Both Lloyd and Colt heaved a sigh of relief.
Lloyd fell to the ground, grasping his chest with his right hand. Seeing this, Colt rushed to help him up, but Lloyd didn't accept his help and instead pointed at Bruce and Briggs. Colt quickly understood this and rushed over to tend to their wounds.
Although Lloyd had stated that he would be in a Golden Mercury enhanced state for two minutes, the power was slowly taking a toll on his body. He controlled his fingers to reach deep into the gated cage in his chest, as if searching for an Off switch.
Suddenly, Lloyd's frame began shrinking to its normal build, revealing a shriveled-up body.
If Colt didn't know better, he would have assumed that Lloyd was actually a malnourished beggar who found his way to war. He had intentionally deactivated the effects of the Golden mercury to preserve his lifespan, but he still appeared as an underweight, starving, old man; his face remained mostly unchanged except for some wrinkles here and there.
Colt had done his best to give both Bruce and Briggs first aid. Luckily, both men were still alive.
As soon as he confirmed this, he then checked on Luna, who had passed out on the ground. Although they had lost Summer, Colt felt relieved that the rest of them were at least alive. The only person left that he didn't check was Winter, but he didn't worry too much because he assumed that Lloyd had already dropped her in a safe place.
The only thing left to do now was make it to the middle ring and request medical aid. Colt knew that the neutral zone they were in had already begun to be purged by the high-ranking officers, so time was of the essence.
Picking up his bastard blade from the ground, he cut down a few trees and lined them up horizontally against each other. He then reached his right hand to his groin, revealing a long sender chain tattoo which pulsed with the same dim light as the tattoo on his right palm when he pulled out the white star vestige.
Soon, a white light flashed as a long chain slowly came out of his nether regions and landed on the snowy floor.
Using the chains, Colt bound six tree trunks together and carried each member of the squad onto the platform. After placing Bruce, Briggs, and Luna, he then hastily walked to Lloyd, reaching out his hands to grab him.
At this moment, the effects of the Golden Mercury were still active, and Colt appeared as a guardian angel in front of Lloyd.
Lloyd's own face wasn't bad. Compared to regular people, he would be a solid seven out of ten. But compared to limitless humans, Colt's beauty was exasperating. Lloyd was noting more than an Ugly NPC when compared to them. And now, while he looked like a malnourished beggar, Colt's beauty shone brighter than ever.
As Lloyd reached out his hand to Colt's, he couldn't help but notice Colt's face slowly shift from calm to frightened.
In all his years of knowing Colt, Lloyd had never once seen him make such a face. Even then, with sure death facing them, Colt remained relatively calm.
But now, Colt's concentration gave the impression of being shattered, as if he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing.
As Colt's face became more and more unsteady, Lloyd couldn't help but see a shadow tower over him. In the midst of the falling raindrops, Lloyd could tell that the rain was being obstructed from hitting the ground by something large. Something growing larger and larger by the second.
Shortly, the ever-growing entity that was behind Lloyd had cast a shadow so large that it dwarfed both men.
Lloyd couldn't even feel the rain anymore. Whatever it was, it now acted like a canopy for Lloyd, sheltering him from the rain.
Too dazed to look back, Lloyd looked at Colt once again. And as soon as he did, his spirit broke.
Colt was a logical and calm man. The kind of man whose personality was as cold as ice in some moments. But even in that cold, Colt was a warm person at heart. To see such a great man, make such an expression, an expression so void of hope, Lloyd couldn't help but break down.
"Lloyd," Colt said softly.
"If you survive this, do not blame yourself for our deaths. But rather, become strong enough to ensure your own life." He paused slightly and then continued.
"The world of Limitless humans is a cruel one. No matter what life throws at you, do not despair, but rise to the challenge."
"I am sorry I couldn't guide you through this world."
After he said those words, Colt closed his eyes, surrendering himself to his fate. And as soon as he did, an amalgamation of black owl talons and feathers appeared from his side and smashed Colt's body through multiple trees, grinding it to a fine pulp, leaving only his head on the cold, rainy floor.
Colt's head slowly rolled through the snow, eventually stopping at Lloyd's feet.
For a moment, Lloyd didn't know what to make of this event. This was the second decapitated head he had seen today.
His face was bland, his eyes confused and unwilling to accept the truth. Soon, those bland, confused eyes started leaking again, his tears, falling in sync with the rain.
He cried heavily. Being a scientist, Lloyd knew his tears held no weight to bring back the dead, but he cried nonetheless. Colt was the closest thing he had to a father after his family was brutally murdered. He contained himself when Summer died. He contained himself when he thought both Bruce and Briggs died, but now? Water works were all he could express.
After a few seconds of sobbing, he once again noticed that no raindrops fell upon his body.
Lloyd slowly turned his head to see what was behind him. And as soon as he did, he understood why Colt said those words to him.
Behind Lloyd was the corpse of the owl monster warped in a colossal mound of flesh, talons, and feathers. Underneath this mound of grotesque flesh was a bed of blood red feathers and white owl masks suspended over a pool of dark congealed blood.
On the belly of the owl man rested a face with six eyes, each eye glowing in a shade of crimson, and a large mouth, smiling as if mocking Lloyd's tears.
Soon, a melancholic expression appeared on Lloyd's face as he began to laugh.
Lloyd was never mentally stable. The life he had lived till now was the kind that would crush the hearts of normal people. Then again, in the world he lived in, normal people didn't exist anymore. In order to survive, everyone had to cast away something, be it their joy, memories, or trauma; everyone lost something to the chaos.
Lloyd was just another traumatized man amongst many.
Once again, in a mocking demeanor, the owl man's smile slowly turned into laughter.
Both the owl man and Lloyd laughed intensely, both their giggles growing louder than the rain, almost completely blocking out the sound of falling raindrops.
The owl man soon stopped laughing as he noticed Lloyd couldn't seem to stop. As if struck by madness, Lloyd's laugh came strong like he had just heard the greatest dirty joke in the world.
But before he could realize it, his vision became blurry, his world slowly shifting into crimson.
He was crying Blood as he giggled. And that bloody sight became black in an instant as he lost consciousness.