"Sirius!"
A voice snaps him out of his trance. He quickly turn around and see Adam and the others approaching.
"Hey..."
Sirius says with a weak smile before falling on his knees, a flare of pain surging from his insides as he pukes.
The pain starts flaring up, his body trembling as he kneels.
"!!!"
Sol, alarmed, quickly rushes to Sirius and make him lay on his side before examining his injuries.
"Another internal injuries... Sirius... what happened?"
She says as she touch his torso, allowing her Rune to work as a glow emanates from the point of touch. Sirius' body heats up, and although it wasn't instant, the pain starts to alleviate. Albeit only for a bit.
"Usurper happened... how's Thea?"
Sirius asks, looking straight at Sol as she glances to Thea who nods at her with a smile and a thumbs up. Sol smiles upon seeing her sister's response before looking back to Sirius.
"She's healing up. Now we have another patient though..."
Sol muttered the last sentence before letting out an exasperated sigh as she looks at Sirius with concern etched on her face.
Sirius simply laughs, before coughing out yet another patch of blood.
"F..."
He lets out a hiss, feeling more pain.
"Sorry... I know it hurts, but we have to move."
Sol explains as Sirius simply nods, she quickly grab Sirius' left arm before slinging it around her shoulder as she slowly stands up.
Sirius quickly follows suit, forcing his body to stand up despite the urge to puke and to just fall, to go to sleep.
"Adam, point us to somewhere safe, we have to retreat to another area. Far from this."
Adam nods upon hearing Thea's words.
"Luna, mask our presence, Chad, you will act as the vanguard. Adam stays in the middle with the injured and Anna and Sol. Yuki, you guard our back."
Everyone nods upon hearing their assigned roles, and they quickly get to formation.
They move west, treading path to another part of the city, while the roars of the two titans clashing and their underlings on the other side could be heard echoing throughout the city.
Though they decided to get away, they were not simply escaping and running away.
They decided to go into a building, that once they confirmed were a bit far from the war but close enough to observe, they stop and goes to the rooftop.
The building appears to be a hotel, a run-down broken hotel, but still standing.
They scale the emergency stairs that lead up to the roof, and once they got to the roof, they walk towards the edge of the floor.
The minotaur and the gorilla are still fighting, but as for the clash of the Fallens, the apes and the bats are winning against the bulls and the Seed trolls.
It was obvious who would've won, it was a 2 versus 1, added to the fact that their strongest was fighting somewhere else, the bulls and the trolls were easily overwhelmed.
Sirius decides to sit down, and stay still, letting the ambient mana seep into his Soul.
While moving, one cannot regenerate their mana as far as everyone know, they can only regenerate when they are "resting" or staying still with calm breathing and a calm heart.
Sirius lets out a steady breath, though in pain, he doesn't let it overwhelm him.
Sol sits next to him, the others too start to rest, while Adam keep watch, looking over the fight that is happening.
Thea walks over to Sirius and Sol before resting next to Sol, she then looks at Sirius.
"How ya doin'?"
"... Honestly? Never been better."
Both sisters look at him with raised brows, he take notice of their reactions before bursting out with a laugh, but cough shortly after, feeling the pain returning.
"What? The hell's wrong with you? First you said you feel you've never been better, then you suddenly laugh like someone just told you the funniest joke ever?"
Thea asks with a frown, crossing her arms as Sirius calms himself before smiling.
"Sorry sorry... anyway, back to what I was saying, I've never been better because... I was happy? Kind of?"
Sol and Thea's face morphs, looking at him as if they just looked at a stain of crap.
Sirius, realizing their faces and what his words meant follow up quickly.
"It's not what the both of you think."
Sirius chuckles at the both of them before continuing.
"I managed to compress the sphere and spin it fast, then shot it at the Usurper who shot a light spear or whatever it was."
Sirius says with a hint of pride, Sol's face changed like a switch as she brightens up a bit, curious. While Thea's face switched to a more serious face, listening in tentatively.
"Then? What happened?"
Sol asks, as Sirius follows with the answer.
"The sphere managed to blast through the spear, and it hit the bat on the ribs. The sphere probably messed up its insides, I could see the hole and the puddles of blood. Sadly... I didn't kill it."
Sirius lets out a sigh of disappointment.
"I poured every mana I had and it wasn't enough, though it was enough to leave it close to dying. But... the gorilla stole the kill and even took the damned Soul."
Sirius' face twitch, clearly annoyed.
