WebNovels

Chapter 84 - Chapter 81: Who Are You?

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Nox's consciousness returned like a punch to the gut. The world spun violently around him, colors bleeding together in a nauseating swirl. His head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it repeatedly. The severe concussion from the Avatar's initial attack had left him floating in and out of awareness, but now the pain was sharp enough to cut through the fog.

He shot straight up, his body moving on pure instinct. Four tentacles deployed from his back immediately, each one gripping a different surgical tool with mechanical precision. The familiar weight of the instruments felt reassuring in his disoriented state.

Nox reached up and pulled off his plague doctor mask with shaking hands. The cool air hit his face like a splash of cold water. He pressed the palm of his hand against his ear, feeling for damage while his specialized anatomy went to work. A needle-thin tongue shot out from the palm of his hand and slipped into his ear canal, beginning immediate analysis of the internal damage.

Hans and Irene stared at him in complete shock. It was the first time either of them had seen his actual face without the mask's intimidating barrier.

He looks more normal than I would have thought, Hans found himself thinking. The face revealed was young, perhaps late twenties, with sharp features that spoke of intelligence rather than the monstrous visage they might have expected from someone with his abilities.

Irene felt her heart skip a beat as she took in his appearance. The combination of his focused expression and surprisingly attractive features made something flutter in her chest. He's actually kind of... my type, she realized with surprise, feeling heat rise to her cheeks.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Nox shouted suddenly, his voice cutting through their stunned silence like a whip crack.

"Go check on Henry!"

Hans and Irene startled at the sharp command, immediately realizing their mistake. They had been so transfixed by finally seeing their mysterious teammate's face that they had completely forgotten about Henry's critical condition. Both of them turned and ran toward where the Master rank hunter lay motionless on the blood soaked glass.

"Brain blood vessel rupture," Nox muttered to himself, his needle tongue feeding him diagnostic information.

"Pressure in the brain is increasing. No wonder I can't think straight."

His tentacles moved with surgical precision, each one fulfilling a specific role in the emergency procedure. The drill from his Outer God surgical set began boring a careful hole in his skull to relieve the dangerous pressure buildup. Blood poured out in a steady stream, immediately reducing the crushing sensation behind his eyes. The surgical knife went to work with delicate movements, while the bone saw made precise cuts where needed. Finally, his skull was sutured back together with thread that seemed to dissolve into his flesh as soon as it was applied.

After treating his own critical injuries, Nox rushed toward Henry's still form, his mind now clear enough to focus on the task ahead. Each step sent small shockwaves of pain through his healing skull, but he pushed through the discomfort.

"How's his status?" Nox asked urgently as he dropped to his knees beside Henry.

"He's barely breathing," Hans answered, his voice tight with worry. The old alchemist's hands hovered uselessly over Henry's mangled form, clearly wanting to help but knowing he lacked the medical expertise needed.

"Fuck," Nox cursed under his breath. He pressed his specialized palm against Henry's left arm socket, his tongue extending to examine the traumatic amputation. The anatomical information that flowed back to him painted a grim picture.

"He's lost too much blood. Both arms got torn off, all his teeth are broken, sinus cavity is fractured severely." Nox's voice grew more clinical as he catalogued the injuries, his medical training taking over. "Skull is cracked, ribs are crushed and stabbed into his lung. Multiple organs are beginning to fail."

"Damn it," Nox groaned in frustration.

"I can't regenerate limbs yet."

He deployed all of his tentacles simultaneously, the writhing appendages moving with choreographed precision as they began the most complex surgical procedure of his career. Each tentacle held multiple tools, switching between them as needed while Nox's enhanced senses guided every movement.

He worked methodically to suture every wound shut, sealing the massive tears in Henry's flesh with thread that seemed to encourage supernatural healing. His tentacles realigned broken bones with careful pressure, encouraging the fractures to begin mending immediately. The punctured lung received special attention as Ren's tools worked to patch the organ and restore proper breathing function.

"This is the best I can do," Nox said finally, pulling back from his work. Sweat beaded on his forehead from the intense concentration required.

