Fear locked her legs.
But someone had already understood the attack before it was fired.
Darren.
He was mid-charge when he saw the head turn. Heard the wood compress. Traced the trajectory in an instant.
He didn't calculate.
Didn't think of the wife waiting outside.
Didn't think of levels, gear, or future.
He saw the line of attack.
Saw the frozen archer at its end.
Darren skidded through mud, violently changed direction, and ran to intercept. He leapt sideways, desperate, closing the path between monster and Elenya. Raising his bastard sword was instinct.
The wooden tip struck the blade midair.
CLINK.
The metal failed.
The sword shattered into silver fragments, flung in all directions. The lance didn't slow.
THUNK.
The sound was muffled. Heavy.
The attack impaled Darren mid-jump. It tore through chest armor. Ripped flesh. Crushed bone. The lance exited his back and stopped inches from Elenya's face.
The displacement of air flung her hair back. Warm red droplets splashed across her cheeks.
The battlefield froze.
No spells cast.
The victory cry died in two hundred throats.
Darren hung there for a moment, impaled. Feet dangling half a meter above the ground. He looked down at the wood through his body. Then, with effort, lifted his head.
He looked at Elenya.
There was no pain in his eyes.
Only relief.
"I made it…" he whispered, blood slipping from his mouth.
The Warden yanked its arm back in frustration. Darren's body slid off and hit the ground with a dull thud, like a broken doll.
Blood stained the earth, bright and final.
"NOOO!" Jay's scream shattered the world.
Ethan ran.
He didn't feel his legs. Slipped, fell, crawled through the mud, reached his friend and rolled him over. The hole in Darren's chest was too large. Impossible to close. The HP icon flickered red, dropping like a cruel countdown.
3%…
1%…
"HEALERS! HERE! NOW!" Ethan screamed, voice breaking.
"Ethan…" Darren gurgled. Blood bubbled at his lips.
"Shut up! Hold on!" Ethan pressed his hands to the wound, as if strength alone could stop reality. "We're getting out! You have a family! Don't do this!"
"Hey…" Darren smiled. Crooked. Red. "You… take care… of them…"
"Don't die… please…"
The light in Darren's eyes flickered.
"Thank you… friend…" his gaze passed Jay… and stopped on Elenya. "Be… the flame…"
The HP hit zero.
0%.
Darren's hand fell heavy into the dirt.
The system did nothing.
The body didn't dissolve.
He stayed there.
Cold.
Dead.
The sound of battle vanished. Elenya's distant sobs, Jay's cries, the monster's roar—all muted, as if submerged. Something broke inside Ethan—not mentally, but structurally.
The pain didn't escape as tears.
It escaped as combustion.
Ethan stood.
The air around him warped, vibrating at a low frequency that made teeth ache. The ground beneath his feet began to crack… and vitrify.
⚠ SYSTEM ALERT
MANA OVERLOAD DETECTED
Critical risk of physical collapse
He didn't read it.
His eyes no longer had pupils. They were twin sources of blazing blue light.
The Warden sensed the change and reacted. It roared, launching the lance-arm to crush the insignificant human.
The attack came fast.
Ethan answered with pure hatred.
VROOOOOM!
Blue mana exploded outward.
Not a beam.
Not a spell.
An eruption.
A column of blue fire rose around him, spinning violently, expanding into a compact, devastating tornado. The shockwave blasted outward.
Two healers were thrown back, robes aflame. Marcus was hurled into a rock, shielding his face as skin burned under impossible heat.
"ETHAN! STOP!" Marcus screamed.
He didn't hear.
The Warden's arm hit the vortex's edge… and vanished.
Not burned.
Disintegrated.
Blue fire crawled up the monster's body like a plague of light. The Warden screamed—not in rage, but fear. Tried to retreat. Couldn't.
Ethan raised his hands and screamed.
No words. Only refusal.
The tornado advanced.
Gray bark vaporized. The cracked core collapsed. No regeneration. No defense.
The Guardian was erased.
The blue pillar lit Eden for endless seconds…
…then faded.
Where the Warden stood remained only a vitrified crater and glowing dust.
But Ethan was still burning.
Flames burst from him in unstable jets. Skin split. Blood ran from his nose. The system flashed red without pause.
CRITICAL OVERLOAD
User damage escalating
He searched for something.
Anything.
An enemy. A reason.
Someone ran into the impossible heat.
Elenya.
Ignoring Jay's shouts. Ignoring pain. She reached Ethan and wrapped her arms around him from behind, locking his arms.
Fabric ignited.
"Ethan! Stop!" she cried, sobbing. "It's over! He's dead!"
His body trembled.
"BRING HIM BACK!" Ethan screamed, voice shattering. "BRING HIM BACK!"
"He won't come back!" Elenya clutched tighter, enduring the pain. "But we're here! You'll kill us too! Come back… please…"
Her crying pierced the fury.
The blue fire wavered. Flickered.
Ethan collapsed to his knees.
Mana was cut abruptly. Heat died. The world fell into heavy silence. Elenya collapsed with him, still holding on.
For a long moment… no one moved.
Wind passed through the devastated clearing.
Ash fell like snow.
And on the ground—between victory and loss—Darren's body lay still.
Ethan stared at his hands.
They still smoked.
Skin reddened, cracked in places, as if exposed to impossible heat. Blue mana leaked in unstable threads between his fingers, blinking in and out.
A red warning flickered at the edge of his vision.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Mana Overload Detected
Critical State: OVERLOAD
Risk of permanent physical collapse
He could barely focus.
He turned his head.
Elenya knelt nearby, gripping her arms. Her skin was red, burned where she'd touched him. Her tunic was charred and torn. She breathed through clenched teeth, holding back pain.
Behind them, Marcus tried to rise using his sword. Parts of his armor were melted, darkened by the blast. Two healers lay on the ground coughing smoke, robes torn, still dazed.
The realization hit harder than any blow.
I did this.
Not abstract guilt.
A punch to the gut.
I almost killed them all.