Despite how cool Lazuli's futuristic arm cannon looked, it was much scarier when it was glowing with mana and pointing right at my face, especially when [Rebirth] skill was still on cooldown, so I couldn't revive myself after dying.

"Move, Alex." Stated Lazuli solemnly with a frown as she narrowed her eyes at Alexander while her arm-cannon glowed ominously with mana.

'Yeah, that has more than enough power to melt a good portion of my face.' Thought Alexander lightly as his eyes glowed, using [Heroes Gaze] to eye the substantial amount of mana compressed within Lazuli's arm.

Seeing how serious Lazuli was, I wanted to try and peacefully settle this dispute before someone like Michelle, Yuki, Talis, or Chloe, who didn't have as strong healing capabilities, got seriously injured; however, my lovely and slightly impulsive Oni thought otherwise.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Exclaimed Yuki angrily as she aggressively grabbed Lazuli's arm cannon before forcefully pointing it toward the sky, only for her second arm to morph into a similar-looking cannon.

"Yuki, wai-" Said Alexander quickly as he tried to step in between Yuki and Lazuli, only for Lazuli to blast her with a powerful mana beam, launching her through the forest.

Lazuli's attack itself was very quiet; it sounded almost exactly like a phone vibrating, except it vibrated at a much higher frequency, though Yuki, on the other hand, her being launched through several trees, was very loud. Quickly running forward, I looked down the destroyed path Yuki's body made, only to sigh in relief when I saw her embedded into a tree; she was fine and still full of vitality, and other than a burn mark on her stomach, which I could easily heal, she was alive and well.

With Yuki's well-being accounted for, I shifted my focus to Lazuli, who continued walking, prompting me to use [Blink] as I appeared directly in front of her while forcefully grabbing her shoulders, stopping her in place. I may not have been that angry when Lazuli first attacked me, but it was a completely different story when attacking someone I cared for; even if Yuki was practically fine, she was still my lover and future wife; attacking her was attacking me, only with much more intensity.

"Lazuli, will you stop and listen for one second; you haven't even let me explain!" Stated Alexander sternly as he narrowed his eyes at Lazuli, who suddenly superheated her shoulders, causing him to retract his hands in pain.

'Tch, dammit!' Thought Alexander as he shook his hands as they rapidly healed, only to glare at Lazuli while once again stepping in her path.

"You're really making it difficult for me not to use force." Remarked Alexander with a scowl as he forcefully grabbed Lazuli's hands before raising them into the air, lifting her in the process.

Just as I lifted Lazuli into the air, I heard what sounded like a rhino charging right at me, only, when I looked to my left, instead of a rhino, I saw an angry Yuki running towards Lazuli and I, which I had to admit, even frightened me a little. Yet, before I could try and stop her, Lazuli used this chance when I wasn't paying attention to kick my chest, momentarily turning her legs into cannons that launched me backward.

Skidding across the ground and crashing through a few trees, I quickly regained my bearings and looked at Lazuli, who was clotheslined by Yuki, causing me to wince as she sent flying through the air.

'Ouch, I wouldn't ever want to be on the receiving end of that.' Mused Alexander as he glanced at the enraged Yuki, prompting him to dust himself off while running back toward her.

"Alex, are you okay!?" Asked Yuki in concern as she looked at Alexander, who sighed but nodded anyways.

"You already know the answer to that, Yuki. Anyways, now that you've gotten even, can you calm down, please? She's just worried about Soom; I'm sure you can understand, right?" Remarked Alexander gently as he affectionately held Yuki's hand, transferring his emotion to her, causing her to scoff while reluctantly nodding.

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"Tsk, fine, but if she attacks again, I'm beating her until submission!" Declared Yuki solemnly as she grunted in annoyance while folding her arms, causing Alexander to smile as he kissed her hand.

"Heh, I can always count on-MOVE!" Said Alexader with a faint smile as he glanced at Yuki, only for his heart rate to rapidly increase, prompting him to leap forward and push her out of the way.

Acting on almost pure instinct, I pushed Yuki's massive frame out of the way, just in time for a beam of highly concentrated mana to shoot through the sky as it pierced right through my chest before continuing further onwards behind me. Once the beam dissipated, I fell to the ground, bleeding everywhere as I glanced at my wound, only to slightly widen my eyes at the damage I had sustained.

