Awareness began to slip back into me like annoying needle pricks.
The drone of loud voices pierced my exhausted head, as if a revolution were igniting beside my bed.
I furrowed my brows in deep annoyance, feeling an overwhelming urge to hurl anything within reach at them.
"Damn you... I just want to sleep, is that so hard?"
I muttered it to myself, but the shouting did not stop. Suddenly, the deep, resonant voice of Kaios sliced through the room's quiet; it was almost a shout, in an atmospheric tone that made my strained nerves snap.
I couldn't take it anymore. I quickly raised my hands, pressing them firmly over my ears, and screamed at their faces with all the rasp and rage I could muster:
"Yaaah! You idiots... stop screaming! What is this? To hell with all of you!"
Immediately following my silence, a ringing chuckle pierced my ears—a laugh so familiar it sprouted a sudden comfort in my chest amidst all that anger.
It was Christoph.
An involuntary smile formed on my lips despite my irritation, and I said with an endearing grumble:
"You fool... is there something funny on my face?"
I opened my eyes slowly and calmly, greeted by Christoph's bright face as he smiled at me with joy. But, as my gaze shifted slightly, the smile froze on my face.
Kaios was sitting in the chair directly beside me, in a posture suggesting a volcano on the verge of eruption.
His arms were folded across his broad chest, and his golden eyes did not blink; instead, they pierced through Christoph with a gaze as sharp as a dagger, as if he were watching a sworn enemy rather than a friend.
Through the Bond, no ordinary anger reached me; instead, a blaze of jealousy and alertness surged through.
Kaios's body was taut like a bowstring about to snap, and his jaw moved beneath his skin from the sheer pressure of grinding his teeth.
He looked like a "dragon" guarding its treasure, ready to pounce on Christoph's throat simply because he dared to make me laugh or touch the perimeter of my bed.
Kaios spoke in a resonant voice dripping with threat, without taking his eyes off Christoph:
"You are finally awake... and now, perhaps 'some people' should learn when to shut their mouths and leave before I lose my patience entirely."
I felt the air grow heavy between them, as if a silent battle were raging in the room, while Christoph continued to defy him with his provocative smile.
This caused Kaios to narrow his eyes further, his golden energy shimmering faintly around his interlaced fingers.
I saw Christoph take a step forward with enviable coolness, completely disregarding the death stares Kaios was throwing his way.
He spoke in his usual playful tone, which hid a sincere concern behind it:
"My god, Aria... you truly terrified me! Do you feel better now?"
As soon as he leaned his body slightly toward me to get closer to the edge of the bed, I felt the air freeze in the room.
Kaios, sitting beside me, stiffened like a granite statue, and a low sound emanated from him, resembling a dragon's muffled roar.
Suddenly, his golden energy surged to completely envelop my bed, surrounding me in a cocoon of glowing light, as if he were placing an insulating wall between me and the world... or rather, between me and Christoph.
Christoph stopped in his tracks, his eyes blinking in surprise as he watched the threads of golden energy stinging the air around him.
He then shifted his gaze between me and Kaios in bewilderment, as if seeing something impossible happening before his eyes.
I chuckled lightly despite the charged tension and said, trying to break the deadlock:
"I'm fine, Christoph... don't worry. And actually... all of this is thanks to Kaios."
When I uttered his name and gave him the credit, I saw a wondrous transformation in his features.
He didn't relax completely, but the sharpness in his golden eyes softened slightly. He turned to me, and I sensed a wave of pride tinged with satisfaction sweeping through his being.
He did not move away; instead, he drew closer and made his energy wrap around me more gently, as if proving his ownership of me before the stranger.
He raised a single eyebrow while eyeing Christoph with a cold, confident look, then said in a resonant voice full of possessiveness:
"You heard her... she is fine now, and sufficiently protected. Therefore, I believe your 'friendly' visit has reached its expiration date."
