Taylor's body sat unmoving, resting upon Vernon's lap with a teary-eyed Adam collapsed to his side, his bow fell on the ground beside his hopeless body.
"TAYYYLOOORRR!! DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON !!! ANSWER NOW!!! WHY!!! WHY!!! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT, YOU IDIOT!!! SAVE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU HELP US!!" Vigorously, Vernon's entire body jerked trembling, taking the arrow off his knees before shaking his friend in-between two arms with tears running down his reddened, bloody face.
Alucard who was looking upon the scene with initial eyes of disinterest suddenly felt a heartbeat swell as a weight shakingly loosened upon his back.
It was more than clear that Lisvern was trying his best to shake him off and rejoin his fallen comrade.
Reading the situation, Alucard wasted no ti tightening him back and walking towards the group as fast as possible before finally letting Lisvern go, where he fell dropping towards Adam seeking answers.
"Adam! How did this happen!? Answer !!" He scread as loud as he could in his current state, tumbling onto Adam's shoulders.
"Lisvern…" He mumbled.
"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!!"
"It… It just suddenly happened… The fight ended a while ago but we were all okay… But in the end, there was a hidden goblin who fired an arrow and hit Taylor in the knees before I shot his head off… At first, all was fine, just a few monts ago we were laughing together as he used his magic to alleviate so of our injuries, when all of a sudden…"
"That black poison appeared on their face… Right?"
"Yes, how did you—" Adam mumbled before finally noticing the face of his friend was ridden with the sa dark infestation. Imdiately, he assud the worst, and if it weren't for Lisvern's next words, he might have truly taken the full plunge into despair.
"Don't you dare worry about ! I'm fine, that poison barely grazed and I instantly could not move! But Taylor took a full dose of that black rot! He must have been healing you as he was dying himself!!"
Adam's eyebrows lifted before furrowing back to close his eyes as he spoke, trying to find answers and light within his tunnel of darkness.
"W— Will they li—"
"Hey Vernon, is Taylor still breathing?"
Suddenly, the tense atmosphere was broken by a sound towering from above, a voice completely devoid of any of the heartfelt emotions being shared amongst brothers in arms below.
"Huh…" Vernon's reddened gaze peered up noticing the cold, bloodied mask of that man looking down at him. "Y—you… IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE!! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK!! WE WOULD HAVE STILL HAD LISVERN FIGHTING WITH US IF YOU DIDN'T DECIDE TO FLEE LIKE A BITCH!!! YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T KILL YOU!! IF… IF YOU WEREN'T HERE NOW, THEN TAYLOR WOULD HAVE STILL BEEN—"
"DO YOU WANT TO SAVE HIM OR NOT!? IS HE STILL BREATHING!?" Alucard's bone-chilling voice sent tremors that rang all around them, shaking the very air, his stare piercing directly through his mask to the point that even Vernon was caught speechless.
"... tch… No… NO HE'S NOT BREATHING!! IF HE WAS, WOULD I BE ACTING LIKE THIS!? HE'S DEAD!!"
"Not exactly, if you say he fell unconscious recently, there is still a chance to save him," Alucard calmly responded.
"Huh… And how the hell would you do that!? You look like no healer to —"
"I don't need magic to do what I need to do. All I need is to reset his heart and get him breathing again. The more we speak, the more his life slips away, do you want that to happen?"
Alucard's words sounded unbelievable, yet at the sa ti sohow sincere. Vernon was once again left sweating with his mouth open pondering over his words. And in the middle of his thinking, he heard a voice cry from behind.
"Let him do it Vernon!" Without a doubt, that was Lisvern's voice, one that caught him completely off guard.
"What!? Do you trust th—"
"YES I DO! Now let him try! We have no better option! Or, do you want Taylor to really—"
"FINE!!" Vernon roared before slowly letting Taylor rest upon the soft grass, not before locking eyes once again with Alucard above and crawling away.
Without wasting ti, Alucard imdiately crouched beside the blackened, unconscious boy, closely inspecting him before he began.
