The instant the Immortal Berserker released him, Lind vanished and appeared in the ring. The wolf was breathing heavily and lay on its side. Blood flowed from it like a river. The blue ichor covered the stage.
Lind cared not and flew to her side. He quickly applied pressure and stopped the bleeding, yet his senses told a horrific tale.
Her ridians were twisted and her dantian crystal was cracked severely. Her organs were heavily damaged but all of that was fixable. He already could think of several pills, elixirs, and even a few formations that could co together to repair the body.
The damage to her soul, however, was beyond him.
Even if he was in peak condition and pushed everything to its limits, there was nothing he could do.
"You used the Dao of your Art to beco a true wolf. Not an illusion but the phantom made flesh. You knew that would hurt your soul too, but you did it anyway." The damage was 2 fold. Internal and external injuries.
The virulent yellow eyes were not dull yet but it was only a matter of ti. Lind's harmony flared and gently engulfed her. The wolf's body slowly dissolved until she appeared naked and missing her left leg.
Her body was covered in injuries as well, but the soul was barely holding on. Now that she was the correct form, it was slightly better, but that was all.
He gently picked her up and carried her away. The judges said nothing and none dared to say congratulations to her.
The floating soul of Cutter was bowed low in respect. He had lost, no matter how empty that loss might seem at the mont.
Lind flew through the arena halls to the healing ward where his mother was at. Qing and she were there looking pale as he laid Cyntilla on a crystal casket for the worst case scenarios.
It lit up instantly as the 3 of them began their work. Qing focused on keeping Cyntilla grounded on her while Mira and Lind did what they could.
Mira repaired the body, even regrowing the leg like it was nothing. The best pills and elixirs were infused into her body.
He ignored the return of color to her cheeks as it was only blood and bone that was healed. The dantian and ridians required careful guidance of the elixir forces put into her. The broken pathways were carefully repaired as the crystal slowly healed.
He had no sense of ti but none of it mattered. He could forfeit his bout for all he cared at that mont.
He rembered the first ti he saw Cyntilla. Guiding her pursuers inside the desert Ruin at the Lotus Academy entrance exam.
She was a beautiful woman but he had simply wanted to help soone. Her confusion at his honest aid was a treasured mory now.
The body was finally repaired but his Eyes let him see the fractured pieces of her soul.
"How bad?" The 2 words had weight enough to make Qing and Mira flinch. It was not like when a piece of Shoti's soul had been taken from her. The Fiend adherents back then used a technique that when interrupted would allow the soul to endure.
"Her mind is intact but her connection to her body is barely there. She wants to speak but it is like it won't respond. I think the attacks sever the connection while breaking it down." Qing's voice was thick with tears.
She understood as much as the other 2 what was happening. Cyntilla was having a True Death.
Lind's mind raced. There had to be a way! He had learned so much about souls, harmonies, and even the thod to repair them!
A Divine Realm could do it with ease but the only Divine Inheritances with the right conditions were in the 1st layer! They were beyond him!
Even if he could get to them, the odds of fixing her were very low. It was not stolen from her but damage incurred in battle.
He was uncertain if the thods he knew of could work!
As an expert healer, he knew there was a vast chasm between what Fiends did and what the glaive had done.
His harmony flared as his nodes lit up. Sigils began to appear but his body was suddenly wrapped by 2 pairs of arms.
"STOP! Lind stop! If you try to help her, you will only kill both of you! Even in your best condition, you know you can't help her now." His Mother was crying hard but still spoke to him. She held him tight.
"Mom–Mom I have to try." He had not realized he was crying too. When had it started?
The doors to the healing ward bust open as his family poured in. Shoti had been far way but she was now there. Annabelle was covered in tears as she rushed through the room. Lysanna, Kora, Chu, and all the rest of the children were there.
Even the ones from the Frey Clan that had made it to the 4th layer arrived.
Tal was there! Lind felt like a failure as he saw their pain.
He was so powerful. He had pulled off miracle after miracle but now he was at a dead end. He could not save his wife!
Mira and Qing slowly let him go as they felt his aura fade.
The group surrounded Cyntilla. She was the heart of them. The first of the wives in all their hearts. The reason the first 4 had co to an agreent was due to her.
Lind knew it all but at that mont he was rembering their ti together.
He let his mories play out for them all.
"Don't show that, I want my victory to be the last mory." A weak voice pierced the silence as all looked down to see Cyntilla smiling up at them.
Qing wept openly as Shoti held her. The effort to speak ca at a steep price now.
She looked around at them with such gentle eyes but then she saw her mother, Firella.
The older demoness was a ss as she looked at her daughter but pride was there for all to see too.
"Mom, I was good. I have no regrets. Keep him stable for ." She nodded while never looking away. Lind felt a stab at his heart.
She could only look at the rest but then she got to him.
"I made the choice. You know that. Do not carry a new burden. I want you to live and beat that bastard." Her voice was getting weaker as the readouts on the casket dropped to the worst level possible.
She smiled up at him and he fell to his knees as he looked at her face.
"I will kill him. I will fight." He spoke as powerfully as he could but the pain rocked him. He looked up at that point.
"Heaven and Earth. I do not ask for the miracle of restoration but do not let this soul go into oblivion. Let her walk a new path, so part of her, please." The others had heard many such wishes over their long lives.
The prayers may have been answered at lower realms but none ever knew, yet this ti was different. Cyntilla was being destroyed entirely. There would be nothing to reincarnate.
New tears swept the group but Lind simply looked into her eyes. He could only hope his prayer was answered, yet all were shocked when a rumble from the sky was heard.
{Understood. Karmic restitution and actions to save the core of all accepted. This will not happen again} The group were shocked at the words as bright spots of light appeared.
They were powerful and terrifying to all but Lind wept in joy!
The fracturing soul of Cyntilla was gently encircled and extracted from the body. It barely looked like her but understanding seed to flood the epheral face.
{She will not be her any longer but Samsara will occur. Our debt to you is now paid in full.}
Lind bowed low to the spirits of Heaven and Earth.
He felt the elation she was not gone but it was still death. Cyntilla was truly dead.
The others could only weep and look on as the motes of light blinded them and a rumble of thunder dispersed the strange clouds over the arena.
The body continued to function but it was now empty. Lind shut off the casket and allowed her body to die.
"She is gone, but still with us. So part of her will go on too. Take heart in that at least." He was shaky but he felt better than having to watch her disintegrate into nothing. He closed her eyes for the last ti and kissed her forehead.
The others followed suit and then simply sat and held onto each other. They had endured many deaths in the family but the foundation had been untouchable in their hearts.
Lind knew death was not possible to avoid. Lanbao and others flashed through his mind. So had been taken from him with others died natural deaths.
Yet, even he had felt like Cyntilla would outlast them all. She was a born survivor long before he beca a part of her life. She had blazed her own trail and faced all odds to co out the other side.
Even at the end, she would not bow to death but embraced victory. It was a pyrrhic victory to him but not to her.
A judge gently ca to find him. His fight was far from being called yet but they asked if he wanted to withdraw.
Lind was sorely tempted but a pair of virulent yellow eyes flashed at him.
"Not a chance in Hell." His words made the group smile and he followed the judge back to the waiting area. The funeral could wait for now. They knew her soul was in good hands. The rest was up to them to move forward.
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