"Leon, hold her steady - the bleeding's worse than it looks."
Elise's hands glowed with evolved healing energy as she knelt beside Leon's mother in the collapsed basement. Green light shifted to purple at the edges, her power interacting strangely with the death energy that clung to Leon like invisible fog.
The apartment building groaned around them as structural damage spread. Steel beams twisted overhead while concrete dust rained from widening cracks. Leon's twenty spectral warriors held defensive positions outside, their forms barely visible through smoke and debris.
His mother remained conscious despite the internal bleeding. Her eyes focused on Elise with recognition from their previous meetings, when she'd been the quiet E-rank healer who sometimes visited with medical supplies.
"You look different," his mother whispered. Blood flecked her lips but her voice stayed strong. "More... powerful."