His tone carried an explicit challenge, as if he were saying to Christoph:
"It was I who was beside her, and I am the only one who has the right to remain here."
He did not remove his hand from the edge of the bed and continued to stare at me with a mysterious gaze, as if my words—thanks to Kaios—had done something to his soul that all his previous battles had not.
I felt his heartbeat, which had calmed a little, though the spark of jealousy still flickered beneath the ashes, ready to burn anyone who tried to cross the "golden line" he had drawn around me.
I saw Christoph's features change in a single second; from surprise to a wicked, childish triumph when he saw my scowl directed at Kaios.
I couldn't help myself; I raised my hand and struck Kaios's back—a light but firm blow—and said in a rebuking tone:
"Kaios! Don't talk to my brother that way..."
At that moment, I felt the air charge with completely conflicting energy.
Christoph's face erupted in immense joy, and a provocative smile of victory formed on his face.
He adjusted his stance and lifted his chin in blatant defiance, directing a look of pure spite directly into Kaios's golden eyes, as if telling him:
"See? I hold a place in her heart that you and your power cannot reach!"
Christoph said in a mocking tone while winking at me:
"Did you hear that, Your Majesty? Her 'brother'... and now, tell me, whose visit has expired?"
As for Kaios, I felt his body stiffen under my hand as if I had struck a solid rock. He turned to me very slowly, and the black line in his eyes was pulsing with a suppressed rage that almost burned the room.
A hurricane of resentment; the word "brother" fell on his ears like an insult, and the feeling of my defense of someone else in front of him wounded his dragon pride to the core.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at Christoph with a gaze that, if it could kill, would have turned him to ash.
Then he leaned toward me to whisper in a resonant voice dripping with possessiveness, completely ignoring Christoph's presence:
"Your brother?... Fine, Aria. But remember that 'brothers' do not possess soul bonds, and they do not feel your heartbeat as I do right now."
Then he turned back to look at Christoph, and his golden aura began to intensify fiercely around the bed, warning the "brother" against approaching a single inch further.
Kaios gripped the edge of the chair with a force that made the wood groan and said with a deadly coldness:
"You've had your dose of indulgence, Christoph... now, get out before I test how strong this 'brotherly bond' is against my wrath."
The atmosphere was so charged that I felt electricity running through the air between them; Christoph refused to back down, intoxicated by my defense of him, and Kaios was boiling with jealousy and the desire to prove that he was the only one entitled to be in my vicinity.
While the tension between them was about to blow up the room, those angry sounds erupted from my stomach—a clear "rumbling" that cut through the rope of their sharp stares like an alarm siren announcing a sudden truce.
They both turned to me at the exact same moment, expressions of bewilderment etched on their faces, while I settled for an embarrassed, silly smile and said:
"Guys... I'm hungry!"
Christoph didn't wait a single second; he jumped from his place as if he had found a loophole to defeat Kaios on his own turf. He said enthusiastically, heading toward the door quickly:
"My god, Aria! I'll bring you the most delicious meal from the kitchen right away. I'll bring everything you love, don't move!"
He shot Kaios one last look of victory, as if to say:
"I am the one who will feed her."
And he disappeared behind the door before Kaios could utter a word.
Kaios sighed deeply, and his tensed muscles relaxed slightly, but his features still carried that mixture of jealousy and annoyance.
He approached me and, with a confident and calm movement, adjusted my pillow behind my back to make my seating comfortable.
Then he spoke in a resonant voice dominated by a tone of authority:
"You will not touch what that idiot brings. Vasilios has prepared a special diet for you to regain your stolen energy, and I will personally ensure that you eat every bit of it."
Then he added, narrowing his golden eyes toward me as if trying to hide a mocking smile:
"Hungry? It seems the 'beast' inside you possesses an appetite that exceeds your reckless mind, Aria."
He remained sitting beside me, watching me with a look as if he refused the idea of anyone else taking care of me, waiting for Christoph's return to start a new chapter of the "food war" between them.