'Oh, that's bad.' Thought Alexander softly as he gazed at the gaping hole in his chest devoid of anything, his heart nowhere to be seen.

My ability to revive myself still wasn't available, so this was actually quite bad; even with my impressive healing capabilities, I didn't know if I'd survive this; this was definitely one of the worst injuries I've taken when my skill had been on cooldown.

'I-I'm feeling sleepy, t-that's not a good sign.' Thought Alexander as he gazed at the night sky, drowsiness threatening to overtake him.

___

___

"A-ALEX!" Yelled Yuki in horror as she quickly stood up and ran towards Alexander, prompting Michelle, hiding behind the carriage, to do the same.

Kneeling before Alex, I picked him into my arms, only to sport an ugly expression when I saw the gaping hole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be; however, before I could think the worst, I remembered he could revive himself even after death, this should be nothing.

"C'mon, Alex, heal yourself!" Stated Yuki swiftly as she looked at Alexander, whose mind was too clouded to properly hear her.

I tried yelling a few more times, but he didn't seem to hear me, yet after some time, there had yet to be a blinding glow accompanied by a fully healed Alex; I was beginning to think the worst.

'Heal! HEAL, ALEX! Why… Why aren't you healing!?' Thought Yuki anxiously as she eyed Alexander within her arms, only for a pair of flapping wings to resound throughout the area.

"Eh, Alex! What happened to him!?" Asked Talis in shock as she stared at Alexander before quickly landing next to Michelle, who had frozen at the sight of him.

"Why isn't he healing Talis!?" Asked Yuki aggressively as she eyed Talis, who opened her mouth to speak, but only chirps were heard.

Slamming my fist onto the ground as I couldn't understand what Talis was saying, yet before I could do anything, I saw her quickly move as she began using her talons to write on the ground, and while it was a little slow for my liking, she's known Alex the longest so she was the only lead we had. However, as the moments passed and I began reading what she was saying, I felt my heart drop while my body went cold as I looked at Talis.

'C-Cool down? H-His skill has a c-cool down? W-What? H-he never told me that, a-and it's two months? I-it hasn't even been a month since that i-incident.' Thought Yuki was in despair as she gazed at Talis before looking at Alexander, who had yet to heal from the mortal wound.

"D-Does that mean A-Alex is going to die? H-He's going to die because of me?" Muttered Yuki softly as she gazed at Alexander in her embrace, her heart rate slowly increasing while her aggressive nature grew.

"Alex. h-he's going to die? H-He can't die. H-hE CaN'T dIE." Added Yuki quietly, her voice morphing into something more guttural and monstrous while her already impressive muscles grew.

Feeling my consciousness slowly being corrupted by the desire to kill everything, I grabbed my head and tried to calm down. I didn't want to turn into a monster; there was no one here to stop me. I tried my best to contain the brewing desire to murder every living thing in my head, yet it was impossible; I was too angry, too scared, and when I glanced at Lazuli after hearing a branch snap, it all came flooding out like a broken damn. With my consciousness rapidly fading, I quickly lunged at Lazuli; if I was going to turn into a monster, I was going to kill the one responsible for everything.

"…kill… Lazuli…" Muttered Yuki with bloodshot eyes as her figure rapidly changed, growing larger, bulkier, stronger, and more monstrous.

The last thing I remember vividly seeing was Lazuli's indifferent expression as I lunged toward her; I only hoped once everything was over, the people who I'd come to call friends were still alive.

–––

___

Looking at Talis, she made sure I never fell asleep, always stabbing my cheek with her talons whenever I closed my eyes, even when it was to blink, which was annoying, but beggars can't be choosers given the situation. Speaking of that, I was healing, but it was slower than usual; it was going to take a while before I would be in perfect condition, and the only real problem was that I didn't think Lazuli would survive that long.

Although everything was a little blurry, I could still make our Yuki and Lazuli fighting. Well, it was more along the lines of Lazuli running around, trying to keep her distance from Yuki, but even with her much bulkier appearance, it was proving to be very difficult, seeing as she had already lost an arm.

'I'm going to need to stop, Yuki.' Thought Alexander as he bit his lip before rolling onto his side, attempting to stand up, which was taking everything he had and then some.