68 Onto the Final Step

I jolted awake and sucked in a dry breath, only to cough into the thick residual dust lingering in the air.

The floor groaned and old wood snapped at the sudden movement; if it wasn't for the broken wings splayed across the floor, I would have fallen all the way through.

Holding my arm up to my mouth, I continued to breath through the fabric while gaining my barings.

Where am I?

The dust was settling quickly; it must have only been ten or so seconds since I fell unconscious.

"Adrian!"

Rena's anxious voice came from below. She sounded okay, but I found myself cringing at the name; it was like someone poured slime on me and I couldn't wash it away.

I groaned a little in frustration, feeling that my wings wouldn't move.

"Just stay there, I'm going to come down..."

While considering my options, I found myself looking around at the walls.

Whatever was in here had fallen through the floor, but... this texture—I had walked barefoot on this floor; it's the room full of monster parts--well, was anyway.

I smiled upon recognising the location, but then glanced at the wings hugging the fractured remnants of the ground and barely held together by their frame.

An idea came to me, but it wasn't ideal.

Ah whatever!

I readied myself, and a green energy formed a ring around the base of my wings.

The glow dimly lit the room and shone through the beads of perspiration running down my face.

It was surprisingly difficult to focus on applying magic to the wings, and I was too focused to look into the surroundings.

After a short time, the flesh began to melt away with little pain, and the pull of my weight was forced onto the bone alone.

I winced.

It was tearing away at the joints.

I focused the supposed healing magic into a denser and denser point, until the bones suddenly snapped.

[Healing Light Magic lvl1 --> lvl2]

An incredulous look crossed my face upon seeing the window.

Does that even count?

I shook my head and turned to face Rena, who had been eerily quiet during the whole event.

Her eyes were wide, and her hands had clasped over her mouth in shock.

She began to speak; her voice was muffled, but her words were clear.

"Y-your- your wings? You- I- I'm so sorry..."

Tears began streaming down her face, and I flinched back at the sudden, overt reaction.

The chaos of the battle outside hadn't waned, and the building abruptly shook.

She fell to her knees as if she were a puppet supported by a single thread of silk alone, and I stepped towards her, pushed on by the rumbling.

"It's... all my fault. Everything. You, you should have just..."

"Shut up"

I cut her off, and she flinched back. I could feel my brows furrowing inward, and irritation flared up in my heart.

"That was my choice. Don't look at me like that—like you regret even being here."

I don't know how important wings are to Angels or whatever, and I did save her on a whim, but I've grown to like her over these last few days.

If things were different, maybe we could have been friends...

I want her to live, even if it means running away, and I don't want her to regret it either.

Maybe... maybe we could meet again, when we're stronger, and hopefully she won't hate Demons outright either.

I found myself looking away from her and sighed subconsciously.

The crying had stopped, and she now poorly hid her frustration.

She seemed angry at herself, and I could imagine that she felt useless—like a burden.

It wasn't entirely wrong, but burdens are held onto for a reason.

Perhaps I was a little harsh... immature even; what am I even so emotional about? There isn't any actual danger to me at all.

But... this experience, this weakness, it's so visceral--so real; I feel like it's easy to forget myself in the moment.

Am I even really me right now?

There's no point in asking meaningless questions; I have to collect the stuff and wait this out long enough for Rena to be safe.

"Hmm, isn't the ground quite soft?"

Finding a distraction, I looked down and realised there was a large, thick black fur blanketing the ground under me.

Well, well, don't mind if I do.

Casually stepping off of it, I kneeled down and rolled it up with a few pushes before waving my hand and having it transfer to my inner-world.

"Why... do you keep doing that?"

A questioning voice came from the side.

So she finally asked huh...

It seems like she's resolved herself in some way and wants to do more; maybe she wants to help me, but... how do I reply to this?

"I'm... sending it somewhere else."

I replied ambiguously, and her mouth opened again, but she hesitated, looked away, and changed her mind.

"Okay..."

She looked down, a little lost, and I realised that I just wasn't the right person to help her.

Rena needed someone she could fight with, not behind.

I turned away and moved to the wall, which faced the outside.

With a quick kick, the wall shattered apart, and the icy air brushed against my skin, forcing me to narrow my eyes.

"I'm going to climb down; just glide after me."

"Mm"

After hearing her response, I grasped the edge and slipped myself off.

My body swung in the open air, and I eyed the huge pillar leading all the way down to the imp enclosure.

Far below, I spotted a rather huge collection of items and almost laughed.

Could I even send all of that over?

Without giving it another thought, I swung from my arms and released my grip.

I was already quite used to climbing, and I managed to slide against the tiled surface of the pillar with relative ease, slowing my descent.

Looking up, I saw Rena gracefully jump down.

She waited and gained some speed before opening her wings and catching the air.

Her descent immediately slowed, and she touched down on the ground a second before me.

I turned to the pile and made a show of raising my brows in curiosity.

Lifting a blanket, I looked beneath to see vials, plants, tools, and even furniture for whatever reason.

"Interesting..."

My voice was laced with feigned curiosity, and the emerald light once again emerged from my hand.

Seeing this, Rena stepped back and watched as the massive assortment seemingly vanished the moment it was covered.

[MP: 140/204]

Oh? Even without considering the fact I've used some magic already, it's still so cheap now...

Nobody's even fighting down here; how lucky.