Felicity's Beast World Apocalypse-Chapter 138: He Chose To

For half a breath no one moved.

Then Felicity made another broken sound and surged so hard against Damien and Voss that all three of them staggered.

Victor looked down at Lucan on the ground.

Lucan coughed again, harsher this time, red running from his mouth, one hand digging into the dirt as if he could anchor himself through sheer refusal.

The yard stayed suspended there, every jaw tight, every hand clenched, every breath held too long for half a breath no one moved.

Then Felicity made another broken sound and surged so hard against Damien and Voss that all three of them staggered.

Victor looked down at Lucan on the ground.

Lucan coughed again, harsher this time, red running from his mouth, one hand digging into the dirt as if he could anchor himself through sheer refusal.

Then Lucan forced himself up it did not look heroic. It looked stubborn he planted his palm into the dirt and pushed until his shoulders rose and then his chest and finally the rest of him followed. Blood ran from his mouth, down his chin, and dripped steadily to the ground beneath him.

Victor watched the entire thing without moving.

Lucan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at the blood there for a moment. Then he lifted his eyes.

Their gazes locked again.

Lucan teleported the displacement cracked the air. He reappeared behind Victor and drove his fist toward the back of his ribs with everything he had left in him.

Victor turned into it the punch landed but his body shifted an inch.

Lucan followed instantly with a second strike toward Victor’s jaw this one connected clean. Blood appeared on Victor’s lip.

The yard reacted.

Dozens of bodies shifted at once along the wall. Scaled Guild members who had arrived quietly earlier leaned forward, they had expected a spectacle.

They had not expected Victor to bleed.

In the ring Victor wiped the blood from his lip with his thumb, then he stepped forward again.

Lucan teleported sideways.

Victor followed.

Lucan reappeared low and drove his shoulder into Victor’s ribs. Victor’s elbow crashed down across Lucan’s back. Lucan vanished again before the follow up strike could land he reappeared three steps away, sliding breathing hard.

Victor came after him immediately no hesitation no circling. His fist struck Lucan across the jaw hard enough to twist his head sideways and scatter blood into the dirt.

He reappeared above Victor and drove his heel down toward Victor’s shoulder.

Victor stepped inside the strike his knee came up.

Lucan’s breath exploded from his lungs as the impact landed in his stomach. Lucan vanished mid collapse, he reappeared behind Victor again, his fist crashed into Victor’s ribs.

Victor turned and caught Lucan with a backhand that spun him halfway around.

Lucan staggered.

Victor closed the distance instantly.

Lucan teleported again this time the displacement came shorter, he reappeared only a few feet away instead of across the ring.

Victor noticed the next punch landed directly in Lucan’s ribs.

Lucan folded.

Victor followed with another strike across the side of his head.

Lucan hit the dirt, Lucan pushed himself upright again, blood ran freely from his mouth now he stood anyway.

Victor watched him.

Lucan lunged.

Victor caught his arm.

Lucan twisted and slammed his forehead into Victor’s face, bone cracked.

Victor’s head turned an inch.

Lucan drove a desperate punch into Victor’s ribs.

Victor answered with a fist to Lucan’s stomach that lifted him from the ground.

Lucan teleported again he reappeared above Victor.

Victor caught him mid descent and hurled him into the dirt.

Lucan tried to stand again.

Victor’s fist struck him in the chest before he could fully rise.

Lucan slid backward across the dirt blood spilled from his mouth Lucan coughed, then he tried to stand again in the ring Lucan forced himself upright again, his breathing rattled.

Victor stepped closer.

Lucan teleported one final time, he reappeared directly in front of Victor and threw everything he had left into one last punch.

Victor caught the strike his other fist slammed into Lucan’s ribs.

Lucan’s legs folded.

Victor struck again.

Lucan hit the ground this time he did not get back up the yard fallen completely silent. Lucan lay on the dirt coughing weakly, blood spread beneath his mouth, then his body went still.

Exile stepped forward.

She tore out of Damien and Voss’s arms with surprising strength and ran straight toward the ring "Victor! Lucan!" Her voice cracked as it tore out of her both names.

The entire yard heard it.

She stumbled once on the churned dirt and caught herself before falling, hair loose around her shoulders now, tears streaking down her cheeks. She ran straight through the open ring, past Lucan’s motionless body, straight toward Victor.

Victor turned toward her.

Lucan lay several feet away on the ground, blood pooled beneath his mouth, chest barely moving.

Felicity’s hands flew up in front of her "Heal!" the word broke apart into a sob.

