CHAPTER 189: INJURY

The guards froze at the sight, terror mixing with awe.

Merlin didn’t waste the moment. "Push forward! Clear them back from the civilians!"

The men rallied, surging behind him.

Every strike he unleashed sent shockwaves tearing through the tide. The beasts screamed, dissolved, collapsed. In minutes, the ground was littered with their remains, ichor pooling in rivers.

But the gate pulsed brighter, stronger, resisting his momentum.

The hum in his chest faltered. His arms ached as though they’d been split open.

[Warning: Muscular Damage – Critical]

[Skill Fragment Timer: 01:09]

’Not enough time. I need to end this now.’

He charged the gate itself.

The green glow lashed against him, claws of light dragging across his skin. His coat smoldered where the energy touched. He forced himself closer, every step like moving through wet cement.

The system buzzed again, urgent.

[Gate Core Visible]

[Weak Point Identified]

He saw it then, the faint orb pulsing at the heart of the wound.

With a ragged breath, he hurled his blade. The strike landed true, splitting the orb in half.

The gate collapsed with a deafening crack, light folding inward until it winked out.

Silence hit the plaza, heavy and absolute.

Merlin staggered, falling to one knee. His sword clattered against the cobbles beside him. He braced his hands on the ground, breath ragged.

The guards stared at him like he was something not quite human. None dared to speak.

He forced himself upright, retrieved his sword, and ignored their stares.

’One more. West.’

His legs felt like lead as he pushed onward.

–

By the time he reached the western district, he could already hear the chaos, screams, fire, the clash of steel. He rounded a corner and froze.

Nathan stood alone in the center of the street. His blade was black with blood, his entire body trembling. Piles of beasts surrounded him, most hacked apart. His chest heaved, blood pouring from cuts across his torso.

But the gate was still open behind him, spewing more.

"Nathan!" Merlin’s voice cracked across the street.

Nathan barely turned his head. His eyes were glassy, but a crooked grin pulled at his lips. "Took your time."

Merlin didn’t answer. He threw himself into the fray, cutting down two beasts before they reached Nathan. Together, they moved, Merlin steady, Nathan wild, both carving a path toward the gate.

Nathan collapsed a moment after the last beast fell. Merlin caught him by the collar before he hit the cobbles.

The gate pulsed one last time.

Merlin rammed his blade into the core, splitting it open.

The explosion of light nearly knocked him off his feet. When it cleared, the street was silent.

No more gates. No more beasts.

Only the wreckage they left behind.

Merlin lowered Nathan gently to the ground. His friend’s chest rose and fell, shallow but steady.

Relief hit harder than any wound.

’Still alive.’

The system chimed quietly.

[Gate Crisis – Neutralized]

[Casualties: 438]

[Status: City Stabilizing]

Merlin leaned back against the wall, his own body screaming with pain.

The night was over. The city was broken.

And he was still breathing.

—

The smoke still hadn’t settled. Even with the gates sealed, the stink of burning flesh clung to the street like a heavy fog. The fires from overturned carts and shattered buildings flickered against the broken stone, casting long, jagged shadows. Somewhere down the block, a child cried out, and the sound twisted in Merlin’s gut harder than the pain tearing at his own muscles.

Nathan stirred against the wall, his body slumped like a rag doll. His face was pale, his breaths shallow, his shirt soaked through. Merlin pressed a hand to his friend’s chest, checking the rise and fall. Still there. Still alive.

"Don’t you dare quit on me," Merlin muttered, voice low, more to himself than Nathan. "I didn’t drag us through all this for you to just—" He cut himself short, teeth grinding.

His system pinged softly, almost like a whisper.

[Ally Vital Signs: Stable – Critical Blood Loss Detected]

[Recommendation: Emergency Treatment Within 1 Hour]

Merlin’s hand twitched against Nathan’s chest. He wanted to curse at the message, but he didn’t. Not now. The last thing he needed was to burn more strength yelling at words no one else could see.

"Medic!" His voice carried down the broken street, loud enough to snap a few stunned guards out of their paralysis. "Get a medic here, now!"

The soldiers moved stiffly at first, like men waking from a nightmare. Then they scattered into action. One broke into a sprint down the block, vanishing past the ruined market stalls. Another began hauling bodies, both beast and human, away from the main path, his face locked in a grimace that had nothing to do with fear anymore.

Merlin dragged Nathan’s arm over his shoulder and shifted him upright. The weight nearly knocked him off balance. His own legs felt like splintered wood, trembling under the strain. Every muscle screamed that he should just let himself collapse. But he didn’t. Couldn’t.

’I can’t afford to fall here. Not in front of them. Not now.’

Nathan’s head lolled forward against Merlin’s shoulder. His lips moved. Merlin leaned closer.

"...still standing, huh?" The words were ragged, little more than breath.

Merlin swallowed the tightness in his throat. "Barely."

