The forest rushed past his ears, blurring into shades of dark green and gray. Raine pushed his speed to the limit, his crystalline right arm tightly holding Liana's burning, limp body. Each landing jolted his insides violently, but he dared not pause for even a moment. That cold sense of being marked lingered at his back like a thorn; though it did not pursue immediately, it hung over him like a sword, reminding him that every second was priceless.
He had to find a place that was absolutely hidden!
His mechanical right eye frantically scanned the environment, filtering out areas with abnormal energy fluctuations or potential traps. Finally, he located a natural crevice beneath a massive, decayed tree root. Its entrance was concealed by dense poisonous mushrooms and faintly glowing vines. The interior was narrow but deep, exuding a strong scent of earth and mold, which perfectly masked their presence.
Without hesitation, he slipped inside, using Frosttongue to chop away large chunks of rock and soil, quickly sealing the entrance.
Absolute darkness and silence fell instantly, leaving only the harsh, irregular sound of their breathing.
"Liana!" Raine laid her gently on the cold ground. With the moon moss lantern lost during their flight, he could only rely on his right eye's low-light vision and energy perception to check her condition.
The situation was dire.
Liana's eyes were tightly shut, her complexion a terrifying mix of ashen gray and dark red, as if something burned beneath her skin. Her seven orifices still oozed black-red blood, and her body temperature was alarmingly high. Even more frightening was what raged inside her — multiple chaotic energies violently colliding and eroding her from within. The chilling corruption of the Abyss, the violent force of dragon breath, and her own "Withered" power, on the brink of collapse, twisted through her meridians like countless searing blades, devouring her life force.
She had sacrificed herself to save him, forcibly absorbing and bearing energy far beyond her limits, and had even overloaded that ancient array as a conduit! It was nearly a suicidal act.
Conventional medicine was useless. Even Hank's medical skills could not help.
Blood from his own coughing still stained half of Raine's face, and his body was in chaos from the forced energy eruption, but he could not care about himself now. Watching Liana's life force flicker like a candle in the wind, growing weaker by the second, an unprecedented sense of anxiety and… helplessness gripped him.
He could not let her die.
The thought was unusually clear and resolute. Not merely because she held vital clues, not merely because she had helped him countless times, but because… beneath that researcher's fanaticism and composed exterior, he saw a struggle much like his own — a refusal to bow to fate.
He had to do something!
He thought of his newly sprouted "Withered" ability, of Liana's theories on "energy stripping" and "guidance," and of the complex, powerful source of energy within himself.
An extremely dangerous, almost fantastical idea took shape in his mind.
Since Liana could forcibly draw energy from him, could he not reverse the process? Could he use his far stronger Life Seed, which also possessed a "predatory" nature, as the dominant force to "extract" or "channel" the deadly chaotic energies within her?
But this required unimaginable precision and control! A single misstep would not only fail to save her, but could accelerate her death, or even cause those chaotic energies to backflow into his already fragile body, triggering a total collapse.
There was no time to hesitate!
Raine drew a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He closed his eyes and sank all his consciousness into his body.
First, he needed to stabilize his own state. He carefully guided the emerald energy of the Life Seed, like a skillful weaver, rapidly repairing the most severe damage to his internal energy pathways, while temporarily pacifying and restraining the still-turbulent dragon breath and crystalline energy. The process itself felt like dancing on the tip of a blade.
Then, he extended both hands — his left gently pressed against Liana's burning forehead, while his right (the crystalline palm) hovered over the area of her energy sea where the chaotic collisions were most violent.
He no longer tried to "sense" those foreign energies — they were too wild, capable of instantly overwhelming his consciousness. Instead, he focused all his intent on the most fundamental essence of the Life Seed, awakening its deepest instincts of "connection," "absorption," and "balance."
He imagined his life energy as the finest, most resilient roots, slowly probing into Liana's nearly shattered energy circulation. Not to resist, not to dominate, but… like a plant seeking water, to "touch" and "entangle" those foreign energy flows that were tearing her apart.
Agony!
The energy environment within Liana was like a hellscape! The moment his conscious roots entered, it felt as if they were thrown into alternating furnaces and ice chambers, a tearing pain ripping through his mind! Yet he gritted his teeth, maintaining clarity and focus.
One failure… two failures… the roots kept being shredded, corrupted…
Just as he was about to collapse, a breakthrough came. Perhaps it was the result of their previous energy interactions (the silent mercury injections, the channeling after the mine explosion, the discussions and experiments at the observation station), perhaps it was Liana's completely unguarded, near-death state, or perhaps it was the unique nature of Raine's Life Seed… His energy roots finally managed, faintly but successfully, to "cling" to a fragment of the rampaging abyssal contamination.
Now!