My eyes widened in shock when Christoph pushed the door open with his foot, carrying a tray emanating the delicious scent of sin; grilled meat drenched in spices, hot pastries, and enough sweets for an entire battalion.
I didn't care about Kaios's warning glares or his talk about a "boring diet"; my stomach was screaming for help.
"Behold, the savior has arrived!"
Christoph shouted as he placed the tray over my thighs in blatant defiance, ignoring the aura of death that began to emanate from the man sitting beside me.
I saw the veins in Kaios's hand bulge as he pressed against the arm of the chair, his golden eyes turning into boiling embers as he watched me reach out eagerly for the forbidden food.
A mixture of indignation and anxiety; he was boiling because I had thrown his orders to the wind, and because the idiotic "brother" had won the food round.
He spoke in a low voice, trembling from the intensity of his rage:
"Aria... this food will harm your exhausted stomach. Vasilios said liquids and..."
He didn't wait for my reply, but reached out to confiscate the tray. However, I pulled it away quickly as I chewed the first bite with relish, making him stop, stunned by my audacity.
Christoph burst out laughing as he saw the look of shock on Kaios's face, saying triumphantly:
"Let her eat, Your Dragon Majesty! Beauties don't live on transparent soup... isn't that right, sister?"
Kaios was now staring at the bite in my mouth as if it were a personal enemy, while his hand touched the handle of his chair, restraining himself from throwing Christoph out the window along with his damned tray.
While Kaios was opening his mouth to continue listing the health "prohibitions" in his provocative, commanding tone, I didn't give him the chance.
With a swift and sudden movement, I picked up a large piece of the stuffed pastries and stuffed it directly into his mouth, cutting off the flow of his words mid-sentence.
Time froze in the room for a second.
Kaios's golden eyes widened in staggering shock; he stopped breathing as he felt the unhealthy food filling his mouth, while his hands hung in the air as if he couldn't comprehend that anyone in the universe dared to do this to the Dragon King.
Christoph burst out laughing so hard he doubled over, his voice echoing through the medical wing as if he were watching the greatest comedy show of his life.
But I didn't let him enjoy it for long; I raised my hand and struck his shoulder with a powerful blow that made him choke on his laugh, and I told him with mock severity:
"You too... shut up and start eating before I force-feed you like him!"
Kaios began to chew the food very slowly, his eyes still fixed on me with a look I couldn't interpret; was it anger? Shock? Or did he actually find the food delicious?
Through the Bond, a hurricane of hilarious confusion reached me. His pride had been broken by a piece of dough, yet he did not spit it out.
He finally swallowed the bite and wiped the corner of his mouth with excessive elegance despite the situation, then leaned toward me and whispered in a resonant voice dripping with delicious threat:
"You will pay the price for this audacity later, Aria... and by the way, this food tastes terrible, just like the taste of your idiotic 'brother'."
Despite his harsh words, I felt a thread of amusement sneaking into his heart, as if he had finally surrendered to our madness.
As soon as he finished his arrogant sentence about the "terrible taste," I didn't even give him a chance to catch his breath.
With a swift movement full of audacity, I picked up a piece of grilled meat drenched in spices and stuffed it into his mouth again, interrupting his royal dignity for the second time in a row.
I said to him in a firm tone mixed with a stifled laugh:
"Stop the chatter and eat, Kaios! Your stomach is beating the drums and screaming with hunger in sync with mine... the Bond does not lie; I feel your hungry 'beast' about to devour the entire tray!"
Kaios stopped moving entirely, the piece of meat still between his lips.
His golden eyes widened in staggering shock, as if the shock of my action was stronger than any magical attack he had ever faced.
He couldn't reply; his mouth was occupied by Christoph's delicious "crime."
He swallowed the bite very slowly and looked at me with a sharp gaze that almost pierced my forehead, but a spark of suppressed amusement was dancing in the depths of his dragon pupils.
