Oda ran like an arrow between the trees, his feet barely touching the ground, chasing that thin thread of Ronwa's aura, which was gradually fading…
But he wasn't looking for Ronwa directly…
Rather, for what was causing her this sudden sadness.
The aura was like a tattoo in his memory; he knew it, recognized it, memorized it.
But the closer he got… it dimmed.
He ran more, faster, his face pale, his sarcastic laughter vanished, and the expressions of absurdity and indifference evaporated.
This time, it was no game.
Then suddenly…
He stopped.
His eyes widened.
In front of a huge tree and a cluster of black grass with burnt edges, there was…
Olesya.
Ronwa's mother.
Kneeling on the ground, her hands around her neck, choking herself.
She was screaming madly, her eyes bulging, her face scratched by her nails, blood bleeding from her forehead and cheeks, slapping herself and banging her head on the ground, trying by all means to die.
Oda shouted:
"Stop!!"
And lunged at her, pulling her thin hands away from her neck forcefully, but she grew stronger every time he tried to stop her.
Oda now noticed the horrifying details:
Her fingertips had turned black and burnt.
Black veins ran from her neck to her face.
Her skin was pale gray, as if the blood had stopped flowing.
Very dark auras circled her eyes, as if she hadn't slept for centuries.
Her voice… was like the dying cry of an animal, not a human sound.
He screamed again, violently:
"Olesya! Wake up! This is hallucination! Wake up!!"
But she didn't hear him. She was in another world.
She was scratching her face with her nails, laughing and crying at the same time, uttering incomprehensible words, as if she were seeing waking nightmares.
He reached his hand to her chest and sensed her energy.
The energy was completely corrupted.
He whispered, stunned:
"The Black Withering…"
So it wasn't just a rumor after all.
He looked into her eyes and found madness dwelling inside her, hallucinations playing with her mind, and the black flower had left its mark within her.
Time was running out.
This was no case of a sick human…
But possessed, haunted, cursed… and threatened with annihilation.
He grabbed her shoulders, lifted her off the ground, and shouted fiercely and powerfully into her face:
"Wake up!!! Your daughter is waiting for you!!!"
It was the moment between death and life,
between eternal darkness… and a fragile glimmer of hope.
Oda fixed his gaze into the mad eyes of Olesya, and found a slight tremor in her pupils.
Did she hear his voice?
Did his words reach her?
And indeed…
Her body trembled.
She paused for a moment.
As if something inside her was screaming at the darkness:
"My daughter… Ronwa!"
But… the illness soon returned with greater violence.
She began to laugh hysterically, her eyes rolling unconsciously, and her body convulsing like a madwoman.
Oda realized the illness would not leave her so easily.
But he made his decision.
He approached her, extended his trembling right hand, and gently placed it on her neck, where the black veins spread.
He whispered:
"My ability… is not for healing… but for annihilation…"
But he could use it to reverse the energy flow… to temporarily dispel the toxins.
He did so, and his body began to shake.
His hand felt like As if thousands of black thorns were creeping into his veins
Black tongues of energy emerged from Olesya's body and ascended into Oda's arm.
His face turned pale.
But he continued.
"Endure… just a little longer… for her."
All he wanted…
was to weaken this thing… to give her a chance.
Suddenly…
He screamed.
A scream that pierced deep into the forest, causing birds to flee the trees,
His body recoiled backward, The flesh was eaten away until the bone was visible.
He fell to his knees, coughing up blood profusely.
But he smiled.
"At least… I eased the course of the illness a bit…"
As for Olesya, she collapsed silently.
She lost consciousness, no screaming, no scratching, no laughing.
Just sleeping… finally.
Her body still suffered, but the plague had calmed… if only for a moment.
As for Oda…
he fell on his side, blood flowing from his mouth, his hand completely blackened and burnt.
But his eyes remained open, watching the gray sky above him, gasping as he laughed with a faint sarcasm:
"My lady… I have one less debt now..."
Then he closed his eyes.
A slight faint, not death… just bitter exhaustion.