"Strip…" Raine whispered in his mind, activating that "Withered" intent.
A faint suction arose from his hands. The strand of abyssal energy, as if pulled by invisible threads, began to slowly extract from Liana's meridians, flowing along the energy roots into Raine's left hand!
The process was excruciatingly slow and unbearably painful! The cold, malicious energy, the instant it entered his left arm, brought bone-chilling cold and a strong sense of corruption, attempting to erode his body!
But Raine was well prepared! The jade energy of his Life Seed had already formed layers of defense along the meridians in his left arm, acting like a filter, painstakingly wearing down and transforming the invading corruption. At the same time, he focused more attention on his right arm—the crystal right arm!
He guided the strand of preliminarily filtered yet still dangerous residual energy, along with a portion of his own already-present abyssal corruption, entirely into that altered arm!
The crystal arm acted like a natural, sturdy container. Its internal complex structure seemed to possess a unique affinity and capacity for this kind of energy. When the dark purple energy flowed in, it caused only a slight stinging and brief dimming on the crystal surface, but caused no greater damage; instead, it was temporarily "sealed" inside!
Success! Step one complete!
Raine's spirits lifted. Ignoring the numbness in his left arm and the mild discomfort in his right, he immediately repeated the process, now targeting the next threat—a small but overly violent strand of dragon breath.
The process was repetitive, tedious, and extremely mentally exhausting. Every extraction, guidance, and sealing felt like performing the most precise surgery, demanding total concentration. Sweat soaked his clothes, his teeth clenched tightly, and his temples throbbed.
Time passed in absolute darkness and silence. Only the faint hums from their energy interaction, and Liana's gradually steadying breathing, testified that the process was working.
The chaotic energy within Liana was gradually being drawn out, slow but tangible, relieving her burden. Her ashen complexion regained a hint of color, and the painful spasms subsided.
After an unknown stretch of time, when the last strand of overtly destructive foreign energy was finally and laboriously sealed into Raine's crystal right arm, Liana's vital signs stabilized. She was still weak, but at least out of immediate danger.
Raine was nearly spent, his body trembling uncontrollably from overexertion and mental strain, as if dragged from the water. Yet he held himself upright—because there was still one final step: Liana's own "Withered" power, overused, was now rebounding, eroding her already-depleted essence.
This time, he did not extract. He mobilized the last remnants of his Life Seed energy, transforming it into the purest, gentlest nurturing force, and slowly channeled it through the still-connected energy pathways into Liana's parched meridians and energy sea.
Like rain after a long drought, Liana's body instinctively absorbed the precious life force, letting out faint, contented sighs. Her tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
After completing all this, Raine's final ounce of strength was exhausted. Darkness claimed his vision as he fell forward. Before losing consciousness, his last sensation was the slightly cool hand of Liana—finally no longer scorching—against his forehead.
...
In the darkness, Liana's consciousness floated upward like a sunken ship from the icy, pitch-black depths.
The excruciating pain, the burning, the tearing… those terrifying memories gradually faded, replaced by an extreme weakness and a peculiar sense of reassurance, wrapped in gentle energy.
She struggled to open her eyes. All she saw was a blur of darkness, but her energy perception was slowly returning. She could feel that the deadly storm of chaotic energy inside her had subsided. Though her meridians ached as if burned and her essence was severely damaged… she had survived.
Then, she sensed another heavy, uneven breath beside her. Turning slightly, her energy perception traced the outline of Raine lying next to her. His breathing was faint, his face pale, and his body occasionally twitched involuntarily—clearly he had paid an immense price to save her. On the surface of his crystal right arm, faint ominous dark purple patterns flowed slowly—residual corruption he had borne for her.
An incredibly complex wave of emotion surged in Liana's heart: shock, gratitude, guilt… and something indescribable, a touch surpassing mere scientific interest. No one had ever gone to such lengths for her, risking so much.
She struggled, summoning the last of her regained strength, and gently turned over, her fingers trembling as they touched Raine's cold cheek.
"…Fool…" she whispered silently, moving her lips, and at last, a warm tear slid from the corner of her eye, falling onto the dark soil.
She carefully checked Raine's condition, making sure he wasn't in mortal danger—just utterly exhausted and drained. Then, gritting through her own intense pain, she slowly shifted her body, dug into her emergency kit, and found the last few precious "Foundation and Vitality" pills. She swallowed half herself and, with great effort, fed the remaining half into Raine's mouth.
After doing all this, she could no longer hold herself up and collapsed beside Raine, her consciousness once again slipping into a haze.
But before she completely lost awareness, a clear thought, unlike any research conclusion she had ever reached, imprinted itself in her mind:
He is not an experimental subject, not a "vessel."
He is Raine.
And some bonds, once formed, are no longer measurable by pure theory.