"Why is a coward like you even doing this in the first place? What do you have to gain?" Vernon spoke, seething through his teeth.
"Even if I don't know this person, I still have much to gain from doing this. Why would I simply allow our druid to die when I might be able to save them? Their skills will no doubt help us on this quest. I have little ti to explain, so please be silent as I work..."
Alucard indeed spoke the truth, that was his main incentive for saving Taylor, yet, he would be lying to himself if he said that was all. In actuality, there was part of him that simply did not want them to die, and even he could not understand why…
Perhaps it was after seeing the tears and agony shed over their body, or maybe it was sohow connected to Taylor's kind nature. Many reasons erged in his mind, yet a definitive reason did not resonate with him, so he thrust such thoughts to the back of his head and focused on the task at hand.
For the past few seconds, Alucard had confird that indeed, neither Taylor's heart was beating nor his mouth was breathing. And thus, he could finally begin what he thought had to be done.
CPR.
It was a term all too common in his howorld but no doubt sothing foreign in his new reality.
As a teacher, he had been trained in the basics of first aid, and yet, this was his very first ti ever putting that experience to the test.
Slowly and carefully, Alucard grabbed Taylor's chin and tilted his head back. And as he did, he imdiately noticed a reaction incited from those around him, yet he did not allow it to distract him in the slightest.
From the first ti they t, he had imdiately noticed Taylor's short, weak constitution. As such, also considering his heightened strength compared to his forr self, he chose to take an approach as if Taylor were a child.
To Alucard, the main problem seed to be with the airway, so first, he decided to do five rescue breaths to oxygenate the blood.
Taylor's head still tilted up, Alucard slightly lifted the bottom of his mask to reveal his mouth in an angle none could see, slowly bending down towards his lips.
But, that was when he imdiately noticed a problem… The sll of blood was still fresh upon Taylor's skin, and the more he neared, the more his urge to feast raised.
That was when he suddenly shook his head upon his descent. To the onlookers, it seed beyond odd, but to Alucard, it served as a reaffirming gesture to steel his resolve before his head finally fell down toward Taylor's pale lips ready for him to give his first breath.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING BASTARD!!!??"
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a clash akin to a sledgehamr made contact with his face, sending him flying several ters through the grass before regaining semblance of what just happened.
"You… How stupid can you truly be? Why did you do that…" Alucard coughed "Do you not want to save your friend?"
"WHY DID I DO THAT, YOU ASK!? WHY DID YOOUU DO THAT!? I GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO SAVE MY BEST FRIEND AND YOU JUST GO OFF AND KISS THEM!! YOU SICK RAAAPIST!!"
"..."
Alucard stared dazedly at the spinning world ahead trying to ignore the pain inflicted upon him. And through it all, he tried his best to stand, yet it was as though his body could not properly respond.
Anyti he attempted, his limbs would crumble shakenly like a building that had lost its foundation. That was when he quickly understood that standing let alone walking was no longer an option, especially due to the fact of the sun beaming brightly upon his flesh was still potent as ever.
He took a knee to barely allow himself to remain off the soil, and wasted no effort looking over directly towards Vernon who was still in that sa position since he had punched him.
"Hey! Answer you sicko! Did your lips touch? Did you kiss them!?"
"No… I didn't… But even still why does that even matter now? Your friend's life is on the line yet you make a problem over sothing so petty in comparison… I was attempting to bring air into their system to restart their body… But you… You ruined it all… Now, I can't even move to try again… You… If your friend died it shall all be upon your shoulders… You hear …"
As Alucard's words left his mouth, the reality of his actions soon set in upon Vernon who widened his face before biting his lips red. Even if what Alucard did was a re fake stunt, the slight chance of it still working played over and over in his mind, that as well as his own hands snuffing out that shard of hope. Yet, even still, despite it all, he felt like had he been given the chance, he would have most certainly done it again.
But, like Alucard said, it was finally ti for him to shoulder the responsibility.
"FINE!! Whatever moves you were gonna do on Taylor I'll do them better instead! Now, give instructions and I'll see it through myself!"
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