On the verge of death

Fenrir became lightheaded due to excessive blood loss but he urged himself to grip the tail spear. The weapon was far too embedded in the wall for him to extract it with sheer strength alone.

[Internal bleeding detected]

[Host's stomach has ruptured]

He coughed up another stream of blood as the spear seemed to have grazed against his vital organs with the slightest of movements. He released the spear and banged his head back against the wall.

[Health has rapidly decreased]

[Insufficient mana to perform life rejuvenation and life absorption]

"Dammit, I should have gone in," Yun cursed as he leaped into the pit.

He closed his eyes to focus as a large pair of wings birthed from the element of fire itself emerged from within his spine. The flight appendages grew out and brightened the pit abundantly.

He beat his wings once before he landed gently on his feet and the flight appendages folded inwards.

"Fenrir!" Yun shouted and he rushed toward the impaled soldier.

"...I..." Fenrir barely managed to speak as the blood gurgled in his mouth.

"It's fine you don't have to speak," Yun grimaced at the sight of the spear that pierced Fenrir's torso. "If I pull it out... you'll bleed to death in seconds."

Yun weighed his options carefully, but unfortunately, there were none viable enough to solve the current situation. And it didn't help that there were screeches that emanated from the deeper tunnels of the pit where the Pit Fiend had broken through.

"I need to find a way to get him out," Yun turned away from Fenrir and outstretched his wings as a crowd of Barbed Devils scurried through the wall.

"Perfect," Yun's gaze narrowed. "These things have a resistance to fire."

"Yo Yun," A voice called out from the top of the pit edge. It echoed as it reached the depths. "Need a hand?"

Yun breathed a sigh of relief as five Garrison soldiers descended into the pit with the grappling hooks they attached to the edge of the pit.

The first garrison that landed immediately unholstered the twin, custom-designed flintlock pistols that were black with gold engravings.

"You don't get to bully our little Yun just yet," The Garrison smirked. "That right is only reserved for fellow squad members."

Blue rings of energy flowed throughout both his arms as he pulled the trigger on the weapons. Narrow blasts of energy burst out from the barrels and a white circle that glowed with gold engravings appeared upon release of the attack.

"Lightning bolt amplification," He uttered and the circle with engravings multiplied with each of them that expanded into a larger radius.

The circles altered the properties of the energy blasts into several bolts of crackling lightning that struck the crowd of Barbed Devils with an electrical sizzle.

The creatures squealed as the lightning bolts descended and crisped their bodies to dust that perished on the spot.

[You have killed twenty level 3 Barbed Devils]

The first garrison's artificial system informed him. He holstered the flintlock pistols as the other four Garrison soldiers landed shortly beside him.

"There should be others down that tunnel," The first Garrison nodded at his companions. "Take them out."

"Aye, sir!" Three of the Garrison said in unison and departed for the tunnel while the other one remained behind.

"Our trainee isn't looking too good over there," The first Garrison walked towards Fenrir.

"Noah," Yun grabbed the first Garrison's hand. "We need to save him."

"We?" Noah arched a brow. "He clearly failed his test."

"He defeated a Pit Fiend!" Yun gestured to the creature that lay riddled with bone spears at the opposite end of the pit. "He completed his test."

"A low level Pit Fiend," Noah emphasized. "You do realize that the system we have states that a Pit Fiend has never been encountered, correct? It is an AI, it has its flaws."

"He's a trainee," Yun scowled. "Sure we've fought and defeated the more evolved forms of the Pit Fiend but no trainee has defeated one before."

"The system needs to be updated," Noah sighed. "The info on the Pit Fiend not being encountered is still false, but of course our top researcher has gone missing."

"We'll talk later, " Yun stated firmly. "Fenrir needs our attention."

"Captain said to bring him back in one piece but I can't account for any accidental or sudden deaths," Noah shrugged and twisted his hand out of Yun's grasp.

He approached Fenrir whose eyes occasionally fluttered open and closed. The soldier's breathing had become uneven and almost faint.

