Drifting into a Coma

Lance felt a tugging in his body. Due to the heat of the moment, he had no way to know that the golden light had flashed at this moment.

Unknown to Lance, the constant rays that were emitted by the energy construct were suddenly sucked in the golden light. The block of energy became very dim, almost as if it were going to lose form.

In the darkness of the dantian, the golden glow was still increasing in intensity. It seemed that it was unsatisfied with the amount of energy it had taken in.

After the tugging, Lance felt as if someone had set him on fire. The instant extreme sensations almost knocked him unconscious.

Each and every part of him felt as if it were being burnt by the raging fire. He couldn't even scream due to the enormous amount of agony he was experiencing. All he could do was twist his face into a gruesome visage.

After the burning went on for a few milliseconds, the golden light seemed to be satisfied. The flash that had grown in intensity till now pulsed before going back into the golden light.

The bullet seemed to strangely slow down as all of these things happened in Lance's body. Although everything took place in the span of a second, Lance felt as if an year had passed since he had seen the bullet speeding towards his leg. Although the extreme pain of being burnt had only lasted for a second, the aftermath was nothing pleasant. Lance's body felt as if it had been peeled inch by inch until the tissue was exposed all over.

Even though it was only by a fraction of its speed, the bullet had slowed down. This gave Lance the time to make the foot fall and leap off of it, lunging towards the file.

His mind was focused on only one thing: touching the file and saving everyone. Nothing would be able to stop him. This was his conviction. This had been his wish.

Something had granted it. His finger felt a rough surface for an instance before his whole body became weightless.

The whole team was back in the white room. All of them were in the exact positions they had been in inside the vault. Yu Yan had been hit by a bullet in the arm before Lance had touched the file, but it was healed now. Even Entsy sat up, feeling like his body was back at its peak.

Only Lance lay unmoving. He was in a weird position: finger outstretched, reaching into the air while the rest of the body was askew, as if he had no control over it.

Lance's eyes were open, but there was something wrong with his vision.

His body was still in pain. As he blinked, he sometimes saw the white floor. The other times, there was a blue sky under which glimpses of people in doctor coats could be seen occasionally. One flash even showed Attok looking at him with an expression of absolute horror.

His brain was simply overloaded by the overwhelming sensations it was receiving. The only thing it could do was shut down in a bid to protect his sanity.

Lance shut his eyes, drifting into a coma. The world of dreams welcomed him, saving and protecting him from all the suffering.

It wouldn't be so bad to stay here forever, he thought, as he lost all feeling of his body.