Arthur stepped out of Charlotte's room, his expression grim with barely contained frustration.
"Gates, guard the room."
Gates nodded immediately, understanding the gravity in Arthur's tone.
Time for backup options.
Arthur activated his ring.
The familiar landscape materialised around him, but something felt different.
Nothing is happening here. Just like I thought.
This world was preparation. Earth is the real battlefield.
Arthur's spatial senses detected familiar presence in the village plaza. Jasmine stood ready for combat that would never come, gravitational fields fluctuating around her position.
Arthur teleported directly to her location, space compressing to eliminate distance.
"There's nothing happening here. I don't think there will be."
Jasmine turned, relief evident in her golden-silver eyes.
"Arthur! What's the situation in your world?"
"It's very complicated...Jasmine... I need your help." Arthur's voice carried unusual vulnerability.
"My sister... she's sick. Are you willing to come with me? To another world? I want you to heal her for me."
Cross-dimensional healing. Untested.
"I'm not sure if it's going to be safe because I haven't tried it before. But it has to work. I'm confident in my power."
Jasmine's expression grew serious. "How?"
"I'll teleport us. I would have tried it with someone else first, but the cooldown will be very long since we're teleporting between worlds."
"Arthur... why don't you bring her here?"
"My sister—she's unconscious. Her body is very weak." Arthur's voice carried frustration.
"I don't know what will happen if I teleport her here. Her body might not be strong enough to handle the travel."
Every option feels like a death sentence.
Jasmine stood silent for several heartbeats, her expression cycling through emotions Arthur had never seen before.
Understanding. Conflict.
"Arthur... I... I can't. I'm sorry."
"You're risking both of our lives by doing this. You're not being as rational as you usually are." Her words came faster, desperate to make him understand.
"While I believe what you're saying, you don't know the consequences of travelling between two worlds."
"Am I even allowed to enter that world? What if it rejects me? What if I get killed for breaking its rules?"
Rules. Laws. Consequences.
Arthur's spatial aura flickered with suppressed fury. Every logical argument made perfect sense, but logic meant nothing when Charlotte was dying.
"No." Arthur's voice cut through her apology like a blade. "You're right. That was stupid of me."
Admitting defeat. But what choice do I have?
"Okay. I'll figure something else out."
Somehow. Somewhere. There has to be another way.
Jasmine's expression softened, guilt evident in her features. "Arthur... you said the healing potions aren't working on her?"
"Yes. Nothing's working." Arthur's frustration bled through every word. "I don't understand why. Healing potions are designed to heal, or at least improve conditions. But there's no change whatsoever in her condition."
Complete failure. Absolute ineffectiveness.
Jasmine frowned, her mind engaging with the puzzle.
"That's impossible... healing potions, by their very nature, are meant to heal. No matter how minimal the effect should be."
"If what you're saying is true..." Jasmine paused, processing implications that made her face pale.
"Then your sister isn't sick. Or at least, not in a way that requires normal healing."
"What?" Arthur's voice carried dangerous undertones. "What are you saying? She is sick. She has cancer."
Cancer. Terminal cancer.
Jasmine's confusion was evident. "Cancer? I don't know that term."
Right. Different world. Different medical knowledge.
"Cancer is..." Arthur struggled to explain concepts that didn't exist in Armageddon's reality.
"It's when cells in the body start growing uncontrollably. They form tumours—masses of diseased tissue that spread throughout the body."
How do you explain modern medicine to someone from a fantasy realm?
"The cancerous cells consume nutrients, damage organs, and eventually shut down vital bodily functions. In my sister's case, it's attacking her brain and other critical systems."
Stage four. Metastasized. Terminal.
Jasmine listened with growing comprehension, her knowledge of healing translating foreign concepts into familiar frameworks.
"These cancerous cells—they're still part of her body?" she asked.
"Yes. That's what makes it so dangerous. They're her own cells, just... corrupted. Growing wrong."
"And your healing potions had no effect whatsoever? What grade was it? I'm assuming it's at least rare, right?"
"It was a very rare healing potion, and still, there was no temporary improvement."
Jasmine's expression shifted to something approaching revelation. Her golden-silver eyes blazed with sudden understanding.
"Arthur... you just confirmed my suspicion." Her voice carried absolute certainty.
"Your sister is not sick—at least not in any way that conventional healing can address."
"Healing potions target damaged or diseased tissue. They restore cellular function, repair injuries, and eliminate foreign pathogens."
Jasmine's knowledge flowed like water finding its course. "If the potions had no effect, it means there's nothing to heal."
Nothing to heal? But she's dying.
"Who diagnosed her? What if the diagnosis was wrong?"
Jasmine's words hit Arthur like physical blows, each syllable dismantling months of accepted reality.
"Arthur, your sister is not sick. She is suffering from something else. I need to take a good look at her to tell."
It's been almost two months.
Arthur stood frozen, his enhanced mind racing through implications that rewrote everything he understood about Charlotte's condition.
Everything I believed was wrong.
The doctors' confident pronouncements. The terminal diagnosis. The countdown toward inevitable death. All of it built on potentially false foundations.
Two months of desperation.
"Instead of trying to heal her, you need to improve her body constitution. Try to find herbs that can strengthen her, Arthur. Or make her wear equipment that can enhance her physical form."
Jasmine's voice carried near absolute certainty.
"Strengthen her body—that's all I can tell you for now. But you need to bring her to me. I need to take a closer look."
Arthur's mind raced through his available resources. Storage ring contents. He had many items that he could make her wear.
"So I should focus on the items that give her the highest vitality and strength boost?"
"Yes, focus on vitality, strength is not needed. If you could also increase her intelligence for her mana."