"What… you…?" The words slurred out of my mouth. My tongue lolled inside my mouth and my vision grew hazy due to the excessive blood loss. 

Despite my current condition and the fact that Ashes of Eternity had no illustrations, I could immediately recognise who this girl was. She was the same girl who Reyn had pulled with himself to 'play' with. 

However, she was the same girl who had played such a big role in the story, without even being around—Celia Solara, the princess of the holy kingdom of Solara and one of the most favored candidates for the throne by the clergy.

Her black hair was draped messily on her mud and blood-caked face and her pale grey eyes were unfocused. Her eyes seemed to swim in whatever direction her head leaned to. 

Celia—the misjudged princess. The one who was 'hyped up' for no reason as she died off-screen in one of the very first Divine Doorways introduced. The first volume focused on the main character in his village, his group of friends, his loving childhood friend, their adventures in their village as they did menial hunting while the author introduced elements in a slow manner…and it ended in their deaths.

The author is a real troll, given how he even wrote 'thanks for reading Ashes of Eternity,' at the end, implying the story was over. Taken as a joke first, it became quite famous. 

Smart, on top of humorous. The author really knows how to market his stuff. 

Celia's groan made me turn my head towards her. She fell down, but tried to stand up again. 

Getting on one knee, I held her and made her sit against my leg as I tried to shake her to consciousness. "Hello? Potential Princess? Can you hear me?"

She didn't respond—just a garbled mess of words that sounded more like she was drowning than talking.

I know she is supposed to die but…how can I leave a human to die? Yes, I might be in a novel now, but I am the same as her. And she's the same as me. I can't just let anyone die. 

Flinging her arm around my neck, I held her by the waist. 

She smelled…not just from the sweat. I could feel a man's odour from all over her. Glancing from the corner of my eyes, I saw her plump lips bitten and bruised all over while her neck and chest were nothing but dark-purple and black marks. 

It disgusted me. 

Slowly, I tried to pull her with me. 

She was as tall as me, and had a well endowed figure. I am not saying this to compliment her, but because it was making my life harder to pull her. Those extra assets do pack some extra kilos. 

"I need you to listen to me closely. I am not a denizen. I am a human like you. You have to tell me where the Divine Doorway opened. The trial is over. We only have a small window to escape." I spoke near her ear, loud enough to make her eyes focus, only for a fleeting moment before she went limp again. 

Tsk—I don't blame her, but I need her to be awake. 

"ZZZZ!" The sharp noise of static reached my ears as Bane's shadowy cub figure jumped from behind me and then landed a few yards away before running back to me. "BZZZ!"

"Not now, Bane! I am not in the mood!" I snapped as the little cub—puppy, whatever it is, let out an electrifying whining sound before jumping at me again. "Settle down, you little shit—oh!" It took me a second to realise, but it seemed like Bane wasn't trying to stop and get me to play, it was suggesting something else entirely. 

While it is not guaranteed to wake Celia up, giving her a shock from a baby, mutated Thunderjaw might just bring her back to consciousness. I mean…it's probably a bad idea, but it's something. 

Laying her down, I looked at Bane. "Shock her." 

As if understanding every word, he immediately pounced on her and went inside her torn shirt. 

My heart tightened as I looked at her while Bane tried to wriggle his way between her breasts. His form contracted as he shrunk to fit himself there. 

She was described as a really beautiful, and pure princess who was fierce, and kind, and warm. Seeing her defiled like this made me…sad. And really, really angry. 

The prickle of nail digging into my skin brought me back to reality as I felt Bane trying to tingle my senses. Like it was trying to communicate. 

"Go on, do it." I ordered. 

The cub's tiny electric shocks crackled like a live wire. 

The surge of electricity hit her, and her body jolted beneath me. Her chest rose, breath ragged, but her eyes remained closed.

I couldn't tell if she was awake or still trapped in limbo. 

But it hardly mattered. She'd be of no use if she stayed like this.

Bane wriggled deeper, his electric pulses skittering against the slickness of her skin, the charge sparking in quick, mercurial bursts. I could see the flicker of movement beneath her, the sudden clench of her fingers and the wrinkling of the skin around her eyes. 

'We are making progress.' I thought as Bane's determination and excitement leaked into me, like it was a part of me…strange.

Her eyelids twitched. 

I quickly dropped and leaned closer, lips brushing the side of her ear.

"Princess, I need you to focus. Now," I growled.

Her head twitched, reflecting the faintest glimmer of recognition behind her unfocused eyes. She wasn't out of it yet, but she was waking up—but we didn't have the luxury of waking up like a princess.

