Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 313: A Lover’s End

Stanley quickly walked out to see the carrier landing. The wind whipped around, swaying his hair in all directions. He kept his eyes open and checked the carrier open a compartment at the bottom from where something was slowly lowered to the ground.

Time was running out. He needed to leave quickly.

He turned to go check on the old woman. He had realized that it was most likely her that had helped him previously. But when he came across her, he stopped. Had he really come across her?

The clothes were the same. The hair was the same. Even the face was more or less, the same.

But... how could this be the same person?

She looked a bit shorter and a lot younger. Stanley wouldn’t be surprised if she was the same age as him, just 40 years old.

"Are you... really her?" Stanley asked. He didn’t know if this was some other enemy that he might have missed.

Stella paused and looked at Stanley. "I don’t know who you are or what we are doing here," she said. "But for some reason, I helped you by making you that sword and gave up many of my years for doing so. So I will expect you to not kill me with it."

"You don’t know me?" Stanley asked. Was this really not the old woman then?

"I gave up my memories," she said. "I remember nothing."

Stanley frowned. Was this the old woman or not?

Now was not the time to dwell on that. "I’ll trust you for now," he said. "But if you attack me, I will kill you."

Stella gulped a little and nodded. Why the hell had she helped such a violent man like him?

"Get to the carrier. I’ll go check on red," he said and rushed to the side.

Red’s lifeless body remained on the ground, now covered in grass and dirt that was blown away by the carrier. Now that he could turn back time, death wasn’t so permanent. He could heal her.

"I’ll have to do it in the carrier," he told himself and grabbed Red’s corpse by the tight clothes and dragged her to the carrier.

"What are you doing?" Stella asked, shouting over the sound of the carrier.

"Get in!" Stanley shouted as he arrived next to her. He threw the sword into the compartment first and then Red’s body. He then jumped in himself and turned to see that the height was a bit too high for the girl to jump in.

He reached down and gave her his hand. Once she reached out, he grabbed her and pulled her in just as the compartment began to close.

Stanley breathed in deeply, having thankfully made it just in time. But then... was it over?

’Shit!’ he thought. He had made it in, but he had done so out of sheer necessity. He was hoping but hopes rarely did anything.

’People must be watching us,’ he thought. ’They won’t let us enter the carrier just like that. Will this thing even take off?’

The chances of them leaving were almost nonexistent. But he had come here, so he should wait here. For now, he began healing the Red.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked, confused as to why he had placed his hand on top of the girl’s chest. She felt weird about it.

"I’m trying to heal her," he said.

"You can heal?" she asked. "But she is already dead, isn’t she?"

"Yes, but I can turn back time. She will live again," Stanley said. "She will definitely live again."

He continued turning back time on her body. The once lifeless body slowly returned in color. Whatever had happened to it after death, reverted as he turned back time.

Even the blood on her clothes slowly went back into her body. He was doing it.

’I can do it,’ Stanley thought, feeling happy. He was doing it.

At the same time, the carrier slowly lifted itself off the ground. "We’re moving," the girl said. "Where are we going?"

"I don’t know," Stanley said before remembering something. "It might be a large ship of some sort. We will have to see."

He was confused as to why they were leaving. Were the people just going to allow him to walk out of here freely?

’No,’ Stanley thought. The chances of that happening were close to none. ’They will be waiting for us at the base. We need to be ready to fight.’

* * * * * *

Alice could no longer feel the right side of her face. Either that or her entire body had been enveloped in so much pain that she could no longer tell where she was hurt anymore.

The acid had entered her bloodstream and wrecked her entire body.

She was dying.

"Stark!" she spoke, her voice barely more than a gurgle. She sounded beastly, even to herself.

"Stark... help me," she said, stumbling her way out onto where the roots had created a dome. She walked in through the opening that had been carved up and saw the state in which Stark was in.

The man had his leg chopped up and had lost a lot of blood. He was pale and dying too.

"A-Alice!" the man shouted. "He-help me. Help me."

The woman paused. "Stark..." she said slowly. "You’re dying."

"Yes, you bitch. Help me. Help me!" he trembled as he spoke.

Alice couldn’t help but grin at the sight. "I would love to, Stark. But if I were to help you... you would be alone after I died."

She raised the knife in her right hand. "What sort of a lover would I be if I let that happen?"

Stark realized what was happening. He tried to control the plant but he had no energy left in him anymore.

"N-no. No, no. NO! Get away from me. Get away from me you bit—"

Alice stabbed Stark through the heart, and the man died. Then, she opened his arm to lay in his embrace as she too slowly succumbed to her own inevitable demise.