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Just this had brought him to the brink of death. He could feel death approaching in the distance. Zavier had grown familiar to the sensation so he knew that he was about to succumb to his death.
Only half of his body had made it through the barrier but he had the feeling that Alissa would be able to hear his voice if he called out to her now.
He grit his teeth to overcome the suffocating pain and called out to Alissa in a muffled voice that was able to portray the extent of the torture that he was going through.
"Alissaaa…"
Alissa jerked her head up in a swift motion as if a marionette had been jerked awake by the puppeteer. She looked around in confusion since she had heard his voice.
In fact, she had been hearing his voice all around her after she had witnessed his tragic exit from the world but on a fundamental level even she had known that his return wasn't possible. Therefore, she had been ignoring the voices that had been swarming her mind like a group of mosquitoes buzzing around her ears trying to get her attention.
But this voice that she had heard had woken up her very soul. She was sure that there was no way that this voice could have been a figment of her imagination. It had the power to stimulate her very existence.
She had therefore jerked her head up to look around for the source of the voice lest it disappeared before she was able to witness it.
Alissa was still able to distinguish his mangled body. Even though his skin was burnt and he looked like a walking blob of blood, Alissa recognized him at the first glance.
Her tears hadn't dried up yet but the smile that had vanished from her face returned and adorned her beautiful face like it had never left. Her chiming laughter rang in the darkness as if trying to bring music back to the silent abyss.
She lunged at Zavier in an attempt to grab his arm so he could pull her outside the last layer but the black fog acted like a deterrent and pushed her away from him.
Zavier knew that the girl wasn't strong enough to escape the bounds of the black fog so he had to make an effort to get to her somehow. But he also knew that once he went inside that barrier, the probability of him ever getting out was very low. That was the feeling that he was getting from the last barrier that separated Alissa from him.
That was the reason that he had only pushed his upper body in the barrier and had kept his lower body on the outside. This was only a contingency measure in case there was a restriction on moving out.
Some barriers acted that way. They only allowed entry and didn't permit exit or vice versa. Zavier prayed that it wasn't a barrier of that kind but in the end he had to leave himself some leeway if that was the case.
Since Alissa was unable to come closer, Zavier moved his body further in and only one of his legs was left on the outside while the rest of his body had penetrated into the barrier.
Alissa was finally able to grab hold of his hand since the strength of the black fog on the inside of the barrier was almost non-existent. This didn't mean that the fog didn't try to interfere with the rescue efforts of Zavier.
The black fog kept trying to pull back Alissa but the hold of Zavier on her hand never relented.
Zavier pushed back out of the barrier. Following his foot, his upper body and then his arms came out of the last barrier and after that came Alissa whom he had managed to pull out with all his strength.
As soon as they were out, the black fog covered them from all sides. Even Alissa's skin was being corroded by the fog.
Zavier pulled her towards himself and she clung to him like a koala clung to a tree. She had gripped him tightly and wasn't willing to relent on the force of it even if it meant squeezing him to death. She was afraid that he would leave her again if she let him go this time.
Zavier covered her with the protective layer of blood that had been protecting him so far and left himself open to the erosion of the fog in turn. He didn't have the energy to keep patching up the openings in the defense so he decided to focus on protecting the girl in his arms.
He silently suffered from the pain and closed his eyes as he clung to the girl in his arms. He was ready for what was coming next. He could already see death engulfing his very existence but he was sure that this wasn't like the last time where his very soul had been locked. At the very least even if he died, he would be able to get back to another one of his clones.
While the two had their eyes closed, there was a humongous change in their surroundings that they were unaware of.
In the outside world, Valerie and the other girls witnessed as the humanoid monster that had previously shut down turned to liquid and washed off of them like it had never existed in the first place.
In fact the collapse of the monster had begun the moment Alissa had been yanked out of the bottom layer of the abyss by Zavier. Fortunately, Zavier didn't have to die this time as well.
As soon as the monster vanished Alissa and Zavier appeared in its place all the while clinging to each other like they were not willing to part.
