Chapter 148 A Long Night

"..."

Silence reigned in a completely dark space, a space which seemed to have no beginning and no end.  It was an inhospitable place in which the only thing there was was absolute darkness and cold.

Yet, in the midst of it all, floating towards no apparent direction, the body of a certain person was visible.

With graceful features and golden-colored hair, Faith was in an unconscious state, apparently resting in this cold and lonely space.

Her body, at this moment, did not seem to be made of flesh and blood, but seemed to be made of light, a light that despite being dim, emitted considerable warmth, something that seemed to give strength to the space she was in.

However, it could not be denied that with the passing of time, as the light emitted by Faith's body became fainter, the heat also became less intense.

As a result, the space around her was only decreasing in size, something that had been repeating itself several times and that, if it continued, would soon consume Faith.

Unfortunately, the person in question could do nothing, as she could barely if at all maintain herself in this form.

She was not conscious, not in control of anything, only being able to form odd thought which were influenced by the place she was in at the moment.

And what she could feel from this place, was only cold and loneliness.

It was a disconcerting moment, but of course, it was not for less, after all, these were Faith's last moments.

With her entire body failing due to the monster's infection, she really was no longer able to remain conscious or control anything in her body.

This had caused, in response to the impending threat, what was left of the person known as Faith to retreat deep within herself.

With this, one was able to observe how deeply related this esper's ability was to the person in question, with the effects of the ability even occurring at this ethereal level.

Undoubtedly, this specific moment would be something incredibly valuable to any kind of mage, but unfortunately, this was not something that the esper in question needed.

Esper who, even while in a deep sleep, was still able to deeply feel the coldness and loneliness that surrounded her.

And what was worse, she could feel how very soon, that cold and loneliness would become something she could not get out of.

Her light body, sensing this, began to put more effort into trying to keep the space stable, even at the cost of her own well-being.

*Crack!*

However, the moment she did so, her light body, which seemed to be intangible, suddenly presented a crack that covered her  entire leg.

This had been caused by the attempt to prolong something that was not meant to last long, the result of trying to change something that was already decided.

No matter how much she resisted, there was no way Faith would succeed in changing this outcome, no matter how reluctant her subconscious or her ability was.

*Crack!*

Stubbornly, Faith kept continuing to try to change this outcome, no matter how many cracks appeared in her ethereal body.

This process was repeated several times, and now the cracks almost completely filled the esper's body, being only one point away from breaking completely.

Unlike before, it no longer produced light or warmth , but now only a blotchy white color remained proof of her futile efforts.

Her state was now so fragile, that if she tried even just once more to stop the space around her from getting smaller, her body would not withstand it.

And that would, undoubtedly, be the end of the person known as Faith.

Even while unconscious, the esper also seemed to be aware of this fact, but that didn't change her next action.

Gathering every shred of willpower left in her body, she prepared to risk everything, in order to regain control of the situation... or fall into eternal rest.

*Crack!*

Again, the sound of something cracking echoed.

"..."

However, this time it had not come from Faith's ethereal body, but from the space itself.

In the part that could be considered the 'ceiling' of this space with no beginning and no end, a crack of great size had opened up, revealing a being that was anything but human.

A small parasite with incredibly sharp teeth and red eyes was peering through the crack, its gaze locked on the esper positioned directly below.

At once, the parasite leapt through the crevice, its target being the only source of light in this dark, empty place, Faith.

*Pop!*

With a soft sound, in a cool demonstration of its acrobatic skills, the parasite landed perfectly on the esper's abdomen.

For a second, the parasite's small body trembled slightly as it felt the little bit of heat emitted by Faith.

Then, without waiting another second, the little parasite, in the most fluid and gentle way, entered the light body.

"!"

This, immediately, caused a response from Faith, whose body began to heal very slowly and for a moment, regained its former glow and warmth.

And not only that, but simultaneously, the cold and loneliness she had been feeling until now diminished considerably.

So much so, that after a long time, there was movement coming from part of Faith's light body.

"...Ungh?"

Unexpectedly, she, thanks to the little parasite, had awakened!

The first thing she did, was to slowly open her heavy eyelids, managing to see a scene that while it would manage to scare other people, in her case, for some reason, made her feel at peace.

At the top of this dark space, in the same crevice from which the parasite had fallen, there were now more than a dozen pairs of red eyes peering out.

The next moment, these parasites also leapt toward her, each of them entering her body and causing a fundamental change in the esper.

*Bam!*

The sound of several explosions rang out, coming from none other than Faith's ethereal body, which glowed and burned like never before.

The glow along with the heat began to expand, filling the entirety of space and causing the same effect to repeat over and over again, with several explosions taking place everywhere.

