Chapter 167: A candle before the storm

When Meira screamed Erik’s name, Comet’s medical team immediately pushed a magic stretcher up to the collapsed wall.

Yet she still held him in her arms, her hands trembling so badly that the female Healer beside her had to gently repeat the request to check his pulse.

"Lady Meira, we need to lay him down to stabilize his right arm."

"I know."

Meira answered quickly, yet it took several more breaths before she was willing to loosen her embrace. Erik was lighter than she expected. That fact made her heart grow even colder.

A man who had still been strong enough to hold her only a few hours ago could now only rest his head against her elbow, his breathing so faint that she had to lean close to see whether his chest was still rising and falling.

Mirielle’s butler stepped over the rubble, her commander’s uniform coated in gray dust. She did not seem surprised that her mistress had mobilized an entire escort squad for one man, but the moment she saw Erik’s injuries with her own eyes, the fingers holding her coordination board tightened.

"Get him onto the airship. Comet has cleared the flight route, and the hospital is preparing the emergency room."

"And Elowen..." Erik had mentioned her right before losing consciousness. Remembering that, Meira immediately turned to look for her daughter.

Elowen was being supported onto another stretcher by two Healers. Her face was pale and blood still stained the corner of her lips, but her pulse and breathing were far more stable than Erik’s.

Meira placed one hand against her daughter’s forehead, examining the chaotic mana currents caused by the impact, then reluctantly allowed the others to take her aboard first.

"Check Elowen’s back and shoulder. She took a very powerful blow. Do not overlook any internal injuries."

"Yes, my lady."

"The black-haired female soldier must be brought along as well," Meira continued, looking toward the woman who had just been freed from Dark Mist. "She has signs of parasitism. Isolate her mana before treatment, but do not leave her behind under any circumstances."

The butler nodded. As she signaled Comet to open another transport path, she reported through a communication crystal, "Target located. Lord Erik is alive, but his condition is critical. Prepare the Healer team to receive him and close all civilian air routes along the return path."

On the other end, a woman hurriedly asked whether Lady Mirielle should be informed immediately.

"Tell her we have brought him aboard," the butler replied. "Only say that. I will explain the rest when we return."

She could imagine how her mistress would react upon hearing the words critical condition. The Comet Squad still needed an intact city in which to land, and she truly did not want to deal with another emergency mobilization tonight.

The airship gained altitude the moment the last stretchers were secured. Beyond the glass cabin walls, groups of silver-armored Succubi flew close along both sides, using barriers to block the remaining Dark Mist.

Whenever the shadow of a monster appeared within the mist, a beam of light from the escort squad immediately struck down with enough precision that the ship did not even tremble.

But inside the medical cabin, no one had the mood to admire that combat capability.

Erik lay within a pale blue magic circle, his right arm held in place by a specialized brace. The deep wound on his upper arm still had tiny strands of black matter clinging to the flesh like spider legs.

Whenever Meira brought her mana close, they twitched and burrowed deeper, as though they knew exactly where the threat was.

"Dark Mist is still alive in the wound?" a young female Healer asked in shock.

"It is a remnant of parasitic mana," Meira replied, her voice unusually calm. "Do not apply restorative energy directly. It will use the mana flow to resist the wound-closing process. Isolate it first, then cleanse it."

She raised her hand and formed a thin ring of wind around the wound. Rather than forcing the Dark Mist strands to disappear with overwhelming power, Meira carefully separated them from the healthy tissue and guided them, little by little, into a prepared sealing vessel.

Every time a black strand was pulled from the wound, blood seeped through the fresh bandages, forcing her to coordinate hemostatic magic almost constantly.

Another female Healer held the broken bone to prevent further misalignment. A third monitored the mana flowing through Erik’s chest, occasionally frowning at the declining readings.

"Lady Meira, his pulse is weaker than when he first boarded."

Meira reached for Erik’s neck. Just as the report said, the beat beneath her fingers was frighteningly faint. At times, she had to wait so long that she feared the next pulse would never come.

It was like a small candle before a storm. One stronger gust of wind, and everything could immediately sink into darkness.

"Administer a stamina infusion. Reduce the stretcher’s movement speed whenever the ship changes direction. I will maintain his circulation."

She placed her hand over Erik’s chest. The Wind of Life spread its gentle glow, slipping through the blood vessels and organs suffering from injury. The bleeding slowed, and his breathing stabilized slightly. But something strange happened the moment she tried to replenish his stamina and mana.

The energy she sent in was not swallowed by Dark Mist. Nor did it violently resist. It simply vanished in silence, like water poured into a bottomless vessel, producing no effect whatsoever on the exhaustion crushing Erik’s body.

Meira tried a second time, this time with less mana and a slower rhythm. The result was the same.

"If there is no damage to his mana pathways, he should be reacting," she murmured.

"Could Lord Erik be affected by some kind of Dark Mist curse?" the Healer beside her asked.

"I do not know."

Meira hated admitting that. She had examined countless injuries, from broken bones and torn mana pathways to dangerous curses. But she had no idea what Erik had gone through inside the guard station or why both his mana and stamina had fallen to this level.

All she could do was look at the results before her and find a way to keep him safe.

A recovery pill was ground up and mixed into the infusion solution. Several minutes passed, but the readings did not change. When Meira used accelerated regeneration magic on the muscle after the Dark Mist had been removed, the wound reacted, yet Erik’s overall strength still did not improve in the slightest.