He spoke in a raspy voice overflowing with threat mixed with satisfaction:
"You are playing with fire, Aria... and by the way, don't think the 'Bond' gives you the right to reveal the secrets of my stomach in front of this idiot."
Then, with a move no one expected, he reached out his long hand and picked up a piece of pastry himself, beginning to eat with a provocative royal coldness, as if telling us:
"I am eating because I decided to, not because you forced me."
Meanwhile, Christoph continued to stare at us as if watching a fantasy movie that ended in a historic reconciliation over a tray of food.
Finally, the hungry "beast" inside me was appeased, and I stretched out on the bed with the grace of a warrior who had finished her feast, patting my stomach with indescribable comfort.
Kaios was still sitting like a hawk, watching me with that sharp, expectant gaze; waiting, as if he expected my stomach to explode or a sudden poisoning to occur from Christoph's spice-filled "sin."
He wasn't just watching me with his eyes; he was sensing the flow of energy in my veins after eating, mixed with a suppressed fear that my exhausted body might be harmed.
Then the door opened and Vasilios entered with his usual calm, but his eyes never left the monitors.
He said in a dry tone as he approached:
"You look well... unexpectedly."
He moved toward the screens and began to examine the vital signs that were drawing fluctuating lines.
Suddenly, I saw his eyebrows knit together sharply, and his hand stopped moving over the control panel.A sudden, heavy silence descended upon the room, a silence that made Kaios bolt upright instantly.
The traces of calm vanished from his face, replaced by a combat-ready alertness.
My heart contracted when I saw Kaios narrow his golden eyes toward Vasilios, his voice emerging like the hiss of a serpent:
"What is it, Vasilios? Speak... why do you knit your brows as if you've seen a ghost?"
Through the Bond, I sensed Kaios's heartbeat accelerate suddenly; a wave of overwhelming anxiety swept over me from him. Vasilios shot me a mysterious look, then returned to the screen and said in disbelief:
"This is impossible... her energy isn't just stabilizing; she has begun to 'absorb' Kaios's energy through the Bond at a terrifying rate. Aria, you aren't just recovering... you are devouring the Dragon's Essence inside Kaios right now!"
My eyes widened and I looked at Kaios in shock, only to find him staring at his hand, which had begun to glow with a faint golden light as if his soul were being pulled into me.
I touched my neck in a daze, my trembling fingers searching for that familiar restraint, but I found nothing but my cold skin.
My eyes widened in horror as the truth hit me like a powerful slap; the necklace Vasilios had specially crafted to curb my body's hunger for energy absorption... it was shattered!
I suddenly remembered the blurred scene of the violent clash with Andrew; how he had gripped my neck cruelly and how the magical stone had crumbled under the pressure of his brutal strength.
I screamed at Vasilios, my voice wavering with panic:
"Damn it... Vasilios! The necklace! Andrew destroyed it in that cursed clash!"
Vasilios froze in his tracks as if struck by lightning. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he stared at the monitors, which began emitting sharp sirens.
He struck his forehead with his hand, muttering in panic:
"Curse it! How did I miss this? Your body is acting like an open 'black hole' now, Aria! There is no safety valve to stop you from pulling every atom of energy from those around you!"
As for Kaios, he lunged from his chair as a wave of violent golden energy surged toward me involuntarily.
He looked at me with a mixture of shock and terrifying realization; he was the closest source of energy, and I was now devouring him without even being conscious of it.
Kaios gripped my shoulders firmly. I saw the golden light overflowing from his eyes to the point of blindness, and he spoke in a thundering voice, trying to steady me:
"So this is why... you aren't just recovering; you are absorbing the 'Dragon's Essence' directly from me to compensate for the severe deficiency in your soul!"
The room began to shake, and the vital indicators reached the red line. I felt a sensation that was both deliciously numbing and terrifying at the same time, as if Kaios's power were flowing through my veins like lava, while he began to pale, showing signs of exhaustion for the first time.
