Mark could only listen to the pain, listen as his bones knitted together, trying to hold the weight that was placed on him. Not only the attack itself, but the fate of many whom he didn’t know, people who, just like him, have their own ambitions and dreams, their own lives, and people they love.

I’m way softer than I should be, yet this is where I get my power from, out of my own selfish desire to play the hero.

Mark stood there, barely holding on, feeling his mana seep out of his very being. He felt dizzy, as if the pain was not enough.

Sys, now is not the time to stay idle. Try to help me with something, will ya?

"I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to do. It’s all up to you…"

Her voice seemed to fade in the distance, like a flame growing dim. Mark felt like screaming, but his voice gave up, his being gave up.

"I refuse..."

He muttered these words on and on, like a mantra of sorts. He didn’t allow himself to give up, he didn’t want to run away, be it death itself that came for him.

I gave up too many times. I ran away from things I shouldn’t have. Now, time for redemption.

It was a battle of wits, Mark against time. He stared as the gate began to close more and more, faster and faster.

"Foolish mortal, to think you could hold out for so long. Time to truly put an end to this before my time here runs out."

Mark felt the crushing weight double, pushing his attack back.

"Screw you, I’m doing this somehow... Bariers, set!"

The two of them were placed inside a barrier that separated them from the outside world. It might have looked like one single barrier, but Mark had as many as possible stacked together to tank as much damage as possible. Instead of making them the same old transparent walls, he made them as opaque as possible, so no one could see what he was about to do.

His mana ran dry, leaving him on his knees, with his hands raised to the sky, his lifeless face staring blankly at what was coming for him. Instead of letting it hit, he grabbed on to the mana column, doing exactly what Sys told him.

His veins turned purple, just like the mana he was siphoning. Notifications kept warning him about the dangers of what he was doing, yet he didn’t care.

"Might as well try to diminish the damage."

His body was painted with purple lines, spreading all across it. One last glance showed the gate almost closing, yet the attack struck with the same ferocity.

"Brace for impact…"

The whole world went silent for a second, Charlotte and Sebas watching, cursing their own inability to help.

A swarm of glistering butterflies is all that remained of the barrier, spreading with the wind. A rain of crystals spread through the town, leaving both Sebas and Charlotte in a daze. A single tear came flowing down on her face, leaving the question as to why it did. Perhaps she was fortunate enough to survive something that defied human logic, but the price might have been too much.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Just when did I start caring for that bastard? Not even a day ago, I wanted to kill him… That fool—just how?

Mark stood, buried under the rubble, having recalled the past events that led him to this day. The very blood he spat out earlier was dripping on his face.

His body was a mess of torn muscles and broken bones. The skin on his hands turned to ash, exposing torn muscular tissues. The simple fact that his hands still remained was enough to shock him.

He could barely mutter a few words in a raspy, shattered voice.

"I…won…"

His consciousness drifted apart, leaving behind a broken body. All of his goals, all of his ambitions, gone in a second.

Both Charlotte and Sebas rushed to the spot, caring about nothing but Mark.

"He must be alive, ready to jump at us and laugh in our faces about how great he is."

Sebas smiled.

"Yes, that’s just like him. Just watch out; I’ll scare him before he can scare us."

But Mark never scared them.

They checked under the rubble, using skills and whatever they could to move everything aside as fast as possible. Words could not describe their expressions the moment Mark’s body came into view.

"Come on, wake up, my guy. You just saved a ton of people, get up and start bragging about it, man."

Sebas gently shook his body, but Mark didn’t respond. He was barely breathing as it was.

A moment was all they needed to pick Mark up and rush him to the hospital. None of them cared; they just hoped he could be saved. Sebas kept up with Charlotte, despite it pushing him to his limits.

Before any ambulance could have arrived on the scene, Mark was already in the hospital, the medics checking everything they could. It was difficult for the staff as well, since the appearance of that giant eye seemed to have put everything to a halt. Some personnel had yet to wake up after fainting.

"Just what on earth happened to him?" asked one of the medics.

"He stopped a calamity from happening."

The doctor didn’t believe them at first, but then recalled the two columns he saw in the sky.

"Don’t tell me... We’ll do everything we can, but also, seeing the state he is in..."

He couldn’t bring himself to say it, yet everyone understood. Death was imminent.

Word spread around about what had happened, with news stations around the world talking about nothing but the crisis that came. Surprisingly enough, footage of Mark standing up against that threat circled around the internet, but no one knew just where it came from. Everything from Mark being the one that being came for, to him standing up against it: it was all found within that video.

His family and close friends gathered at the hospital just an hour after he was brought in. His father sped like crazy, going way above the speed limit. Alex and Darius came in later, slightly afraid to go check on their fallen friend.

The hospital room was filled to the brim; the nurses’ warnings were useless. They all wanted to see Mark, even if it was the last time.

"Doctor, just how bad is it?"

Mark’s father was in tears; his eyes were red from all the crying.

"Sir, I’m afraid we don’t know for sure. His body is fixing itself, which is nothing short of a miracle. However, he is in a deep coma, and we don’t know whether he’ll ever wake up. I’m sorry…"

Nothing could be said after that. His family was crushed, his friends were filled with regret. Sebas kept whispering to himself that, were he stronger, he might have been able to help.

Darius and Alex came in as well, falling silent at the sight of their comrade. On that day, many got to live, all because one single man wanted to play hero.