"Shion," Noah gestured for the other Garrison that remained behind.

He was slightly shorter than Noah and had hazel brown hair that was slicked back while tucked behind his ears. His eyes were a lapis shade that appeared dull. And his face naturally depicted an apathetic expression.

"He needs to be brought back to Danté," Shion said dryly. He placed a hand near the region of Fenrir's wound and closed his eyes to focus.

A green glow emitted from his palm and particles of mana inserted themselves into the slight space between the embedded spear and Fenrir's flesh.

The particles traversed through his body and examined his organs. They ran a course of his bloodstream and once their assessment was completed, the particles exited his body and returned to Shion's hand.

"Stomach acid is flowing out," Shion concluded. "The external bleeding needs to be contained."

"If we pull out that spear, he's done for," Noah gripped the tail spear. "We reached here by armored vehicle, it should take us twenty minutes to reach back."

"In twenty minutes," Shion's gaze absently trailed off into space and his eyes lazily focused on Fenrir again. "Noah, pull it out."

"Are you mad, Shion?!" Yun exclaimed.

"Calm down, little Yun," Noah placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Noah pulls the spear, Yun cauterizes the wound," Shion nodded at them."It'll temporarily cease his external bleeding until we can get him back to Danté."

"Step back," Noah cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

He gripped the tail spear with both hands firmly.

"Be quick about it," Yun warned. "Do it swiftly to reduce the pain."

"Little Yun seems to like you already," Noah strengthened his grip on the spear as Fenrir groaned when he felt a burning ache from his wound.

Noah extracted the spear in one swift move, but the sharp edge of the spear grazed against Fenrir's vital organs slightly.

[Attempting rejuvenation...]

The soldier released an agonizing scream that reverberated throughout the pit and clutched onto the wound that rapidly oozed blood as he fell to his knees.

[Rejuvenation failed due to insufficient mana and stamina]

Shion immediately kneeled beside him to support his weight while Yun's hand hovered over the hole carved in Fenrir's torso.

His palm ignited with a crimson flame that seared the stringy threads of flesh around the hole. Fenrir gritted his teeth to suppress another scream.

"Easy," Yun attempted to comfort the soldier but Fenrir only responded with a glare.

The flame halted the external bleeding as the flesh became taught and creased from being burnt.

Fenrir breathed heavier than before, unable to catch his breath due to the excruciating pain from the raw wound and the internal burn of the stomach acid that flowed out.

Noah crouched down in front of Fenrir and cupped his face.

"Look at me," He commanded. "Control your breathing. Now."

'The fuck is wrong with him... ' Fenrir mentally swore.

How did he expect him to control his breathing when everything hurt like hell?

"I can try something," Shion leaned closed. "It's temporary, but will likely buy us time until we return to the facility."

"Do it," Noah agreed sharply.

Shion inhaled a deep breath and placed his hand over Fenrir's wound. But he briefly glanced back at Yun.

"Light," He said and Yun sighed as he came closer and outstretched his wings.

"Am I a human torch?" Yun arched a brow.

"This is going to bring additional pain," Shion looked at Fenrir. "But it will help."

He closed his eyes to concentrate. A green circle with white symbols surfaced above the wound and mana particles flowed out from it.

[Time anomaly detected...]

[Analyzing...]

"Chrono Reversal," Shion said as he opened his eyes and the circle gradually moved in a circular formation.

[No threat detected in time anomaly]

Fenrir clenched his fists as he felt his organs reconstruct themselves and the damages dealt slowly undid themselves.

The circle disappeared when Shion removed his hand.

"What did you do?" Yun questioned.

"I reversed the time around his damaged organs to forty minutes earlier. A time before he was injured," Shion explained. "I've never tried this on a person so I'm not certain what side effects there are or what the time limits are."

"Danté can figure it out," Noah lifted Fenrir and threw him over his shoulder.

"He's still injured!" Yun protested.

"He'll be fine, Little Yun," Noah smirked. "Let's go."