Sol looks at Sirius with an understanding look as she pats his shoulder. While Thea nod a few times.
"Not to be cocky or downplay you, but it wouldn't have been possible for you anyway to kill it. I'm already at my last stage before reaching the Ruler class and yet I couldn't even damage it. Only some cuts here and there and a few blows in."
Thea adds before she pats his other shoulder.
"But thank you, for buying us time."
Thea adds upon noticing Sirius' look, his face unmoving and silent, staring at her.
Sirius slowly nods as a thought flash in his mind.
'... Should I have been climbing stronger..?'
Sirius shakes his head, clearing that thought out of his mind before sighing and looking at Thea.
"... Say, Thea can I ask you a personal question?"
Thea blinks a few time before letting a smirk paint her face.
"If this was anyone else asking me something like that I would've be bewildered and be uncomfortable."
Thea giggles as Sirius raise one of his brows.
"So I'm not just anyone else? Why?"
"Because you're friends with my dad, and he's a bit... cold, reserved. Plus, he talks highly of you, so anyway, shoot. What were you going to ask?"
Sirius ponders for a few seconds, trying to find the words as he finally opens his mouth.
"What drives you so hard to get stronger? Clearly clearing out the whole Abyss and even daring to kill a Usurper with an army, and even taking on a Usurper the second you saw it wasn't normal. There has to be a reason, when you could've just... relax."
Sirius finally ask, leaving Thea to stare at him in silence as she digest his words.
She lets out a sigh as she looks up to the sky... the clouds hover, moving along the flow as it flies.
Some sunlight spill through the cracks of the cloud, Thea could feel the breeze amidst the roars and the sound of a distant battlefield.
"I... I just want the power to protect who I cherish, who I care, and who I love... Is that enough?"
"... Mmh."
Sirius watches her serene expression, a bitter look on her face, as if a reminder of a tragic past.
Sirius watch as she smile bitterly, those short few words should not have been spoken by any child, ever.
But still... Sirius is confused, why is she feeling like this? Is it because she fear of the fact that her father is out there fighting along with her mother while she stay home, not being allowed to fight with them, to protect them?
Does she fear to end up hearing of the news that they died while she... relax?
...
Sirius nods at Thea, his lips moving once more.
"Yeah. I understand, Thea."
Meanwhile...
Sol looks at her sister, her eyes soft, yet carries the weight of something else, something deeper.
Sol reach to her sister's hand and grasp it on her own as Thea lets out a faint smile, and she rubs her thumb against Sol's hand.
"Rest up Sirius. We'll need to be at top form to make our journey back to the Post, this city is simply one part of the unknown that we're trekking."
Thea looks at Sirius as he nods, Thea smiles in response as she rustles Sol's head with a grin before standing up and walking towards the others.
Sol looks at Thea's back, a tug on her heart as she lets out a sigh before turning back to Sirius.
"Like Thea said, rest up... and thank you, for all you've done."
Sirius silently nods, inside, his mind is repeatedly recalling Thea's words.
'To protect...'
He looks back to Thea, seemingly all well as if she hadn't just fought a Usurper when she is only a mere teenager.
Soon, night falls, the battle had ended with the gorilla and the minotaur in a stalemate, while the army of the minotaur had more losses compared to the gorilla's.
They retreated to their respective hideouts, their bases.
Yuki, Luna, and Adam once again become scouts, searching for a way to the border or a road to the outside of the city.
Everyone else stays behind, recovering and resting their bodies.
But, unknown to the others, Thea had gone off down the hotel and into the lower floors through the emergency stairs.
Her steps light, silent, as she let her hand slide on the rail of the stairs.
Moving down three floors from the rooftop, she arrived near an open field.
In this floor, a pool could be seen with water still filled inside the pool area.
Across the pool right in front of her, is an open wide view to the city.
Her breath stops for a few seconds, taking in the view of the city, now a desolate ruin. But she could see how it used to be from her imagination.
Looking at the pool, a bitter smile cross her face as she lets out a sigh.
"It would be fun to have everyone here... in this pool, playing and swimming."
She mutters to herself with a smile before shaking her head and summoning her sword, [Silver Light].
Then, she begins her personal training.
A simple one hundred count for each directional slashes and a thrust.
A warm up before she has to continue with perfecting the transitioning between slashes and much more.
That night, a young boy with a conflicted mind rests. While a young girl, driven by the conviction to crave for strength train herself despite the exhaustion creeping up on her.