Vincent took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he gently exhaled, the pain started assaulting his body once again. His consciousness returned to the living world.

Vincent found it challenging to breathe as the pain increased, but this time was different. Vincent couldn't allow himself to faint. He might kill Kazumi if he allowed the pain to win and forced her to keep pulling him into his Soul Domain.

Vincent was about to fall when he slammed his foot on the ground holding his body in place. He tried his best to resist against the tide of pain.

"Soul power minor... HEAL!" Vincent shouted from the top of his lungs. His determination to fight could be felt.

Ester and Lupa noticed Vincent wasn't as weak-willed as before. Now he sounded stronger, as if he decided to live. The two started shouting words of hope with the wish for this nightmare to end without more deaths.

"We believe in you."

"We will always wait for you."

"Acid is nothing but a hot mud."

"We love you!"

Vincent furiously swung his arms. He kicked as much as he could, and on every action, bits of acid melted and fused with his skin covered by green healing light flung on the ground.

The acid on his body was slowly getting removed. Vincent then kept on going, heal after heal. After he reached the eleventh heal, his body couldn't take the stress anymore. His breathing became more arduous, and his eyes were becoming dull. He was about to faint.

Ester and Lupa could see Vincent better as the steam rising from the melting acid started to decline. They could see Vincent's expressionless face as if his face didn't know how to contort in pain any longer.

Shortly, they saw Vincent standing still like a frozen statue. His body trembled and twitched every few seconds. Ester and Lupa formed an anxious frown on their faces when their eyes laid upon Vincent's naked body.

"Vincent... don't leave us alone." Ester couldn't stop crying.

"Keep fighting! Don't lose! " Lupa encouraged with tears welling in her eyes.

Vincent had fainted with the muscles on his legs tightened, allowing him to remain standing. Before the darkness from fainting consumed him, a notification window appeared.

[Host body is undergoing a change...]

[The host body is adapting with Mutation Class influence.]

[Mutation Trait has been adapted by the host.]

[Mutation Trait: Pain Mitigation stage one (1/10) ]

[The host's body will mitigate the damage the body receives. The adapted body will instantly mutate accordingly to any hostile force by becoming soft, elastic, or tough.]

Vincent arrived at his Soul Domain. He quickly fell on his knees and then slowly raised his weak gaze.

Vincent's body was the representation of his soul in this place. But because of the pain he was suffering, his complexity didn't look too great. His soul looked exhausted.

The pain and the eleven near-death sufferings placed a massive burden on his soul. It was as if the grim reaper was knocking on his door for the eleventh time to reap his soul.

Without the healing ability, Vincent would have died eleven times from the acid melting vital organs. Only with the constant healing of his body could he escape this danger.

[Vincent. Don't. Lose. Hope.]

A tear escaped Vincent's eyes when he saw the usually bright glowing teasing wisp becoming smaller. The green emerald-like colored Kazumi was fading. She looked as if she was about to die.

Kazumi's words were on the mark. One more use of Soul Visit and the mana in her body would get exhausted. Without a body made of mana, she would exist no more. There would be no container to hold her soul from disappearing.

Vincent pulled himself up and held Kazumi in his hands. She appeared to be in a similar horrible situation. However, Kazumi still used her powers to show Vincent a bit of hope. A five-inch window appeared above her fading body.

"I gained a new pain resistance ability?... no, wait! Stop using your abilities! " Vincent urgently begged. Then the memory image vanished, and Kazumi looked worse than before.

Vincent walked over to the emerald grass carrying the fading wisp. He gently placed Kazumi on the soft grass and caressed her frail, weak body.

"You wait here and don't use Soul Visit anymore. I have nine more heals, but the acid is getting harder to remove. It's stuck on my body, so... "

Vincent's eyes suddenly radiated a strange, mysterious glow. A dangerous thought of how he could survive flashed in his mind. Vincent's determination soared through the roof, and his goal was set.

"I will return from this ordeal alive. I will not lose as my life isn't mine alone anymore. My life is yours, Ester's, and Lupa's. I can't die for their sake nor yours."

Vincent stood up. His face began to express an angered frown. His arms rose, and his fingers curved like claws. Suddenly, the emerald grass began flashing, and on the third flash, Vincent forcefully exited his Soul Domain.

"Soul Power Minor Heal!" Shouted Vincent after he regained his consciousness in an instant. This was his last try. It would be game over for him or Kazumi if he fainted.