Another spasm ran through her body and mine as I was near her, holding her by the shoulder. 

"Goddamn it, Bane! I was touching her! Wait—no, not in that way…fuck, who am I even justifying myself to?" Getting away, I signalled Bane again. "Light her up."

Another jolt. 

More forceful this time. 

Her eyes flickered open, just enough to meet mine, and I saw the emptiness there—the blankness of someone barely clinging to life. It was more than I expected, but it was enough.

"Where's the Doorway?" I pressed.

A barely audible groan escaped her lips, but it wasn't an answer.

Damn it.

I shifted my grip, trying to steady her. I didn't have the luxury of being patient.

"Tell me, Princess...Celia. The trial's over. We can still get out of here—if you help me."

Her lips parted again, words slurring out. 

It wasn't coherent, but her hand twitched, and for a second, I thought she might point. But instead, she collapsed against me, her body too heavy to keep up the fight and for me to hold as she plopped on the sharp, rocky ground. 

I let out a breath through clenched teeth.

Bane chirped again, urging me forward with more of that insistent static. 

It was almost like the damn thing was trying to tell me something important, something I wasn't picking up on.

I shook my head. This wasn't the time for riddles.

The cub jumped from her chest, landing lightly on the ground beside me.

With a grunt, I hauled Celia up again, feeling the weight shift on my shoulders as I started to run. 

"Bane, give her light shocks." I screamed out as the pointy stones tore into flesh through the cheap quality shoes while Bane dissolved into mist and then reappeared on top of Celia. "Princess, point with your hand where the doorway is." 

She can't talk, but her hands function well. Bane lit her up as I felt her breathe normally again.

Without saying a word, she pointed in a direction as I bolted with all the energy I had. 

She was heavy…my strength stat was better than before but I was failing to run anymore. I was out of breath, my head was spinning, I was sweating like a pig and Bane felt like he was laughing at me. 

This fucking retard!

After a while of running, I heard Celia groan as she tried to say something but fell unconscious again. 

Bane was about to light her up but I held him off. She'd have severe permanent damage if we kept doing it. I mean, I am sure she's gonna have issues once she fully recovers, but it's better than dead. 

Celia groaned once again, her voice a torn, ugly thing. 

I was almost there. Just a few more steps. I could feel it. 

My arms burned, my breath tore in and out of my chest. 

This was it. I could not remember from my memories, but I could feel it. The ground here felt right.

I started to lower her—

⎰The one who bears has arrived.⎱

The words slammed into my skull like a sledgehammer. 

''The voice of the universe…'' I thought, out loud. 

Stone peeled back in an empty place in the air, curling inward as it revealed the Doorways—a jagged tear in the fabric of space. The light that spilled out wasn't golden, it wasn't comforting. It was painful to look at. But it flooded with hope.

We're saved.

Bane felt happy too. I could feel it. 

I tightened my grip on Celia. I had seconds. I stepped forward.

A cold weight sank in my gut before I even heard the voice. Something was wrong. Terribly, horrifically wrong.

And then—

"Wait!"

The voice was desperate. A jagged claw of sound scraping down my spine. My stomach plummeted.

I turned, shook by horror.

Bane shuddered too. I could feel his paranoia mix in mine and make me even more paranoid.

Reyn.

He was a ruin of a man. Barely standing, barely alive. 

His left leg dragged, his arm was twisted back and bones pushed up against his torn skin. 

"I don't want to stay here," he gasped, his chest rising and falling in sharp, ragged jerks. "I can't stay here. Let me through. Please, I beg of you."

He reached forward as I took multiple steps back, pulling Celia with me.

This man. This thing. The one who had torn Celia apart, laughing while she screamed. Not just her, but every woman. 

He was begging…me? Did he forget? He tried to kill me…he tried to kill Bane. 

If I hadn't known him, if I hadn't seen—I might have believed him.

My lips quivered. Honestly, I could piss my pants right now. But…

"You can change," I said softly. The words barely made it past my lips. "But your nature? That never will."

Putting Celia down by the actively forming Doorway, I took a step forward. 

His fingers curled inward into a fist.

"And I know what yours is, Reyn." My voice kept getting steady with every word. I knew what he was. I had read the Auxiliary of Ashes of Eternity more religiously than anyone else. I could trust a backstabber more than him. "I know all of your kind's nature. Critters. Your world was never ruined."

************************************************
NOTIFICATION: 

You are using Bane's Skill "Static Pulse: Lvl. 1"
************************************************

"You consumed it yourselves."