The giant energy crystal dropped to the ground with a thud. It was so heavy that the ground sank almost a foot under it.

The Scorpionman collapsed and landed with a small earthquake, his body contorted in an odd way from the mist spikes that stretched him across the ground. I didn’t have to check to know he wasn’t breathing. A pond of black blood pooled around his body, getting bigger by the second. My nose wrinkled in disgust at the sight. With a wave of my hand, I cancelled the mist spikes. The Boss’s body slumped in a gross pile. For the first time since I got the System, I didn’t get an EXP for killing a monster.

The huge Portal the Scorpionman came out of, a half a mile to my right, started to warp and shake as it began to collapse.

I gasped. No! We needed that Portal! That was the way to the parasitic planet!

Kesstel took a couple steps towards it, his face tight with pain and hand pressed over the hole on his right side.

It’s okay, Goddess said. That actually doesn’t lead to where we want to go. That giant insect wasn’t kept on that abominable being, so this Portal doesn’t lead to the parasite.

The tension drained out of me. All I wanted to do was flop on the ground and not move. I was dead tired and a migraine threatened to pound my brain to mush, but I still turned and hurried to Kesstel. “It’s okay,” I said to him, gesturing to the Portal. “It’s not what we want.”

He didn’t question me, just simply stopped moving and watched the Portal collapse into nothing. Another earthquake rippled through the ground, but there was nothing we could do about it. Kesstel’s jaw tightened as he withstood the shaking. He wasn’t bent over quite as much, but I could tell he was still hurting a lot.

The earthquake had passed by the time I landed by his side. I was so tired that my knees almost gave out, but I forced them to stay strong. The after effects of the adrenaline from the battle caused my fingers to shake as I reached for his hand covering the hole in his armor. “Are you okay?”

He nodded stiffly. “A little disgruntled though.” A wrinkled smile stretched across his face.

I blinked up at him in alarm. “Why? What’s wrong?”

His eyes softened, as if he thought I was funny. “I was supposed to get you the energy crystal. Not sit back and let you do it alone.”

I scowled at him. “The hell with that. I’m not some weak little woman that needs a big, strong man to solve all her problems.”

I bent down, trying to examine his wound while taking a couple medical sanitizer wipes out of my Items Bag. Quickly I ripped open the packaging around the first and cleaned off my hands. When that was done, I carefully peeled his fingers out of the way and started to clean off Kesstel’s wound. It was hard, working around the armor, especially since I was trying not to hurt him. I did what I could.

Kesstel breathed a soft laugh and let me touch as much as I wanted. “I know. But I want to do it anyway.” His damaged breast plate disappeared, revealing a black stained undershirt.

I hummed under my breath as I tore the hole in the shirt wider to get a better look. Thankfully, he wasn’t so hurt anymore. A thin stretch of skin was already spreading over the wound so it wasn’t bleeding anymore — it just looked awful on the outside. He was healing so fast, it would be a waste to use anymore medical equipment on him.

I sighed in relief then looked up at him. “But I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me. And I would have been seriously hurt if you hadn’t caught me. Thank you.”

He hooked my chin with his fingers and guided me to stand. Before I could ask what was wrong, he dropped a short kiss on my lips. “That’s how you say thank you.” A wet wipe appeared in his hand and he softly started to clean the grime off my hot cheeks.

“Oh,” I whispered, and let him do as he pleased.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he started to clean my forehead.

I nodded and glanced towards the cities. Most of the people were digging through the rubble of the collapsed wall, obviously trying to find any survivors. Other people were peeking out from around the wall, some even snapping pictures on their phones. I wrinkled my nose at them. “Do you think they ever get what’s going on? I mean, look at the sky. Or just look around you. Everything is tinted red right now. Who in their right mind would be taking pictures at a time like this?”

Now that I wasn’t in battle, I could hear the sounds of fighting going on in Eden. It obviously wasn’t over yet but it didn’t sound like it was coming closer, which was good. It meant that the Hunters were able to keep the monsters inside Eden. According to the rules, Kesstel and I should hurry and join them. But that was not going to happen any time soon.

“Ignorance is bliss,” Kesstel muttered. He turned his head and looked at the Scorpionman’s energy crystal on the ground not far from us. “Your Goddess said that she could use that to get to the parasitic planet?”

“Yes. But …” I trailed off and glanced at his wound. He wasn’t the only one with low HP.

He knew what I meant. “We should heal up first.”

I nodded and looked up at the rip that was still stretching across the red sky. It was important to get to the parasitic planet as soon as possible. I had a feeling that the Gate Surges wouldn’t stop until we did. Not to mention that the parasitic planet was trying to break into our atmosphere. Only Kesstel and I were both more than half dead. It would be idiotic to go to the parasite planet in this state. Who knew what was going to happen up there?

