Chapter 20: Bonding
They ran.
Andrey’s lungs burned, his legs scread, and the weight of Marcus’s unconscious form pressed against his shoulders with every stumbling step. The older hero’s breathing was shallow, blood seeping from wounds Andrey couldn’t tend to—not now, not while monsters still sward behind them.
"Left! Three coming from the left!" Sarah’s voice cracked with exhaustion, but her wand still blazed. Pink hearts streaked past Andrey’s ear, slamming into a cluster of imps that had broken through the chaos. They dissolved mid-leap.
Lisa stumbled beside them, mint-green light flickering from her wand as she threw up hasty barriers—thin, fragile things that barely held against the occasional stray claw. Her face was pale, sweat plastering hair to her forehead. "Refreshing Breeze... keep moving... I can still..." A weak wave of healing energy washed over them, stitching the worst of Andrey’s cuts, easing the fire in his muscles.
Sarah’s wand sputtered. A heart flickered and died before it left the tip. Her eyes went wide. "I’m out. I’m completely out of mana."
Lisa grabbed her arm, pulling her forward. "Just keep running! Don’t stop!"
Andrey’s jaw tightened. He could feel his own reserves dwindling—Absorb Damage still had stored energy, but using it now would drain him completely. And if he collapsed, they all died.
They passed a hero on the ground—a woman in torn blue armor, her eyes staring at nothing. Andrey’s steps faltered for half a second. He knew that insignia. Blue team. She’d been at the briefing.
He couldn’t stop.
Another body. A man this ti, crushed beneath a fallen pillar, his hand still reaching toward the evacuation zone.
Andrey’s vision blurred, but he kept moving. ’Don’t look. Don’t think. Just run.’
Sarah sobbed once, a ragged sound, but she didn’t slow.
The evacuation zone appeared ahead—a circle of glowing blue runes, teleport beacons humming with stored energy. Dozens of heroes huddled there, so wounded, so carrying others. A coordinator waved frantically.
"Hurry! Get inside the circle! We’re activating in sixty seconds!"
Lisa threw up one last barrier behind them—a thin, flickering thing that bought precious seconds. Sarah half-carried her through the final stretch. Andrey staggered after them, Marcus’s weight dragging at his soul.
A monster lunged from the side. Andrey twisted, putting his body between it and Marcus. Claws raked his back—Absorb Damage flared, taking the hit, storing it. He stumbled but didn’t fall.
The runes blazed brighter.
Thirty seconds.
They crossed the threshold. Andrey collapsed to his knees, Marcus slipping from his shoulders. Sarah and Lisa fell beside him, gasping, crying, holding each other.
Ten seconds.
Through the shimring barrier of the evacuation zone, Andrey watched the battlefield. More heroes fell. More monsters surged. And sowhere in the distance, the gate pulsed like a diseased heart, its red light staining the sky.
Five seconds.
The last thing he saw before the teleport activated was the gate splitting open wider—and from within, a shadow so massive it blotted out the purple light.
Then the world dissolved into blue light and static.
They materialized in the Association’s central dical wing, a sprawling complex already overwheld with wounded. Healers rushed past, their hands glowing with mana. Stretchers lined the halls. The air reeked of blood and potions and fear.
Andrey lay on the cold floor, staring at the ceiling, unable to move.
Sarah’s hand found his. Squeezed.
Lisa curled against his other side, trembling.
For a long mont, none of them spoke.
Then Marcus groaned beside them, and a healer appeared, shouting for assistance. Andrey watched them lift the older hero onto a stretcher, watched them rush him away, and felt sothing crack inside his chest.
"We couldn’t save them," Sarah whispered. "All those people... we couldn’t..."
Lisa shook her head, tears streaming. "We tried. We tried so hard."
Andrey closed his eyes.
’This is what it ans to be a hero.’
The thought was bitter on his tongue.
System: Ergency evacuation complete. Survival confird.
Battlefield assessnt: 73% periter casualties.
Emotional impact detected. Initiating comfort protocol...
Affection surge:
30 (shared trauma deepens bonds).
New passive unlocked for all: Survivor’s Resolve (when fighting together, gain
15% to all stats for first 10 minutes of combat).
Andrey opened his eyes. Sarah and Lisa were still holding onto him, their warmth the only solid thing in a world that had just shattered.
He didn’t let go.
Sarah’s voice trembled as she looked up at Andrey, her eyes red and puffy. "Hope... what happened to Hope? She was inside that gate..."
Andrey’s jaw tightened. He stared at the ceiling, the fluorescent lights too bright, too clinical for everything they’d just survived. "I don’t know." His voice was barely a whisper. "I don’t know if she made it out."
Silence hung between them for a long mont.
Then Andrey spoke again, his voice cracking slightly. "I’m sorry. I’m the one who brought you here. If I hadn’t accepted Hope’s invitation, if I’d done more research, if I’d been more careful—"
Lisa’s hand gripped his tighter. "No. Don’t say that. It’s not your fault."
Sarah sat up abruptly, her movent sharp with frustration. "Andrey. You need to analyze this. Properly."
Lisa’s eyes widened. "Sarah! Don’t bla him—he didn’t know this would happen!"
Sarah’s gaze didn’t waver from Andrey. "That’s exactly it. The Andrey I know should have seen the red flags. Should have researched the gate, the guilds involved, the anomaly patterns lately. You should have prevented us from coming here."
The words hung in the air like a physical weight.
Andrey t her eyes. For a mont, he said nothing. Then he nodded slowly.
"You’re right." His voice was steady, but there was sothing broken behind it. "It is my fault. I got overconfident. We’d been leveling up so fast, winning so many fights—I started believing we were stronger than we actually are. I should have been more cautious. I should have protected you both better." He took a shaky breath. "I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again."
Sarah stared at him for a long mont. Then her expression softened, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Okay." Her voice was small now, fragile. "I forgive you. But don’t ever do sothing like this again, you hear ?" She grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer. "I was so scared. When you ran off to draw those monsters away, when you got hit, when I saw you on the ground—I thought you were going to die, you idiot. You could have died!"
Andrey’s throat tightened. "I’m sorry."
She punched his chest weakly. "Stop apologizing, you stupid workaholic."
Lisa laughed through her tears, a wet, broken sound. "You two... even now..."
Sarah leaned her forehead against Andrey’s shoulder, her body shaking with silent sobs. Lisa pressed closer to his other side, and Andrey—stiff, awkward, terrible with emotions—slowly wrapped his arms around both of them.
They stayed like that for a long ti, surrounded by the chaos of the dical wing, holding onto each other like the only solid thing in a world that had just proven how fragile everything really was.
System: Emotional bond deepening. Affection
25 (shared vulnerability, mutual forgiveness). New team passive: Unbreakable (when all three are together, damage reduction
10%, healing received
15%).
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