Valerie noticed that Zavier was hardly breathing and immediately called out to Calista.
"Take a look at his injuries."
Calista was in front of the clinging duo in a jiffy and laid a hand on his back.
It was at this time that the two became aware that they had returned to their world once again.
Zavier had suffered too much from the black fog in the abyssal world to stay conscious any longer. He had been eroded by the fog and was suffering from soul tearing pain in every part of his body.
Even Calista was dumbfounded after she saw the extent of damage to his body. She was wondering how the hell he was still alive after suffering from such terrible damages to his body. Anyone would have at least passed out but Zavier had been braving through it as if it was nothing. There wasn't even a pained yelp from his mouth.
"Alissa, you need to let him go. We need to treat his injuries as soon as possible. He has suffered from excessive corrosion from something that I am unable to determine the source of. The fog has penetrated his body and is eating away at him from the inside. We need to purify it as soon as possible or there would be a danger to his life."
Alissa heard her words and reluctantly separated from Zavier and handed him over to Calista but still kept a hold of one of his hands and insisted that she be allowed to stay by his side the whole time.
Zavier on the other hand already knew his condition. He knew that he had barely managed to escape death and full recovery might not be possible in the near future. He had been excessively traumatized by the black fog both physically and mentally since he had been exposed to it without any defense for a long time.
Zavier wasn't too worried about himself anyway. He finally saw that the people he cared about were all in good condition. Only then could he allow himself to pass out. Even when he had been in the abyss he had been wondering what the monster might have done to the girls in his absence.
He was relieved to see that all of them were just as he had left them. The instant relief washed away all his worries and he passed out before he knew it.
The next time he opened his eyes, Zavier found himself lying on a comfortable bed instead of the makeshift tent that they had been using their travels. He rubbed off the sleep from his eyes and managed to sit up in his bed.
Though there was still some pain in some parts of his body, most of it had recovered to the point that he wasn't even able to feel the damage. He looked at his hands and arms especially since they had been the most affected from the black fog in the abyssal world.
He was in a familiar place. This was his bedroom. He was relieved to see that they had managed to return home safely and a huge burden was lifted off of his shoulders.
Sitting by his bedside was someone he hadn't expected. At first Zavier hadn't even noticed his presence beside him and Val hadn't cared to disturb him. He let it take it all in before attracting attention.
When Zavier was done taking in his new surroundings, he finally noticed Val who was casually sitting by his bed looking at him with extreme interest.
Zavier put up his guard instantly after all Val was one of the people that he had previously suspected for his assassination attempts. He had even considered that Val had been the mastermind behind the plot that had followed after they had left on the mission.
But judging from his current actions, Zavier seemed to have been mistaken. Still that didn't mean that he was going to unconditionally put all his trust in Val.
Zavier wanted to see what he was doing by his side. He wanted to carefully judge for his own what this uncle of his wanted to say to him.
Val had seen this nephew of his flinch after noticing his presence. His transcendent senses couldn't have left that part out. This implied that at the very least Zavier had noticed some things that he shouldn't have.
Val and his household had tried their very best to keep him out of the loop so that he could live a normal life that a kid should have. But seeing his reaction, Val knew that some of the details had to be divulged if he wanted to earn Zavier's trust.
Therefore, he looked into Zavier's eyes and proceeded to tell him what he could.
"First of all, I need to thank you for saving Valerie and the other girls. If it weren't for you, the result would have been very different."
Zavier's face didn't change even a bit. He was still vigilant towards him and his guard was still up.
Val was a busy man and he hardly had time to visit the sick in his daily routine. Zavier knew that. That was the reason that he was slightly taken aback at this generous gesture which looked suspicious to him.
He wanted to know the true purpose of his visit this time. At the same instant, he wanted to clarify the doubts that he had been having regarding him ever since the attempt at his life. This came across to Val as Zavier regarding him as a potential enemy, someone to be vigilant around.
Val chuckled a bit but his face turned grave and in all seriousness he proceeded to tell him the true purpose of his visit.
"It's good that you are awake. Your wounds were quite serious this time. They told me that you almost died."
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