Green light once again covered his body. As he raised his gaze to see if Ester, Lupa, and Tula were safe, his determination empowered his body even higher.

"Don't be. Sad... this is nothing. But a scratch. Please. look away." Vincent raised his trembling hands and decided living was better than feeling excruciating pain for a moment.

However, Ester and Lupa didn't heed his warning. They kept staring at the blurry glowing naked Vincent as he scooped his flesh to remove the acid stuck on his body.

It was a horrifying scene if the bright light didn't censor the traumatizing sight. However, Ester and Lupa worryingly gazed at Vincent as they didn't want to look away. Both feared the next second they looked away. Vincent would be dead.

Heal after heal, Vincent gritted his teeth and grunted in pain. However, his trembling hands kept on removing the stuck acid. The acid was losing its melting potency as blood gushed out of the self-inflicted wounds.

The healing wasn't very potent. It couldn't fill the removed pieces in one go. Minor Heal mostly closed the open wounds to stop Vincent from suffering death by blood loss.

At the eighteenth heal, Vincent removed the last of the lower body acid.

On the nineteenth heal, he removed the last bits from his forearms.

On the twentieth heal, he managed to remove the remaining acid from his fingers.

Vincent was acid-free, but the price was too much. Most of his muscles were thorn and how he was standing was a mystery. His body wasn't bleeding, but he was deeply scarred after Minor Heal closed his wounds.

Vincent looked like a withered person with skin fastened with his bones. He was like a living mummy from neck down.

Ester and Lupa probably became emotionally scared, yet they still wanted to approach the gory-looking Vincent. Their eyes were red, and their tears seemed to be an infinite waterfall. Their lips quivered to say something, yet their weak voice couldn't produce a word.

It was a mystery how Vincent didn't pass out after all the heals he made. The determination to survive such pain with an exhausted body seemed boundless, as if he had help from someone or something.

Every heal took a great deal of stamina, yet his eyes shone with a fierce light. His eyes only shone when he used an ability or spell, yet the light never stopped.

It was as if the mutation gave him endless stamina to consume in this critical time. The Mutation Trait also upgraded four more times, becoming midway to stage two.

The mummy-looking Vincent slowly raised a smile and then fell on the puddle of blood and diluted acid. The acid didn't have the same potency as before, and their surroundings were becoming clear.

Ester and Lupa felt disturbed by this sight. It was as if Vincent was eaten alive by piranhas and then healed with fire. Apart from his neck and head, Vincent's body became unrecognizable.

Ester held her mouth as she was about to puke, while Lupa only worried. Lupa was used to watching humans getting killed and eaten by the gray wolves. Such scenes were nothing to her eyes.

Lupa felt she had to check on Vincent as soon as possible. She took a step forward and tried to approach Vincent, but Ester quickly noticed the acid was still bubbling slowly on the ground. She didn't know if it was safe to approach since the acid steam dissipated.

"Stop! Vincent is surrounded by acid! There is still some acid between us. Do you want to melt your body?" Ester exclaimed as she did her best to handle the situation with multiple emotions swirling inside her.

Ester's words said one thing, but her body said otherwise. She was flustered and scared of the gravely Vincent before them, but her body wanted to rush to Vincent's at the same time.

"But... but... " Lupa replied with a worried, conflicted expression. She wanted to help, but a dangerous melting substance blocked her intentions.

Ester turned her head at Tula and noticed that not all of the water on the cart was splashed when Lupa flipped the cart backward. A few small holes caused by the acid made the cart leak water slowly.

Acid still floated on the water, but it had a faded color as if it wasn't corrosive anymore. Ester assertively looked at the cart and noticed that the acid on the cart's side wasn't melting the wood.

A sudden relevance flashed before her eyes as the water seemed to push away the acid as if it was oil and water. Also, no melting reaction appeared after the two liquid substances met. She remembered how the acid under Vincent was different as it was doused with blood.

"It's the water! The river water saved us! That is why the acid didn't evaporate the water and then fall on us. It's the key to approach Vincent." Ester explained.

It only took a second for Lupa to grab the handle of the cart and start pulling. Ester moved her exhausted body and helped Lupa. The unconscious Tula remained as she was above a patch of water.

*Bam, Splash*

Ester and Lupa flipped the cart together. River water rushed over to Vincent, washing away the remaining bubbling acid and blood under him.

The rest of the acid beside Vincent washed away, leaving a few small acid puddles with their corrosiveness removed. It was now safe to approach.

In a radius of a few meters, the water diluted the Royal Guard Ant's acid.