Eshaan was in critical condition, and he knew it. That's why he spoke quickly and precisely, so that Cassian would understand.
He was aware that the situation was serious: Cassian didn't know how to transport them both, and both he and Nahara were on the verge of death.
But that's precisely why he asked him to do that.
Cassian didn't understand, but he felt he had to listen to him; he couldn't think of any reasonable solution.
He quickly took the bag from Eshaan's waist, took out the pill, and put it in his mouth.
Sssshhh!
Instantly, Eshaan's temperature began to rise to the point that he seemed to be burning, releasing steam from his body.
Before Cassian could react, Eshaan squeezed the hand that was holding him tightly and pushed it away.
The bewildered Cassian did not resist.
Eshaan stood up. His body was burning, just as Cassian had seen Yefaziel and others before.
Bang!
In an instant, he struck a full blow at an aberration that was heading toward them, sending it back where it came from.
He bent down, took from Diona's corpse the sword she kept at her waist, and spoke without hesitation
"I'm sorry, Diona. I'll take your precious sword... Take Nahara, the Savior is the only one who can help her in her current state...and you too... I'll stay here and fight."
"...."
Cassian was not entirely convinced and looked at his wounds surrounded by blackness, the wound was still there the same as with the poison, the only difference was that he was standing up.
"Oh, this... it's easy to fix, with a... Argh!... see? Easy."
The hole in his chest was bleeding visibly, but Eshaan treated it as if it were nothing. With the sword wrapped in flames, he cauterized the wound, which seemed to be very painful.
"Go. I'm fine, you don't have to worry about the poison. That was a secret pill that only a few people in the village have. Now that I've taken it, I'm as good as new. Nahara doesn't have it, so she needs quick treatment."
"I understand..."
Cassian was a bit confused by so many events and things that were difficult for him to understand or assimilate, and he could only give his acceptance to what Eshaan said! There was nothing else he could do.
Though he felt something wasn't right, so he carefully grabbed Nahara and started to run.
"Savior! Don't stop, just listen."
Cassian heard Eshaan's voice behind him.
"I know it's selfish, but..."
"..."
Eshaan raised his voice louder to compensate for the distance between him and Cassian.
"Please, save them! Save those inside the barrier! They are our hope and our future, so even if it's just them, I beg you to do it!"
At that moment, Eshaan was shouting his request to Cassian at the top of his lungs. He was doing so on purpose to attract the attention of the aberrations and beasts in the vicinity, giving Cassian more leeway and avoiding any direct attacks.
Thanks to that, Cassian was able to quickly leave the place.
..
"Jujujuju..."
"Kuekuekuekue..."
"Rraaarrr"
"Grrrrr"
"jijijiji..."
Eshaan watched Cassian walk away with Nahara in his arms.
"Haaah~... I was prepared to die today anyway."
He sighed deeply.
His chest, which had been hurting like hell, suddenly stopped hurting—but that wasn't a good sign, because it meant the aberrations' poison was consuming him.
Now, in his vision, there were more than three aberrations and a bunch of beasts; he was surrounded and might not be able to handle them all, even in his current state.
But running away was not on his mind.
He really didn't want to die, but he knew it was already too late.
Something he didn't tell Cassian was that the pill didn't just heal him; it came at a price: in exchange for his vitality, it gave him that temporary power.
And given his condition, along with the poison that continued to spread, death would be inevitable once its effect wore off. That's why he stayed.
If he was going to die, he would die fighting.
Eshaan looked at the beasts and aberrations, including those that had killed two of his dear friends. At that thought, his body and will seemed to burn and want to consume everything.
"Fine! Let's do this! I'm not afraid to die. I'll fight until there's nothing left of me but ashes... because I am 'Eshaan Kaelfyrd, A Warrior', and as such, I will fight until the last spark of my life!!"
Before he died, he would fight and kill as many aberrations as possible. He had no intention of leaving all the burden to Cassian, even though he had asked him to.
Eshaan seemed to burst into flames as his body was enveloped in red fire; his eyes burned, even his hair, and he advanced with determination against the aberrations and beasts, intent on burning them to ashes, even if he himself did too.
..
Cassian moved quickly, regardless of how tired he was; his side was numb and the heaviness was increasing.
But he was demanding his body to continue: no matter what, he had to go to Ellys and heal Nahara.
What Eshaan had asked him was also on his mind, but at that moment he thought Nahara was the priority.
They had put up a barrier where the refugees were, so there shouldn't be a problem for a while, even though beasts and aberrations were roaming everywhere.
At least there weren't many of them, but the aberrations were a problem: as strong as the best warriors in the village.
With his keen senses, as soon as he heard an annoying laugh, he dodged it. He was two-thirds of the way there and not far from his destination, but just then...
"..." (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry)
"Ling... Ling."
Suddenly, hearing those words felt like being struck in the back of the head with a blunt object.
He remembered that someone had been with him from the beginning, in his shadow, and could have helped him all this time.
With so many things on his mind and that feeling that kept him in confusion, Cassian really wasn't thinking straight.
He had forgotten about Yeling, who could have taken them quickly to Ellys from the beginning.
