The moment Aika buried her blade into Yami's skull, she activated flames of decay and watched as they traveled down the length of the steel, consuming his head and then the rest of his body.

Within seconds, his entire frame was consumed and crumbled into green dust, leaving only a charred outline on the ground that the wind began to scatter.

The pool of bubbling darkness on the ground also shuddered before evaporating into the air like a foul black mist.

Aika exhaled and stood up, slowly pulling her blade from the ground. She wiped the lingering green dust from the steel with a hand, then slowly turned, taking in the ruined mountain foothills that had been the battlefield.

The earth had been scorched with small craters in places. Large stains of dark blood soaked into the earth, matting the gray, withered grass where Evelyn and her blood beasts had fought. The dead bodies of some of the hollow Dominants also lay scattered across the uneven ground.

Nearby, Julius was cradling Evelyn, who was still unconscious, while Dion still knelt at where he had dropped earlier. His shoulders were slumped as he stared blankly at the spot where Yami had been.

Aika's gaze shifted from him to where Celeste, who was now back in her normal form, knelt beside Cedric's corpse.

Aika let out a heavy, tired sigh and ran a hand through her hair frantically. As she began walking, she reached into her inventory, pulled out a smoke pipe, lit it, and took a long, deep drag before exhaling a thick cloud of smoke that masked her expression.

A few meters from reaching the corpse, Dion stood up and ran to Aika, then dropped at her feet. He lowered his head and pleaded in a trembling voice, "Please, help me."

Aika looked down, arching a brow in confusion. But Dion looked up, his expression growing even more desperate as he rubbed his hands together. "You can raise the dead, right?"

He turned and pointed to the body of his brother a few meters away. "Could you please bring my brother back to life?"

When Aika heard that, she took the smoke pipe from her mouth and alternated gazes between Dion and Bryan's body. For a moment, she looked lost in thought. Then, without saying anything, she walked toward the body and crouched beside it.

Dion followed, stopping beside her and watching her with pleading, bloodshot eyes.

Aika reached her hand over the body and at that moment, a notification popped up:

[Would you like to use the bonded ability: Chrysalis to bestow new life upon the character Bryan Athamas, in exchange for 500 karma points?]

'Yes…' Aika replied.

[Activating the bonded ability: Chrysalis...]

[…]

It took a bit longer than usual before a different message popped up:

[Chrysalis cannot be used on the target.]

Aika sighed. Even though she had expected this reply, she asked, 'Gamer Privileges?'

[Chrysalis works in a three-fold process. It grants complete restoration of the body while simultaneously retrieving the soul and reuniting it with the flesh, before finally instilling a new spark of life. If there is any interference with this process, Chrysalis will fail.]

Aika ran a hand through her hair in frustrated resignation and turned to Dion, then shook her head. "I can't bring him back."

As she stood, she added in the same somber tone, "His soul had been shattered… there is nothing left to call back."

Dion stiffened and his eyes went wide as he dropped to his knees. For a moment the world seemed to fall into a suffocating silence, then he broke down into tears as he reached trembly for the corpse.

Ino, who had taken her human form and dropped beside him, reached out and pulled him to her chest. She held him firmly, her presence the only thing grounding him as his grief finally spilled over.

Aika stared at them for a moment before taking a drag of her pipe. She closed her eyes for a brief moment of silence, and when she opened them, she turned away, her boots crunching softly on the scorched grass as she headed toward where Julius cradled Evelyn.

When she reached them, she stared at the duo for a moment, then sighed and took out the same small stick Cedric had used to draw up the blood he gave to Evelyn earlier.

Julius watched in confusion as Aika used the stick to draw a line on her own palm. Then she slowly crouched down and raised her hand over Evelyn's lips while also using her other hand to gently pry the young woman's mouth open.

The drops of blood fell from Aika's palm, landing directly onto Evelyn's tongue, staining her lips as it pooled inside her mouth.

As this was happening, the wounds on Evelyn's body began to slowly knit themselves back together, including the wound on her head.

After a few seconds, Aika retracted her hand and a notification popped up for her:

[You have acquired 50 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N1,875 / P960]

At that moment, Evelyn's eyes slowly fluttered open, and a large smile began to grow on Julius lips.

He looked to Aika and, with a blush on his face, lowered his head. "Thank you, Raven of Decay."

Aika's gaze shifted from the line on her palm to Julius. Without saying anything, she stood up, wiped the remaining blood from her palm onto her clothes, and took a slow drag of her pipe.

Before Evelyn's unfocused eyes could settle on her, Aika had already turned and walked away, heading toward where Celeste knelt beside Cedric.

Upon reaching the corpse, she sat down tiredly on the ground beside Celeste, leaned back on her hand, and exhaled another drag. Celeste, who was crying with both hands covering her mouth, suddenly turned to her and asked, "Why? Why is my brother dead?"

A few seconds passed before Aika looked at her and replied calmly, "So that you wouldn't have to be."

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