After several minutes of brutal combat, Elisa finally killed the two Nightmare Creatures.
But the price was high.
The enormous white serpent carried deep wounds spread across her elegant body. Scales had been torn away. Blood slowly flowed between the cracks of her white plates.
After all, those creatures were of the same Rank as her.
Elisa only possessed a Class advantage.
Samael watched his companion with silent guilt.
If not for his stupidity…
She would not be in that state.
Letting out a tired sigh, he walked toward the creatures' corpses and absorbed their soul fragments.
Soul Core: 80/400.
Almost a quarter complete.
It still felt absurdly far away.
— There's still too much left…
His voice came out hoarse.
Unfortunately, he could not stop.
He needed to find the others quickly.
During the fall, the group had been separated in America's violent skies. They could be hundreds… perhaps thousands of kilometers away from one another.
And Samael was almost certain that he and Liu had been thrown to the opposite side of the rest of the team.
The forest seemed endless.
Silent.
Hungry.
Samael continued walking between the trees beside Elisa, carrying Liu in his arms.
Or rather…
Trying to.
Because at that point, even walking felt difficult.
"Why am I doing this?"
His gaze fell upon Liu's sleeping face.
She looked far too peaceful for someone trapped in that hell.
— I don't even know you…
Samael muttered while pushing branches out of the way.
— I don't think I can protect you… and I don't even have a reason to.
He truly tried to give up.
Tried many times.
But every time he started hardening his heart…
He remembered her completely ignoring his flaw.
Remembered her silently listening while he talked about that stupid book on the beach.
That wasn't enough to call her a friend.
But…
It was enough to stop him from abandoning her.
— What would Liz say about this?
Samael let out a small tired laugh.
"You're way too emotional."
He could picture Elizabeth saying that perfectly.
— Haha… I really am an idiot.
His eyes returned to Liu.
— You owe me one.
"You idiot."
And thus began the hardest days of Samael's life.
And also…
The worst indigestion of the beautiful blue rose's life.
One week later.
Sitting inside the dark interior of a cave, Samael looked like a walking corpse.
His entire body was covered in cuts, bruises, and improvised bandages.
His clothes were in tatters.
Deep dark circles surrounded his golden eyes.
His skin was pale.
Extremely pale.
Elisa had already been dismissed days ago.
She had fought too much during that week.
If she remained materialized in that condition, she would probably die.
Liu remained unconscious beside him.
Even with all of Samael's efforts, she still carried several minor injuries across her body.
America simply did not allow perfection.
Samael had tried to abandon her countless times.
Failed every single one.
His gaze fell upon the small spatial Memory.
Empty.
— This is the last meal…
His voice was low.
Without strength.
Without emotion.
He separated half of the artificial food for himself and slowly began chewing.
No taste.
No pleasure.
No hunger.
Then came the most embarrassing part of the day.
Or perhaps…
It wasn't embarrassing anymore.
Stress and exhaustion had crushed his mind to the point where even his thoughts seemed silent.
Samael crushed the remaining food into a sort of paste.
Then carefully pulled Liu closer, resting her head on his lap.
He gently opened her mouth.
Slowly poured in a bit of water.
Then took a deep breath.
Placed some of the paste into his own mouth.
And leaned closer.
Their lips slowly touched while Samael forced the food down her throat using his own tongue.
It was humiliating.
Uncomfortable.
Strange.
But it was the only way he had found to feed her without risking her choking.
At first, he used to turn red like a tomato every time he did it.
Now…
It was simply routine.
When he finished, he silently wiped the corner of Liu's mouth before standing up.
It was already morning.
— Let's go…
His voice was completely exhausted.
Samael carefully tied Liu to his back using torn strips of cloth.
Fighting while carrying someone was still an absurd problem.
An extra fifty kilograms turned every movement into hell.
But it was still better than completely losing the use of his arms.
The forest was silent as he walked.
And that frightened him more than roars.
If he stayed too long in one place…
The creatures would find him.
They always did.
Remembering a few days earlier — when he had remained still for two days and three creatures surrounded his position — Samael felt a chill run down his spine.
If not for that day…
Elisa would still be fighting beside him.
The sky slowly darkened.
Then a drop fell.
Then another.
And another.
Soon, a storm crashed down upon the forest.
Samael merely raised his eyes.
— Hm.
That was his only reaction.
Even the rain felt distant at that point.
His body trembled slightly from the cold while he walked beneath the storm.
The temperature-regulating Memory was around Liu's neck.
A waterproof blanket — another Memory obtained during the week — partially protected her body from the rain.
He himself had nothing.
It didn't matter.
Suddenly—
A Beast of the Fields emerged between the trees.
Samael's eyes instantly turned cold.
The rusty sword appeared in his hand.
The creature charged.
Fast.
Violent.
Samael immediately summoned the Ascended spear and threw it.
CLANG!
The creature deflected it using one of its massive ivory horns.
But Samael had already expected that.
Using the spear's momentum as a distraction, he quickly advanced from the side and slashed the creature's neck.
Black blood splattered.
The beast roared furiously.
One of its six legs slammed into Samael.
He raised the rusty sword to block—
CRACK.
The impact launched Samael several meters backward.
And his sword…
Broke.
For a moment, Samael simply stared at the fragments of the blade scattered across the mud.
That sword had accompanied him since his first Nightmare.
It was ugly.
Old.
Weak.
But it was familiar.
His gaze became even emptier.
He expected to feel more pain from losing it.
Expected to suffer.
But even his emotions seemed too exhausted to react.
So he simply resumed fighting.
The battle was long.
Exhausting.
Brutal.
But in the end…
The creature fell dead among the trees.
Samael remained sitting in the mud for several minutes while wrapping new bandages around his ruined body.
He looked like a corpse trying to hold itself together.
Then he raised his eyes.
In the distance, a colossal tree towered above the others.
Far larger.
Far taller.
— If I climb it… maybe I can find the others…
The climb took two hours.
Two hellish hours.
Every movement burned his muscles.
Every breath felt like glass entering his lungs.
But in the end…
He reached the top.
And then froze.
Far away…
The beach.
The very same beach where he had arrived a week ago.
It was absurdly close.
Perhaps…
One kilometer away.
Samael stood there speechless.
That made no sense.
He had walked for kilometers.
For entire days.
Without stopping.
His heart tightened violently.
— This… makes no sense…
His voice came out as a broken whisper.
All of America seemed distorted.
As though space and direction were nothing but cruel jokes on that continent.
Somewhere absurdly far away from there—
A beautiful woman with blue hair lay across a couch.
Her face was flushed with fever.
Her breathing heavy.
Half-open blue eyes stared at the ceiling while emotions that did not belong to her flooded her mind.
Despair.
Fear.
Exhaustion.
Pain.
All of it coming from him.
Haru smiled weakly.
A tired smile.
Almost sickly.
— What a wonderful place you found yourself in… lost boy.