When the Body Fails

The tunnel shook as the Variant lunged forward, its crimson eyes burning like molten embers in the darkness.

Lucien barely had time to react before the creature's claws came crashing down again, splitting the concrete floor with an earsplitting crack. Dust and debris exploded into the air, momentarily blinding him.

"Scatter!" Valeria's voice rang out.

Selene grabbed Eris and pulled her away, while Valeria's sword flashed as she moved in the opposite direction. Lucien pushed his exhausted body to the side, barely avoiding another devastating swipe from the Variant's elongated arms.

But even as he moved, he could feel it—his body wasn't at full strength yet.

The aftereffects of Eternal Oblivion Arts still lingered. His limbs felt sluggish, his muscles screaming in protest with every motion.

And he wasn't the only one struggling.

Valeria's breathing was ragged.

Lucien's sharp gaze flicked toward her just as she parried a strike from the Variant, using raw mana manipulation to keep herself standing.

She's forcing her body to move…

A chilling realization hit him.

She shouldn't even be fighting.

She had already overexerted herself twice—once when she first attacked the demon, and again when she saved him.

Now, her body was moving purely out of willpower.

Lucien gritted his teeth. Dammit, Valeria…

The Variant roared, its head snapping toward her.

Lucien's instincts flared.

It's going for her!

"Valeria, move—!"

But before he could even finish, she was already there.

Her blade danced through the air, lightning-fast.

She dodged the Variant's attack with an inhuman twist of her body, her sword cutting deep into the creature's side. Black blood splattered across the ground, sizzling as it hit the concrete.

The Variant screeched in pain.

"Not bad for a cripple, huh?" Valeria spat, flipping her sword back into position.

Lucien's chest tightened.

She was pushing herself too hard.

Valeria's vision blurred for a split second.

The world tilted unnaturally, and for a moment, she almost stumbled.

But she forced her body to keep moving.

She had to.

Even if her legs no longer functioned properly—even if the pain was unbearable—she refused to let her body fail her.

She refused to let her baby brother protect her when she was the one who was supposed to protect him.

She wouldn't allow it.

Not again.

With gritted teeth, she launched herself forward, swinging her sword with a savage precision honed from years of battle. Each strike carried the full weight of her desperation—the rage she felt for being weak, for being useless when it mattered most.

The Variant growled, staggering back from her onslaught.

For a moment, Valeria felt victorious.

And then—

Her legs gave out.

A sharp, unnatural snap echoed in her ears as her knees buckled beneath her.

Her entire body collapsed onto the floor.

The sword slipped from her grip, clattering uselessly against the cracked concrete.

No…

She tried to push herself up.

Her arms trembled violently.

Her legs—nothing.

She couldn't feel them.

No, no, no—!

Panic seized her chest as realization crashed down on her.

Her body was done.

She had forced it past its limit for too long.

And now… it had finally failed her.

The Variant's guttural laughter rang in her ears.

"So, the cripple finally falls," it rasped, taking slow, deliberate steps toward her. "How pathetic."

Valeria's hands clawed at the ground.

She had to move.

She had to protect them.

But—

Nothing.

Her body refused to obey.

Lucien's voice cut through the chaos.

"Get away from her!"

The moment Lucien saw Valeria collapse, something inside him snapped.

Rage burned through his veins, sharper than any pain his body was enduring.

His sister—his strong, proud sister—was on the ground, helpless before this thing.

The Variant raised one clawed hand, preparing to strike her down.

Lucien moved.

He didn't think. He didn't hesitate.

With a speed that defied his battered condition, he teleported.

One moment, he was standing several feet away—

The next, he was right in front of Valeria.

His body burned, blood dripping from his reopened wounds.

But none of it mattered.

All that mattered was the thing standing before him.

Lucien grabbed the Variant's clawed wrist mid-strike, stopping it dead in its tracks.

The creature's eyes widened in shock.

Lucien's grip tightened—so tight that the Variant's bones began to crack.

"You… dare touch her?"

The words left his lips in a voice that was not entirely his own.

A dark, suffocating aura erupted from his body, sending waves of sheer pressure crashing through the tunnel.

The Variant let out a strangled hiss, trying to yank its arm away.

Lucien didn't let go.

He pulled the creature closer, golden pupils blazing.

"You should have run when you had the chance."

A shockwave of force erupted around him as his aura surged.

The Variant let out a guttural shriek—

But Lucien wasn't finished.

Still holding the creature's wrist, he pulled harder, twisting its entire arm out of its socket with a sickening pop.

The Variant screamed.

Lucien let go, watching as it staggered back in agony, clutching its useless, hanging limb.

But his fury wasn't satisfied yet.

The air around him distorted as his mana surged—more powerful than before.

His own body protested the reckless use of power, but he ignored it.

He refused to let this thing live.

Not after what it had tried to do.

"Valeria," he murmured, without taking his eyes off the Variant.

Behind him, his sister's ragged breathing was the only response.

"Close your eyes."

Valeria barely had time to process his words before—

A golden light ignited in the darkness.

Lucien's aura exploded, his power flooding the tunnel like an unstoppable tide.

The Variant, still writhing in pain, froze.

Its crimson eyes met Lucien's—

And it shuddered.

Not in anger.

Not in pain.

But in primal, absolute terror.

For the first time… it feared.

Lucien took a single step forward.

And the Variant flinched.