Lumi fluttered her wings and looked at Paula. The bird looked ready to fight.
Paula was stunned. An Ice Phoenix was a spirit rarely seen. It was theorized it was as powerful as a level 40 adventurer. She laughed. The kid made her familiar four times more powerful than her.
When gunfire roared on the halls, Paula turned her attention back to the fray. The werewolf must’ve breached the barricade they made blocking the stairwell between the second and the third floors. She called Lumi and both ran in the direction of the gunfire.
Matthew was lain in bed by the receptionist girl. His breathing was shallow and he looked in pain. Michael looked at him. He knew well what he did. To use your own life like that. He felt bad for doubting his character before.
"Put a cold wet towel on his head. It might help him through the pain."
When Paula arrived at the stairwell, she saw a carnage. Every adventurer who was holding the barricade lied dead. Vanessa was the only one alive, knelt at the werewolf’s feet. She had a deep cut on her forehead that covered her face with blood.
"Vanessa!" Paula screamed while the other woman dodged a kick the werewolf directed to the place she was kneeling.
In the same movement, Vanessa threw a knife at his groin but it only bounced off harmlessly.
Before Paula could act, Lumi soared in high speed piercing her talons on the werewolf’s shoulders and pinning him against a wall. The werewolf tried to free himself by scratching the bird with his claws, but he didn’t have enough strength to pierce her vital shield.
The werewolf howled and soon several wolves came running up the stairs to aid him. But all in vain. Lumi flapped her wings and a wave of ice cold air froze all wolves in place. The werewolf himself had his fur covered with ice crystals and shivered as it breathed out white fogs from his mouth.
Lumi then teared his neck with her beak.
After his death, the wolves ran away. Whatever was controlling them, now seemed to be dispelled.
It was a miracle that no civilian was harmed, but it was all thanks to the sacrifice and bravery of the soldiers and adventurers who fought to defend them.
Out of 28 adventurers and 13 soldiers, only Paula, Vanessa, Matthew, Michael another 7 adventurers survived.
Paula healed Vanessa’s woulds. The one on her head left a horizontal scar on her forehead.
"You’re lucky you didn’t lose your hair." Paula tried to joke.
"I was the only one lucky." Vanessa responded looking at all the dead around them. Then she looked at Lumi who was using water magic to clean the blood out of her feathers. "Is that Lumi?"
"Yes. Matthew used his Ranger skill to evolve her into an Ice Phoenix." Paula smiled. "You were right about him. He’s very different than Tom." She said referring to her ex-boyfriend.
"And he evolve her into an Ice Phoenix?" Vanessa asked with a surprised face that also showed concern.
"Yes. He drank a bunch of mana potions and..." Paula realized what Vanessa was worried about.
"He’s level 6 Paula. Unless he drank a whole truck of mana potion, how did he get the mana to evolve Lumi to a creature so powerful?" Vanessa said grabbing Paula by the arms.
Paula only stood there with her eyes opened.
"God damn that kid!" Vanessa ran past Paula who was in shock in the direction of the rooms that were being used as infirmary.
She searched two other rooms before finding Matthew’s. She saw him laying there with a wet towel over his eyes. The receptionist girl holding his hand and Michael looking at him with a worried face.
"That fucking idiot kid!" Vanessa growled.
"His breathing got better a little while ago." The receptionist said. "He doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore."
Paula came walking with Lumi on her arm. The bird was too big to nest on her shoulder anymore. Her expression was that of a person who killed someone.
"I’m sorry Ness. I didn’t think he’d go over. And when he did I couldn’t do anything. No. I didn’t even think he was going over."
"You’re lucky he’s alive. And will be luckier if he survives." Vanessa said filled with anger.
"Vanessa!" Michael admonished her. "This isn’t sister’s fault. He offered to do it himself. And he himself went overboard. And it saved us, didn’t it? I imagine since you two are here, the Werewolf is dead?"
"Lumi bit its head off." Paula said in a low voice still feeling guilty.
Vanessa fell to her knees and held Matthew’s other hand.
"God dammit kid." She said crying. "Please don’t die."
