Chapter Twenty-Four: Edge of Death

Chapter Twenty-Four: Edge of Death

Chax and Ginnie were coherent and conscious about forty minutes later, but they weren’t out of the woods. Stable? Yes, but just barely. To my surprise, the potion was working more for them than me.

I wasn’t that injured. Just a cut, really. Wonder if its effect varies based on the HP of the drinker.

Sekh helped Ginnie to her feet, and I took Chax—lending them our shoulders as we slowly limped out of the dungeon. I took point with my gun pointed ahead while following the 3D map in the corner of my vision.

The two were mostly quiet, other than some grunting from the agonizing pain. Along the way, Ginnie just lost all the strength in her legs and had to be carried. Sekh didn’t mind it, though. Immediately after the surgery, I talked with her and Tilde about my feelings on the matter. I was thankful for the fairy’s long life. As perverse and horny as she could be, her heart was kind. She was really the perfect teacher. She spoke sweetly and never once lost her patience. Her questions were leading and honest, and they let me draw my own conclusions while never once outright letting me know what the answer was.

Without her and Sekh, I would not have gotten this far. I couldn’t imagine life without them.

“Ginnie...” Chax whispered his lover’s name and started the waterworks. We slowed down to just a step every few seconds. His strength was fading, but not his HP, which was good. It was hard to tell what flowed through veins? Anger? A desire for revenge? His love for Ginnie? Hatred for his former friends? Muddled feelings towards me? Confusion of it all?

I remained silent because everything about him quivered. He struggled to turn his head towards Ginnie and stared at her weakened face and strained breathing. He watched her like a hawk. But then he’d turn to stare down the mineshaft we were traversing. The torches lining the walls were like little fireflies fighting an encroaching shadow to someone like Chax, but it was perfectly illuminated for me. Sekh just expertly traced my footsteps as I led us through the flattest path with the least number of little obstacles.

Progress halted when we saw a pair of Racoonfolk walk from a room with their weapons defensively raised. They were curious at the footsteps approaching them, and Chax recognized them. They knew him as nothing more than an acquaintance. But after he vaguely explained what happened, the two with bushy tails offered to take Chax and Ginnie off our hands. To be fair, Sekh and I were filthy and covered in sweat, blood, and dirt.

“Thank you, Ms. High Elf, for... I promise... Ginnie and I won’t ever forget it... I’ll take...your words to heart. I know what I must do...” Chax tearfully whispered. He couldn’t meet my gaze for more than a few seconds before hastily turning away.

Before leaving, the Racoonfolk offered us the contents of the chest that spawned in the room they emerged from, and I had no intention of turning it down even after they said it was probably a trap.

Sekh cracked open the unlocked chest when we were alone, revealing something startling made from string, rope, and leather.

Makeshift Holster (0/0)

“Huh... I didn’t expect this. Now I don’t have to keep it in storage anymore.” I grabbed the holster, put it on, and slid my 9mm inside it.

It was a perfect fit. Seconds later, the ground rumbled as goblins filtered through the back wall, which dissolved into goop. Sekh exclaimed it was a trap, but we remained calm and ready.

The battle ended quickly, but I was dangerously close to running out of ammo. After reloading, I had 12 rounds left to my name. Tilde was on guard duty while I ate. Sekh stood beside me, and I hugged her to feel her touch.

“What’s that?” Sekh asked a second later when the ground subtly rumbled like there was an earthquake. She put her dirty ear to the shaking floor and ran to the room’s entrance. I remained standing and zoomed out my map. From the end of the hallway came a lot of white dots. Using satellite mode, I spotted a group of four humanoids wearing robes running away from a large gang of spiders and goblins. They were all wounded, and the only girl amongst them held an unconscious animal in one arm. Her other hand was compacting mana in her palm.

Upon further [Analysis], it was a spell called [Lure]. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

“Quick! Throw it in there!” shouted one of the guys. I hurriedly shouted for Sekh to return as I turned my map back to normal.

“That’s a monster train!” Tilde exclaimed right after me. “Run! Get back into the room!” She flew behind Sekh and yanked her hair, forcibly trying to drag her away. We huddled within the false wall that had dissolved to reveal the trap goblins.

The sounds of running grew louder when the group hurriedly scampered by the entrance of this room, but not before throwing the accumulated energy our way. It seemed like time slowed to a crawl. In that fragment of a fraction of a second, the woman who threw it mouthed a hasty apology with fear filling her eyes.

A second later, no less than 10 Alpha Lesser Araneae, 15 Alpha Lesser Goblin Spearmen, and 5 Alpha Lesser Goblin Archers rushed into the room. Sekh and I were between a rock and a hard place.

The Dark Lord of Tyranny...