"Why can I cure all diseases but can't regenerate limbs for my patients? This doesn't make any sense."

He stared down at Henry's unconscious form, frustrated by the limitations of his abilities. "Well, I probably have to level up more. Maybe I can do it in the future."

Nox retracted his tentacles and finished the immediate life-saving procedures. Henry's breathing had stabilized, though he remained deeply unconscious. The bleeding had stopped, and his vital signs were no longer in immediate danger, but the lost limbs were beyond Nox's current capabilities to restore.

Irene and Hans approached carefully, their earlier shock at seeing Nox's face now replaced by awe at his medical skills. Together, they helped carry the unconscious Henry to a flatter area. The space around them was too damaged and uneven for safe rest, with craters and broken glass making the terrain treacherous.

As they walked slowly across the devastated battlefield, Nox's mind began to process their situation more clearly. The immediate medical crisis was handled, but larger questions remained.

"The tomb must almost be complete, right?" Nox said thoughtfully, his voice carrying a note of uncertainty.

"If that Avatar wasn't the final boss, then who is? Wait, this place is called the tomb of the Skin God, right? And this is supposed to be a battlefield where both the Skin God and Obsidian God died fighting a war together. and against that Plague God fucker that I al most died form in my trial"

A cold feeling began creeping up Nox's spine as implications started forming in his mind. Something felt wrong about their situation, like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit where it was supposed to.

He stopped walking and opened his quest window with a mental command, the familiar red interface materializing in his vision.

Quest: Protect your 3 comrades

Nox stared at the text, his brain working through the numbers slowly.

"Huh, aren't there four people?"

He began counting mentally, going through their team composition. Hans, Irene, Henry, and...

"Wait, who's missing?" The question came out as barely a whisper.

"Oh right, Sarah. Where is she again?"

Nox looked around the battlefield carefully, scanning for any sign of the blonde woman who had been with them since the beginning. The glass plain stretched endlessly in all directions, marked only by the destruction from their recent battle. There was no sign of Sarah anywhere.

"Next time I see her, she's gonna get an earful," Nox muttered, trying to maintain his usual gruff attitude.

"That girl is nothing but trouble. She always calls me Ren, my real name, you know. If anyone's allowed to leak that information, why would I create an alias in the first place?"

But even as he spoke the words, Nox felt his feet slow to a complete stop. The realization hit him like a physical blow to the chest, stealing his breath and making his newly healed skull throb with sudden pressure.

"Wait," he said slowly, his voice barely audible.

"In my team, no one should be able to know my real name, right? Even Henry doesn't know it."

The thought hung in the air like a poison cloud, spreading through his consciousness and contaminating every memory he had of their mysterious teammate.

"Wait..." Nox repeated, the word stretching out as cold sweat began pouring down his back despite the warm air of the cursed realm.

His hands began to shake as the full implications crashed over him like a tidal wave. Every interaction with Sarah replayed in his mind with new and terrifying context. Her knowledge of his real name, her convenient appearances and disappearances, the way she always seemed to know more than she should.

Hans and Irene noticed that Nox had stopped moving entirely. They turned back to look at him, concern evident on their faces as they saw his expression of dawning horror.

"Nox?" Irene called softly. "What's wrong?"

But Nox barely heard her. His mind was racing through every conversation, every moment, every time Sarah had casually used his real name like it was the most natural thing in the world. The name that only he should know. The name that was supposed to be his most carefully guarded secret.

The quest window still floated in his vision, mocking him with its simple instruction: Protect your 3 comrades.

Three comrades. Not four.

Not Sarah.

"Who the hell..." Nox whispered, his voice cracking with a mixture of fear and rage. "Who the hell is Sarah?"

The question echoed across the broken battlefield, carrying with it the weight of betrayal and the terrible knowledge that they had been traveling with someone or something that had no business knowing who he really was.

In the distance, the red sky pulsed like a heartbeat, and somewhere in the shadows of the tomb, something that wore Sarah's face might have been watching them with eyes that had never been human at all.

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