Chapter 53: Chapter 53- Choice

Acrypha looked around her warily as she stood in front of Talon. The latter was barely able to lift his eyes up to look at her. His face was now completely white and the sweat kept rolling down his face.

"I really shouldn't... Stay... Here..." He said between his heavy breaths.

"Just be quiet. There are monsters around you." Acrypha replied. "Even if I let you move right now, you will fall a few steps later."

'I can't carry him back either or my soul will be heavily damaged.' She frowned at the tough situation she found herself in.

Acrypha's ability to change any possible outcome in this world was heavily restricted. She can't kill any monster or alter something that the Core Dimension considers inevitable. The bigger the change, the heavier the punishment is.

'If I carry him back now with how important the Core Dimension deems Talon... I will be killed.'

So, her only choice was to stand there and wait for someone to come and bring him back. It was not an optimal choice but she had no other idea she could think of.

"How long... will I remain like this?" Talon asked as he finally gave up on trying to stand up and instead rested his head on the wall.

"A few hours at the least, a few days at most," Acrypha replied.

"Hahaha, brilliant..." He murmured with a dry laugh. Then, he closed his eyes and went silent as if he lost consciousness.

The two remained like that for a few minutes before Talon opened his eyes again and said.

"Hey, Acrypha."

"Hm?"

"Can... I... ask a... question?"

"Is this the time for questions? You need to conserve your energy." She said as she sat down next to him.

"It's... important," Talon replied.

"Ask away then." Acrypha looked at him with a curious gaze.

The young man ran his hand weakly through his hair before he finally spoke after settling his mind down.

"Will... I lose myself... if I become... strong in the... future?"

"Lose yourself?" Acrypha didn't quite understand what he meant.

"I mean.... change completely... from how I am now... become someone... different... someone worse...?"

The woman's expression changed a little when she heard those words. Her eyes closed for a second before she finally turned around.

"The short answer for that is yes, you will change completely from how you are now." She said.

Tense seconds passed as the monster grew even closer. At this point, it was certain that Talon was there and so it started hurrying its steps.

"No, no, no, no... Move over there!" Acrypha yelled as she looked at Talon and then at the monster. Even though she knew that it was pointless to do that since the monster couldn't hear her.

Meanwhile, Talon was completely silent the whole time. His expression wasn't as terrified as Acrypha expected. If anything, he seemed way calmer than she was as if the matter didn't concern him.

"Hey, Talon, can you move? Even if for a few meters." Acrypha asked in a borderline desperate tone. Even though she knew that it was a far-fetched request since Talon was barely keeping himself conscious that entire time.

Talon: "..."

Without responding, the young man dragged his heavy arm to the spear next to him as he tried to lift it. However, he could barely lift his arm. Clenching his teeth, he tried to force himself to stand up.

But, the effect of his burst of growth was simply too much to handle at that moment. He had no way of doing anything.

At that time, the Dimension Walker was merely a dozen meters away from Talon and growing closer.

Acrypha kept staring at the monster, her heart started to race faster than before and her breathing was erratic. As calm as she had always been even in dire situations, this was simply a disaster. She had absolutely no control over what was happening.

If she killed the Dimension Walker, the chance that she might sustain a deadly soul attack was very high and if she didn't kill it, Talon would die for sure. Either choice was brutal.

'Come on, Acrypha. Think! Think! What can I do? There must be something I can do.' She looked around her hurriedly.

"Acrypha..." Talon murmured her name.

"Don't worry, you will be fine." She spoke in a not-so-convincing tone.

However, there was nothing to do. The monster was now merely a few meters away from her. Seeing that, Acrypha froze in her place. She had a few seconds at most to do anything that could salvage the situation.

"Goddamit!"

Looking down, she clenched her fists.

"It's... Ok... I will be... fine."

"How the hell are you this calm?! I really can't do anything here!" She snapped back at Talon with a despaired look.

However, Talon shook his head calmly. "I will... be fine..." He repeated.

"Again with that..." Acrypha's eyes widened again as she found herself unable to even reply. Talon looked rather peaceful at that moment. For a split second, his image overlapped with a memory inside her head.

It was a fleeting moment and yet it made Acrypha's face change again. No one knew what was going through her head at that moment.

"Ah, screw it!" A few seconds later, Acrypha turned around to stare at the monster as she snapped her finger. When she did that, the Dimension Walker halted as if it was alerted by the sudden appearance of something.

Acrypha had shown herself to the Dimension Walker.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )