Under the Veil of Night

"Iris warned me before I come here that I'll kill her, but I didn't listen to her," Kevin uttered out, his voice turned shaky even though he did his best to keep his composure.

Patrick's eyes narrowed as his mind recalled the time they headed down. Kevin entered a room near the entrance for quite some time. He thought that this young man just checked on Cain's condition, but it didn't seem to be the case.

Iris…

If he was not wrong, she was the girl with the ability to see the future. It was not really a powerful ability because this girl was weak and constantly fell sick, but this ability was very convenient. It allowed her to know what would happen and also let other people prepared for what was about to come.

That young girl had predicted that Kevin would kill Kanae in this place.

But Kevin didn't listen and continued to charge here.

"It's not your fault, Kevin. If it's me, I'll surely do the same with you because I'll do anything to save the one I love," Patrick replied in an unhurried tone. He was trying to make himself sound calm as he couldn't afford seeing Kevin like this and turned worse.

"Yeah," that was all Kevin's reply to him was as his gaze returned back on the girls' body.

His mind replayed their experience from the past until now. From the time she caught his interest back in Nolen School C, she continued to enter his life. Every moment he spent with her turned extremely priceless as he would never trade them with anything in this world.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

Her joke.

Even her cooking.

He hadn't had enough of them. He still wanted to experience them again and again. Living his life with her after they had reached their goal in this city has become his new dream that he promised himself.

"Wake up, Kanae. Please, I hadn't had enough of having you stay with me…"

Patrick couldn't bear to hear Kevin's grieve as he turned his head to Vena. His eyes grew cold when he saw the unmoving woman.

"You're Vena, right? What the hell is that controller?"

"It's the device Professor Taren planted on everyone here except Ferdinand. It'll corrode one's mind after a period of time depending on the amount of chemical liquid he inserted inside. Once it is fully embedded inside one's body, they'll lose their mind and be unable to control their body anymore," Vena replied in a solemn tone.

"Are you saying that it can never be removed and will kill someone slowly?"

"Yes."

Patrick's heart sank. What kind of professor that damned man was? He toyed with people's life, controlling their mind and body all for the sake of his research. It was truly madness.

"He's crazy!"

Bam!

Patrick punched the nearby wall to vent out his feelings. He knew that it would be a death sentence once someone became Professor Taren's lab rat, but he didn't expect things would turn out this way.

If only he knew things would end this way, he would never stop Kevin that day. Instead, he would take his spear and charge straight to this place without caring for anything else. More than anything, he didn't want to see Kevin experience the same thing as him.

Losing the person that they loved so much is painful.

But…

But it was only if.

He couldn't change the past.

Kevin still hugged Kanae with his face close to her. He didn't want to hear his uncle and Vena's talk anymore, but his ear still could hear them. His uncle's rage was crystal clear, but there was nothing they could do anymore. There was no medicine to revive a dead person.

He lowered his face further until it was close to Kanae's. His eyes were trying to capture her every detail as if he wanted to engrave them to his memory forever. His eyes turned watery once more.

"Don't leave me…"

One drop of tears trickled down from one of his eyes down his cheek and fell on Kanae's cheek. He was about to speak again when he saw light appeared from his own tears. It started as a dim light and turned bright slowly.

"What is…?"

Lowering their eyes, they could see that the tears had turned into light as it seeped into Kanae's cheek. Patrick was stunned that he moved back immediately. The light enveloped both Kanae and Kevin as he was still holding her tightly in his embrace.

'Warm.'

All he could feel from the light was warmth. It was not too hot that it would kill him, but it was not cold. The light felt as if it was giving him new life. He looked at his arm and found out that the grazes that he got from fighting all these times were healing at a visible rate.

His eyes darted to Kanae's direction immediately. He saw the wound on her chest had started to close down too. If not because of the bloodstain on her clothes and floor, no one would be able to guess that she used to be wounded so badly. It was simply amazing.

Seeing the light, he recalled the day before his departure to this place. On his deathbed, James Doha forcefully awakened his talent. He was not sure about what kind of ability that boy had, but there was a light that James gave to him. The light landed on his eyes.

James didn't tell him how to use it and what the use of the light was. But now, he was certain that James knew that something like this would happen, so he gave his power to heal them.

'Brat, thank you.'

He was delighted when he felt Kanae moved. It might be weak, but his sharp sense definitely caught that. Happiness and relief spread over his entire body. From the bottom of his heart, he felt glad that she is alive.

She is alive and that's all that matters.

When the light subsided, their wounds recovered. Kanae opened her eyes slowly. She was confused why she could sense something again when she was certain that she would die.

Seeing the face of the man before her, a smile appeared on her lips.

"Kevin."

Instead of answering, Kevin reached out his hand and touched Kanae's cheek. His movement was extremely slow as if he was afraid that this was nothing but a dream. As his finger touched her cheek, he could feel her soft skin. From his finger, it became his palm. Feeling the warmth from Kanae's cheek, he came to his senses that she had truly come back to life.

Her smile was exceptionally bright, making him elated. He hugged the girl tightly to show that he didn't want to lose her again. The feeling of losing her once was already more than enough to send him into despair. He wouldn't be able to handle the same feeling once more.

Patrick gazed at the two of them with his mouth hangs open. T…That….H…How did he bring someone back to life? That was truly unbelievable!

If this was yesterday, Patrick would have laughed if someone told him that there was an ability to revive someone. But now, he had to believe that there was truly that ability because he had seen it with his own eyes!

When he return back and tell others, he'll beat up whoever didn't trust him!

Although Kanae didn't understand what had happened, she wouldn't bother thinking about that.

"I'm alive?"

"Yes, you're alive. Don't you ever do something that foolish again, Kanae!"

"I-I'm sorry," Kanae muttered.

Kevin replied in a soft inaudible voice as he hugged Kanae tighter. He didn't want to let her go at all. Right now, he didn't care about the fight or anything else. Just for a minute, he wanted to sink in his mind that Kanae is alive, and she's with him.

Kanae smiled back as she moved her hand to hug Kevin. She was not sure what had happened during the time she was 'dead,' but it didn't matter anymore. The most important thing was she is still alive and Kevin too.. She hugged Kevin back tightly as if she wanted to have him all for herself.