Everything around Arlo was a blur.
He could hear gunfire, shouts, and countless other noises, but they all seemed far away.
Before long, even those sounds faded, leaving only the pounding of heavy footsteps and a distant shout.
"Arlo... Arlo! are you okay?"
Fat Con’s worried voice rang out as he rapidly advanced toward the place where Arlo had crashed.
Almost immediately, he spotted strands of midnight-violet hair buried beneath the enormous pile of rubble.
"Holy shit!"
Fat Con cursed as he rushed forward.
With a powerful jerk of his arms, he lifted the massive boulder and sent it flying into the distance.
COUGH!
COUGH!
"Arlo! Are you okay?"
Fat Con quickly helped him out from beneath the debris, lifting him into a seated position against the cavern wall.
"Yes... yes..."
Blood dripped from the corner of Arlo’s lips as he tightly gripped his injured shoulder.
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed throughout the cavern as the rest of the squad moved toward them.
Fat Con shifted aside as Captain Ennessa approached.
She crouched down to Arlo’s level, first examining his injured shoulder before raising her gaze to meet his eyes.
For the briefest moment, Arlo thought he saw her expression soften slightly, but the emotion vanished almost immediately, replaced by her usual cold composure.
"Are you really okay?"
Her calm blue eyes concealed a storm of anger that seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
"It’s only a broken right arm. I’ll be fine, but I’m afraid I’ll be useless in a fight. I only know how to use my right hand.."
Arlo answered honestly, causing Ennessa’s brows to furrow slightly.
Without warning, she tapped her wrist, causing a small handkerchief to suddenly appear from nowhere.
Arlo’s eyes widened at the strange phenomenon, but before he could question it, Ennessa wrapped the cloth around his injured shoulder.
Then a sharp cracking sound echoed through the cavern.
The sound of bones being forcefully realigned caused Arlo’s entire body to tense as he clenched his teeth against the pain.
A burning sensation spread through his shoulder as the broken bones were restored, but the coldness radiating from the strange handkerchief quickly spread through his body, dulling the pain into a strange numbness.
Captain Ennessa secured the cloth in place.
"That should ensure you won’t require robotic transplantation," Ennessa said.
Arlo eyes furrowed at the unfamiliar term.
’What’s robotic transplantation?’
"Captain Ennessa..."
A soldier’s voice called out from nearby, causing her to break eye contact with Arlo and turn toward him.
"Yes?"
"I’ve counted the number of Vorath creatures present in this area. There were a total of 206. "
"Based on our previous estimates, there should still be around one hundred remaining deep within the settlement."
"Then our mission is far from complete. We continue advancing."
Captain Ennessa answered without hesitation before turning her attention back toward the injured Arlo.
"It would be best if you continue without me," Arlo said, lowering his gaze. "I won’t be of much help. Not that I was particularly useful during the previous battle either. I would be safer remaining here."
Ennessa stared at him for a moment, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Then I owe you an intense training session after this...Arlo."
"Thank you in advance, Captain," Arlo replied with a quiet chuckle. "Although I must say, you pronounce my name rather well."
Ennessa snorted softly.
It was the first time she had addressed the young man by his actual name, despite having already spoken to him several times now.
"Let’s move."
After one final glance toward him, Ennessa gave the command, and the squad began advancing deeper into the cavern.
Their figures slowly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Arlo alone behind.
A moment of silence, before the words echoed quietly.
"I’m weak..."
Arlo whispered to himself with a down casted smile.
"I was barely able to open the first gate of the Nine Shards before the revolt started. I can’t feel my element at all."
"I need to cultivate but...I never got the chance to bring with me the Nine Shard Arcana Grimoire. It’s back in Umbrasol."
"Safe to say...I’m screwed right now."
He mused, quiet horror sinking in, but then, a flash of realization occurred to him.
"This world...the people in this world can grow strong."
"If I cannot cultivate my Black Sun magic in this world, then I can...no, I will focus on this world’s method of cultivation instead."
"I will absorb as many cores as possible and rise to the very peak of this world’s strength hierarchy."
He paused, his expression becoming firm.
"Then... I will find my way back home."
WHEEZE!
COUGH!
COUGH!
COUGH!
Arlo had only just finished forming his plan when a strange sound echoed through the darkness.
A faint wheezing followed by a series of rough coughs, that sent Arlo’s heart furiously hammering in fear.
The noise immediately pulled him away from his thoughts, and he snapped toward its source.
It came from the same direction where the needle attack that nearly killed him had originated.
Using the dim light surrounding him, Arlo slowly pushed himself back onto his feet, quickly looking around for a weapon.
The chained dagger had cracked to pieces, but there was the dual pistols.
He quickly tried searching for them and he did find them...both crushed beneath a stone rubble.
’Shit!’
In the end, he could only grab a tiny broken part of the dagger, and take weary steps towards the source of the sound.
His armored boots created splashing noises as he stepped through the river of blood covering the cavern floor, carefully navigating past the corpses of the Vorath creatures while forcing himself to ignore the scattered remains and organs floating around him.
His eyes narrowed as he searched the darkness ahead.
At first, there was nothing, Only endless darkness, occasionally illuminated by the faint glow of the multicolored crystals embedded throughout the cavern walls.
Then another cough echoed.
COUGH!
COUGH!
This time, it was closer.
Arlo turned toward the enormous rock formation beside him and finally saw it.
Two eyes stared back at him from the darkness.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to get away, causing him to stumble backward, but his foot caught on a corpse behind him, sending him crashing to the ground as blood splashed across the cavern floor.
He sat up, his arm pointing the tiny broken dagger piece forward, but there was nothing.
After recovering, Arlo tore a small glowing crystal from the surface of a nearby stalagmite and raised it toward the darkness.
Once again, he saw her, a female Vorath resting against the rock before him.
Dark blood stained her lips as she clutched her injured right arm with her left, the limb hanging limp at her side, while bullet holes tore through both legs, leaving her unable to stand.
Yet her sharp fangs were still bared, and the hatred burning in her crimson eyes sent a chill through Arlo’s body.
But as Arlo looked into those crimson eyes, something didn’t feel right.
The fear that had driven him to retreat moments ago slowly faded. Instead, he took a cautious step forward.
Removing the handkerchief wrapped around his shoulder, he crouched before her and held it out.
"SCREEEEEECHHH!!!"