The entire forest fell silent after the firebird screeched.

All the people in the forest could feel the majesty of the ruler of flames. They looked in the direction of the bird with admiration and fear, but nobody dared to come close.

A few seconds later, the bird stopped.

It gave a last glance to Aleen and Aya and returned to Claire’s body.

Instantly, Claire fell on the ground unconscious.

Aleen tried to stand up and caught Claire, but a strong pain assaulted him. A mouthful of blood escaped his lips, and his body gave in. Finally, he fell on the ground while extending his hand towards Claire’s unconscious body.

In the next instant, his vision turned dark.

With his last thought, he prayed that Claire would be fine.

In the end, only Aya remained standing.

A trace of panic flashed in her eyes, but she composed herself quickly. She walked towards Aleen and put him beside Claire.

Afterward, she ran towards Lily and lifted her with a pained expression. She sighed in relief when she realized that Lily was alright.

But when checked Aleen and Claire’s condition, her expression turned somber. Claire’s temperature was incredibly high, and Aleen's wounds seemed very serious. She was not sure if they could survive until the end of the game.

Claire had recovered from the extreme fever before, so Aya decided to leave her alone and hope that she would turn better with the time.

But Aleen’s situation was different. He was vomiting blood constantly and his skin had turned purple and swollen in some parts. Aya suspected he was bleeding internally, but she could do nothing to stop it.

In the end, she decided to circulate her mana inside his body and hope that the regenerative properties of mana help him to endure until the end of the game.

Actually, her response was the best one in that situation.

Aya remained guarding Aleen, Claire, and Lily until the end of the game. Fortunately, none of the level-three remaining dared to come close to their location due to the commotion caused by the lightning explosion and the giant bird of fire.

Two hours later, the game came to an end.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Followed by a blinding ray of light, the group disappeared from the forest.

Aleen had a dream.

Inside the dream, he was outside his former school together with Claire. They were talking and laughing happily while waiting for their parents.

Claire in his dream was younger than now. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and looking fondly at Aleen. Her expression was lively and warm.

But no matter how long they waited, their parents never came.

Soon, the day became night, and the wait turned into worry. Aleen tried to contact their parents several times through his phone, but none of them answered.

When they were wondering what could have happened, a police car stopped near them.

A policeman exited the car and looked at the pair of siblings with an expression of pity. He then walked towards them and asked something.

Aleen could not hear the policeman’s words inside the dream, but he understood what he was asking.

He asked if their names were Aleen Hamill and Claire Kane.

When Aleen nodded, the policeman sighed and continued speaking while patting their shoulders.

Then, their faces turned pale white.

Claire fell on the ground with a despairing expression. She began to cry and bawl without stop, calling their parents’ names repeatedly.

Aleen simply stood there, petrified.

After a while, the policeman apologized and left. Leaving behind the two despairing siblings.

But when the policeman was gone, Aleen's expression changed to one of resolve.

He looked at his sister who was crying continually and hugged her tightly.

That day, Aleen understood that he was the only one that could protect Claire.

That day, Aleen promised always to protect her.

That day, the siblings’ lives changed forever.

‘… It has been long from the last time I had that dream, huh…’ Aleen thought briefly when he woke up. ‘Thinking about it, it has been three years from then…’

Aleen could not help but remember that day three years ago. When their parents died, Aleen was forced to take responsibility for both of their lives. Back then, he had to struggle so the government agreed to not separate the siblings and send them to live with distant relatives.

Now, three years later, he was fighting to protect their lives.

‘… I wonder if Claire is alright.’ Aleen could not help but worry when he remembered Claire falling to the ground before he fainted.

When Aleen and Claire escaped from the blue-skinned man and the vampire, they created two plans to face them.

The first plan was to made use of the level-three monster to kill a level-three pursuer.

And the second plan was to use the bird living inside Claire to kill another level-three.

Both options were risky, but Aleen was more inclined to use the first. After all, he had an idea about the consequences of using it. Aleen feared that Claire’s condition would become far worse if she used that power repeatedly.

Unfortunately, they were forced to rely on it in the end.

‘Well, we killed two level-three at least.’ Aleen consoled himself with that thought.

Actually, Aleen was surprised that he was still alive. When he fainted, he thought he was a goner. Aleen could more or less understand the condition of his body, and he knew it was very bad.

‘It was Aya, huh…’

Although he was not sure about how she did it, Aleen was pretty sure that she was the one that helped him to survive. After all, Aya was the only one that did not faint after the fight.

‘I guess I owe her one…’

Aleen felt his heart beating a bit faster when he thought about the silver-haired girl. He had to admit that Aya was incredible. he did not expect that she would follow them secretly and help when they were in a hard situation

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it and concentrated in the words before his eyes.

The statistics of the last game had appeared in his mind.