Rangers Endgame

Chapter 114.1: Curse of a Healer

AOI:

Tati's reddened face was contorted with strain as he poured every ounce of strength into his arm, yet despite his efforts, Hachi didn't budge. Tati tightened his hold on the brolic man's hand and jerked downward but still couldn't get Hachi's hand to touch the makeshift table.

"Let me help you out." Hachi deliberately released some of his strength, and his arm slowly arced back, then locked his arm in place again.

"Come on, Tati!" His friend from his party cheered.

"Stop toying with him and end it, Hachi." A Fiend from within the circle of rangers complained.

After another minute of getting nowhere, Tati decided to pull a fast one and used his offhand to drag his struggling right down. It nearly worked, but Hachi reacted quickly. With his hand still clasped tightly around Tati's, the warrior lifted the conjurer up one-handed. Aoi saw the very moment Tati's life flashed before his eyes before he was drilled into the table, arms first.

Aoi's hand went to her mouth in shock as she jogged towards him, wand drawn. "Are you okay?" She knelt beside the dazed conjurer. "Here."

She began casting, and in moments, she rid him of his pain and potential injury. Tati carefully rotated his wrist to test it.

"Thanks, Aoi. You're always the first to come to my rescue." He said sheepishly.

Aoi smiled warmly, radiating a comfort that made him melt. "I'm glad I can help."

It took several moments for him to break out of his hypnotized state, his face flushed. "You truly are an angel. I'm lucky to have a sweet thing like you by my side during these trying times." He took her hand in his.

She slipped her hand away apologetically and rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassment now spilling into her faltering smile. "I'm...flattered, but this is hardly an appropriate time for a shallow confession."

He went still as a statue as he was crushed by the weight of rejection.

"Careful, Aoi," one of his teammates warned. "That's the second time today he's been shot down. At this rate, you'll need to heal his broken heart too."

Aoi couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm afraid that's out of my field of expertise." She turned to Hachi, who was celebrating his victory with his clan, Tati's other party members begrudgingly giving away gold coins to them. "As for you, Hachi, you're far too rough." She scolded.

Hachi scratched his head. "Then I suppose we're fortunate to have the talented healer who bested our clan looking after us." He responded, his cheery voice absent of any hard feelings.

She tried to maintain a serious air, but a charmed smile broke through her facade. "Just don't use me as a license for your reckless behavior."

He nodded, rubbing his hand, and she noticed a cut on the back of it. She approached him, radiance already stirring. "Let me see."

He glanced down at his hand. "This is nothing."

She ignored him and took his hand anyway. He didn't resist as a soft green mote sank into his hand, the cut scabbing over before fading to its natural complexion.

"There." She smiled again, satisfied.

He flexed his fingers, then turned to see a fairly muscular ranger approach from the crowd.

"Everyone, step aside." He said confidently. "I'll show you how it's really done."

Hachi looked him up and down and grinned. "Is that so? You sure this is what you want?"

The man, another Fiend now that she got a good look at his shoulder plate, set his elbow on the table the conjurers had just recently repaired, offering his hand. "Just get over here. Or are you afraid I'll cripple your pride in front of the young lady?" He taunted playfully.

Hachi's grin grew wider at his challenging words and he sat across from him, locking his hand with his. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Their clashing auras competed for dominance as the referee counted down. Aoi sighed in defeat while stepping back. "Men. Always enigmas."

Kenji, who had been watching with silent interest, stepped to her side. "You have to admit, it's a bit charming in a way."

Aoi pursed her lips to the side in consideration. "I wish they'd be more gentle, though."

"That's asking for a lot." He chuckled.

She joined him, shaking her head. "I suppose."

After Hachi defeated multiple challengers, his strength seemed to wane with this particular opponent. But his hardened features told her he refused to submit. Summoning all of his strength, he inched his opponent's hand to the table little by little. But before he could claim yet another victory, something unexpected happened.