It took two more moon cycles before the moon turned back to blue. No other wolf attacked or any other creature appeared.
With the blue moon, the survivors got bold and left the dorm. Soon they were repairing the installations and fixing the walls. It took another 14 hours for the gate to reopen.
The cause of the red moon and the appearance of the werewolves started to be investigated by the government. The gate itself was closed off during the investigation. The event was called The Red Moon Massacre on the media.
Matthew was transferred to the hospital Vanessa’s brother worked in. With him there, Vanessa could keep an eye on his status. He had a bag of blood hooked to him to supplement all the blood he lost fighting in the gate. The bed itself monitored his physical condition, like heartbeat and pulse.
"His vitals are all good." Cid, Vanessa’s brother, said. "Now we need to wait for him to wake up to know if there will be permanent damage."
"Thank you Cid." Vanessa said looking down while sitting by Matthew’s side inside the hospital room.
"But, sis." Cid started with a low voice. "You know that he may not ever wake up."
Vanessa looked at him. Her eyes red from crying.
"I’m sorry. I know you do. It’s just... I don’t want to give you false hope."
She looked as her brother left the room with a smile that said both "sorry" and "hang in there". She breathed heavily.
"Fuck you, kid. Why did you do that?"
"Do what?" A female voice asked from the door. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel⟡fire.net
Vanessa looked over. It was Sarah, Matthew’s sister.
"Hello. You must be his sister. Sarah, right?" Vanessa asked. "You look like him."
"Yes." Sarah nodded. "What happened to my brother?" She asked with tear in her eyes. "What did he do?"
"He saved us all." Vanessa said patting Matthew’s head.
Soon after Matthew’s parents arrived with clothes and other things for their son. Vanessa explained what happened inside the gate. How he risked his life to give Lumi the power to defeat the werewolf.
"You’re saying he might not ever wake up." Sarah asked crying. "Oh my god! This is my fault! I convinced him to go back to adventuring."
"It’s not your fault dear." Their mother said hugging her. "Your brother chose this for himself."
"He’s a hero." Vanessa said holding her tears. "I know how much saying that is useless. It doesn’t comfort me either. But it’s the only thing we can hold on."
"Thank you, Vanessa." Matthew’s father said putting a hand on her shoulder. "You must be very tired. You should go rest. If there is any change on his situation we’ll let you know."
Vanessa left apologizing several times more.
"You were right honey." Matthew’s father started talking. "We should have not let him become an adventurer."
A moment of silence took over the room. But then Matthew’s mother said:
"No. It’s something he wanted to do. And he grew so much doing it. Look at that girl who just left. He never had a friend who’d worry for him like that before. And the elven and the red haired girls from the other time he was at the hospital. He’s making good friends. He’s saving people. He’s concerned about money. He’s not a kid anymore." She stopped to wipe her tears. "It’s a dangerous job, but it’s one he chose. And we have no way to know for sure he’d be safe even if he weren’t an adventurer. He was dragged to hell for goodness sake! He wasn’t even inside a gate! If he wasn’t an adventurer then, he’d never had returned to us."
"Mom..." Sarah said hugging her mother.
"Let’s trust your brother. He’ll wake up. I know it." Matthew’s mother started to cry openly. "Because he’s a hero. My baby hero."
It took more 3 days before Matthew opened his eyes again. Cid and Sarah were the ones in the room. Matthew was a bit disoriented but soon recognized his sister who jumped on him and hugged him hard.
"How are you feeling Matthew?" Cid asked.
"Like I was hit by a truck." He responded.
"Can you move your legs for me?"
"Sure." He said moving his legs.
"Toes? Arms? Hands? Fingers?" Cid continued his examination. Checking all his limbs.
"Can you remove the patch on my eye?" Matthew asked moving a hand over his left eye during the examination.
Sarah and Cid’s faces went pale.
"You’re not wearing an eye patch." Sarah said slowly and scared.
Cid used a small lantern to check his eyes.
"I can’t see." Matthew said testing his left eye while closing his right. "I can’t see from my left eye."