"Return to bed."
Ashrik's low voice pulled Lucille out of her trance. Startled, she remembered that she was still in his arms.
"Ah—I can walk..."
By the time her senses returned, he had already carried her back to bed. She was cut off mid-sentence, her hands flailing by her side.
The man's actions were quite stiff, but still careful as he lowered her to the bed. The mattress sank slightly under her weight.
Unable to help it, her eyes were locked onto his face, probing for something—anything.
Lucille knew the man before her was Ashrik Zhai. He still bore the familiar features, but...
Not only his gaze, but everything else about him had shifted.
The gentle, scholarly aura he used to carry was nowhere to be found. Instead, an aloof sharpness was radiated from his entire being.
His tall, lanky frame had fleshed out. The once-skinny gentleman was now muscular yet lean. She had also noticed the lengthy scar on the corner of his left brow.
His presence carried an oppressive weight, unlike before.
As he realized how intent Lucille's gaze on him was, Ashrik turned around. He said curtly, "You need water."
"Bro—"
Before Lucille could say anything, Ashrik had already left the room, his movements swift. Within seconds, the sound of his footsteps faded in the hallway.
In the moment of confusion, she didn't catch the brief hesitation in his eyes. She was still deep in the shock of meeting him again, especially after what happened in the underground cave.
'It's really him... who saved me there. But... why? And how?'
The mission was supposed to be a secret, only known to a select few. Because Deputy Commander Jia himself gave the order, Lucille never expected such a traitorous outcome.
But why was he there?
"Ngh!"
A sudden onslaught of pain tore a cry out of Lucille's lips, cutting her thoughts short. As she gasped for air amid the throbbing ache, her brows twisted and her face paled.
"Huff... huff..."
Curling up on the bed, Lucille forced herself to stay calm. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, trickling down as she closed her eyes, her hands grasping the sheet tightly.
Lucille knew the dull ache that flared to every inch of her body wasn't due to any external or internal organ injuries. It came from something deeper within—her inner, ability core.
The one forcibly broken by the man she respected as an elder.
"Lucy, you did well."
"This is a relic to break one's ability core... We have to sacrifice you."
"Now you looked exactly like your father. That same pathetic face when I pushed him into the zombie horde."
"I still have to thank him. I won't stay alive without his sacrifice."
"It's a cruel world now."
Captain Gao's malice-coated voice rang in Lucille's mind. Her brain had also inadvertently conjured the horrifying scene when her late father's former comrade backstabbed her.
And his confession of causing her father's death!
Not only had the man betrayed her, but he had also thrown her aside like a pathetic, useless prey.
Unadulterated venom smeared his voice and eyes as he 'kindly' wished her farewell and admitted to his crime.
He was determined to leave her to die in the underground cave, to accompany the remains of someone unknown. Intense hatred surged from the depths of her heart in the last moments before she lost consciousness
Traitor!
Why should she die in the hands of a traitor?
Why should she let her father's murderer go?
"Huff... ngh! Ah—!"
Lucille convulsed, her body contorting like a puppet whose joints had broken. A burning pain flared from her broken core, searing over everything within her.
At the same time, an influx of foreign energy rushed into her core, only to dissipate into nothingness. Her core wildly reacted, pulling the energy again and again, but each failure came with a painful price.
Hurts!
It hurts so much!
"LUCY!"
Ashrik's roar thundered in the room, piercing through Lucille's hazy mind. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she saw him rushing to her side.
Ashrik had just left the kitchen with a cup of water when he noticed an abrupt, violent shift of energy coming from the bedroom. As panic set in, he threw the cup aside and ran.
He didn't need to ask anything. It was the obvious sign that her broken core had lost control again.
Her core tried to suck in the spiritual energy in the surroundings despite not having the capacity to hold it.
"Lucy, what do you feel?"
Ashrik calmed himself, his hands reaching for Lucille's. She gripped the bedsheet so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She would hurt herself if he did nothing.
"H-hot—It's so hot..."
Lucille gasped, her chest heaving rapidly. She felt as if her whole body was left burning in an inferno. The invisible flame rushed to devour her as its writhing, blazing tongues scalded her.
Ashrik gnashed his teeth. He focused his energy to resonate with Lucille's turbulent one. This was his second time doing this.
He could only follow his instinct, unsure whether his method would yield success or not.
Lucille's tempestuous energy was subdued slightly, but Ashrik knew this was far from enough. Knowing that the burning pain had almost driven her mad, he carried her out of the bed before running outside the cottage.
The breathtaking scenery of the lush green lawn, sparkling clear stream and vibrant flowers greeted him. But it did nothing to ease his worried mind.
He wanted to let the grass embrace her, but changed his mind in the next second. Instead, he headed to the gently flowing stream nearby, connecting to a river.
'Better try than nothing.'
After making out his mind, Ashrik stepped into the clear stream without kicking his slippers off. The cold water passed through his legs and then his waist as he waded to the center.
Ashrik lowered Lucille into the water while keeping her head above the surface. Her face was significantly paler than before, with more sweat soaking her.
As he held her carefully in his arms, Ashrik drew the abundant spiritual energy in the stream to his core before channeling it to Lucille.
His instinct told him to act as a filter to avoid her broken core greedily sucked the spiritual energy. In her current state, doing so would put her life in grave danger.
As he sensed the fierceness of her energy receding, he also saw her countenance easing. An imperceptible smile curled on his lips.
He knew.
She had a high chance to restore her core to its original state, and perhaps to be more powerful.