A bright cone of light flashed in the distance, consuming the rays of the sun and plunging day into night. Everyone snapped their attention to the light coming from Sotiri Village, startled. Hachi's face, once beaming with competitiveness, now held a serious edge to it.

"What is that?" Someone from the crowd asked no one in particular.

"Do you think the Sentinels are okay?" Asked another ranger.

When the light dimmed and daylight returned, the shockwave raced through the fields and struck them with a vicious boom. The table was tossed in the air, and everyone staggered.

Hachi turned around to face everyone. "Take your positions! Let's not dally any longer—"

Another light in the shape of a pillar rocketed into the sky in the distance, the explosion cutting him off. Another pillar of light soared upward. Then another, until multiple pillars were visible simultaneously before dissolving.

"What in the world is going on over there?" Someone asked.

Before long, they could see the faint silhouettes of projectiles arcing over the horizon, accompanied by an accumulation of distant battle cries.

"Get ready, people!" Hachi urged both his clan and the freelancers.

Kenji looked at Aoi and put on his best smile to hide his growing worry. "They won't get past us."

She touched his arm. "Be careful."

He nodded firmly before running off.

Nothing on the mission sheet said anything about light beacons or anything of the sort being a part of the plan, so she had to assume it was the enemy's doing. If so, was the Savior already aware of their strategy?

Every ranger tasked with guarding the infirmaries rushed to their designated positions, creating an arc formation around the tents about a hundred yards away. The healers and medics erupted into speculative murmurs around her.

They stayed on high alert for an hour, the air thick with tension, before they saw movement closing in on them. Their voices soon grew heavy with concern when wounded rangers from the perimeter team began arriving at the infirmaries.

It didn't take long for the area to fall into organized chaos as more healers and medics alike scrambled to help the injured. Her stomach reeled from the rangers returning with severed limbs, broken bones, and scorched flesh. Some of them were already deceased, but the ones dragging them in desperation didn't notice.

As she volunteered to aid a wounded ranger with a gaping hole in his side, she hoped—prayed—that Yakeru, Fuyumi, Kazeki, and Kateshi were all safe.

With the help of another, they brought him inside the tent filled with the pained cries of the severely injured, clashing with the urgent movement of healers and medics. As the ranger who'd helped her situate her patient sped off to assist another healer, she threw herself into the task with a fervor that belied her eagerness to help.

She hovered her wand over his writhing form, her brows knitted in determination. Soft motes manifested, and she guided them to his injury. He squirmed uncomfortably as his torn muscles and damaged tissue repaired themselves, while the skin worked to seal over.

Once she was done, she hurriedly called for a medic to take proper care of him before another gurney rolled in front of her with another injured ranger. His eyes were wide beyond what she thought was possible, and blood was pushed out of his mouth from his heaving breaths. His chest had been torn open, and she could practically see the muscles around and over his heart between the ribs beating furiously to keep him alive. It was a miracle he still drew breath.

She instructed her motes to fill the gash, not to heal it initially, but to alleviate his pain and keep him from going into shock. The nauseating concoction of gushing blood and exposed innards nearly made her vomit, but she forced it down.

His breathing grew more even, and she proceeded to heal his injury. By then, the tent had quickly flooded with more wounded than her colleagues could manage. After the stabilized man was sent off, another gravely injured ranger immediately rolled in front of her from the queue that had formed.

The next sight made her instinctively take a step back. His left arm was mangled beyond recognition, and the left side of his head was seared off. As she treated the easiest injury, doubt began to fester when she heard the line of dying patients accumulate behind her.

Though she healed his head, she couldn't restore his hair follicles in her haste. She fumbled to grab a pair of pliers and held them shakily over the man's arm. The fractured bone near his shoulder protruding from his flesh needed to be reset, and she gripped her wrist to keep it steady. She held her breath, but the moment the pliers made contact, the man erupted into a gut-wrenching shriek that made her drop the pliers.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She scrambled to retrieve the tool, only for a medic, much older and looking to be more seasoned, to snatch it from her.