And if she had spoken up earlier, when he didn't know what to do, or from the beginning, maybe none of this would have happened...
"..." (I'm sorry, I'm sorry.)
"..."
Right now, he wasn't even looking at her; she was probably still in the shadows, but he could still hear her.
Cassian didn't know why he could only do so now.
He really felt like there was a lot he wanted to say to her, starting with why she hadn't shown herself earlier, but for some reason he could sense many things in her.
Somehow, he could perceive those things, and many of them were similar to what he himself was feeling.
She didn't seem to be doing it on purpose, she was just apologizing over and over again.
"Ling, take me to the center quickly!"
He didn't say anything about her late appearance, and it was better to focus on the important things. In fact, even though it was late, he felt a little relief, he felt that the oppression and suffocation were easing.
He thought it wasn't too late yet. Nahara, although her condition wasn't good, was still breathing.
If he took her quickly, he should be able to save her; it was late, but not too late...
"..." (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry)
"Stop apologizing and take me to the center quickly. You can do it, I'm not asking you to get out."
"..."(I'm sorry, I'm sorry)
Cassian didn't want to hear any more apologies. This wasn't the time. He was frustrated and overwhelmed by so many things, not to mention how he had overlooked her at this important moment.
"Just take me there... do it quickly!"
"..." (I-I'm sorry)
He had so many things on his mind that he was confused and could barely understand everything that had happened.
He didn't know why, but he felt an urge to release something, and that feeling drove him to do something he normally wouldn't—he shouted aggressively at Yeling.
He was loaded with a lot of frustration, but that only made Yeling keep apologizing.
"...Ling, please, just take me there. Nari... I don't know if she can hold on... please."
Cassian understood that this was not the way, especially since he and Yeling were not in the right state of mind; venting and acting like this was not the solution.
"…" (y-yes)
He spoke to her more carefully, almost pleadingly, which finally made Yeling act.
Cassian felt that, in a moment, he was sinking, and he reached a darkness where only Yeling was.
He looked at her, and she simply looked away. Neither said anything else; he just waited a moment, and in the next instant he emerged from the shadows.
Their surroundings had changed: they were on a high part of a house in the center of the west wall. Cassian looked around. It was chaos equal to or even worse than on his side.
There were more beasts and aberrations, as well as many people fighting them. Some, engulfed in flames like Eshaan and Yefaziel, were cutting down the beasts and trying to kill the difficult aberrations.
Cassian was grateful that Yeling had left him in a high place. He quickly looked for clues: he was trying to find traces of Valeriane, Yefeng, and, most importantly, Ellys.
It wasn't difficult: in the distance, he saw Valeriane fighting an aberration.
If she was there, he was sure Ellys must be nearby. He felt that he was finally close to being able to help Nahara...
BOOM!
Just then, he heard an intense explosion in the distance. When he looked over, he saw a huge burst of blue flames.
It was at the far right of the wall, where Nealune and Celestine must be.
Cassian had seen those flames twice already. He was sure it was Celestine using what he assumed was her last resort.
This time, Cassian didn't think she was wasting her strength: the whole situation was so bad that he wouldn't be surprised if that side was the same or worse.
But now he was worried: if she was tired and used that power, she would obviously run out of energy.
He didn't know what her current situation was, but it definitely wasn't good.
"Ling-Ling, do me a favor: leave me near Ria, who is here, and go see where Celes and Luna are. You don't have to fight; just absorb them into your shadow and bring them here. Just that, can you do it, right?"
"..." (Y-yes, I'll do it.)
"Good, thank you."
Yeling seemed to recover and was now more receptive to Cassian's requests.
He didn't know what had happened to her before, but she seemed to be better now.
She sucked him into its shadow again, and after a brief darkness, he appeared near Valeriane.
"Ah! Sir Cassian... haaahh, I understand, you're looking for Miss Ellys."
Valeriane noticed Cassian's sudden appearance and, seeing Nahara covered in blood in his arms and the wound on Cassian's side, understood the gravity of the situation.
"That's right... where is she? But..."
Cassian thought about what to do, whether he should help her or not, but he didn't know how to do it with Nahara in his arms. Velerine seemed to understand Cassian's hesitation and shook her head.
"No, it's not necessary!"
And just then, as she struggled with the aberration that was harassing her, one of her spears appeared from another angle and pierced the creature with precision. Immediately afterwards, it dried up; she had struck the core with precision.
In fact, there were now dozens of beast corpses piled up around Valeriane and eight saplings with their white fruits bathed in blood.
She had easily killed many aberrations; the skill Plouthys had given her had been very key once she understood how to use it.
On the other hand, Cassian, realizing that Valeriane didn't need help, wasted no time looking around to try to see where Ellys was, but he couldn't see her.
"Where's Lys?...!!!! Ria behi—"
"Jijijijiji..."
He felt it again. That alertness and slowdown.
At that moment, as he looked at Valeriane, he suddenly saw a gigantic lump—a deformed mass over four meters tall—begin to emerge behind her.
There was no time to scream or warn her, much less intervene; that thing was too fast, even for his senses.
He saw it swiftly direct its attack at Valeriane's neck, like a reaper.