Vanessa's semblance was horrible. Most of her hair was gone and her skin was covered on burn scars. Paula and Lumi did a miracle saving her from the blazing inferno her room became after it was shot out with a bazooka.

Fortunately, all the stuff she was working with was digital and saved on the cloud. The documents and physical drives were already secured by the DA and the police. Other than the material damage, nothing irreplaceable was lost.

Matthew was fighting with himself when he saw the state Vanessa was in. His eyes didn't move from Yuki's throat. The demonic mana in him telling his to cut her head off, to ignore the others and the consequences. Just take the bitch's head off.

Eric was holding the Howling Spear's Vice-Leader on the ground kneeling over her back, making sure she'd escape him.

"She posted bail and came directly here to attack you." A cop said while his colleagues took depositions with the neighbors. "You were the ones who found out about her drug operation, right?"

"Yes." Vanessa said pulling Eric's shirt over her to cover her body properly. All her clothes were lost on the fire.

"It seems she brought her whole gang to deal with you." The cop said pointing to some of the assailants they captured. "But be careful, we didn't catch them all." He added.

"Matthew." Paula said getting close to him and holding his shoulders gently. "You're still overcome with red mana. Purify yourself." She said in a sisterly tone.

"Sorry." Matthew said purifying himself and then Ffyr. "I'm still dazed about what happened." He said looking at Vanessa and her rugged scarred skin.

"Don't worry. She comes from a family of doctors. They can fix her." Paula winked at Matthew.

"Yeah. It just makes me angry seeing her hurt like that. Did you talk to Michael and Katia? How are they?" Matthew asked turning his attention back to Paula.

"They're fine. Katia is very scared. But she's not hurt. She wants to come and be with her father but…" Paula pauses and points at Eric who has half his body covered in blood. "We figured she shouldn't see him like that."

"Will Eric be okay?" Matthew asked when he remembered Eric's violence that night. "He killed 3 men."

"You don't get to be 10 years as an adventurer without killing a person or two." Paula said. "He's fine."

"I meant…" Mathew corrected her. "Won't he go to jail?"

"After a bunch of drug dealers blew his house up?" Paula laughed. "It's doubtful anyone would try. Even compared to how they tried to frame you, this one is just too ridiculous for anyone to take to court." She added.

"What now?" Matthew said looking around at all the neighbors on their front lawns looking upon the police work. Some, who knew Eric well, were even talking to him about what happened.

"We wait for the high level adventurer squad to arrive. Then I'll take Vanessa to the hospital and Eric and Katia, Michael will take to our apartment." Paula explained her plans.

"I see." Matthew said with no better word to add.

After the special squad arrived, Vanessa sat beside Matthew.

"How you holding up, kid?" Vanessa asked while Paula and Lumi aided the police take Yuki into custody.

"I'm fine." Matthew said without looking at her.

"I'm a mess, aren't I?" Vanessa said looking upon herself. "But I survived." She added.

"Thank god you did. I don't know what I would've done if you died in there. Probably, I'd be hunting down every one of them by now." Matthew commented in a serious tone.

"I know you would." Vanessa said putting her arm around him. "You and Eric told me time and time again how dangerous it was. And I didn't listen." She said in an apologetic tone.

"Coming to your house and blowing up your room was not into the things I thought they would do." Matthew confessed.

"Me too, kid." Vanessa said. "They came with everything. Thank god you and Paula were here. I'd be dead if you were in the Labyrinth still."

"Why did you stop Eric from killing Yuki?" Matthew asked suddenly.

"It's not like I have any love to her. I actually would like very much seeing her dead. But there are many reasons. We can't have Eric or you killing an unconscious person in front of the whole neighborhood. We also need her alive to give us her Leader and the Mayor." Vanessa explained removing her hand from around him.

Suddenly an explosion took place flipping a police car around. Eric flew away while Lummi flew hurriedly to douse the flames before they spread out into the neighborhood. The special police squad scrambled unsure how to act and what was going on.

It was Yuki. She got herself free after a momentary lack of attention from the officer who was putting the mana suppression cuffs on her. A little time was all she needed to cast a fireball at Eric and another at the police car she was going to be escorted in.

Yuki ignored all other cops around her. She ran at full speed towards Vanessa screaming:

"You bitch! You fucking ruined my life!"

Her voice was pure rage. While running she concentrated a huge blast of fire on her hands. When she got close enough, she shot it against Vanessa.

Ffyr tried to stop it with a wind wall, but it was too powerful for the little fairy who wasn't even using her demonic mana.

Matthew, who just purified himself, was also back to his weaker level 14 state.

20 points in Vitality. 23 in HP.

Yuki's Magic stat was 132.

However, Matthew's feet moved faster than his head. He hugged Vanessa pulling her out of the way of the immense ball of fire that was approaching. He had no time to do anything else. Ffyr's wind wall did nothing for him. Matthew shielded Vanessa with his own body.

And then it exploded. Like a ballistic missile hitting the middle of the street. Matthew's back took most of the blast. Debris flew high and everywhere. Flames fell on top of houses and set many of them on fire. The road ceased to exist.

Lumi flew into the crater at incredible speed while Eric pulled Yuki by the hair. The woman had a smile on her face when Eric hit her with all his might right on her nose. If he was using Reckless Strength, that punch would have killed her. But she was lucky he didn't thing on activating the skill.

Yuki flew away from Eric with the strength of his punch leaving him holding a piece of the woman's hair on her hand that tore when he punched her. He couldn't forgive himself feeling like that was his fault. If he only he watched her closer.

Lumi flew to Paula with Matthew, Ffyr and Vanessa in its talons. She dropped them by Paula's feet who hurriedly started to heal them both.

Paramedics who were nearby rushed in to help was well. The ones who had Healer class used their skills while the others used wands, potions and machines to save the lives of those two.

When they were stable enough to be moved, they put them in different ambulances and rushed to the nearest hospital. Ffyr going with Matthew.

Eric went with Vanessa and Paula went with Matthew.

Soon enough Cid, Vanessa's bother was there and also Matthew's family.

The blast not only burned them, but also broke bones, perforated and damaged internal organs and opened wounds. The amount of damage both of them suffered was severe. Matthew was the worst of the two. Because he shielded Vanessa with his own body, he took the most part of the damage.

The doctors were confident they could save Vanessa. But Matthew was fighting for his life.

Ffyr managed to go into her ethereal form when the explosion happened. She was unharmed. But, when she came back to her material form, she fell unconscious. Her soul connection with Matthew was faltering since he was in the brink of death.

If he died, she died.

Michael and Katia arrived soon after those news. Faralynn was also warned and came in with Erin, Mia, Helen and Tina. The whole squad. Even Faynn showed herself and paced the floor worried while the doctors did their best.

The room where they all waited was quiet. A silence only broken by the soft sobbing of Katia who was crying with her face buried on her father's chest.

Hours passed like eons. Every minute felt like an hour. None of them spoke a word other than offering each other food or water.

When the surgeon came in, he was quickly surrounded by most of the people inside the room. They didn't say a word, they didn't need to. It was obvious what they wanted to hear.

"We could save Vanessa." The surgeon said biting his own lips unsure of what words to use. "Matthew… I don't think he'll make it."

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