Loud footsteps echoed at the tunnels, blurring past Leon one after another as he ran.

"Hold on," he said in a thin voice when he felt Liu Yan’s heartrate beating slowly against his back. "We’re almost there, hold on."

Every raised stone he stepped on sent pain rattling through his left ankle, the one which had not fully recovered after it got broken by the large Syr.

When faint light appeared ahead, Leon’s eyes widened, his cheeks raising as joy lanced through him. "Liu Yan, you’ll be healed in no time, I promise you that."

Just as the light widened as he dashed into it, Leon’s boots scraped across the ground, creating holes and sending dust swirling up around him.

Outside the tunnel, countless Syrs of different sizes stood there, slamming burning axes in their palms while snarling at the tunnel’s entrance.

The last sense of hope and help for Liu Yan died in Leon as the dust swirling around him cleared.

"Leon... are we there?" Liu Yan asked in a thin voice that flew across Leon’s neck and caused two drops of tears to trail down his cheeks.

Leon closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, then cracked his eyes open, while Liu Yan’s slow breath streaked at the back of his ear. "Almost there, Liu Yan. Almost."

He tightened the red cloth he had tied against his chest, holding Liu Yan. He pulled out one of An Lang’s war discs and Liu Yan’s sword, then stood in a ready-to-fight stance.

Two of the Syrs dashed forward but turned into dark smoke when they reached two feet away from Leon.

When Leon brushed the smoke off his face while coughing, he saw Aurelian stepping through the Syrs.

’AURELIAN!’ Leon’s eyes blazed with golden fire while his veins pulsed with a fire that couldn’t be quenched.

Aurelian squinted at Leon then giggled. "Leon, Leon, Leon."

He turned slightly and gestured at the two nine-feet Syrs that were about to move, to lower their guard, then shifted his gaze and attention fully to Leon.

"I know you want to fight me so badly. Like, want to shatter all the bones in my body." Aurelian said and began moving slow steps forward.

The more Leon listened to him and saw him closing in, the more his heartrate increased, and so did the glow in his eyes and in his veins.

Aurelian stopped five feet away from Leon, then placed his hand around his chin.

"I can see it in your eyes. But," he paused then nodded once. "I will spare you some time."

Just as Aurelian turned and gestured two fingers at the Syrs, they began to move aside, one after another. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Leon, I can’t hold on any longer." Liu Yan’s voice echoed tiny behind Leon’s ear, then she coughed out a glob of blood which splashed on Leon’s cheeks before falling to the ground.

"See, the option I have given you is good, so you can try to save the friend you managed to stop me from killing." Aurelian said in a laughable tone, then began laughing hard. "Don’t be bothered about my unstoppable laughter, that’s the human part I’m trying to adopt."

Leon looked at Aurelian, at Liu Yan, then at the space that had been created ahead, then exhaled sharply.

As soon as he lowered the war disc, Aurelian grinned then nodded once. Leon swapped Liu Yan’s sword to his right arm, then took slow steps forward.

"Leon!" Aurelian called out when Leon reached the center of the path the Syrs had formed. "Go. Get stronger. I will be at my castle waiting."

The Syrs began to close in on Aurelian as his laughter spun through the air.

’I will surely come back and wipe all of you out, no matter how strong you think you are!’ Leon whispered in his head while the handle of the sword screamed under Leon’s tight grip.

He turned then kept his eyes forward, without looking back, until the last Syr was behind him.

When Leon entered into the forest of the shattered trees, a loud howl cut through the sky, but he didn’t even lift his eyes to stare.

The red ocean streaked across Leon’s path, but he crossed it, swimming while Liu Yan floated at his back.

He struggled since it was his first time ever crossing or swimming, but Leon didn’t stop, despite the height and width of the ocean.

Leon pulled out one of the Starfire Opals he had gathered and hidden on him, then pushed it behind Liu Yan’s back, under the red cloth.

The giant trees rose ahead of him when he stood up from the red ocean’s shore, but he dashed into the forest without a second thought.

Leaves spun around him as he dashed forward, searching for a better place to lay Liu Yan down and help her fully.

Of all the three he passed, sharp thorns lingered on the ground at their base, which made Leon move deeper and deeper.