"I'll take care of this! Just restrain him."

She bit her lip but followed his instructions. The man thrashed under her firm grip as the medic worked to expertly set his bone back in place.

The patient howled in agony, but the medic was unfazed, his face hardened with years of experience. Once he'd finished, Aoi started healing him properly. Though the bone was still broken, the severed muscle and tissue fused together, and the damaged skin wriggled grotesquely back to form. The medic then carefully slipped the man's arm into a splint.

As time stretched, Aoi's initial enthusiasm began to wane under the weight of the relentless stream of wounded. The sight of suffering gnawed at her heart to see so many she was underprepared to help.

She moved to the tent's flap, trying to keep her eyes away from the wounded who'd passed while waiting to be treated. There were more injured rangers scattered around the field this time, and the battle, once distant, now seemed closer than before. The freelancers and Fiends were settling firmly into a wall of defense while medics and healers prepared to bring the wounded further back, beyond the tents.

Aoi's core ached with sorrow seeing so many victims of violence, seeing their anguish devour them whole. Though it was her willingness to help those in need that drove her into the role of a healer, it was a decision with underlying naivety to choose a profession that would coldly cast her into a scenario such as this.

"Hey, give me a hand here!" A brown-haired medic, not much older than her, called out to her.

She raced through the preoccupied healers and rangers and slid across from him, anxiously awaiting his instructions. Between them was a squirming ranger, his hand reflexively grabbing onto Aoi's medical robes with his remaining arm. Geysers of red shot from the gnarled holes in his abdomen with each labored breath. He tried to speak but could only manage an incomprehensible gurgle.

"Stabilize him. I'll look for the shrapnel." The medic barked.

She quickly cast a green aura that enveloped the ranger's body, soothing him and evening out his breathing. The medic then imbued his wand to cast several specks of light and guided them into the open gashes as his eyes shone.

With her other hand, she took the patient's hand still clinging to her, offering as much comfort as she could. "It's okay, we're right here."

As seconds passed and the light in the ranger's eyes began to flicker, the medic's features hardened in concentration, and he carefully raised his wand. The specks of amber followed, bringing with them jagged stone and barbed metal. Despite Aoi's spell to subdue the pain, the man flailed from the excruciating sensation of barbed material being dragged out of his body.

"I know, I know. We're almost done." She consoled, partially to herself, as his cries ate at her resolve.

When the medic finally finished, Aoi hurried to repair the damage. The bleeding stopped as his flesh scarred over where the gashes once were, and the man relaxed. A few healers ran over to retrieve the ranger and relocate him like the rest of them.

Aoi looked back at the medic she'd been working with as he quickly stood, pointing to someone else who needed help.

"Let's keep moving. There are more people that need—"

A sudden flash of sickly gold collided with the side of his head. All she could do was watch as his body toppled over, the missing portion of his head billowing with smoke. Even after he collapsed, her trembling eyes stayed glued to his unmoving form. It wasn't until she heard the clashing of steel that she pried her gaze away to look to her side. 

The scene before her had turned into a battlefield. The Second Grades managed to punch through the perimeter and were now attacking the freelancers and Fiends tasked with defending the infirmary tents. But the main reason they weren't at the perimeter in the first place was due to their lower ranks, and Second Grades had proven to be anywhere between B and S-rank.

It took the bloodcurdling cries of rangers sacrificing themselves for her to snap out of her trance. Stumbling to her feet, she ran. Projectiles whizzed past her, ripping through the tents as healers evacuated the patients.

A ranger was fleeing on her left before a stray missile grazed him, the sheer force of it sending him into an awkward flip. Aoi's instincts took over as she snapped her wand toward him, and he radiated a green aura that healed his bleeding arm.

To her right, Hachi's dual axes were locked against a Second Grade's sword while Tati and another conjurer she didn't recognize cast barriers on top of one another to protect several healers and medics hauling their patients to safety.

