Logan's eyes fluttered open, the ceiling above him blurred by fatigue that overwhelmed his aching body; he was without injuries, though.

Before sight returned fully, warmth enveloped him, gentle, steady, and soothing. As his vision cleared, he saw a soft glow spreading across his chest, easing the stiffness in his limbs and quieting the ache in his core.

The one who was healing him was Lisa, who was sitting beside him, her hands pressed against his chest, light magic flowing steadily from her hands onto his body.

Her expression was tired, her brow damp with sweat, but her eyes were closed as she concentrated all her energy in healing him.

"That feels nice…" Logan whispered gently, trying not to spook her.

"Idiot, I told you to take someone with you if you are going into the labyrinth. We were all free," her voice was clear, filled with relief but stern.

Logan tried to sit up, but a sharp pain forced him back down. "Ouch… feels like I came back from the dead…"

"Stay as you are, we're brought an inch from death, so don't make my work harder by moving." Lisa sighed, her tone steady, though Logan could feel a tinge of lament from her voice that quivered faintly. "Scorch carried you all the way to the gate. Zephyr was the one who found me walking with the two princesses of Elris in town and flew me back just in time. If it weren't for your creatures, you wouldn't be here right now."

Pieces of memory came rushing back: claws striking against steel, Holy Nova clashing midair, his whip shattering in his hands, and the final brutal blows that dropped him. He clenched his jaw.

"That fight was really not meant for one person to try alone…" Logan muttered. "That man… he wasn't normal. He was something else. And he beat me without even using everything he had."

Scorch rumbled low from the corner of the room, his massive frame wrapped in thick bandages. Some lay across the same places Logan himself had been treated. The price of their merging was always shared when Logan canceled the skill; half the damage had bled into the dinosaur's body.

Zephyr, by contrast, had settled a little closer, his keen eyes locked firmly on Logan. The great eagle's wings twitched restlessly at his sides, his gaze sharp yet filled with worry.

Neither creature moved while Lisa tended him, but now both waited—watchful, patient—for her hands to leave his chest so they could make certain for themselves that their master still lived.

Lisa shook her head. "You will need to be healed multiple times before you can move properly. It's not just some broken bones I healed, but also repairing muscles and nerves.

The one who did this was an expert.

You were broken, Logan, even your mana channels were torn apart. I don't know what kind of monster could do that to you, but… You need to be more careful. You can't always take on everything alone."

Her words stung, not because they were harsh, but because they were from someone who loved him and was feeling pain and conflict from seeing him battered.

Logan exhaled slowly, staring at his hands.

Even merged with Scorch, even with Zephyr's winds, even using Holy Nova… he hadn't come close to defeating the guy.

"…I need to know what he was," Logan finally said, his voice low. "And why did he call me the weakest?"

Lisa's healing light dimmed slightly, and she reached out to squeeze his hand. "We just need to go together next time... But not today. For now, just rest and recover. The others are also waiting, and they're equally as worried. We can talk about what comes next tomorrow."

Lisa sighed softly, pressing a kiss to Logan's lips before pulling back.

She rose to her feet, her shoulders heavy with exhaustion, and made her way toward the other girls nearby.

They lingered at a distance, clearly hesitant to approach.

Logan blinked whole looking around, finally taking in his surroundings. He wasn't inside a room but outside, lying on a bed, probably taken out from someone's storage device and placed beneath the open sky.

Around him stood a scattering of tents, probably part of the medical ward set up near the labyrinth's entrance. The air now carried the smell of torch smoke and charred stone since night was coming soon, but Logan was not cold; even from the slight distance, he could feel heat radiate from Scorch.

Scorch and Zephyr hadn't moved while Lisa worked on him.

Now, with her retreating into one of the tents for rest, the two beasts shifted closer, looming protectively over him.

Their presence was comforting for the boy, but Logan could feel their unrest through their strong shared bond.

Lisa had left them together deliberately, knowing they all needed more than physical healing. The defeat had hurt their egos more than their bodies.

Scorch lowered his massive head, nostrils steaming as his thoughts were sent directly towards Logan's mind.

[Forgive… I could not kill human.]

The dinosaur's voice trembled with frustration; shame was clearly etched within those words.

