Chapter 39: The Flashbacks

When everything got clearer, that Gary's hunt for the boar had brought him peril, Allen rushed to the fallen man. He kneeled right beside him, checking the pulse in Gary's neck and waited.

His eyes widened when he felt nothing. He touched the man's arms to confirm something.

"He's still warm," Allen whispered. He then closed his eyes and placed his hand on Gary's chest, trying to feel the heartbeat better.

Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.

Allen opened his eyes and not waste a second more. The man's heartbeat was faint, and if he lingered longer, he won't make it. He had to bring Gary to an emergency room right that moment.

The boy was oblivious as to how to carry around. He was so used to the one being carried after their battles. He smirked when he remembered something from his past.

Then, his eyes widened. He touched his head as the unfamiliar scenes of his previous group helping him played in his mind like a movie. The flashes were too strong that he felt his body weaken.

"What are these?" Allen asked out loud as he felt tears stream down from his eyes. "They left me all alone. I was the one helping them."

"No, they were the ones helping me all along."

"You're wrong! I'm–"

Before Allen could continue, his head was filled with a single memory. It was a woman offering her hand to him.

She wore a white fitting cloak and a small headdress. On her clothes were light gray detailing, and on her chest was a cross. This outfit was commonly used by the support-healer roles. White clothing enhances their healing capabilities massively, so they has to wear as much as they could.

She was also pretty. Her eyes were blue like the ocean and her hair were blonde that was tied to a ponytail behind her head. Her teeth were white, and her skin was pale.

As allen watched the woman, he couldn't stop his heart from beating faster. His lips went agape as the woman winked at him.

"Allen, let's go," she smiled. Behind her were the other members of their group. They were all smiling while looking at Allen who was laying on their ground.

The tears from his eyes flowed stronger. He was now sobbing as he reached out his hand to take the woman's own hand.

Just a few seconds from touching, the woman vanished. Allen's eyes widened after everything went pitch black and cold, as if he was inside a dark freezer.

"Hello?" Allen called out, only to have no response.

He walked aimlessly around the darkness, trying to look for an exit. Not a couple of seconds later, right in front of him, he saw a light. He could also hear the voice of the beautiful woman he saw just now.

"Allen…" she trailed off. The boy smiled after hearing his name. He walked towards the light, but his eyebrows met when he felt an eerie feeling. "Allen, run!"

The light slammed itself onto Allen. He was now in the middle of a red battlefield. There were flames, blood, and dead bodies.

He was sitting on a large clearing. The large trees that surrounded the clearing were on fire. Blood was everywhere too, drenching the dead bodies whom they once belong to.

Allen looked around, gulping when he didn't know what was going on. He tried to look for anything, but there wasn't any clue as to what was going on.

"It's here!" a man yelled. "It came back!"

The large burning trees shook. Allen stared at the trees as they parted, making way for a giant lizard that breathes out flames like it was air.

"It hasn't ascended to Paradise yet," a woman cried. "This campaign is hopeless."

Right after he said that, five people appeared in front of him, three men, and two women. It was nighttime, but with the white light of the moon and the bright red light from the flames, he could see that these people were the ones from his group.

"Let's go finish this," their leader, Lewis Nixon , said. He opened his palms and conjured his large blue sword. It was called the Ocean Diver. A sword capable of splitting small rivers in half.

Kyle Morgan kneeled and assumed his position as the archer, "I'll cover you."

"Me too," Irene added, being the long ranged mage.

"Let's go!" Lewis commanded. He was the first one to run to the large flaming lizard, the other member was following him with an equal speed. Selena didn't follow them. Instead, she kneeled in front of Allen and let her hands glow.

"You're going to be okay," she said.

"What's going on?!" Allen yelled. He tried to stand, but he felt something in his lap. When he looked down, he saw a headless body. The clothes were similar to the blonde woman before.

Taking out a sharp breath, Allen awoke from his nightmare. He was back at the forest, and Gary was groaning beside him.

"Oh, right," Allen said, shoving the thoughts away. He kneeled beside Gary and pulled the man to sit up. He then placed both the larger man's arms around his neck before he stood.

"Why are you so heavy?!" Allen groaned as he carried Gary on his back.

While the man was dying behind him, he leaned down and touched the broken shotgun. "Store."

The weapon glowed, successfully entering his palms, and into his Inventory. It turns out the Inventory feature also store broken items. There must be some reason why it did, like because it was a weapon from the Otherworlds.

And one more thing was clear, the shotgun wasn't a Code. It was an artificial weapon that Gary carries around while hunting. What Allen said to Shawn somehow might be true after all.

The ox-looking man carries this weapon around like it was his oxygen tank. If this was a Code, he could've stored it in his interface so it would be safer.

Shaking the thoughts away, Allen looked around in case a beast was waiting to pounce on him once he lets his guard down. When there was none, Allen continued to carry Gary back to the camp.