Light erupted.

It did not bloom slowly like before. It exploded outward from her in a violent flood of white gold radiance. The light tore across the yard in every direction at once, flooding the ring, spilling across the stone walls, washing over every spectator like a rising sun forced into existence all at once people flinched. Some staggered back a step.

The Scaled Guild along the outer edge of the yard recoiled instinctively. Their natural plating caught the sudden brilliance as several of them raised arms webbed with iridescent scales against the glare.

The dragon leader standing with the Scaled Guild did not move at all, but his eyes narrowed slowly as the healing wave rolled through the yard.

It reached everyone.

Across the yard Leaf Team felt the same thing.

Richard’s spine straightened.

Thane inhaled slowly.

Dimitri blinked as injuries he had been cataloguing in the back of his mind simply disappeared.

Even Exile felt the rush of power ripple through his body.

But the brightest concentration of light poured into the center of the ring into Lucan. the blood stopped his chest rose sharply as breath returned to his lungs.

Victor stood directly in front of Felicity inside the storm of light and he smiled, not the cold smile from the fight Something softer.

Felicity stumbled the last step toward him and launched herself forward.

Victor caught her easily.

She hit his chest with both hands, grabbing the front of his shirt as if he might disappear if she let go "stupid!" she cried through tears "You’re so stupid!" her voice shook "why did you go so far?"

Victor chuckled quietly the sound was low in his chest as he wrapped one arm around her back and held her against him "Shhh," he murmured "My little fox." His hand moved slowly up her back, calming, possessive "it was for you." He leaned down slightly, voice lowering "I needed to know if he could join us."

Felicity’s eyes widened.

The sentence landed across the yard like a dropped blade. Snow Team went rigid.

Leaf Team stared.

Scaled Guild watched with sharp interest now.

Victor didn’t give anyone time to react.

He pulled Felicity closer and kissed her passionately. His hand tightened against the back of her neck while the other kept her secure against his chest. The kiss was deep enough that several spectators shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware they were watching something far too personal for a public ring.

Felicity clung to him through it.

When Victor finally pulled back her breathing had gone uneven.

Her eyes blinked slowly then she turned her head slightly.

Lucan was sitting up the healing light still shimmered faintly around him as he dragged a breath into his lungs. Blood still covered his clothes but his body was no longer broken his silver eyes lifted and they met Felicity’s.

For one long second neither of them moved.

Then Felicity swayed.

Her fingers loosened against Victor’s shirt. Her eyes rolled slightly, she fainted.

Victor caught her before her body could drop even an inch.

His arms tightened automatically as he adjusted her weight against his chest.

The light faded.

The yard exhaled.

Victor looked down at Felicity briefly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

Victor did not break stride as he turned toward the apartments, Felicity held securely against his chest, her weight settled into his arms as if she had always belonged there. Her head rested against his shoulder, her breathing soft but uneven, fingers still faintly curled into his shirt even in unconsciousness.

As he passed Lucan, he slowed just enough to acknowledge him, his head tilting slightly. "Come" it was not an invitation.

Lucan pushed himself upright, his body still remembering the damage even if the wounds had closed. Blood marked his clothes, his breathing not yet steady, but his gaze was clear as it lifted, not to Victor, but to the girl in his arms, lingering there a second too long to be anything but deliberate.

Damien moved before anyone else, stepping in close enough that his hand brushed Felicity’s wrist where it rested against Victor’s chest, his fingers tightening briefly as if grounding himself before he forced them away. His jaw had set hard, his eyes fixed on Victor with a tension that had nothing to do with the fight.

Voss followed without speaking, positioning himself just off Victor’s shoulder, close enough to intervene, close enough to matter, his attention shifting between Felicity and the way Victor held her, measuring, controlled, but no longer detached.

Victor did not slow for either of them.

"Yes," he said simply when Voss’s gaze lingered too long the answer settled into the space between them, quiet and final in a way that made the air tighten.

Lucan fell into step behind them anyway, his eyes tracking every small detail he could steal, the way her body leaned into Victor without resistance, the way the others circled closer without quite touching her again, the way no one reached for her now that she was already in someone else’s arms.

Something cold and certain took shape behind his eyes.

Victor’s grip shifted slightly, his hand sliding higher along her back, fingers spreading with deliberate care, anchoring her more firmly against him.

Lucan saw it.

So did Damien.

So did Voss.

So did Ivan.

Victor didn’t look back as he walked "try not to fall behind." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

It didn’t sound like a warning it sounded like a line no one had agreed to cross.