I shook my head in denial, panic seizing me as I felt that brutal force racing through my veins.
But Vasilios intervened quickly to paint an even more terrifying picture, directing his words at Kaios, who had thought I was only absorbing his power to heal.
Vasilios said in a sharp voice, watching the equipment which had begun to emit a drone signaling an explosion:
"It isn't just about compensating for energy deficiency, Kaios! We are on the verge of repeating that disaster again... Aria's body is programmed instinctively; upon sensing any powerful energy near her, it senses danger. Without her conscious will, it begins to pull that energy and multiply it thousands of times!"
Vasilios paused for a second as he saw the golden light emanating from my body grow denser, then finished in terror:
"Then, it rejects and expels it like destructive projectiles toward the source of danger... and this act tears her body apart from the inside and consumes her cells! Your energy, Kaios, is the 'danger' her body senses right now!"
At that moment, I saw true terror in Kaios's eyes. He wasn't afraid of me absorbing his energy; he was terrified that my body was turning his love and strength into a "weapon" that would destroy me before it destroyed anything else.
He released my shoulders quickly and took a step back, trying to suppress and extinguish his golden aura entirely so that my body would not sense his presence.
He held his breath and said in a muffled voice as he saw the veins in my hands glowing golden:
"Damn it... so I am killing her just by being here! Vasilios, do something! How do we calm this frenzy without me touching her?"
I was trembling on the bed, feeling the heat rise in my chest as if a time bomb were about to explode.
My eyes were fixed on Kaios, who looked helpless for the first time, watching his "ally" transform into a hurricane that would destroy them both.
I saw my reflection in the glass of the medical equipment and didn't recognize myself; veins were snaking their way under my skin like serpents of black ink, while the redness of my eyes had turned into a glowing red ember overflowing with a desire for destruction.
My body was no longer mine; it was a cauldron boiling with cosmic energy about to tear my cells apart.
I jolted from the bed with a violence I didn't think my exhausted body possessed, and I scrambled away from them, the words emerging from between my teeth like a panicked hiss:
"No one come near me... stay away!"
I lunged toward that abandoned room that had witnessed previous destruction, as if my instinct were guiding me to a place that didn't mind collapsing.
As soon as I crossed the threshold, I blew the final safety valve; I unleashed that black energy that had been gnawing at my insides.
A massive explosion roared, shaking the very foundations of the lab. Shattered stones flew through the air like feathers.
The walls trembled under the weight of the shockwave, and thick dust covered the place.
I leaned against the remains of a tilted wall, my chest rising and falling with panting breaths as if I had been drowning and finally found the surface.
I looked at my hands; the blackness was beginning to fade, and the red glow in my eyes died down to be replaced by their natural color. I couldn't believe I was still standing, and even more amazing... I felt fine!
"Damn..."
I muttered in daze, realizing the bitter truth:
"Suppressing this energy was what was destroying me, not releasing it."
I felt Kaios rushing behind me like a hurricane, ignoring my warning. He stood at the gap of the shattered wall, dust covering his black clothes, his golden eyes scanning me with an unprecedented shock.
He stepped toward me slowly amidst the wreckage and spoke in a resonant voice full of awe and respect:
"Aria... you are not a 'vessel' to be suppressed; you are a storm in your own right. Now, tell me... do you still feel danger from me?"
He extended his hand toward me cautiously, and a strange sensation took hold; he no longer feared my absorption of his energy.
Instead, he began to realize that his ally had become stronger than either of them had imagined.
Vasilios walked through the dust and wreckage with stumbling steps, his voice filled with panic as he watched Kaios's golden aura beginning to gravitate toward my body once again like a magnet.
He extended his hand in a commanding, panicked gesture to stop Kaios from advancing a single inch further, and screamed at him:
"Kaios! Fall back immediately! She is still in a state of 'absorptive frenzy.' She will swallow what remains of your essence before you even realize it!"
