Chapter 589 - Contractor (6) - Alex's POV

Although I was used to seeing Rika suffer from all her fevers, I could tell this was on a different level. Luke's hands uncontrollably shook, trying to follow my granduncle's instructions. Our grandparents were one of the most powerful people in the world, able to solve anything. If one of my grandfathers was giving up, it was a sign nothing more could be done. If Rika died, Luke would turn into an empty doll.

Luke almost dedicated his entire life to Rika to the point they were nearly never separated from each other. I remembered the times when Luke thought Rika was dead, his eyes lifeless, tightly hugging himself. He blamed everything on himself, wondering why he didn't watch over her enough. All our words of comfort never reached him, feeling like the world lost its colour to him. I wondered if Rika ever cared about the people she would leave behind.

"You should adjust your control a bit," my granduncle gave pointers to Luke.

"Will Rika live?" Luke repeatedly asked him.

"We're not going to give up on her. She will survive through this," he briefly faltered from pushing himself.

"I think I can push myself further," my grandfather joined in, lifting his sleeves.

"You can take over her organs on that side," my grandaunt gestured to him.

"Why is everything failing this much?" He found the situation to be disastrous.

"It wasn't this bad ten minutes ago," he questioned them.

"The reversal is getting worse every minute. It doubles in its intensity," my other grandfather pointed out.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I turned to them.

"Keep us updated on what the machines show," my granduncle gave me a role.

"But her heartbeat stopped," my eyes widened, staring at the screen.

"It's been like this for ten minutes," he revealed, desperately trying to revive her.

I read the results multiple times, recalling everything I learnt in school. Since her heart had failed, no blood could circulate. Her lungs had entirely collapsed, no signs of breathing shown. Meanwhile, more mana was leaking out of her, draining her remaining lifeforce. Rika had to be dead. I couldn't read these results out loud. Luke was frantically pouring nearly all his mana into her, hoping she would wake.

I didn't want to believe that Rika was dead. All those sleepless nights spent to help recover her health together with Luke in the past. The times I was forced to play dolls and other childish games with her since she was bored. Her bright and energetic smiles whenever she was with her friends. Although I knew Rika disliked me, I couldn't completely hate her back. I invested a large amount of effort and time into her to help my cousin. We were family.

Her nearly blue skin was starting to get filled with colour, turning into faint hues of pink underneath the paleness. Although the blood loss wasn't stopping, the situation wasn't hopeless anymore. My granduncle sighed in relief, finally taking the chance to rest. Luke tightly grasped onto Rika's hand, looking for her pulse. My grandfather was stunned, staring at Rika who had managed to come back to life.

My eyes widened when Rika opened her eyes. She blinked several times, looking a bit confused, turning her head to study her surroundings. Nobody expected her to be conscious this soon. She slowly rose to sit on the bed, looking a bit annoyed. Unexpectedly, her eyes twinkled, "I managed to get rid of four potential contractors. This is why I came back."

"What do you mean by come back?" My granduncle wondered.

"I've done enough on the other side," she shrugged.

"I managed to condense everything into two more days," she seemed to be proud of herself.

"Condense?" My granduncle was confused.

"I've solved a part of the problem. The medicine and heal let the fairies increase the speed of the reversal. It was a struggle to convince them to push everything to the limits," she frowned.

"You did everything intentionally?" He raised his voice.

"It's better to get it over with. I knew I wouldn't die. The fairies said I was only dangerously close to dying. That's where I stopped with increasing the speed," Rika revealed.

"I knew there was something wrong when her condition dramatically worsened for no reason," my grandfather grumbled.

Rika always had a way of disappointing the people around her. While we were busy worrying about her, she was the one causing her near death the entire time. Even the fairies disagreed with her in pushing the process to its limits. The room went silent, many of us furious towards her. This was why none of us could give her the freedom she desperately wanted. She didn't deserve it.

"We're moving the days of freedom to fifty years later," my granduncle determined.

"That's not what you promised," Rika narrowed her eyes.

"Micah, I want you here," she mumbled.

Her words and actions weren't making sense. Rika was telling us she managed to reject all her potential contractors, but she was trying to summon a fairy. A tiny hole appeared in the air, swirling to increase in size.. While I breathed in the high mana levels, watching a portal starting to form.