Chapter 54: Reaching The End

"Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods. To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate. It is not the empath who is broken, it is society that has become dysfunctional and emotionally disabled. There is no shame in expressing your authentic feelings. Those who are at times described as being a 'hot mess' or having 'too many issues' are the very fabric of what keeps the dream alive for a more caring, humane world. Never be ashamed to let your tears shine a light in this world." —Anthon St. Maarten

"Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection - or compassionate action." —Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships

"Help someone, you earn a friend. Help someone too much, you make an enemy." —Erol Ozan

***

For the second time, Pack's great desire to help and save Xenia from death made her push herself to her limit. Despite being frail and weak-willed even after stating that she would do unspeakable atrocities to both the fake Zeb and Franzia, Pack still was a kid and a human, after all. However, her intelligence to properly utilize her gift allowed her to delve into the fight when she applied [Reinforce] to her own self, which wittingly gave her enough speed to catch up to the fake Zeb on time before he struck Xenia.

Her hand reached for Xenia, even the tiniest bit of touch from her activated her gift. This brought Xenia the reinforcement of his body to defend himself from the severing strike of the fake Zeb's axe.

"What?! My axe didn't cut through him?!"

It was the same spot he attacked to completely shatter and severe Xenia's left arm. However, it was for naught, for Pack's interference strengthened Xenia's body with her gift [Reinforce].

"I'm grateful for your help, Pack!"

Not only did it strengthen his body, but it also brought forth the remaining power he had left to the surface. So, when he grabbed onto the fake Zeb's axe, the baffled man could not pull it away. Although he was using both hands, it proves that Xenia's strength was far greater than his with Pack's help.

Basically, the fake Zeb was behind Xenia and his sister was in front of the kid, down on both of her knees as the blood kept flowing from her slit neck. It was not the time to be worrying about his sister, so the fake Zeb undoubtedly tried to do his best to get his payback on Xenia.

But in the end, when Xenia lightly found the chance to easily back-flip, along with it was the almost unseen clean cut through the fake Zeb's neck. His hand was still grabbing on his axe, so the position of his hand was pulled over his shoulder and since he was a lot taller than Xenia, it pulled his whole body down, which eventually resulted in him dropping weirdly on the ground.

"My vision... is rolling?"

It stopped at the view of his sister finally losing her life after losing so much blood. Heart-wrenchingly grievous it was. But the fake Zeb was unable to feel anger or any form of feelings after his head was cut off his body.

Before completely losing consciousness, the fake Zeb's vision rolled for the last time. It turned out that now that they were dead, Pack found the courage to use the hammer and smashed the severed head to mash.

"Losing both of your brothers in front of your eyes, feeling helpless when that transpired right before me yet I could not do a single thing... it hurts. It hurts so much... that I wished it was me that died back there."

Finally, Pack could let everything out. Her pent-up anger and suppressed tears were all poured together. In the cave, her screams, all that came at the top of her lungs, echoed loudly in the entirety.

"She had saved me two times. Being a man that is deeply indebted to her efforts, I shall pay her kindness."

Xenia was not thinking of putting an end to her miseries. The amount of trauma she was put through would forever linger in her heart and mind as long as she lives. And Xenia was there not to finish her, which he initially planned on doing so, but her brave actions led him to think of sparing her.

"Thanks to her, I realized my mistakes and I know that all of them are irreversible and can't be forgiven. However, if everyone that I betrayed and disappointed would let me set things right, I will choose to let Pack live."

While Pack was still busy crying her eyes out, Xenia sneaked a piece of flesh from both the fake Franzia and Zeb, which he chewed on and swallowed almost instantly. He was hoping that a miracle would happen and would let him use multiple gifts at once.

"For now, I should tend to my injuries. Damn, look at this kukri. It's still stuck in my body. So is the axe."

Collapsing was the last thing that happened to Xenia and he immediately lost consciousness. He lost too much blood too and was actually on the verge of dying. It was all thanks to Pack's gift and the adrenaline rush-- that's why Xenia still hasn't kicked the bucket yet.

"Xenia!"

***

Outside of the cave, countless bodies of the tribesmen lay lifeless on the ground. It was the result of the confusion and the accusations from each other. Their downfall caused their numbers to plummet and only a few of them remain. Well, it was those that did not partake in the feast and those that had immunity to the ingredients used.

The real perpetrators of the turmoil were none other than the siblings. Being knowledgeable about herbs and spices, they used their heads to forage poisonous mushrooms that will give hallucinations to whoever eats them.

If we look at it, the results of all that had happened on the island were pretty clear. It left only waste and waste alone. Trash of the societies and economies were eliminated.

"Uwah! Uwah!"

Amidst everything, a newborn baby wept for her mother's milk. It needs to be breastfed, otherwise, it will continue crying and crying until the baby gets tired and sleeps through hunger.

"Uwah! Mmm..."

The newborn baby's dying mother lay beside her to breastfeed her for the last time. But instead of milk coming out of his tit, blood was drunk by the baby and she just kept going. It showed how a mother would deeply and carefully care for her baby no matter the circumstances.

Eventually, milk came out of her nipple and so was blood, for the baby's mother had lost a huge part of her body. It was a miracle that she still managed to feed her baby, even after the injury she had.

"Poor soul... left behind in this cruel world only to suffer even more. I must end your suffering."

A swift and painless death. The harsh environment and inexplicable phenomena on the island should not be experienced by a newborn baby. Killing her was the only plausible way to give her freedom.

"Ultimately, death wins. In a battle for power, wealth, and fame, death awaits. Not victory or defeat. Only death, for this, is the true form of defeat."

A guy stood over the corpse of the many as he gawked in the afternoon sun. Its bright light forced him to cover his squinted eyes, thus blurring his vision after trying to stare directly at the red giant for a short period of time.

"It's almost time. I must prepare for departure."

~