He turned to me, his eyes scanning the black veins that were beginning to fade slowly under my skin, and added in a firm tone as he backed away so as not to be pulled in himself:
"Aria... hold on! I'm going to the lower lab now; I will craft you a 'stronger necklace' to withstand this madness. Just stay away from Kaios!"
I saw Kaios stop in his tracks like a trembling mountain, his fists clenched at his sides so hard that the veins in his hand almost burst.
He stared at me with eyes filled with a torn conflict; an overwhelming desire to pluck me from the rubble, and a fatal fear that his touch might be the straw that breaks my exhausted body's back.
I was flooded by his sense of bitter helplessness; he hated being the source that might kill me. He exhaled sharply and said in a muffled voice full of threat toward Vasilios:
"You have ten minutes, Vasilios... if that necklace isn't ready, I will smash this lab over everyone's heads and find a way to extinguish her fires myself!"
He remained standing meters away, watching me with burning golden stares through the smoke.
I felt the pull of his energy still tempting my instincts, but I leaned with all my strength against the shattered wall, trying to restrain the "beast" inside me while waiting for my new shackle.
I took a deep breath that burned my flaming chest, then followed it with a long exhale, trying to expel the ache with my breath.
I pressed my hand against the stone wall behind me until my nails dug into its cracks, repeating in the depths of my scattered soul:
"Come on, Aria... hold on! Don't let him see your breakdown now. Don't give him the luxury of pity; you are a storm, and storms do not bow!"
I fought the trembling of my knees, which almost failed me, exerting a Herculean effort to keep my head held high.
I didn't want that fragility to appear in my eyes before Kaios, that dragon who recognizes nothing but strength.
I glimpsed his features stiffen as he watched my silent struggle. A strange sensation came over me; he wasn't feeling the pity I feared.
Instead, he was feeling a terrifying respect. He stood frozen in his place, gripping his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, as if physically restraining himself from rushing toward me and shattering my pride with a touch of consolation.
He spoke in a resonant voice, with a strange rasp I hadn't heard before—a voice carrying a tacit recognition of my strength:
"I know you are trying to choke it, Aria... I know you refuse to fall. But remember... I do not see weakness in your pain; I see a war your body is waging against a curse it never asked for."
He didn't take a step; he just kept his golden gaze fixed on my pale face, as if grounding me through his look alone.
I felt his energy hovering around me cautiously—not touching me to provoke the "beast," but forming an invisible shield protecting me from falling.
I swallowed a lump of pain and looked at him with eyes shining with defiance despite the exhaustion, whispering through my clenched teeth:
"Don't come near... I will stay standing... even if the world burns beneath my feet."
A pale smile formed on his lips, mysterious and dangerous, as if he were proud of the beast that pain had forged before his eyes.
Vasilios rushed toward me, his breath coming in gasps from running.
He didn't even wait to get close; he threw the necklace to me through the air. I caught it with my trembling hand, which almost betrayed me, and felt the coolness of the insulator stone flowing into my palm to extinguish the fire of my raging energy.
As soon as I fastened it securely around my neck, I felt the walls of the delicious prison rise again, and a forced calm settled in my veins.
But as soon as I lowered my hand, I saw a massive shadow swallow the light in front of me.
Without a single word of warning, and with a swift movement that left me no room to think, Kaios leaned down and scooped me up in his powerful arms as if I weighed nothing.
My body rose from the ground suddenly, and I involuntarily leaned against his solid chest, which was thumping with a muffled heat.
My eyes widened in a shock that bridled my tongue for a second, before I regained my ability to swear, and I screamed in his face while trying weakly to wriggle away:
"Put me down, you bastard! I can walk... I don't need your damn help!"