*BOOM!*

With each of these explosions generating a great amount of light and heat, now not even a shadow of the desolate and silent space from before remained.

As for the source of it all, Faith, her body had not only returned to being the pristine source of light from before, but now also towered over all the explosions as the regent of them all.

Her hair, despite the lack of wind, rippled with incandescent warmth as her eyes gave off a glow that seemed to illuminate everything in front of her.

It was with these eyes that she was comfortably watching the chaos play out in front of her with a faint smile on her face.

A smile that made it clear that she no longer felt even a hint of cold, that the silence had long since been broken, and especially... that she was no longer alone.

***

Again in the forest, where Faith's body lay, a person was sitting cross-legged at her side, holding one side of a piece of cloth with his mouth while with his right arm he tied something on his left arm with the same cloth.

The appearance of this person was considerably bad, with blood stains and dirt along with cuts covering his body, from his heels to his head, all of which were visible.

The most striking wound was the one starting from his left forearm, where without further ado, the rest of the arm was missing and the part that had been affected could not be seen because it had been covered with a piece of cloth.

Still, the person didn't really seem as concerned about his wound as he was about who was in front of him.

"Hm, that's a good glow, looks healthy." Jay said, observing Faith's body, which was trembling and releasing a faint but noticeable glow that seemed to radiate vitality.

On his face, which had been completely devoid of emotion just a few minutes ago, was now plastered a smile of relief.

Relief that Faith was responding well to the 'treatment' Jay had performed on her, something that could certainly only be described as throwing various things into a soup and hoping it tasted good at the end.

But in a situation like this where there was no other option, this was the best and only thing he could do.

Confirming again that Faith's vitality levels were stabilizing and that her body was recovering, Jay stood up, "Now then... I'd better get to looking for the others."

As he finished saying that, with a slow motion and as careful as he could be with one arm, he lifted Faith up and put her on his shoulder.

"It should be...that way, I think?" Jay said, looking towards a certain part of the forest where he could vaguely 'feel' that his little ones were.

*Tap, tap, tap*

Then, without another word, barefoot footsteps began to echo through the forest, crunching leaves and bushes on the path.

***

In a short time, after going through various parts of the forest, Jay, following his 'senses', had managed to find all the people in the forest, starting with Vilda, going through Tom and Nico, and ending with Kai.

Similarly but less seriously than with Faith, each of them had also been infected with the black liquid, and with the only one to receive early 'treatment' having been Vilda, the others were at risk.

As a result, Jay was forced to perform the same procedure as with Faith, only on a much smaller scale, managing to stabilize them but with all still being in a recovery process that apparently kept them unconscious.

Having treated them, it was not possible for Jay to carry them all on his own, so making an incredibly crude little sled out of sticks and cloth he snatched from his patients, he stacked them like firewood and kept moving in the direction of the city.

His pace was slow and clearly weary, but he didn't stop for a moment, so without any interruption, Jay, along with his little sled, had made it to the edge of the forest.

A place in which Jay couldn't help but let out a weary chuckle as he witnessed the last barrier standing between them and the city.

"...Heh, it's really bad luck to get me twice in a row."

A large barrier without color but blurred to the extreme and with a similar hardness to the one he had come into contact with when he faced the chimera was in front of him.

Nonetheless, letting out a sigh, Jay put his right arm in front of him, and began to gather his strength.

*Crack!*

The sound of bones began to rattle as slowly, his arm began to stretch, his skin turning extremely pale and his fingers transforming into claws.

His intention was clear, he wanted to get rid of this barrier and he wasn't going to hold anything back to do it.

*BOOM!*

"!"

However, before he could cut anything, a loud sound resounded, with the barrier itself shaking heavily and ripples making themselves present on its surface.

*BOOM!*

The sound was repeated, and the barrier shook even more violently, becoming extremely unstable and losing its original shape, until finally....

*BOOOM!!!*

The barrier, being unable to withstand the attacks it was suffering, shattered into countless fragments, revealing the other side that had been blurry before.

Surrounded by a large amount of pugilistic flames that illuminated everything in her surroundings, the instructor of the training center was standing a few meters in front.

"You were really here, Sacrest!!!" The instructor shouted, beads of sweat and an expression of relief present on her face.

Standing next to her was none other than Syvir, who was the first to notice her co-worker's condition, "...Jay, your arm?!"

Seeing two familiar people in front of him, Jay, feeling all the weight in his body disappear, stopped fighting the fatigue.

*Pam!*

"Ah, Sacrest!!!"

"Jay!!"

With Jay having collapsed on the ground, both the instructor and Syvir rushed over, noticing at once that Jay was not alone.

Just like that, this long, long night was finally going to come to an end.