Then...
A gust of wind swept past him as Amelia landed gently beside him, licking the blood from her wrist.
"Still breathing, Minato?" she teased with a grin, her eyes still glowing red like rubies.
[DING]
[BATTLE SUMMARY – PORTAL 1]
[RACE: Wyverns... Titan Blood]
[RANK RANGE: D—C]
===================
[TOTAL DETECTED: 147]
[TOTAL ELIMINATED: 145]
[ASSIST: Familiar "Amelia" — 145 confirmed kills]
==============
"Hahaha… very funny," Minato muttered while scrolling through the floating system notifications. His smile slowly faded as his eyebrows furrowed.
"Wait… that doesn't make sense."
He adjusted the system holographic panel, double-checking the kill numbers.
[TOTAL WYVERNS: 147]
[TOTAL ELIMINATED: 145]
"Two missing?" he whispered, stroking his chin, lost in thought.
Amelia was now perched casually atop one of the dead wyverns' bodies, her legs crossed, humming quietly as she gently licked the blood from her fingertips. "Is something wrong, Asian?"
Before he could respond, a heavy gust of wind blew past them... too close, too loud. Minato barely had time to turn when a massive shadow lunged from behind.
His eyes widened briefly. A massive wyvern head crashed into his chest, sending him sprawling upwards. Blood splattered across the grass as its fangs tore through his side.
[DING]
[BLOOD CONTROL – ACTIVATED]
[HEMORRHAGE RATE: 27%]
[LIFE STATUS: CRITICAL]
============================
"...Tch!" Minato hissed through his clenched teeth, his hand trembling briefly, as he forced the blood around him to move...
Every drop that had spilled from his wounds suddenly twisted upward, forming sharp spikes.
The wyvern didn't even have time to roar before the sharp spikes tore through its neck. It instantly convulsed, jaws snapping open... finally releasing Minato.
The moment his body slipped free from the wyvern's jaws, gravity finally took control.
Cold wind rushed against his skin as he fell from the sky; everything around was spinning, his vision fading in and out.
He barely managed to lift a hand. "Blood Control...!"
His blood responded, briefly wrapping around him, thickening into a rough, red shield.
Ten seconds later, he hit the ground very hard, the impact shaking through his bones, but the shield took most of it.
For a few seconds, he just lay there... gasping for air, dizzy, trying to understand if he was still alive...
[DING]
[BATTLE SUMMARY – PORTAL 1]
[RACE: Wyverns... Titan Blood]
[RANK RANGE: D—C]
===================
[TOTAL DETECTED: 147]
[TOTAL ELIMINATED: 147]
[ASSIST: Familiar "Amelia" — 146 confirmed kills]
[ASSIST: Host — 1]
===============
Then another shadow covered him...
"Minato!" Amelia landed, her boots crunching against dirt and grass. She ran toward him, dropping the head of the other wyvern she had just killed; her usual cold expression was nowhere to be seen. "Are you okay?"
He forced a weak grin. "I'm fine… I think."
"Liar." She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands trembling slightly as she grabbed his shirt.
"Stop lying, I know you're in pain," she muttered, her voice breaking a little before pulling him into a tight hug.
"You don't have to prove anything to me... okay."
Minato froze, caught off guard by how tightly she held him. He could feel her trembling slightly; the usual arrogance in her tone was gone.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything... just the sound of her breathing against his shoulder, and the faint hum of wind flowing around them.
"…Amelia... You're shaking," he said quietly.
She pulled back immediately, her face turning away. "No, I'm not. You're just imagining things, Asian."
He almost laughed, but it came out as a tired exhale instead. "Right… imagining things."
She stood up, brushing the dirt from her clothes, trying to act composed again. "You're too reckless... Minato."
He sat up slowly, his body aching but his lips curving into a small, grateful smile. "How?"
"You should've waited until the wyvern was low enough before killing it," she said, crossing her arms with a sharp, belittling tone. "That way, you could've landed closer to the ground instead of nearly dying."
Minato rubbed the back of his neck, wincing. "I panicked," he admitted in a small voice.
"Maybe. Next time I will be more calculative."
Her red eyes flickered, her lips parting slightly... but she said nothing.
Instead, she just turned away and muttered under her breath, "Idiot…" before walking ahead.
[DING]
[FAMILIAR AFFECTION INCREASED: +15%]
"Dang."
After a few minutes, most of Minato's wounds had already closed up, his skin knitting back together as the light red glow of his vampiric regeneration pulsed beneath it. The dizziness faded, replaced by a dull ache... a reminder of how close that last fall had been.
Amelia then walked a few steps ahead, in silence; her expression was unreadable. The wind pushed through the grass around them, brushing against their legs as the sun dipped slightly westward.
Neither of them spoke for a while... not because there was nothing to say, but because they both needed the quiet moment.
Hours passed as they moved through the open landscape. The once dense forest behind them was now distant, replaced by endless stretches of green and yellow grass.
Then Minato stopped. "...Amelia, look."
Far ahead, sitting in the middle of the vast grassland, was a structure... It looked ancient and was towering. A temple.
Its walls were cracked, swallowed by dark green vines, yet a light blue fire burned around its pillars, rising and falling like a living heartbeat.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Minato muttered.
Amelia's eyes narrowed, her voice low. "A temple… but this energy... It's not natural. It's the same type used in portal stabilizers."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," she responded, glancing at him, "someone... or something... is maintaining and sustaining that portal from inside."
[DING]
[OBJECTIVE UPDATED: INVESTIGATE THE TEMPLE]
[WARNING: DEMONIC TITANIC ENERGY SURGE DETECTED]
==============
The closer they got to the temple, the heavier the air around them became.
That light blue fire they'd seen from afar was no illusion... it burned in waves, distorting the view around the temple.
Each step forward made Minato's chest tighten a little bit, like the atmosphere itself resisted their presence.
By the time they both reached the foot of the stairs... Minato's eyes widened...