My title alone was enough to strike primordial fear into the souls of anyone who heard it. Even mothers would abandon their children if it meant my rampage would be slowed for a second. I once had the power to tear mountains from the ground with a swing of my mace. The legendary Ancient Elder Dragons fell in line after I alone delivered the head of their strongest warrior.

Which made it more shameful that I was struggling against a paltry force like this. My past self’s [Tyrannical Madness]... Oh, how I missed it so! Just a single glance upon me and my armor would flood these weaklings with enough insanity that they’d have no choice but to slit their throats and end their life.

Master stood strong and powerful as she barked orders with a royal voice. As I rushed to block the five arrows coming our way, her pistol became the embodiment of living fire. She aimed it past me and held the trigger. When she charged it to the max, a large, explosive ball of fire rushed to engulf the approaching foes. It was so bright that it looked like the sun was shining.

But an Alpha Lesser Araneae stabbed two goblin archers to use as living shields, rendering Master’s powerful strike ineffectual. The world turned completely black until my eyes adjusted, and the dust still hadn’t settled. When it did, every goblin and spider charged us at the same time.

“Sekh, hold the line,” Master commanded. Even after her initial attack failed, she raised her gun determinedly and began to fire, quickly killing the remaining archers with expert marksmanship before the first goblin reached me.

Those first few seconds were the closest thing to normalcy this battle had because pure chaos was born from the ensuing melee.

I fought with all the power I had, blocking thrusts from spear and spider, but the shield soon broke in half. The opposing army had a numerical advantage. Individually, they were weak, but I was only a pathetic shade of a glimmer of what I was at my strongest. How shameful was it that the spears managed to taste my blood. How disgraceful was it that the weakest spiders in the land had pushed me to the limit.

And how degrading it was that my Master had to suffer most of all.

She fought with every bit of rage trapped within that beautiful soul, which shimmered brightly. She had taken to her life as a chimera with ease. After a few weeks, she effortlessly danced transfigurations up and down her body.

But it wasn’t enough. There were too many enemies. Master and I fought back-to-back, dodging and counterattacking when possible, but we weren’t omnipotent. We couldn’t see in our blind spots, especially when there were foes all around us to block our peripheral vision.

We couldn’t prevent the spiders from immobilizing and separating us with [Web Bomb]. The rapid spear thrusts into Master’s stomach bypassed her wooden chainmail, causing her to cry out in a voice that hurt my essence. Even as she used a spider’s head to cut the sticky thread, she was leaking so much blood from her chest. Her gut was sliced open, and intestines fell like a wave of gore. She hastily pushed them in, forcing her skin to close while erratically firing her gun. When she ran out of ammunition, she started to rely on her chimerism, but there was a problem.

Transfiguration needed an initial investment of biomass to materialize, but sustaining it wasn’t that expensive. However, this fight demanded rapid adaptability with very little time to assimilate. Large chunks of her biomass were consumed nearly every second.

I broke free and thrashed away the enemies piercing my tunic and armor with their spears, pushing my way past the pain since it wasn’t anything I hadn’t faced before.

“Quickly, get in. Irisa! Ready the bath and grab my potions, ointment, and sewing kit!” She stood to the side and let me enter, then closed and locked the door before running to the kitchen. I tried to rush up the steps, but the strength sustaining my desires betrayed me. I slid an arm under Master’s head and caught Tilde’s motionless body. Even as I forced myself to stand on my knees, this weakened, pathetic body of mine couldn’t handle that.

“Master!!!” That was the only thing I could say. Having her die here? While we were so close? Could there be any greater failure for someone like me?

Ichiha stomped back down the steps and effortlessly lifted us using her incredible strength. She rushed us to her room.

“Lyudmila?! Sekh?!” Irisa exclaimed in a purple robe. She had everything her mother asked for sitting on a dresser nearby. Her mother laid us on the bed, and I struggled to roll over. Ichiha grabbed my chin and forced a crimson-colored vial down my throat. The salty, sweet restorative was working instantly after swallowing half of it.

“A high potion...?” I exclaimed in confusion after the wounds and exhaustion lifted from me with as much haste as a rat feared a cat. The wounds covering my stomach and back healed, and the gruesome scars leading a trail of crimson vanished like someone erased them. In seconds, my HP was full.

I got to my knees and poured a bit on Master's tongue.

Nothing happened.

I tried to force it down her throat with a kiss, but it didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?!

“Ichiha, Master—” I watched in silence as Ichiha and Irisa both worked in perfect sync. One used a damp towel to clean the blood off, not caring if it collected on the bed sheets. The other rubbed ointment on and around the wounds, then readied a needle and thread.

They clearly saw the mismatched colors of her limbs, and yet...

“A chimera cannot heal from a high potion. She’d need something much stronger, like a mega potion or an elixir,” Ichiha said, speaking something I had ultimately forgotten. “A powerful healing spell would do the trick.” She pressed the needle into Master’s belly, carefully working it like a surgeon. Her speed and deftness amazed me.