The young female Healer swallowed. "Could his body be rejecting treatment?"

Meira looked at the pale face on the pillow, then shook her head. "No. I can still save injured tissue, stabilize the bone, and reduce blood loss. There is only one part of this exhausted state that every method of recovery cannot reach."

She did not know the cause. The only certainty was that the more impatient she became, the greater the risk of causing Erik further harm.

Right above his head, a red notification window slowly appeared. No one in the medical cabin could see it.

[Contract Resonance: Side effect in progress]

[Status: Absolute Exhaustion]

[Time Remaining: 23:41:18]

[Nature: Immutable]

[Cannot be shortened or removed through ordinary restorative methods.]

The numbers silently ticked down while Meira continued searching for ways to restore his stamina. The red words did not declare that his wounds could not be healed, but rather imposed a limit on the exhausted state caused by the ability. Yet because no one knew that limit existed, everyone only grew more confused.

In the adjacent cabin, Elowen stirred slightly. A female Healer immediately reported the news. Meira hurried over to check on her and let out a breath of relief when she saw that her daughter could respond to being called, even though she was still dizzy.

"Mother... where is Erik?"

"In the next cabin. He is receiving treatment." Meira brushed aside her daughter’s sweat-damp silver hair. "Do not try to get up. Your shoulder and back took a very heavy impact."

Elowen tried to grasp her mother’s wrist. "That black woman... she came back. Erik had just shattered her, but she was still alive. Then I was hit. I do not remember anything after that."

Meira paused. "Erik shattered that thing?"

Elowen nodded weakly, then winced from the pain in her back. "He used a kind of power... I have never seen before. But he was badly hurt too. I wanted to protect him, but in the end..."

"Enough." Meira gently placed one finger against her daughter’s lips. "We can discuss that later. Right now, you need to rest."

She did not ask further. Elowen had only just awakened, while Erik was in critical condition. A fragmented account of the battle could not help Meira immediately understand what ability Erik had used, much less tell her what realm he had broken through to. What mattered now was ensuring that both of them survived the night.

When she returned to the main cabin, Meira saw the butler standing before the flight route information screen. She had removed her gloves, but her expression remained as stern as when she commanded Comet on the landing platform.

"How much longer until we reach the hospital?" Meira asked.

"The airship is following the fastest priority route. The light towers are active, and all checkpoints have been ordered to clear the way. The hospital’s treatment team is waiting at the landing platform."

"Then go faster."

The butler looked at Erik, then answered softly, "I understand, Lady Meira. But if we accelerate too much, the anti-shock rings will not be able to keep up when the ship changes direction. The madam instructed us not to let Lord Erik suffer any further harm. I believe we should listen to her this time."

Meira fell silent. She wanted to argue, wanted to say every second mattered, but the hands of the Healers holding Erik around her were enough to tell her those words were right.

"All right," she said softly. "Bring us home safely."

Outside, the light towers of Silver Moon appeared amid the night. From afar, the entire city resembled a river of light stretching to the horizon.

Hundreds of routes had been cleared, while Comet repeatedly shifted positions to keep the flight corridor open for the airship amid the steady hum of its engines.

Meira’s hospital came into view beneath a transparent dome. The landing platform above the building shone brightly, and two lines of Healers and medical personnel waited in readiness.

When the cabin doors opened, Erik’s stretcher was immediately transferred to another transport system, gliding smoothly along magic tracks leading straight toward the treatment room.

"Master."

Meira walked closely beside the stretcher, one hand still resting over his injured left fingers.

She had tried not to cry from the moment she found Erik’s broken right arm. But when she saw his motionless face beneath the hospital lights, tears silently spilled over once more.

She did not know what he had sacrificed, but she knew one thing clearly: that man who was always worried about others had returned in a state that frightened her more than any battle.

"I am here," she whispered. "This time, you do not need to try anymore. Let me take care of you."

There was no answer.

Only the steady sound of the pulse monitor echoed through the room. Erik’s hand remained still in hers, while the invisible notification continued counting down hours that no Healer could erase.

...

Erik did not know how long he had been submerged in darkness.

He only remembered Meira calling his name, the scent of blood, and the feeling of his left hand still trying to hold on to Elowen. Then all pain vanished, replaced by a breeze carrying the gentle fragrance of flowers.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the middle of a green field. White snow slowly fell over blooming spring flowers. In the distance stood an autumn forest of golden trees, while summer sunlight spread across the surface of a tranquil lake.

The snow touched his cheek, but it was not cold. The sunlight was brilliant, yet it held no heat.

Erik sat up and stared in surprise at his intact right arm. He tried clenching his fist, then raised a hand to touch his chest. Every wound had vanished, but that did not reassure him. On the contrary, it made him even more certain that this was not the outside world.

"Meira? Elowen?"

Only the rustling of leaves answered him.

"You are awake?"

A gentle female voice suddenly rose from beneath a large tree. It was so soft that Erik felt as though the entire field had just called his name tenderly.

He turned around. Where flower petals and snowflakes drifted together in the wind, the silhouette of a tall woman sat upon a white bed spread across the grass. Her face was hidden behind a thin veil of mist, but her relaxed posture and faint smile made Erik stop without thinking.

The woman raised a hand and lightly patted the empty space beside her.

"Come here, Erik. We have much to discuss."