He waved his hand and two camping chairs appeared next to him. Then he pulled his shirt off, revealing the large patch of angry red skin that was still healing. It took up most of the right side of his stomach. Although I hated seeing him hurt like that, it was good that it was on his right.

Kesstel’s energy crystal was on the left side of his torso.

Kesstel took a couple water bottles out of his Item Bag, passed one to me, and poured the other over his head and body, washing away the blood.

Inspired, I dumped my own water bottle over my head and body. As much as I hated wet armor, it felt wonderful to feel all the blood leave my body.

Kesstel’s lips twitched. “I meant for you to get a drink. You have to be thirsty.” Another water bottle appeared in his hand and he offered it to me.

“I am. Thanks.” I took the water bottle, then waved my hand at his body. The water clinging to him converted into mist. Since it was still stained with blood, I guided it away from us. Satisfied, I offered him a water bottle from my own Items Bag in return.

He smiled and took the water. “Thank you.”

Happy, though still tired, I dried myself and sat down to heal up.

The alarm sirens wailed in Garden City, coupled with the sounds of the battle from Eden. The tear in the red sky grew bigger, and the image of the parasitic planet on the other side continued to solidify. Some of the Hunters from Garden City’s patrol wanted to come out to us, but my mist was still spread out over the battle site. It wasn’t in barrier mode, but the Hunters seemed reluctant to go into it. It was just as well. I didn’t want them to mess with anything until we dealt with the energy crystal.

I kept looking in the direction of the hospital. As much as I was dying to go see how damaged the building was from all the quakes or if my mom or sister were hurt during them, there wasn’t time and I needed to rest and heal up. My cell phone didn’t have a signal either. A quick glance proved that the building that the phone tower sat on had collapsed sometime today.

Ten minutes later, Kesstel was dressed in a blue tunic and his spare breastplate, the one that he usually wore. Neither of us were completely healed yet, but we were both anxious to go.

We walked up to the huge energy crystal. The dead Scorpionman’s head was just ten feet away, vacant eyes staring right at it, but I ignored it as much as I could.

Press her will against it, Goddess instructed.

Press, not stab, huh? I thought as I took the weapon out of my Items Bag. The pure crystal blade started to glow, the mist inside moving rapidly. Wherever the light touched, it seemed to push away the red hue that stained the world, reverting things to their natural color.

A half a step behind me, Kesstel’s hands twitched, but he didn’t do or say anything. Was he still disgruntled that Goddess was talking to me, or was he reacting to the kindjal?

I didn’t ask. Instead, I reached out and pressed the tip of the glowing kindjal to the energy crystal.

At first, nothing happened. Then the light from the kindjal started to slowly spread into the energy crystal. Like multiple snakes, the white light wormed through the inside of the blue energy crystal. Everywhere it touched, the faint blue glow changed to Goddess’s silvery white light.

A heavy pressure settled over the land.

I winced at the feeling and looked up at the red sky. Inside the gaping hole, the parasitic planet seemed to tremble.

Kesstel grunted and put his hand against his left side, over where his energy crystal was.

Alarmed, I looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

He nodded. “It’s fine. Keep going.”

That wasn’t the answer that I wanted, but it was probably the best I was going to get at the moment.

Cracks split over the surface of the Boss’s energy crystal, webbing out until they covered the whole giant oval. White light pierced through the cracks, shining like an oblong moon. All at once, the outside casing of the energy crystal shattered. The jagged pieces of crystal evaporated into tiny white lights that lifted into the air and faded away into nothing.

At the same time, the body of the dead Boss, and everything related to it, exploded into the matching white lights and faded away.

What was left was a glowing ball of white light, the size of a basketball. It drifted over to me.

The kindjal disappeared from my hand by its own will. Instinctively, I reached out and ‘caught’ the ball. It never actually touched my hands, the glowing light simply floated three inches above my skin, but I could feel the immense power that was pulsing from it. Unlike the magic from other energy crystals, I didn’t feel a strong sense of repulsion from it. Instead, it felt like a warm morning sun. Soft and fresh, the kind of balm that heals the soul.

Kesstel, on the other hand, took a slight step away. His face, which normally showed his natural emotions around me, was blank as a stone as he stared at the light in my hand. Even so, I could see the unease in his blue eyes.

A ripple of silver shimmered in front of me. Goddess appeared across from me, her transparent body, with her constantly moving long hair and dress, faintly glowing like a ghost. She smiled gently and lifted her hand until they rested under mine, as if helping me support the light ball. I couldn’t feel her physical touch, but I could feel the warmth of her hands on mine.

“Ready?” she asked, her word ringing in my ear. Instead of her normal, gentle looking self, her face was tight with fierce determination.

*****