“Then why—”

“Because she needs us,” Irisa answered. She had gone through four towels, and the blood covering her upper body was mostly gone. She started on Master’s legs and knees, unable to avoid smothering her crotch and inner thighs since that had to be clean. I hastily told Ichiha the reason why we left and what happened in the dungeon. Irisa seemed relaxed to know the primary cause wasn’t her, but something was amiss...

“Tilde?!” I opened my hand, finding the fairy in the same state as Master. Irisa went to grab the rest of the potion, but I stopped her. “Her and Master are connected. That won’t work.”

Irisa and Ichiha nodded and returned to work. I held Master’s dark hands. When her front was free from crimson, and her torso and appendages had dozens of stitches, I was ordered to press Master against my chest while Ichiha worked on her back. She told Irisa to get all the meat they had and crush it until it was liquid-like.

“Why are you doing this?! If Bellerophon finds out... And how—”

“We would be saddened by her death. My husband was an instructor at the guild. Everything I’m doing now is what he taught me in case our daughter returned home wounded.”

I was utterly speechless that someone would go so far for Master’s sake. She often told me that we weren’t going to stay here for longer than necessary, but one day turned into two, and that into weeks, and we were still here.

Irisa returned with a large bowl of raw meat crushed into a goopy liquid. She exchanged that for another wet rag and continued to clean Master. Master and I weren’t the friendliest, but Irisa and her mother were working hard.

The sight was so beautiful. I held Master against my chest and prayed to whatever worthless god resided in the sky to take my life for hers, if needed.

Master...I need you... Don’t die...

When the last bit of thread was snipped by a pair of silver scissors, Irisa told me to lift Master while they worked to change the bed sheets and pillow with a spare set. Master was as clean as if she had taken a bath, and now that her injuries were taken care of, I oversaw spooning the bowl of food to her lips after laying her down. Irisa did this task for me while I took a bath and changed into a fresh tunic at their insistence. Once that was done, I relieved her of her duties and noticed Ichiha had dressed Master in a simple shirt and shorts she had found.

After a few minutes of feeding her, Master’s biomass was finally accumulating. Ichiha sensed my hastiness and warned me to go slow and steady. I did, and delightful sighs purring out foreshadowed a positive end to this night. Tilde was lying on a pillow nearby. She woke up a few minutes later and struggled to fly to our Master. She landed on her cheeks and hugged her nose, bemoaning she almost died.

We watched in silence, finding it hard to say anything as the normally crude fairy showed such heartfelt emotion.

“Mmnn...” Master groaned slightly and shifted. Ichiha acted before I could and softly stroked Master’s blond hair. That seemed to satisfy her because she murmured in a quiet voice. “Thanks, mom...”

Ichiha continued as Irisa walked in. She asked about Master, and Ichiha said she was perfectly fine. She only just needed to get some sleep. “You two must be tired. If you boil some water, I’ll make us some coffee.”

“Okay,” said Irisa. Before she left, she skipped over to Master and held her hand for a second or two. Then she went to the kitchen, leaving Ichiha, Tilde, and me alone.

“Florence...” We all three looked to Master’s mouth when Ichiha removed her hand. “Florence...don’t abandon me... Lucas, stop... Why are you hitting me? I thought I was your son...” She started to squirm and groan, a look of utter pain on her sleeping face as she hyperventilated in a heart-stopping panic.

“You poor child...” Ichiha said through her tears. She returned her hand to Master’s head, and her expression relaxed again.

“Mom... I love you...” Master whispered as the moon allowed the sun to shine in the sky.

As much as she wanted to, Ichiha couldn’t stay by Master’s side forever. When she removed her hand, Master started to groan again, her arm reaching out for whatever it could find. When she found my fingers, her panic gave way to peace. I slid into bed and held her head against my chest, hoping she would find additional solace in the beating of my heart. Before Ichiha left, she covered us with a crimson blanket and kissed Master’s forehead. When the door shut behind her, my exhaustion gave way to deep sleep, but not before making sure Master was still sleeping peacefully.

Something soon pressed against my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see Ichiha gently smiling at me with a cup of coffee in her hand. I leaned up, assuring my hand was still touching Master to keep our connection alive. Her HP was about 30%, and she was out of danger.

"You and Irisa saved Master’s life... There is nothing...” Suddenly, I found my head pressed into her muscled, shirt-covered stomach. Then she kneeled, put the cup on the dresser, and held my free hand.

“If you were about to say, ‘there is nothing I can do to repay you,’ then I’m glad I stopped you. Chimeras may be feared, but Mila is no feral beast. When I look at her, I see a girl afraid to reach out and make connections because of what the world had turned her into it. Try to get some sleep, Sekh.” She then kissed me on the forehead, and this cursed existence of mine felt maternal love for the first time in a millennium.

How many mothers have I killed over my reincarnations?