Chapter 79 - 79- Far Too Close (Part 1)
"I'm… a little… tired…" He murmured to Acrypha as his eyes slowly closed.
The latter held him tightly as she nodded her head. "You did well. Just rest now." She replied in a gentle tone.
Hearing her soothing voice, Talon's tiredness finally beat him and he lost consciousness, throwing his full weight on Acrypha's arms. The latter kept hugging him as she gently pulled her face away. She didn't care that his blood had covered her face and hair as she looked at him.
'Even in his state, I can feel the sheer strength he gained from this fight… He completely broke the limit… Again.' She thought to herself with a complicated look.
The human in her hands had been a rollercoaster in her life in the past week or so. The sheer mind-blowing things she had seen in just a few days completely shrouded her entire lifetime.
Talon had kept breaking her expectations again and again and again without seemingly being able to stop. He had no regard for what was considered common sense at all. No, it's not that he had no regard for it, it was simply that he was made to break these limits and soar beyond them.
His character, his iron will, his ambition, and his monstrosity of talent all came together to create a creature that was bound to destroy everything that was binding him.
'I came here for you and yet… I never thought I would see this. I want to be happy that you're rising faster than I expected and yet I can only feel even more worried that you will catch the wrong eyes way too early. I can't let them have you, I can't let anyone have you. Not now, not ever. You're mine and mine alone.' She thought to herself as her eyes shone with a weird light for a split second.
Nobody could see her expression at that time, not even Talon himself. So, Acrypha simply took her time as she looked at Talon, engraving every detail of him in her memory. Slowly, she lifted her hand up and slowly moved her fingers across his face, touching the huge scar that ran through his cheek down to his chin.
For some reason, even in his hideous appearance, Acrypha found his face quite charming. This has become a small hobby of hers, just staring at Talon whenever he isn't aware of it. It was indeed bizarre and quite creepy, but Acrypha couldn't hold herself from doing it.
As she was like that, she heard noises coming from the distance so she finally averted her eyes from the young man in her hands and stared up. There, she could see Hyun-Jae, Chin-Hwa, and three other students rushing toward them.
"Talon! Where are you?!" Hyun-Jae's voice echoed in the vicinity as she looked around, searching for Talon.
They had heard the noise that came from the brutal battle and immediately rushed toward Talon. It was mainly Hyun-Jae who decided to go there, but since Chin-Hwa couldn't let her go alone, he followed her. Then, Go Young-Soon, Hei Ran, and Mo Shin were also extremely worried about Talon so they insisted they follow them.
"I guess they came looking for you, kid." She murmured with a small smile as she finally gently put him down on the ground and floated in the air.
"Talon!"
"Mr Talon! Where are you?!"
The group called his name again and again as they searched the rubble. It didn't take them long to notice the giant corpse of the monster lying on the ground.
"It's… dead?" Hyun-Jae's eyes widened in pure shock. "He killed it?"
She had sensed the monster's presence herself and she knew how absurdly strong it was. She was even sure that there was no way for them to kill it, not even Talon himself. Yet, here it was, a cold corpse.
"What the fuck is that…" Go Young-Soon shuddered as he looked at the wretched creature. Even when it's dead, a mere look at it made him retreat in fear.
"Did Mr Talon fight that thing?" Hei Ran asked with a pale expression.
"He either killed it and survived or died trying," Chin-Hwa murmured as he squinted his eyes.
However, one single cold glare from Hyun-Jae and he immediately retracted his words. The girl then turned around and started searching for Talon again.
Not long after that, her eyes fell on a silhouette of a human lying on the ground a few dozen meters away.
Immediately, she rushed toward it as fast as she could move with her tattered body.
"Oh my god…" The moment her eyes fell on him, her heart stopped for a second. She thought that he was a dead corpse lying on the ground.
"Oh no, no, no!" Hyun-Jae didn't even realize that the others had followed her as she went on both knees and lifted him then she immediately put her head on his chest as she listened to his heart.
A terrifying second passed before the sound she was eager to hear finally reached her. Talon's heart was still beating audibly.
Just that fact alone made her body relax from relief. She didn't even know she could go from being this terrified to being this happy in a few seconds and yet in the past few days, she experienced this exact feeling multiple times.
"Is he ok?" Hei Ran asked with a pale expression.
"No… His body is completely destroyed. He needs to get healed now." Hyun-Jae said as she pulled him up and put him over her shoulder.
The others watched that scene with surprise in their eyes. Especially Chin-Hwa whose expression changed completely. Hyun-Jae was carrying Talon in such an intimate without seemingly caring at all.
That sight tugged Chin-Hwa's heart in ways he didn't know was possible.
"Please don't exhaust yourself, president. Let me carr-"
Before Chin-Hwa could even finish his sentence, Hyun-Jae had already walked away, completely ignoring him. Seeing that, he clenched his teeth as he looked down. He still didn't forget that Hyun-Jae was extremely angry and didn't even speak with him once yet.
The others saw that and could only feel confused by her reaction.
"Don't worry, Talon. Everything is fine now. I'm getting you to a safe place." Hyun-Jae murmured as she gently pulled Talon's body closer to her as she brought him back to the gymnasium.
There, all the students were on the ground, resting or getting treated after the battle. They were all completely spent, mentally and physically.
After Talon led the Grim Roamer away, all the monsters left in the area flooded the gymnasium and ended up clashing with the students. The fight was as brutal as one would expect.
The students found themselves against tens of monsters and they had to fight them. It was an all-out chaos.
But, in the end, Hyun-Jae and Chin-Hwa reached the area and immediately cleaned the rest of the monsters, finally putting an end to the stampede.
"Please bring him closer so that I can heal him."
"Ugh, my arm!!!"
Meanwhile, some of the students who were able to get their hands on skills related to healing, were busy touring the place, trying to heal as many people as possible and save those who were close to death.
"Gu Iseul, come here!" The moment Hyun-Jae reached the place, she called for a girl who was running around frantically.
"Hm? Oh my god!! What happened to him?!" The short and skinny girl immediately rushed toward Hyun-Jae.
"No time for questions, he needs immediate help. He lost too much blood." Hyun-Jae replied.
"Please, put him down here." Gu Iseul immediately led Hyun-Jae to a small blanket laid on the ground before putting Talon down.
The girl then sat down next to him as she started inspecting his body. The more she looked at him, the more her face changed. Gu Iseul was a medical student back before the integration and after it, she was able to get her hands on a decent healing skill that made her a very invaluable asset to the group.
However, even she couldn't look at Talon for more than a few seconds before she closed her eyes.
"I can't believe he's still alive… He didn't just lose blood, he also lost a good chunk of his intestines and kidney. He also broke a lot of bones."
"Can you heal him?" Hyun-Jae asked with an urgent tone. She already knew that Talon was in an extremely dangerous situation.
"I will try, Miss President. But, I really don't know if it's possible or not." The girl replied as she channeled her Aetheris and put her hand over Talon's body.
Slowly, a green light emerged from the palm of her hands, casting its rays on Talon's body.
Meanwhile, Hyun-Jae watched the process anxiously.
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )