POV Maya Jones

It is all one huge mess. Izzy sits hunched over her sister and clinging to her. The more she learns about her state through her ability, the worse her sobs become. Not once have I seen her like this. She’s always been so cheery and so mature for her age, yet now she’s like this.

Sophie herself doesn’t seem to have any external wounds, but both Tess and Lily look to be near death. Like their lives are hanging by a thread. The wounds they have, these burns, just don’t heal at all while we panic and move between them, trying our best to help.

We try to activate the healing marks Lily left for each of us or use any healing items that might help, but nothing seems to work that well, and the wounds barely improve by the slightest of degrees.

Even the twins, though clearly shocked, try to help for a while before I send them to guard the area, since they aren’t helping much here and have only been making things worse.

I myself have trouble focusing as I see Tess lying there like that. She always knew what to do, took control effortlessly, and seemed completely reliable.

There is someone else who should be like that, but Nathaniel just stands there watching nearby, his face even more empty than usual, more devoid of any emotion. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him this deep in [Focus].

Currently, Min-Jae’s the only person anywhere near him, asking question after question, and slowly, Nat begins to explain everything that happened. He speaks deliberately and calmly, as if it were all some distant thing, sometimes pausing mid-sentence to take a breath.

And gradually, I can see how much it irritates Kim. Minutes pass, and he keeps moving between Tess, Lily, and Sophie, desperate like the rest of us, and then back to Nat, whom he keeps asking even more questions.

Now, even I can see that part of it is him hoping Nat could do more, even though, like the rest of us, he did everything he could the moment they appeared. In some ways, Nat might be even worse off than Tess and Lily, yet he still pushed himself until he bled and nearly passed out more than once.

Even now, he’s overtaxing himself as he sets up additional defenses in the area around us. He doesn’t hesitate to throw money at the system shop, but unfortunately, nothing like a healing potion exists, and the other items don’t do any good.

Anything we try just doesn’t work. These burns are pretty similar to [Disintegration] in that they are almost impossible to heal, and the wounds close very slowly due to the girls' natural regeneration having been weakened.

Then there’s something entirely different wrong with Sophie. After a long time, Izzy finally lets go of Sophie and sits down. Her eyes are empty as she whispers these terrifying words.

“They did something to her mind, and I don’t know if I can put it back together.”

It gets hard for me to breathe, and my eyes grow blurry before I blink. A sense of lightheadedness hits me, and I have to sit down.

Min-Jae stares at Izzy as if he can’t believe what she just said, before he swears and grabs Nat’s shirt and shakes him, while Nat just lets it happen.

“You said you’d be stronger than anyone! You told me to follow you instead!” he screams, with a twisted expression on his face, “You were so confident!”

Nathaniel’s shirt tears a little, but Kim keeps shaking him when he gets no reaction.

"Why do you just stand here. You lost, you got beat, but don’t fucking give up now! Do something!"

"There is nothing I can do right now," Nathaniel answers with that controlled voice. "Nothing."

Kim screams in a burst of emotion I have never seen from him. He turns and swings his arm toward the rainforest in a wide, violent arc. A massive surge of telekinetic force crashes forward, ripping trees from their roots and sending them flying. The jungle reacts as if it had been struck by a giant, ancient trunks snap like brittle bones, and the ground tears open.

After hours of our friends just lying there like they could die at any moment, I can understand. If I didn’t have my skill, I would probably do the same, or even worse. But I can’t bring myself to do it now.

Then he starts hitting Nat’s chest and shaking.

There's nothing he can do either.

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POV Nathaniel

I watch as Min-Jae shakes me. From here, he looks like he is about to cry. A cold part of me wonders if he is like this because he still has a crush on Tess, or more likely, because three of his friends are lying there nearly dead. Meanwhile, after all the confident words I ever spoke and all the effort I gave, when it truly mattered, none of it meant anything.

He continues to shake me, and I think.

I know I’m not the most talented person here. My only true strength lies in channeling large amounts of mana and primordial energy, and the effort I put into everything. I also realize that I will become stronger than I am now. I know the winner is the one still standing in the end. I know that those people will die by my hand sooner or later, and only my death will keep me from seeing it done.

Situations like what just happened in Beyond are something I have, to some extent, experienced many times before, and I’m confident I can come out on top again.

But it also feels so different now, even through the thick layer of [Focus] that keeps me distant and allows me to think logically.

“They won’t die,” I say, and in a way it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself as well.

Finally, the boy stops to take a breath, the young man I’ve come to see as a younger brother.

I take a step toward Izzy and make sure she meets my eyes. "Sophie can be saved," I say as I kneel in front of her and take one of her hands. "She wouldn't go down so easily. So please, check her shadow and see if Blackie is still in it."

I always knew her as a mentally strong girl. The one who’s supported us this whole time. It is safe to say that without Izzy, group 4 would be even more messed up than it already is, and probably nowhere as tightly bonded. If there is anyone who is the heart of this group, it is she.

“My abilities don’t work that way, Izzy, and I’m really sorry. But I promise I’ll try to help as much as I can.”

"Please… can you leave me alone?"

"I will."

As I walk away, I stop by Biscuit. And when I’m sure we’re far enough away, I ask, "Will you stay with her?"

This time, he doesn’t say anything, but before leaving, he pushes his head into my hand until I pet him.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Then, as he leaves, I sit down and once again strain my mind. After escaping Faora’s Mind Palace, it feels like it’s at its limit and screams for rest. Even the healing marks Lily left on me don’t help, but I’ve long known that healing the mind or brain is very different from closing wounds or regenerating limbs.

In addition to that, there are these burns that spread from the points of impact where Luan hit me. They heal very slowly, and they even slow down my natural regeneration. To push against them, I have to use a lot of thermal energy. Even then, the results are poor, not to mention the pain that using it and straining my mind causes.

So for now, I ignore these wounds. I welcome the pain and continue to scout the area around us, setting up more defenses, constantly using my senses to check on the other wounded members of our party. Yet there’s still so little I can do.

Faora. Luan. I think of these names and keep repeating them in my mind.

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A few hours later, Lily is the first to wake up. Even though she was more damaged than Tess, her body is more durable, and her natural regeneration is far higher. With a loud gasp for air, she regains consciousness and lets out a painful groan, her eyes darting wildly.

It takes her a bit longer to piece things together. She searches for someone, her eyes spotting me and then scanning around until she sees both Tess and Sophie.

When Lily sees Sophie unmoving, something tightens in her face. Her breath catches, and for a moment she stares, frozen in panic.

But her determination takes over. She shifts, dragging her legs under her despite the pain.

She doesn’t even think about taking care of herself. Instead, she moves toward the others. She staggers and almost falls, only to be supported by Maya, who wastes no time telling her to be careful.

I also move closer and stand over Tess as Lily begins checking her wounds. Unlike Sophie, she is someone Lily can help.

Her [Disintegration] rises up, starting to clash against the remnants of the wounds caused by Luan. They resist, but Lily pushes harder, erasing the aftereffects and restoring Tess's body where she can.

Sweat beads on her forehead, a mix of effort and strain are evident in every breath she takes. Her hands tremble as she refuses to give in despite the toll it’s clearly taking on her. The burns, cuts, and internal ruptures on Tess begin to fade, although some deeper damage seems to be taking longer to respond.

She starts gasping for air when I coat my hand in oscillating mana and cut deep into my shoulder to remove my pale left arm, which I place in front of Lily. With the same hand, I summon golden flames to burn the flesh and heal it.

Down on her knees, Lily keeps looking at me. Even through all the pain, I activate my healing passive and let thermal energy seep through. Slowly, I start regrowing my left arm so I can cut it off again once it's restored.

Lily understands what I’m doing and nods. Grabbing my severed arm, she lets it disappear into [Sacrifice] and begins healing.

Then, for a while, she keeps pushing me to give her something to [Sacrifice] so she can continue. But in doing so, I also push her to keep healing, even in the state she's in. Maya tries to stop us, to get Lily to slow down, but I know she won’t. Over time, I’ve learned to respect her determination, and now I’ll make use of it, pushing her forward even though I know how much it hurts.

Lily does the same for me. When she looks up, there’s no fear, no pleading, no request for permission. Just a silent command. Again.

She waits for me to regrow pieces of my arm so she can use them to power herself and heal Tess. It takes hours, but once it’s done, Tess looks much better, even though she’s still unconscious.

Lily moves to Sophie, kneeling beside her, hesitant now. Her hands hovering above her, then touching her gently. But there are no injuries to heal. Just the silence of Sophie’s mind, refusing to return.

There is nothing I can do anymore. This isn’t something I’m good at. My abilities aren't suited for helping others. In most ways, they’ve been honed for the sole purpose of making me better at fighting and killing.

And that’s what I’ll do. There’s still a long road ahead, and I’m not where I need to be yet, but I will get there. Step by step. Without pretending I’m something I’m not.

There are debts that require more than screams and blood.