Nuriel woke up, but he was too tired to open his eyelid that seemed to weigh a ton. However, he could hear the screams and chatter around him, along with the mix of cold night air and the heat from the distant blaze.
His legs felt slightly cold yet numb to the touch.
Realizing that he was still in that same moment of time, he pushed himself to open his eyes despite the stinging pain from his lower half.
He then saw Vivienne, who was staring at him with a pensive expression, but Nuriel didn't bother asking why she had that kind of face.
Instead, he pulled his torso up and scanned the surrounding area.
They were in a makeshift hospital—if it could even be called that. There were no beds, no instruments of medicine. Only tattered cloths to cover wounds, and some mattresses made up of vehicle cushions or simply cloth laid on the hard ground.
Their only protection from the harsh winds of the firestorm was the fact that the makeshift hospital was tucked into a small alleyway, shielded by two buildings.
Once satisfied with his understanding of where they were, he cleared his throat and asked Vivienne.
"Please, help me stand," he said with a weak voice.
Nuriel raised his hand and expected her to pull him up, but was suddenly surprised when Vivienne placed her hand on his and pressed it down.
"Absolutely not. You're practically crippled now. Take some time to heal," she responded with a soft, apologetic tone.
Nuriel's face twitched at the response. 'We crashed in the same vehicle. If you're fine, then I am…'
"please." He raised his hand again, palm-side down, and gave her his best attempt at a puppy face.
Vivienne nearly recoiled from the strange expression, but eventually yielded to his request.
Nuriel let out a small breath of relief—only to be suddenly yanked upward by Vivienne, who wrapped his arm over her shoulder.
The moment his feet touched the ground, though, Nuriel's will to stand up evaporated as his shins gave out in pain.
To him, it felt as if his tibia and fibula were being slowly crushed under a tremendous weight, fracturing more and more with each second.
Noticing his struggle, Vivienne's face twitched in annoyance.
"Are you sure you want to stand up like this?" she asked, staring at him with a concerned look.
'You were the one driving… and it's like this is my fault,' he silently lampooned before replying halfheartedly.
"I'm... fine. Help me get to the streets," he requested.
Vivienne didn't question why he wanted to go there specifically, and so the two slowly made their way toward the streets with Nuriel pouring in all his effort just to move.
Almost immediately, yelling, screaming, and arguing assaulted his ears once they stepped out.
The fire was surprisingly close to the makeshift field hospital, which unnerved him. He turned his attention toward a yelling group nearby.
"Have you found any way to escape?! Any firefighters?" a man asked another who was out of breath.
"We're surrounded by fires! But I... I found a small path that can fit only one person. Perhaps if we"
the out-of-breath man trailed off, glancing toward the alleyway filled with the injured.
"If we leave them, we might—
Punch!
"You fucker! Are you even human?! Are you an animal?! My son is in there!"
The two began brawling, prompting nearby people to de-escalate the situation. After the entertaining part ended, Nuriel turned toward another shout coming from the center of the road, directly near the ruins and fire.
Immediately, Nuriel raised his eyebrows. "Is that...?"
A blond man in mismatched clothes struggled against three others holding him back.
"Let me through, damnit—my sister!" Edward's voice cracked as he thrashed violently, nearly breaking free.
"Do you want to burn, man?!""Hold him!""Why the hell's he this strong?!"
Nuriel pressed his lips together and pointed in Edward's direction. "Let's go over there."
They pushed through the crowd.
The sound of Nuriel's voice finally made Edward freeze. He turned around with a face that seemed drained of all life.
Edward's voice shuddered as he began to speak. "You're here?" He paused, then looked at Vivienne, who was helping Nuriel stand. His eyes naturally drifted down toward the reason why.
"Y-your legs..."
Nuriel immediately noticed the sudden change in his priorities. Perhaps he wanted to dismiss his sister's safety and redirect his worry toward Nuriel like a coping mechanism.
Looking away, Nuriel refrained from telling Edward where he last saw his sister.
"I'm alright. You should relax a little. I don't think your sister is someone who'd die that easily... right?"
