"Can you walk?" Raiden asked, helping Leo stand. Even as he spoke, his mind kept drifting to the awful snapping sounds echoing from Soul’s battle.
"What happened?" Leo managed between painful coughing fits, cradling his neck with both hands.
"It was the Lost Child, Leo. He tricked you." Leo slowly rose to his feet, one hand gripping Raiden’s arm.
"Now that you’re fully conscious, I doubt the dark dream can take hold of you."
They both stared at the mansion, Soul’s rage manifesting as a fiery aura that expanded relentlessly, minute by minute.
Raiden’s eyes narrowed as he took in the signs: the violent sounds, the raw intensity, and the dense fog choking that area. The Lost Child was definitely fighting Soul head-on.
A grim smile touched Raiden’s lips. While he questioned whether Soul could match the child’s power, her struggle would grant him the chance to search for the others.
"Where’s everyone?" Leo whispered, his body wavering as he tried to remain standing.
Before Raiden could respond, frantic cries pierced the air from their right. The voice called out for help, cracking with pure desperation.
Raiden gave a sharp nod, convinced that it was Levi. Yet doubt crept in as the bigger picture eluded him. What had changed that allowed them to hear each other now?
"Soul’s fight with the Lost Child must be disrupting the Dark Dream’s influence."
The moment Leo spoke, understanding flashed across Raiden’s face. A sly smirk appeared as he grasped the perfect strategy.
First, he needed to secure Leo’s safety. Then, he could capitalize on the Lost Child’s divided attention and rescue the others before the illusion solidified again.
Without pause, Raiden indicated for Leo to mount his back. Leo’s face showed obvious discomfort as he grappled with Raiden’s transformed appearance, the fluffy hair clearly throwing him off.
"It’s fine, Leo. Just get on." He motioned to his back, and Leo nodded briefly before climbing up right away.
In a heartbeat, Raiden bolted toward Levi’s voice, weaving through the shadows without a sound. He drove himself past his breaking point, racing against time to finish this, while Leo clung behind him, eyes clamped shut to shield against the brutal wind.
Raiden quickly encountered a thick wall of mist, charging through the oppressive cloud. His jaw clenched tight, veins protruding from the strain as he forced himself deeper into the darkness, fighting through the heavy fog.
This mist felt significantly thicker than what he’d faced earlier, but he couldn’t spare a moment to analyze the difference.
Before long, his eyes widened in recognition. A small area ahead showed less fog, and he instantly knew they’d found their destination.
He slammed his feet down harder, pushing his speed beyond what his body could handle. His lungs compressed with each step, leaving him no choice but to breathe raggedly through his mouth.
He ripped through the mist in moments, the crushing pressure dissolving from his frame. The immediate lightness threw off his balance, sending him sliding across the withered grass field faster than he’d ever moved.
When he finally stopped, he scanned the withered grassland. There in the center, Levi supported Freya’s unconscious body in his arms as Ash hovered beside them, working urgently to bring her around.
Raiden’s chest tightened with conflicting emotions—relief at finding them, sadness at their condition. He hurried over immediately, lowering the unconscious Leo, who had succumbed to their frantic pace.
The area was strewn with snake carcasses, and Freya’s ghostly pale skin was riddled with bite marks. When Raiden’s hand made contact, his stomach dropped—her flesh was ice-cold, desiccated, and gritty. She felt like death itself.
His eyes returned to the dead serpents. He stepped closer to inspect them; they were utterly alien—each bore twin horns and rough, dusty shells instead of scales. They appeared plucked from some fevered dream, but he analyzed them regardless, hoping their venom might be familiar.
After a cursory analysis, he threw the snake down and faced the others. Levi clutched Freya against his chest, his whole body shaking, while Ash could only stand and watch in stunned silence.
Raiden looked to Ash with sudden intensity, and she returned his gaze with sorrowful eyes. "There must be something we can do."
Ash closed her eyes and gave a defeated shake of her head. "I think we’re too late."
Silence enveloped them all, broken only by the distant clash between Soul and the Lost Child, while Levi gazed down at Freya with unblinking eyes.
Raiden’s fingers worked nervously, his frame rigid with discomfort. Though he sympathized with Levi’s grief, what weighed on him most was the brutal fact that they were losing a crucial ally.
But in the midst of their stillness, a shadowy figure pushed through the mist, their exhausted scream piercing the air.
Raiden and Ash whipped their heads toward the sound immediately. Relief flooded their faces when they spotted Aeris limping toward them, one hand pressed against her shoulder as she gasped for breath.
Her wounds were apparent, but Raiden and Ash overlooked them entirely in their eagerness, rushing forward to meet her.
"Aeris, thank goodness you’re here," Ash said, relief pouring from her voice as Aeris looked at them with confusion. "You need to save Freya. Please, come on."
Raiden and Ash guided Aeris quickly to where Freya lay, helping her settle beside their fallen comrade.
"She’s completely unconscious," Aeris observed, resting her hand on Freya’s brow. She said nothing more as she repositioned her hand over Freya’s heart and began infusing her with healing mana.
A smile crossed Raiden’s face as he observed Aeris healing Freya. Without question, every group needed support roles, and this was precisely the advantage of having a healer. Though he felt thankful for Aeris right now, her timely appearance still didn’t erase his doubts about her true allegiance.
Aeris’s power worked wonders, though. In a short time, Raiden observed life returning to Freya’s ghostly skin, and moments later, her face began writhing in apparent struggle, as if she were locked in some desperate fight.
Levi’s face broke into a broad grin, his eyes shining with anticipation as he waited for her to stir.
But Freya’s eyes shot open like daggers, filled with pure wrath. "I will kill him," she growled in a voice that belonged to someone else entirely, dark and threatening, making both Levi and Aeris recoil in shock.