He didn't blink, he didn't even look at me; instead, he tightened his grip on me as if I were a private property he had just reclaimed. No anger reached me; instead, a cold, stubborn determination that said:
"Be quiet, the time for defiance is over."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christoph standing by the door. His features, which were playful moments ago, were now pale and shrouded in genuine concern as he watched the scene in silence.
He looked as if he wanted to intervene, but Kaios's warning aura was enough to freeze anyone in their tracks.
My gaze met Christoph's for a second, as if I were pleading for help from the grip of this arrogant "dragon," but Kaios continued walking with wide, confident strides through the wreckage of the room, ignoring my protests as if they were merely the buzzing of a fly in his ear.
He returned me to the medical bed. As soon as my body settled on the mattress, Vasilios rushed toward me like a madman, followed by Christoph, whose face was as pale as the dead.
I saw Vasilios staring at the monitors and letting out a biting curse, his voice clearly trembling:
"Damn it... the vital signs are in utter chaos! The cells are starting to collapse!"
He quickly pulled the oxygen mask and fixed it over my face, starting to pump the melted insulator stone substance.
As soon as that substance touched my lungs, something happened that no one expected.
I didn't inhale it calmly; I began to devour it with a brutal hunger, as if I had been drowning in an ocean of fire and had finally found a spring of ice.
I inhaled the steam with immense force, feeling that substance flowing through my veins—not just to treat me, but to repair every crack in my soul.
A wave of overwhelming euphoria swept over me, a feeling of delicious numbness and refreshing coolness that extinguished the fires of pain that had been gnawing at me.
I gripped the mask with both hands with all my might, digging my nails into its metal until I almost crushed it, trying to pull every atom of that substance into my depths.
I felt Kaios's features stiffen with a dread I hadn't known in him; he sensed through the Soul Bond that wave of strange, sudden pleasure that had swept through me.
He saw my veins glowing with a faint silver color under the influence of the substance, and his grip on the edge of the bed tightened so much that the metal began to warp.
As for Christoph, he took a step back, shouting at Vasilios:
"Vasilios! Look at her! She's crushing the mask... is this normal? Her eyes... look at her eyes!"
My eyes were half-closed, shining with a hazy luster under the influence of the delicious numbness.
I could no longer hear their voices clearly; I was drowning in that euphoria, and my body, which had been wreckage moments ago, began to feel a renewed and strange strength, as if I were being born again amidst the mist of the restorative substance.
I felt Kaios's desire to wrench the mask away from me to stop this "suspiciousconnection" with the substance, but his fear of my cells collapsing held him back.
Vasilios exhaled a long breath from the depths of his chest while staring at the keyboard; his features, which were as taut as a bowstring, finally relaxed as he saw the vital signs leap upwards with stunning force, as if my body, which moments ago was scattered wreckage, had never been touched by harm.
As soon as the last atom of the restorative substance ran out, I tore the mask from my face with a swift, vital movement.
I felt activity coursing through my limbs like an electric current, and my energy, which had been failing, returned to flow through my veins abundantly—to the point that the Aura of Void emerged from me.
That silent black aura began to wrap around me like a mysterious smoke absorbing the light from the room.
I sat up with complete flexibility and looked at Kaios and Christoph, only to find them standing like statues, staring at me with strange looks—a mixture of shock, awe, and a touch of disbelief.
I raised an eyebrow coldly and said in a surprised tone:
"What is it? Why are you both looking at me as if you've seen a ghost emerging from its grave?"
Kaios was staring at the "Aura of Void" surrounding me.
Through the Contract, a feeling of sheer amazement reached me; he had seen my body repair itself at an impossible rate, but seeing that black aura dancing around me made him realize that I had finally returned to life.
As for Christoph, he took a step back, swallowing hard and muttering in awe:
"Aria... you... you... damn, what is this substance?"
I didn't feel tired; instead, I felt strength, as if this aura were my natural reaction to everything I had been through.
I looked at my hands, from which the black veins had completely disappeared, replaced by this dark and majestic flow.