When he finally found a smooth ground, Leon stopped, unwrapped Liu Yan from his back, then placed her calmly on the fluff of leaves that had piled there.

"Hey, Liu Yan," he called to Liu Yan, then gave her a soft slap when she wasn’t responding.

Liu Yan’s vision turned red when her eyes blinked open. She watched Leon move hastily then coughed out watery blood when she tried speaking.

"Don’t talk to stress yourself," Leon said as a faint smile lanced through his sad and watery face, when Liu Yan opened her mouth a second time.

He pulled two extra Starfire Opals from his side, grabbed Liu Yan’s hands and squeezed the stones against her palms.

The blue glow of the light pulled into Leon’s body, instead of Liu Yan’s.

"Come on." Leon whispered in a tired voice. He placed the stones on Liu Yan’s chest, then placed her palms on them, then pressed her own arms on the stones as if her own pressure could make them respond.

"Leon," Liu Yan called to him in a thin voice, then placed her hand on his arm.

Leon grabbed the hand and held it tight. "Don’t worry. Help is on the way. You won’t die under my watch!"

He pulled out twenty Opal stones and placed them one by one across Liu Yan’s body, and pressed each one down as if closing a wound that was no longer closable.

"Why won’t you work! Why?" Leon screamed, then rearranged the stones and pressed harder. But the more Leon tried, the more the glow drifted up from Liu Yan’s body and entered into his own veins instead of disappearing in her body.

Liu Yan’s face went pale, but she looked at Leon, then smiled. "Thank you."

Memories of her and her family flashed into her mind as her body began to numb one inch after another.

When the memory of the first day Leon entered flashed in, a wide smile lanced in Liu Yan’s eyes, while tears traced thin lines and drifted into her ears.

"No," Leon said as he watched her. He grabbed the Opal stones and placed them back, rearranging them again and again.

"No. NO. NO."

Leon’s chest bounced against Liu Yan’s chest as he wrapped himself around her for a tight hug, while screaming in wordless cries.

Leaves drifted from the only fruitful tree he had stopped at and drifted slowly on both him and the numb Liu Yan.

Some of the leaves drifted away when countless footsteps began echoing through the night’s air, but Leon didn’t turn to watch; he only remained glued to Liu Yan’s white body.

"She’s already gone, Leon Storm." A feminine voice rose, followed by a chilled hand that landed on Leon’s shoulder.

Leon knocked it off without looking. "Leave me. Just leave me. You killed all of them!"

He kept on rearranging the stones and pressing them on the body, while wiping the tears off his face.

A shadow began forming at his left when he noticed someone crouching down and stretching a hand toward Liu Yan’s body.

Leon frowned, took in a deep breath, then turned sharply. "I said —"

He froze for a second when he saw a lady who looked like a copied version of Zoe but with short brown hair, looking at him with steady eyes.

"It’s okay, Leon." Kim said, then drew her hand back. "Can I?"

She didn’t wait for an answer, then placed both hands gently over Liu Yan’s eyes and closed them slowly.

Seo-jun crouched on Leon’s other side, looked at Liu Yan’s face for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Leon. "She is dead, Leon. Let her go and follow us."

Leon stood up abruptly before his mind could even catch up, then sliced one of An Lang’s war discs through the air and stopped it at the black-skinned man with braided hair’s neck.

"Who are you to tell me what to do."

Kim and the other three squad members behind her stumbled two steps back.

"WHOA. WHOA. WHOA." Kim screamed in a steady voice, raised both hands up, and looked at Leon with wide eyes. "We are from the Agatha Special Force."

She gestured at Joon to step back when he tried moving forward, then focused on Leon. "We were sent here to get you guys. We are not your enemy. We are friends."

Leon’s chest rose and fell while the war disc’s blade moved an inch against Seo-jun’s neck. He looked at the blade, at the man struggling to breathe, then at the face of Zoe’s lookalike.

"I don’t trust them," he said when he shifted his gaze to the other three soldiers who had covered their faces, and back to Zoe’s lookalike.

"I know, I know. Just trust me." Kim said in a shaky voice, then moved trembling steps forward.

Thin blood seeped from Seo-jun’s neck when Leon’s grip increased as he watched the slightly pale-faced lady near him.