Logan reached up, resting a weary hand against Scorch's scaled snout. "No. Don't apologize. That wasn't a human we could have beaten… not yet anyway. And I felt it, that thing was something else."

Zephyr, who was uncomfortable on land, forced his talons to scrape the dirt, wings twitching as if trying to hold himself back.

His own voice joined the mental link, just as subdued as Scorch's.

[Too strong. Could not make stronger winds. The air… it was heavy.]

Logan let out a dry laugh, though there was no humor in it. "Tell me about it. That thing was ready to counter all-out moves; it's as if he knew what we were going to use."

He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling both creatures' emotions wash through him, Scorch's wounded pride, Zephyr's frustration; their pain was just as deep as his.

"Don't worry, you two. We'll get stronger together. You are my strongest creatures, and I intend to keep it that way."

His next words slipped out softer, heavier, uncertain if he spoke to them or to himself."Next time… we won't lose."

Outside the tent, Lisa sat on a worn stool, two faintly glowing mana crystals in her hands. She clutched them tightly, drawing in their energy in slow, measured breaths to restore what she had spent healing him.

She hadn't stopped trembling since she'd pulled Logan back from the brink of death.

Healing him this time had drained nearly everything she had, and still, she feared it wouldn't be enough to have him up and about for a few days.

Within the tent, three familiar figures rested nearby, all of them equally as worried as Lisa.

Silvia, who was usually the most level-headed, tried to remain just as calm as ever, but everyone could tell she was probably just as worried since he was the first one to arrive by warping to the labyrinth city.

Serana was the next one to arrive; her ability to manifest dark wings and switch places with one of her bats let her arrive just as fast as Silvia.

Finally, Rubina, who everyone knew was a succubus, did not hesitate to rush into the city, even if it slightly exposed a part of her body; she would rather have kept a secret.

Her chest was still rising quickly from the flight. They had all come at once, their eyes instantly searching for Logan when they had arrived.

Lisa, however, told them to wait; her exhaustion had told them all they needed to know, so they had stayed in the tent waiting for her to speak.

"He's doing better now," she said before any of them could speak. "But… just barely. Scorch dragged him out, broken and bleeding. Zephyr went to find me and brought me here, and I quickly began to heal him," she faltered, then forced herself to continue, "Whoever he fought in the dungeon was strong, we need to be able to beat him if he was near our level, what Logan probably hated to hear was that he was the weakest, that is why I had to give him space."

Rubina crossed her arms, but the worry in her eyes betrayed her stern tone. "What in the world did he fight in there to leave him like this?"

Lisa shook her head. "It seemed to have been a human, yet he was in the dungeon like a monster, from what I could gather from Scorch and Zephyr, though… Logan had no chance, not even when he merged with Scorch."

Serana closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, as she slowly opened them, her crimson eyes darkened as her pupils got used to the light, her voice low. "A single opponent and not even Scorch or Zephyr could beat him. I think it is meant for you heroes to fight rather than those who are from this world."

Silvia had been silent until she looked around, her gaze fixed outside where Logan rested. She finally spoke; her words calm but a little on edge. "That might be the case, but you are one of the strongest of his tamed Serana; there is no doubt you are as good as any of us, so don't cut yourself short.

But we need to get stronger, that is not only for the hidden foe in the dungeon but also for the coming fight in the empire. There is no doubt that Logan will intend to go back in there soon, so let's work together with a few others to make a proper team. He'll need all of us at his side."

Lisa looked down at her hands now that she had absorbed a good portion of mana, enough even to heal herself. "Well, I am in... He won't say it out loud, but you can probably feel it, the fact that he feels like he really lost this time."

Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop. "So let's cancel our plans for the next few days and enter the labyrinth to train. I know that within a few days, he'll throw himself inside and try to fight the creature there on his own again."

The three girls nodded at the same time, their different personalities falling under the same resolve to help the one they loved.

Rubina clenched her fist, feeling like she was the weakest among them.

"Stop looking so down, Ruby. We all have a part to play in the coming fight," Silvia said firmly. "Whatever it takes. Logan doesn't get to carry this burden alone anymore."

Lisa finally let herself breathe. For the first time since pulling Logan out of the labyrinth, she felt relief.