One Last System

"No!" Mia shouted, tearing apart the seal of the world she was in.

She was too late to stop the monster from slamming its entire weight on Arthur. Thankfully, though, he managed to slip out, using means that Mia didn't even want to think about.

But when he landed...

It was clear that he was spent.

'Come on,' Mia thought, channeling all the energy she could into the rift that she was tearing in the world her consciousness was in. 'Faster!' she thought, squeezing every last drop of willpower to speed the process up.

"It will be too late," Mia spoke with her imaginary mouth, her sanity vanishing on the spot. Yet, just as she was about to force even more energy than she was currently capable of...

The world around her broke apart, only for her consciousness to suddenly float up, as if resurfacing from the water depths. Yet, as Mia opened her eyes, she was perfectly dry.

'I'm back...' Mia thought, looking around to confirm her situation.

And it was all just as she saw from the insides of that internal world of hers.

Despite escaping the certain doom of the former attack, Arthur was still on the verge of dying to the next attack of that gianormous monster.

"ARTHUR!" Mia shouted, lunging forward without the slightest care for her own safety.

She cast all her doubts and hesitations aside. Even if there really was something wrong with their relationship at its very foundations, this wasn't the time to think over that stuff!

Mia lunged forward. Yet, instead of just jumping like a normal person would, her body shoot ahead.

'Huh?' Mia shrugged, realizing that she was mid-air when she was about to crashland right beside Arthur.

Thump.

Mia's entire body screamed out in pain when she landed, losing all of her momentum in an instant.

Normally, her body would naturally roll away. It was the natural way of dampening one's inertia during landing, allowing for a smoother transition. Yet, rolling away would cost Mia those precious few seconds that she had to do something.

'He is completely out of it,' Mia thought, throwing a glance towards Arthur as she grasped at the ground and kicked herself off it, rolling towards her man.

"STOP IT!" Mia shouted again, rolling over Arthur's weakened body, pushing him down, and then shielding him with her very own flesh.

Mia then took a deep breath, allowing the air she inhaled to fill every last fiber of her being.

The mana circulating through her system followed the motions of the air that Mia imagined, quickly amassing into a power that only a few enlightened cultivators of the world could boast.

And then, as if following some kind of ritual that she didn't know about, Mia pried her mouth open, forcing all the air out between her lips.

"GET AWA..." her voice ignited the mana that she continued to gather, making it fuel the power of her words along with the momentum of the air.

Yet, just as Mia was about to spell out her order, just as the mana permeating her voice was about to do its bidding...

A sudden gust of wind shook Mia out of her mind, forcing her to shut her mouth to not hyperventilate.

"Stop."

This single word reached Mia's ears, forcing all of her thoughts, actions, and even breath to turn still.

It was a true display of the wonders one can achieve upon reaching a certain level of cultivation.

'Just how strong is this thing?' Mia thought, gritting her teeth as she raised her eyes towards the monster.

Yet, instead of attacking, the massive bear slumped down on its backside, crossed its hind legs, and kept one of its front legs on its belly while raising the other paw of his in a 'stop' sign.

'What is this, an animalistic buddha deity?' Mia asked herself, only to shake her head.

'Wait, what?' she quickly realized that she actually had no idea what the stuff she just brought up meant at all.

'Deity I can understand, animalistic too... But who or what the fuck is buddha?' Mia asked. Her desperate desire to figure out what was wrong with her only kept on growing.

"Why do you defend this man?" the powerful voice from before appeared once again, clearly coming from the direction of that gianormous monster.

"Are you okay?" Mia ignored the question and turned her eyes to Arthur underneath her. Yet, as she looked down, Mia finally realized that right now...

She was completely naked.

"Tsk," Mia clicked her tongue before ignoring the bout of shame that came knocking right away.

This wasn't the moment to be bothered with stuff like her bare skin being seen by some animals or another girl!

"I will live," Arthur squeezed just three words out of his throat, using up the energy he would waste on speaking to prompt his upper body up.

"Let me support you," Mia mused, her face filled with worry when she placed her hand directly on Arthur's chest.

And then, following her will, the mana that she could still somehow steal from that strange world she had already freed herself from flew like a raging torrent into Arthur's system.

"Huh?" Arthur shook in surprise when Mia's spiritual energy filled him up...

But it wasn't anywhere enough. Not when his body was devastated on a physical rather than magical level. In terms of magic alone, Arthur had yet to run out of his mana, making Mia's help pretty much a miss.

Still, pumped full of energy for a slight moment, Arthur managed to recover some of his physical abilities.

"This man's flesh is corrupted by the power of the invaders," the beast spoke again, still frozen in that weird but dignified posture.

Its words themselves appeared to have an effect on all the mana around the world. Every last tone of its speech made it feel as if there was a strange force of compulsion behind its words.

Yet, despite all of those effects, both Mia and Arthur remained somehow unaffected.

"The invaders that I was born to destroy," the monster added, finally lowering its right paw on top of its belly, just like his left one.

"Can you fight, dear?" Mia asked, ignoring the lecturing of the monster, her attention fully dedicated to Arthur.

"I don't really think so," Arthur shook his head, only for a small smile to appear on his lips a moment later. "But this isn't a question of whether I can or not," he added, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

Then, as Arthur started to release the air back out, he forced his body up,  once again putting his exhaustion behind the bars of his willpower.

"I will fulfill my mission to kill the invaders. Even if it means killing a gifted enlighted like you," the monster added, paying just as much mind to the two ignoring him as the two paid to his words before.

It had its job to do. And for now, it clearly involved some mighty-and-important sounding announcements.

"It seems that you can run," Arthur noticed, turning his eyes to the girl. "SInce it doesn't want to kill you, how about you just..." Arthur pursed his lips before he could finish his sentence. He then smiled gently and shook his head.

"Right, I'm sorry," he apologized, even with Mia not saying a single word. "I should be well aware that you won't just run on your own," Arthur added, raising his hand and caressing Mia's cheek for a moment.

"You dummy," Mia whispered in response, squinting her eyes in happiness caused by Arthur's touch.

"I guess if we are about to go, we can do it with glory, don't we?" Arthur muttered, a cheeky smile appearing on his lips. He then turned his eyes towards the monster again.

Yet, instead of speaking anything, Arthur squeezed all his muscles again, finally forcing himself to properly stand up.

It wasn't that he had to stand in order to cast his spells. If anything, standing up was actually a downside, given how extremely hard it was for Arthur to keep his body upright.

But right now, it was the statement of his will. Something that had a way greater chance of saving them than saving a tiny bit of strength by lying down could.

"You there," Arthur called out. "Yes, that's right, this big, ugly piece of fur!"  he shouted, openly taunting the monster despite the sorry state he was in.

However, this time, the bear monster didn't react, nor did it make any further statements.

Rather than that, it appeared to be genuinely interested in what Arthur had to say!

"I don't care what strength I do use," Arthur stated, graciously accepting Mia's help to stand upright. "I don't care what blasphemy I will commit nor what tradition I will spit on," Arthur declared before twisting his lips for a little and literally spitting down.

"As long as it helps me keep Mia safe and happy, I will do anything to that end!"

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