“Ah—”
Man clutched her stomach, feeling her small iines rot as the decay immediately spread through her entire inner ans. Suddenly, a wet, ragged cough wracked her body. Blood spttered onto her hand.
She vomited not only blood this time but also some ks of her iines. Burn, who was standing beside her, immediately rubbed her stomach, kissed her temple, a her his Force.
“Ohhhh—it hurts so bad—” Man gasped. “It doesn’t usually make my iines fail—”
Burn didn’t speak or do anything other than shush her gently in his embrace. Man had experienced lung failure, heart failure, and the colpse of her entire chest cavity before. Now, it was her iines, liver, and perhaps also her kidneys.
This time, it was ugly and painful. She ched her jaw, fighting not to let her body betray her further—not to shit herself, not to leak blood from pces she shouldn’t. Thankfully, her healing spells and Burn’s Force worked like a charm.
“Feel better?” Burn asked patiently, wiping the blood from her mouth, frowning.
Man nodded. “I wish I could trol which ans fail after these… loops…”
Burn embraced her tightly. “I couldn’t make it bae. Couldn’t make it…” he whispered i. Now, every single one of Man’s deaths meant something to him—eae carving deeper wounds into his already battered soul. “You must be in so much pain. I wish I could take it away.”
“Was it bad? I read your mind?” Man asked, of course unaware of what he was talking about.
The man hauled her into his arms and nodded. “Yes. Later. Let’s get you ed and properly healed first.”
Ma something was amiss but decided to hug him tightly. “Are we in a hurry?” She gave him a quick rub behind his shoulders. “I’ll get o take my memory from the future. Let’s go?”
Burn paused, his face lifting to hers.
These questions… Yes, she was afraid something like the st loop happened again. Trying to keep it together and knowing his wife just wao uand what had happened, he tried his best not to yell or shut down. The future was something… he didn’t want to process yet. All he wao dht now was tell her to shut the fuck up—no matter how much he loved her—
No, Burn didn’t want to be forted right now. He also didn’t want to talk about it or let her know yet. He just wao lock himself in a room and stare at the ceiling, even though he knew he expected himself to take care of her after another loop had cluded.
Sometimes… he wished he was still alone.
He didn’t know why, but the burden had been lighter when he was alone. Perhaps because he also wao protect the people around him from himself.
From his rage and frustration.
Suddenly, Man nodded. She smiled gently and kissed his cheek, sliding down from his embrad rubbing his chest before saying, “Wait in our room. I’ll get Nemo and Yvain.”
She silently left.
At that moment, he realized Man had seen his memory from the future. He saw her shoulders shaking as she walked away down the corridor, and wheurned into a brang hall, he could hear her little sobs.
The Absolute Tyrant leaned on a pilr, sliding down to sit on the floor, leaning back. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t answer her questions.
Just as he didn’t know whether to fort the woman whose heart had broken for him after seeing what he saw iure, he didn’t know how to proceed. Not even when his best friend had died had he falle he felt like a failure the moment his wife left, hiding her sobs so he could maintain his dignity.
He could have returo her faster, but he didn’t—
He had wasted too much time just because his best friend’s head had been revived to stop him in his tracks. He could have killed Aroche’s remains with a sirike, but he didn’t—
He couldn’t make it bae.
The man bowed his head. Small drops created traces on the dry marble floor.
Pathetic.
***
After they had Man’s memory extracted by Nemo, they delved into pns, turning the night into a sleepless blur. Man’s hand never left his, as they sifted through their memories, etg them into hers as if her own.
“We’ve firmed it was Lankor. We’ve located one of his base operations and glimpsed his activities with the sves. Not to mention Bir Inkor’s issue,” Man summarized.
Yvai out a relieved sigh before adding, “Also, it seems Lord Mossflower, Lord Padparadscha, Princess Bianca Lumine, and Luminus Kingdom may have no e to Lankor. We might be able to make some allies here.”
“Not so fast,” Burn interjected, leaning back as he massaged the bridge of his nose. “Send people to observe them closely ever since Lankor’s showed up. And we o take a look at Lazarus Lumihe old man’s involved somehow…”
Man turo him, rubbing his fingers gently, her thumbs trag circles as a quiet gesture of fort. “Should I delegate it? Master Vd ’t go near Luminus because of all the religious symbols, and the werewolves are out. Should we ask someone from the Elven or Dwarven Kingdom?”
“It’s fine,” Burn said with a sigh. “We’ll make a quick trip before the weekend. Also, have you figured out what to do about Bir Inkor?”
“We ’t help her without making Lankor notice us,” Man replied.
“Master, please…” Yvain stood, his voice a bit desperate. “We ’t let her suffer like this any longer.”
“Calm down,” Burn shough it was more directed at himself. “Calm down.”
Man shook her head. “The Demon Lord’s power could make things worse if we front it too soon.”
“We haven’t even tackled the Demon Lord’s power yet. Thousands of sves are still depending on it,” Burn said, his eyes closing briefly. “And the return of Lo Inkor and Nahwu Reyrie is too suspicious.”
He paused, visibly frustrated. “I ’t deal with it yet. Same damn reason as before.”
Aroche.
How exactly had the Demon Lord’s power affected him?
Man stood up gently, pulling him out of his thoughts by taking his hand. She smiled, letting out a soft, resigned sigh. “There’s a lot to handle,” she said, her voice almost serene. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Burn didn’t move. Those two sentences didn’t match each other.
“Trust me. Let me take care of it,” Man said softly. “We’re going to sleep now.”
Yvain, seemingly uanding, quietly excused himself without needing further instrus.
“Ain! That’s not what Master meant, alright?!” Man yelled, her face fming red.
Yvain scoffed as he made his exit, dragging his ouroboros-hss sister along with him. “Whatever.”
The door smmed shut.
...
...
...
“Not in the mood?” Man asked meekly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Burn looked up at her, his expression deadpan. “You said that’s not what you wao do?”
“I mean, I want to, but I know you don’t. But, in case you do, and even if you don’t, let’s just sleep,” Man stammered, her words tripping over each other like a badly-timed towister.
“...”
“...”
“Spread ys.”
“...”
“...”
“Okay.”
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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