upside down as stone rushed past him. He reached for the wall, but his fingers found nothing solid. Above him, the queen appeared at the edge of the collapsing floor.

Its enormous head looked down. For one brief moment, Silver and the queen stared at each other. He knew what was coming.

The queen opened its jaws.

"Shit!"

The creature struck and Silver instinctively raised his sword.

[Spatial Distortion Lv1 Activated]

Space warped around him but there wasn’t enough power left. The distortion formed for less than a second before the queen’s attack broke through.

Its massive body struck Silver and pain exploded through his entire body. He felt something tear through his body but he couldn’t determine what part it was. His sword flew from his hand as his body was thrown deeper into the darkness.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe, then the impact came. His body slammed into another section of rock and the force nearly knocked him unconscious before he regained it again but...

He fell again and again, his body had become too weak to support itself.

Every impact sent another wave of pain through him. Silver couldn’t even tell which direction was up anymore, then something struck him once more.

The queen’s attack had followed him into the collapsing tunnel. A massive limb or section of its armored body slammed into him.

His body twisted violently as something inside his chest cracked he couldn’t even fully understand what was happening. Blood filled his mouth.

Silver tried to breathe, still nothing. He could feel himself drowning in his own blood. His vision began fading as he felt himself falling farther and deeper. The cave seemed endless.

He finally crashed into the bottom. The impact was so violent that his body bounced once before collapsing against the stone.

For several seconds, Silver couldn’t move. He stared blankly into the darkness. His sword was somewhere above him, his handgun was gone and his entire body felt numb.

Then the System appeared.

[CRITICAL CONDITION DETECTED.]

Silver barely managed to open his eyes. His vision was blurry.

[Multiple severe injuries detected.]

[Internal bleeding detected.]

[Multiple fractures detected.]

[Severe tissue damage detected.]

[Life-threatening trauma detected.]

He coughed. Blood spilled from his mouth.

"Ravenna..."

The name left him almost unconsciously. His first thought wasn’t about himself, it was about whether she had escaped.

Then another notification appeared.

[Special Condition Detected.]

[Host has demonstrated a selfless protective action.]

[Host deliberately remained behind to ensure the survival of a protected individual.]

[Host accepted a life-threatening situation despite possessing an opportunity to retreat.]

[Relationship Condition: Genuine Sacrifice.]

Silver’s eyes slowly opened.

"What...?"

The System continued.

[Special Reward Generated.]

[Reward: Guardian’s Last Breath.]

[Effect: Upon receiving fatal or near-fatal damage, automatically stabilizes the user’s life force and prevents immediate death.]

[Additional Effect: Greatly slows blood loss and temporarily reinforces damaged organs.]

[Duration: Until the user’s condition stabilizes or the user’s life force reaches a critical threshold.]

Silver stared at the notification. For the first time since the fight began, a faint sense of relief entered his mind. It wasn’t healing him completely or restoring his body but simply preventing him from dying.

And right now, that was enough. Another notification appeared.

[Additional Reward.]

[Physical Attribute Increase.]

[Endurance +5.]

[Perception +5.]

[Mental Resistance +7]

[Recovery +3.]

[Soul Stability +5.]

Silver closed his eyes. The pain was still overwhelming. His body was still broken but his heart was beating. He was still alive.

Then he heard something above him, a low rumbling.

Silver’s eyes opened.

The queen had followed him. The enormous creature emerged from the darkness above and descended into the deepest part of the cave.

Silver stared at it.

Even after everything, the beast had followed him. He tried to move but his arm barely responded. He couldn’t feel one of his legs properly and his breathing was shallow. He was in no condition to fight.

It slowly approached.

Silver stared at it through half-open eyes. His mind desperately searched for a solution. Spatial Sense was nearly exhausted, Short-Step was unusable and the last Spatial Distortion had drained almost everything he had left.

His sword and gun were gone. And his body was barely functioning.

For the first time since awakening in this world, Silver found himself in a situation where skill, planning, and strength might not be enough.

He had fallen to the deepest part of Death Row Valley, and the Rank Six queen had followed him down. Silver swallowed the blood in his mouth and forced himself to stay conscious.

"Not yet..." His voice was barely audible. "I can’t die yet."

The queen continued approaching.

.

.

.

Far above the deepest section of the cave, Antony continued running through the narrow passage with Ravenna in his arms. His breathing had become increasingly ragged, but he refused to slow down.

The female form granted him the agility he needed to move through the unstable tunnels, allowing him to slip through gaps that would have been difficult for his male form, but carrying an unconscious adult woman through a collapsing cave was still exhausting.

Behind him, the sounds of the battlefield had become distant. The roars of the queen were muffled by layers of stone, while the constant rumbling of the collapsing tunnels made it difficult to tell whether the passage ahead was still intact.

Ravenna remained completely unconscious against his back.

Her white hair had become dusty, and small pieces of stone clung to her clothes. Antony had checked her breathing several times while moving.

She was alive and her breathing was steady. The strike he had used had been carefully controlled, enough to knock her unconscious without seriously injuring her. He had done it because Silver had asked him to carry her away, but now that he was actually doing it, the decision felt considerably heavier.

He glanced over his shoulder.

"You’re going to kill me when you wake up."

Ravenna didn’t respond.

Antony sighed.

"Actually, no. Silver will probably kill me first."

He continued running. The passage suddenly shook.

Antony stopped.

A deep rumble traveled through the ground beneath his feet. Dust fell from the ceiling.

His expression tightened.

"Come on..."

He looked ahead. There was still a faint glow in the distance.

The entrance.

They were close. Antony tightened his grip around Ravenna and pushed himself harder.

"Just a little farther."