When the Second Grade pushed radiance into his blade, his strength won out, and Hachi was shoved away and slashed across the chest. Aoi's instincts took over as she snapped her wand toward him, and he radiated a green aura that closed the gash in his sternum.

When the Second Grade advanced, thinking Hachi would be an easy kill, he hadn't anticipated his injury to be healed, and Hachi capitalized. He blocked an overhead strike and followed up with a headbutt that broke the Second Grade's nose. When he staggered, Hachi leaped off Tati's barrier and cleaved the man from shoulder to hip.

A bright light flashed from behind Aoi, and she saw a large projectile soaring towards them. Hachi hurried to get behind the barriers.

"Everyone, down!" He roared.

The projectile smashed into the barriers, engulfing the area in a fiery explosion that sent a tremor through the earth.

A thick cloud consumed Tati and the other conjurer, but Hachi was launched violently through the air. He landed at Aoi's feet, and she hurried to heal him. However, despite bathing him in the restorative properties of her radiance, his condition only worsened.

It was only when her desperate eyes went to his lower half—or lack thereof—that she realized how grave his injuries were. She redirected her radiance, concentrating it on the stumps of his legs. Her abilities weren't strong enough to heal this level of severity. She could only try to alleviate his agony.

"Help! Hachi needs help!" She begged the healers passing her by, but no one spared her a glance over the deafening chaos.

The cloud in front of her cleared, and she saw Tati writhing with a hole in his stomach while the second conjurer was motionless. She looked back at the raging battle, the Second Grades' feral might cleaving through their ranks. If she moved now, she could still make it to Tati. However, that would mean...

She looked down at Hachi, her power just barely giving him the strength to cling to life, and hesitated. The Second Grades, the oncoming wave of death, cornered her into an impossible decision. Her hands quaked with the unbearable weight of the twisted choice she was forced to make.

He looked back at her. He couldn't nod his head, so he slowly blinked once as if communicating, "It's okay."

With immense reluctance, she gradually released her radiance and severed her power from him. He reacted immediately, erupting into a haunting scream of indescribable torment.

"I'm sorry, Hachi..." She mumbled through quivering lips.

She stood and sprinted away towards Tati. She tried focusing on the deadly streaks of dark gold whizzing around her, but his anguish still reached her.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She repeated, but it did nothing to balm her overwhelming sense of guilt.

She quickly assessed Tati's condition as she slid to him. Fortunately, it was just the one injury she saw earlier, but since the Second Grades were closing in fast, there was no time to heal him there.

He let out a groan as she tucked her arms under his and began dragging him. "You're going to be okay, Tati."

Rangers poured out of the smoke from the battle, retreating to safety. She caught sight of a Fiend warrior limping away with gritted teeth, and she awkwardly pointed her wand toward him, patching up his leg just enough so he could run faster.

Another ranger to her left, a freelancer, tumbled out of a cluster of blazing stalks with a smoldering back. She readjusted her hold on Tati and aimed her wand at the crawling ranger, mending his burns and allowing him to right himself.

Her sight began to blur, and her channels throbbed with overuse. The warning signs of her plummeting reserves became more obvious with each life she touched with her power.

As she continued hauling Tati through the blood-infused mud, a stray beam of dark radiance stabbed through her shoulder. She catapulted back, hitting the ground with a wet thud. The world lurched, and her vision flickered as the hot rod of pain in her shoulder threatened to rip away her consciousness.

Jagged tendrils of heat spread from the wound along her back and chest. She tried to move her arm, but her commands got lost within the pain.

"A...Aoi...?" Tati wheezed, turning his head as far as his neck would allow to look for her. "Aoi..."

She ground her teeth and kept her eyes away from her injury to avoid shock, and lifted herself. Her limp arm dragged through the mud as she crawled up to Tati. "I'm right here."

Taking him by the collar with her only functional arm, she pulled. Raging flames illuminated the battle-torn terrain, and corpses littered around her through the slits in her muddy blue hair. Thick smoke billowed into the once vibrant sky like a looming cloud of inevitability, and the sounds of cries clashed with the crackling wood of collapsing stalks.