. . .
The moment Nuriel finished his sentence, Edward's tense expression softened. He stared at him.
'Did I word that right?' Nuriel worried that his words might've sounded wrong and regretted even saying them, but to his surprise, Edward seemed to have calmed down.
Seeing this, the three men who had been holding Edward back stepped away, leaving the scene for Nuriel to handle.
Edward chuckled half-heartedly. "Ha... ha... Maybe you're right. I might be overreacting."
Nuriel let out a sigh and smiled a little before turning his gaze upward, toward the large pillar of smoke not far in the distance.
He didn't see the crimson cloud that the Scepter had shown him, but he guessed it was still expanding. The bright red light was still prominent—much more than what he saw minutes ago. However, he couldn't see the entity, which was likely hidden behind the thick cover.
Near the smoke pillar was a pale blue dot that flickered bit by bit. This confirmed that the transition between Nuriel's ethereal form and physical body didn't consume much time or rather, none at all.
Remembering the pink light from before, his face twisted into a small pout.
That sight triggered a memory in his body. It made him realize that it was actually the Chancellor who had tried to help them.
Still... if she hadn't butted into his plans, Yevdokiya would've gotten a clean shot!
Despite the frustration boiling in his chest, he forced himself not to lash out—after all, his salary was under her jurisdiction, and he feared the repercussions from his mere thoughts of her.
'Chancellor Flourine used to be the Dean of the College of Magic... so she had some responsibility to intervene personally.'
He dug deeper into what his body knew, quickly discovering her renowned specialty in—
'Space magic? Now that I remember it… she even teleported!'
Even Nuriel didn't understand how that worked, but he was sure teleportation required more than just human "evolution."
'The more I try to understand, the more I don't understand...' Nuriel's mental gears kept turning, but his thoughts began to overheat from the pressure.
'These disasters aren't helping either. It's like I'm damn fated—
BOOM!
'You're kidding!'
Like a smite from the heavens, a titanic bolt of lightning roared down from the sky and struck near the smoke pillar. The impact generated torrential winds and a cascade of smaller lightning strikes.
The people around Nuriel were flung aside like ragdolls, swept away by a hammering gust of wind. Nuriel was knocked out of Vivienne's grip—but with a swift motion of movement, she managed to grab both him and Edward before they flew too far.
The massive thunderbolt didn't disappear after impact. Instead, it remained roaring continuously, striking the earth for several more seconds before vanishing completely.
When they finally hit the ground, Nuriel's face was crushed beneath Edward's back.
Struggling beneath the weight, Nuriel let out a muffled groan. Noticing it, Edward quickly rolled off him and apologized.
Nuriel exclaimed. "Gah! You almost killed me…
He paused as something in the distance caught his eye. For a moment, it felt like his body was fully under his own control again.
"Dear Witch…" he muttered.
From the center of the lightning strike, a towering dragon emerged with its golden scales shimmering so brilliantly that it seemed to overpower the surrounding chaos with its sheer presence.
It spread its massive wings wide into the air, casting the entire street in shadow before folding them back.
The air itself quaked as it moved its massive head toward the crimson glow near the pillar.
"What… no…" Edward muttered with a stunned look.
As for Vivienne, her shock surprised Nuriel. It was clear she had no involvement in this part of the disaster.
The dragon opened its maw, revealing a long, snake-like tongue and fangs. Due to its size, the smoke pillar around it was dispersed entirely, sucked away by the vacuum created from its mere movements.
This gave everyone a clear view of what it was about to do.
'What the hell is it doing?' Nuriel thought, watching in a mix of awe and dread.
With terrifying calm, the dragon swallowed the entity whole.
Then it spread its wings once again and turning towards somewhere in the distance.
Realizing what was about to happen next, Nuriel's instincts screamed.
"Vivienne! Edward! It's gonna fly! we need to get inside the alleyway—
Whoosh!
The flap of its wings unleashed a gale so dense it felt like water slamming against their skin.
Nuriel didn't know what happened after that. Or even during.
All he remembered, was that he was knocked out again.