Chapter 76: Contribution
Ryan frowned, stepping forward.
"Mile-"
"Don’t stop him."
Brandon cut him off with a glare. He opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by Mia placing a hand on his shoulder.
His eyes widened at her, but the girl just shook her head. In the end, he could only fall silent.
"I... I... I..."
Miles watched Sarah’s face as she stammered, as moisture slowly gathered in her desperate eyes. They were searching for something in his face, pity perhaps, or maybe reassurance. She would find nothing, not from him.
The tears welled to their fullest extent, then trailed down her face in two delicate streams. She blinked, and more fell.
Right when Miles was thinking about shaking her again, her eyes opened. The desperation within had been tamped down, giving both a sense of dullness. Tears still streamed down her face.
"Y-you’re right. You’re right, Miles."
She bit down on her lips, pressing hard until a line of bright red blood spilled from them. Then she tightened her grip on the wooden club.
Miles stepped back, giving her some space. For some reason, the sight made his heart twinge a little.
The moment he did, she pushed herself off the bench, then dragged her body across the snow towards the ghoul’s head.
"I’m just a coward. I-"
Raising the weapon above its snapping jaws, she brought it down with all the force her body could muster.
"I’m just a useless fucking coward."
Sarah brought it down again, and again, and again, until the thing stopped moving completely. She stared at its bloodied face, then turned to Miles with that same dull look in her eyes.
An notification appeared before Miles.
[You have assited in slaying an anomaly.]
[Soma-class Larva slain: Ghoul]
[Based on contribution your, You have gained 5 points. Approach the nearest pylon to use them.]
She held his gaze for a moment, then slumped into the snow below, letting her weapon fall to her side.
A notification popped up.
"Damn it!"
Ryan rushed to support her, followed by Miles. He needed to see if his plan worked. She was already seated upright in Ryan’s arms by the time he reached her; both her eyes were shut tight.
Ignoring the sight and Ryan’s looks, he pressed the back of his hand against her neck. Her skin still felt cold to the touch, even colder than the time he’d grabbed her hand earlier.
Not satisfied, he pressed the back of his arm deeper and deeper into her skin.
"You’re not trying to choke her, right!?"
Miles ignored the question and remained focused on his hand. Right when he was on the verge of giving up, he felt a very familiar warmth from her skin.
[Cold Resistance]
It worked. Plus, feeling her skin properly, he found that her temperature didn’t seem to be actively deteriorating like before. She wasn’t out of the danger zone, but not at risk of dying to the cold in the next few minutes at least. Miles glanced at Ryan.
"I think she got the skill."
Ryan let out a sigh of relief, scratching his head as he spoke.
"You know, there are other ways of doing things Miles."
"It worked, didn’t it? We need to get her back in the kitchen as soon as possible."
Ryan choose not to press the issue.
The rate at which the cold affected her felt abnormal to him. They’d barely been out for ten minutes, and she was already this bad. Even Kyle had lasted much longer than this, and he was barely clothed.
Ryan glanced at the fence in the distance, then sighed.
"Alright, it’s not worth the risk if it kills us. We can try again when she feels better."
Miles found it hard to pay attention to his words. A rising pressure in his head distracted him.
’I didn’t activate delusion again.’
He’d only used it to suppress the cold in his back; if it was spreading now, then...
He tried moving his arms, only to feel an even worse stiffness than before, like something had locked his joints tightly. Just shifting them required concentrated effort.
’I need to see how bad it’s gotten.’
He deactivated [Delusion], taking a sharp breath at the wave of cold that assaulted him immediately. It felt like his torso, all the way down to his abdomen, had been dipped into a freezing ocean. It clung to his skin like little hooks, greedily taking up his warmth and actively spreading beyond the areas it occupied.
His lower back, the place he’d first felt the cold, was the worst affected. An intense cold, one so sharp he could barely distinguish it from pain, pierced there, as though an icicle had been hammered into his flesh.
Even [Dissociation] could barely handle something this intense; the shock from it sent him stumbling in the snow. He barely caught himself on the nearby bench before he went down.
’What the hell is this?’
"What’s wrong?"
Ryan’s hands were still occupied supporting Sarah, so Chloe reached for him. He waved her off before activating [Delusion].
The cold died down instantly, though he didn’t completely suppress it this time, to keep an eye on his condition at least.
"I’m fine. The cold just made me a bit dizzy, that’s all. We need to move now."
The girl narrowed her eyes but didn’t insist.
Stiffly pushing himself off the chair, he gripped his knife tightly in his hand before testing his footing.
’I can still walk.’
"You can switch places with me in the front, Miles. I’ll support Sarah in the middle. We have to keep formation while heading back."
Miles shook his head.
"Don’t worry, I’ll support her."
Unless they were ambushed again, the middle row was going to be the safest. In any case, both the front and back rows would be under heavy pressure, pressure that was meant for fighters. He doubted he’d be of much use at the moment, especially with his bat gone.
"Ok then. Tell me if anything happens."
Not wanting to waste any more time out here, Ryan handed the girl over immediately. Miles slipped her arm over his shoulder for support. She didn’t seem fully unconscious, as her legs still had some strength in them, making his job significantly easier.
Right as he finished securing her, a screaming whistle sounded out. It cut through the sound of the storm as it barreled towards them from above.
"RUN!"
Grimm yelled, before diving out of the canopy. Miles had already pulled both himself and Sarah out of its cover as he did so. The rest jumped out as well, just a beat behind them.
Just a moment after he hit the snow, something heavy crashed behind him, releasing a thundering boom.
He turned to find the canopy vanished inside a cloud of snow.
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A/N nonprivilege readers: I messed up the upload structure((T_T))((T_T)). Please reread the last 2 chaps