Her stomach dropped as the ground beneath her vanished, and she and Tati tumbled into a crater. She yelped as her calf caught on a protruding spear, breaking off the head in the process. Tati's agitated wound complained as he too rolled down to her. His squirming indicated he was still barely hanging on.

She shakily reached for the blade lodged in her calf but let out a shriek when the slightest touch sent lightning bolts of agony through her leg. Streams of blood trailed down her bruised skin, pooling beneath her, but she couldn't muster the grit to pull it out.

Abandoning her attempt to remove it, she dug her fingers into the soil and clawed her way to Tati. Reaching him, she painfully oriented herself in preparation to drag him again.

A shadow suddenly consumed them both. When she raised her head, her heart almost stopped. A man emanating with sickly radiance glared down at her hungrily.

The Second Grades had caught up to them.

She froze with terror as she watched him slide down the side of the crater, his sword buzzing dangerously, his darkened radiance lashing at his surroundings indiscriminately. Even if she hadn't lost her wand when she was shot, even if she had the radiance to spare, it wouldn't make a difference. She couldn't have healed Tati in time for him to escape.

Her mind went to Yakeru and what he would do in such a helpless scenario. As the man deliberately took his time approaching his cornered prey, Aoi pulled herself over Tati in a hopeless attempt to shield him with her body. She covered his eyes and shut hers.

The Second Grade's steps drew closer, and she tensed with fearful anticipation. The warm air whipped sharply as she heard him raise his sword.

She braced herself, whispering a string of apologies to Tati that she couldn't do more. As she kept her eyes squeezed closed, however, nothing happened. All she heard were the strained grunts of their executioner as if he were struggling against an unknown force.

"Hurry!" The sound of the familiar voice snapped her eyes open in disbelief. "I caught another one, and there are two survivors!"

She looked back at the Second Grade, and he was now enveloped with a brilliant hold that locked him in place. Behind him at the top of the crater was Kenji, his staff radiating amber. Two more rangers sprinted past him and leapt into the crater, their swords running through the Second Grade on the way down. The increased weight of Kenji's spell made the body slam into the ground, then he released it.

Aoi gave him a weak but grateful look. He was about to run down to her but stopped when another voice called out to him.

"Hey, kid! We got more stragglers over here!"

Kenji regarded the source, then looked back at her with concern. She gave him an assuring nod. "We'll be okay."

He gave a hesitant nod and darted off. One of her rescuers offered her a health elixir. "We only have one."

She shook her head in rejection, wincing when the pain from her injuries spiked momentarily. With a trembling pale finger, she pointed to Tati, who was now unconscious. "He needs it more than I do."

The first ranger opened his mouth to argue but gave an understanding nod instead. As he tilted Tati's head and carefully poured the contents in his mouth, Aoi honed in on the sounds outside the crater. Besides the warm winds carrying the noise of crackling fires, it was all quiet.

"Where..." She coughed, red trickling down her mouth, and tried again. "Where are the others—the medics, healers, and patients? Did they manage to escape?"

The ranger eased Tati's head back down when he was done. "We found quite a few casualties, so it's difficult to estimate how many survived."

The second ranger turned to the fallen Second Grade. "The perimeter softened them up, which made it...doable for the Fiends to thin their numbers for our hunting party to finish them off. Though even now, we wouldn't have much success without that D-rank conjurer."

When Tati stirred, one of them lifted him on their back while the other swung Aoi's arm over their shoulder and began slowly walking out of the crater. Once out, Aoi's exhausted gaze turned somber.

A foreboding veil of fog crept along the ruins of the battlefield. Bodies of those who tried to flee, those who laid down their lives, the enemy...the ground was littered with the deceased.

Her eyes fell. Though she knew she had limits and couldn't control every outcome, she couldn't help but feel like she was somehow responsible for the lives lost around her.

"We shouldn't stay here," the ranger assisting her continued. "You need a healer, fast."

"Right..."