Nathan gave a half-laugh, half-cough, blood staining his teeth. "Good... good enough."

Merlin didn’t answer. He shifted his grip, forcing them both toward the nearest intact wall where the rubble wasn’t piled too high. Every step felt like dragging his body through tar.

The guards eyed him as he passed, their expressions a mess of awe and disbelief. None of them moved to help. Maybe they didn’t know if they should. Maybe they were scared of him. Merlin didn’t care either way.

He lowered Nathan gently to the ground, propping him against the wall. Nathan groaned, eyes fluttering shut. For a second, panic spiked in Merlin’s chest, but then his system pinged again.

[Ally Unconscious – Condition Stable]

Merlin let out a shaky breath and rested his back against the wall beside him. The adrenaline bled away too fast, leaving behind nothing but pain and exhaustion. His vision blurred at the edges. His sword still sat at his side, its blade slick with ichor. He hated how heavy it felt, hated that he wasn’t sure if he could even lift it again if another gate appeared.

But the streets were quiet. For now.

The medic arrived minutes later, skidding to a stop when he saw the state Nathan was in. Without hesitation, the man dropped to his knees, opening his kit and working quickly, bandages, clamps, stitching tools. His hands shook, but they were steady enough to do the job.

"Will he live?" Merlin asked, voice rough.

The medic glanced up, swallowed hard, then nodded. "He—he will. He’s lucky."

Merlin looked back at Nathan’s bloodied face. "Lucky." The word felt like a curse on his tongue.

The guards regrouped slowly, gathering in clusters. Some dragged survivors from the rubble. Others simply stood and watched, too wrung out to move. No one spoke above a whisper. The silence was heavier than the noise of battle had ever been.

Merlin’s system chimed again, breaking through the stillness.

[Quest Objective Complete]

[Reward Pending Allocation]

[Status: Host Body Damage Severe – Recovery Protocol Initiated]

His fingers curled against the stone beside him. ’Don’t you dare shut me down now. Not here. Not while they’re watching.’

But the edges of his vision darkened anyway. His body screamed for rest. He could feel his system pulling threads together inside him, knitting torn muscle, sealing ruptured veins. It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t enough.

The medic beside him pressed tighter bandages to Nathan’s torso, muttering under his breath. Merlin’s eyelids fluttered.

"Sir!" One of the guards approached, voice hesitant. "The streets... the gates, they’re—are they gone?"

Merlin forced his head up, meeting the man’s gaze. His throat was too dry to speak, but he nodded once.

Relief spread across the soldier’s face like sunlight through cracks in stone. He bowed his head low, fists clenched at his sides.

The others followed, one by one. Heads bowed. Knees bent. Not out of ceremony. Not out of tradition. Just raw, uncoordinated gratitude.

Merlin hated it.

’Don’t look at me like that. Don’t kneel. I didn’t save everyone. Four hundred and thirty-eight dead. That’s the number.’

His system didn’t respond.

He pressed a trembling hand to his thigh, forcing himself to stay upright while the city leaned on silence.

—

Hours bled together.

The fires dimmed. The screams quieted. The streets filled with the shuffle of survivors, soldiers, healers. Bodies lined the plazas, covered in sheets of rough cloth. The dead outnumbered the living in some streets.

Merlin stayed by Nathan’s side the whole time. The medic worked tirelessly, sweat dripping down his brow as he stitched and bandaged. He gave Merlin occasional updates "He’ll be weak for days," "He’s not out of the woods," "Keep him warm." Merlin just nodded each time, saying nothing.

When dawn crept over the city walls, the sky burned pink and gray, and the ruins of the west district were laid bare in the light.

Nathan stirred again, groaning low. His eyes cracked open, bloodshot and glassy. He scanned the broken street, then Merlin’s tired face.

"You look worse than me," Nathan muttered.

Merlin almost laughed. Almost. Instead, he just shook his head. "Shut up and breathe."

Nathan managed a weak smirk. "That’s your version of ’I’m glad you’re alive,’ huh?"

Merlin didn’t answer. His jaw clenched too tight to speak.

Nathan leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes again. "Thought we were screwed... both of us." His voice was faint, but steady enough. "You pulled through though. Like always."

Merlin glanced at the rows of bodies down the street. "Not like always."

Nathan followed his gaze, his expression faltering. For a moment, neither spoke.

Finally, Nathan exhaled. "If it wasn’t for you, there’d be a lot more sheets out there."

Merlin didn’t argue. He couldn’t. He just sat in silence, listening to the city try to breathe again.

His system chimed quietly, almost apologetic.

[Recovery Threshold Reached – Partial Healing Complete]

[Stamina: 32%]

’Enough to move,’ Merlin thought.

He looked down at Nathan, then back toward the eastern horizon where the sun climbed higher.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

But for now, for this single morning, the city was alive. And so were they.