Skullface covered his face, the sudden smoke barreling towards him blinded him, but that wasn't what he set his valuable importance on.
Skullface has already analyzed the reason and why that man purposefully caused a mana discharge.
It was to hide himself, to erase his presence and to slow him down with the smoke.
He made careful notes of the smoke and its properties.
'My senses are distorted....The smell of murderous intent keeps on sticking to the air, this must be a holy blessing.'
His eyes narrowed through the mask drawn intricately with red.
'One that likely intimidated one when in range.'
But that was fine, he thought, he had already adapted to the distortion in the air.
Everything was going accordingly, nothing too crazy happened and with the strange man injured?
Catching up with them wouldn't be hard in the least.
And a key thing the figure forgot was...While his presence was gone.
The same couldn't be said with the girl slung over his back.
Her mana still pulsed loudly in the air, their distance far but reachable if he were to run now.
Through his mask adorned with red markings swerving to his temples. A cold breath was let out of its constraints.
"This time...I'll crush your spine."
His mana flared, bright open a gate inside his irises flung open.
An unbelievable amount of mana condensed in his eyes, so much mana that it started to affect his body.
Cr-Crack!
Bones fractured, shattering and cracking into a fissure as Skullface locked in place.
Tension broke the surface, rising even higher than the limit suggested it could.
As it peaked, a shriek snapped Skullface out of his trance.
"Hiuek!"
Clair stumbled and fell forward, her true colors showing as the both were now alone.
"Sk-Skull....!" She pleaded for his help.
"...."
Skullface kept his gaze looming over the awakeners direction. Muttering his parting shots.
"Strong will....I wish we see each other again strange awakener."
On his heel he twisted smoothly, grappling the whining Clair above his shoulder.
"Only next time, we should be alone, cozy and without any emotional baggage like the ones we carry now."
Heeding Clair's plead, he retreated, unable to refuse the order given to him by the cowardly holding his reins.
*
"Ha...Ha..Cough!...Cough!"
The iron smell clung onto the back of my throat, sticking to my tongue like a poisoned apple.
Blood flowed steadily, eyes flying open, bloodshot and drained of vigor.
Yet I still made sure to cradle Aegis in my arms.
Dragging myself away as much as I could.
"Shit"
I flung a curse as the primary school flew into my hazy vision.
Ares, while I didn't know if he was still as powerful as the one in memory, it didn't hurt to try leaning on him for once in all of my resets.
There also must've been a crucial reason as to why he was the principal in such a stupidly unrewardable section of the city.
Plus, I didn't even have my phone on me at the moment. So calling the police or awakeners association was impossible at the moment.
I had thrown it on the ground before giving chase to lessen the unnecessary weight on me, but thinking back on it, I'm more glad that I didn't bring it.
Getting it crushed first thing in the fight would've been even worse...
Anyway, I could tell that many eyes had fallen on me, some people calling an ambulance while others hesitatingly inching closer to me, asking me if I was alright or not.
I tried to take another step. But my body wouldn't let me.
It would allow me to tread another weighted step to pass.
Not after I tanked a level 50 punch straight at my ribs in my level 8 body.
The edges in my vision darkened, the world in my eyes seemed to slow down, my limits exceeding the finish line far ahead.
At the very visible crevice in my vision, I spotted Ares holding a blank expression on his face.
The world around me collapsed, my body fell.
Some bystanders screamed at my passing, while some propped me up, tearing Aegis from my embrace in doing so.
In all of this Ares....Simply watched, his gaze flickering over the wounds his new coworker was subjected to.
His eyes rolled to the sides, there, a familiar stench clung to the air, and a mist rolled upward.
'Gone I see?'
Ares scoffed, quickly turning his attention back to the wounded.
An ambulance blared their sirens, bystander menders from the association who were in the Sanctuary Faction also came to help Eliot and Aegis. Both of them in a critical state.
*
Deep in the dark, I saw myself from a different perspective.
Within that different perspective, the dark circles under my eyes kept multiplying. One circle, two circles, adding and adding as the weights kept changing and shifting.
I seemed utterly disgusting, pale monster who was addicted in the act of saving.
That was my nature, saving people regardless of my wishes conjured weakly in my mind.
Addiction can't be beaten, they're called addictions for a reason you know?
No matter how twisted the world turns, my nature will never shift.
It will always stand tall as a bronze statue.
Defining me for who I am and will forever be.
Perhaps that was the reason why I was transmigrated into this world, because of my restless pursuit to save those in front of me.
The darkness surrounding me receded, slowly revealing an ever shifting change in the environment.
Tak!
A carton of juice rolled in the air, hitting me on my forehead.
The throw was good enough to make me bleed from the tiny cut.
"Disgusting you are."
A voice asking my attention insulted me. An old, praised voice in my head.
"You find joy in saving those who never even needed saving? If you hadn't existed, those same people wouldn't have even required your help. You created the problems to satiate your own selfish and twisted desires of being praised."
"No, that's not—!"
"Don't lie to me boy!"
"...."
"Admit it."
"No."
"Admit it."
"Never."
"You flying hypocrite...."
"Sure, if that's how you see me."
"You are one giant hypocritical regressor you know that?"
"How would I know something like that?"
"...."
"...."
The silence between us two felt suffocating, the old man kept his gaze fixated on me, searing my face into his imagination as much as he could, as much was possible for this senile old body.
Under that suffocating silence...
"I'm leaving."
I parted with those words, having said enough to this senile old man I once praised.
"Why? Didn't you come here to explain?"
I stop, the air whistled, passing through the open window uninvited. Fluttering leaves passed through, carried by the strong wind
When the breeze calmed, my lips parted.
"What is there to explain when the man in question won't listen?"
The door opened, a burst of air flew in a current.
My foot, planted on the ground drummed rhythmically across the pristine floor of the hospital.
"Know this. I will never step in again in this room unless you yourself want me to, but don't start expecting me to be all night waiting for a crippled one's call for an explanation."
Done with his bullshit, I leave.
Afterwards, I never saw him.
Even after the world reset a couple of times.
It made sense when thinking about it.
Since each and every single time...
Creak~
He'd hang himself next to a grave almost every single time without failure.