The head separated from the body and rolled a couple of centimeters over the dirt before stopping with its face looking up at the sky.

Then he released Ely’s sword, which stuck its tip into the ground at his side, and crouched down to pick up the head.

"Wake Up."

Energy flowed from Mark’s hand into the head he was holding, enveloping it in that faint glow he knew so well.

Mark waited, but nothing happened.

There was no tremor, no flicker, no sign that the ability had worked.

Mark visibly frowned.

"Wake Up," he repeated, concentrating harder.

The glow enveloped the head again, this time with more intensity, pulsing once, twice, three times before fading.

Seconds passed.

Nothing.

The head remained exactly as it was before.

’What the fuck...?’

Mark tried again.

"Wake Up."

Nothing.

"Wake Up."

Nothing.

"Wake Up."

Nothing.

Each attempt ended the same way. The energy flowed, enveloped the head, pulsed for a moment, and faded without producing any effect.

Mark looked at the head in his hand for a couple more seconds, teeth clenched, and then threw it to the ground, causing it to bounce against the dirt and roll a couple of meters before stopping face-up.

Then he walked toward it and kicked it hard, sending it flying against the rubble of one of the destroyed houses.

"Not even dead do you stop being a pain in the ass..." he said with frustration.

Mark stood looking at the ground with his jaw and fists clenched until he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder.

"Master."

It was Rose.

"It’s not worth bothering over someone like that," she said in a soft tone, positioning herself at his side. "No matter how much he was another reincarnate like you, in the end he was nothing but garbage." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"...Yeah, you’re rig—"

Mark didn’t finish the sentence because suddenly something changed inside him.

It was like someone had punched him in the stomach from the inside. A violent and sudden dizziness that hit his head without warning, causing his vision to distort and his legs to lose their strength.

"Master?" said Rose, frowning as she saw how her master was wobbling.

Mark knew Rose was at his side, but her voice still reached him distant, as if it came from the other end of a long hallway instead of standing next to him.

"Master? What’s wrong?" she asked again with concern.

He heard the words but couldn’t process them, because with each second the pain grew stronger and his body began to burn from the inside in a way he had never felt before.

And then a screen appeared in front of him, but it wasn’t his usual stats screen.

It was different.

Larger, with a border that glowed with an intensity that hurt his eyes, and text in the center that flickered rapidly.

[Congratulations!]

[Active Lock Successfully Deactivated]

[Proceeding with Data Loading...]

[Progress: 0%...]

"W-what the hell?"

Mark managed to read with difficulty what the screen said before another wave of pain hit him again, causing him to fall to his knees on the ground.

"MASTER!" screamed Rose, grabbing his arm.

[Progress: 5%...]

Upon seeing Mark collapse, the others quickly approached while he writhed in pain on the ground.

[Progress: 8%...]

"Master, talk to me!" said Rose, leaning over him. "What’s happening to you?!"

He opened his mouth to respond, but then a column of white light exploded from his body. The light shot upward like a pillar that pierced the sky.

The shockwave that accompanied the light pushed all of them backward with force.

"WHAT?!" screamed Ely, looking at the column of light that enveloped Mark.

"ROSE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE MASTER?!" said Aria, pointing her finger at her.

"I knew I couldn’t trust you!" said Alice, turning toward Rose with clenched fists and golden energy bursting in her gauntlets. "Traitorous vampire! What did you do to my lord?!"

Rose, raised both hands in front of them.

"Wait!" screamed Rose with urgency. "I didn’t do anything! I’m just as confused as you all are!"

"Liar!" screamed Ely, drawing her sword.

"I’m not lying!" insisted Rose, taking a step back. "All I did was put my hand on his shoulder! That doesn’t cause something like this!"

"Something’s happening to the Master..." interrupted Yuki’s worried voice.

Quickly everyone turned to look at the column of light.

The light wasn’t just surrounding Mark, it was swallowing him, first his feet, then his legs, then his torso, consuming him bit by bit.

[Progress: 12%...]

Rose’s eyes widened, because she could feel something the others couldn’t.

Her master’s magical signature, that unique signal that every living being emitted and that Rose could perceive more easily than most, was disappearing.

"Get him out of there!" she screamed with an urgency in her voice that none of them had heard before. "NOW!"

[Progress: 15%...]

Alice was the first to react. She closed the distance with Rose and looked directly into her eyes.

"If this is some trick of yours," said Alice in a low voice that trembled between rage and fear, "I swear I’ll tear you apart with my own hands."

"Do whatever you want to me afterward!" screamed Rose, pointing toward the column of light. "But get him out of there before it’s too late!"

[Progress: 17%...]

Alice gritted her teeth, turned around, and ran directly toward the light.

"Golden Light Fortification!"

Her body lit up with golden energy and she launched herself toward the column without stopping.

The contact with the light was immediate. Alice felt an enormous force pushing against her from all directions, trying to expel her, as if the light itself didn’t want anyone to enter.

Her feet dragged against the ground, her arms trembled from the effort, and the golden energy protecting her crackled and sparked against the white light as if they were fighting each other.

"MOVE!" Alice screamed to herself, pushing with all her strength forward.

[Progress: 19%...]

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

And then she saw him.

Mark was in the center of the light, on his knees, with his head hanging down and his arms dangling at his sides. The light covered him almost completely, only his head and shoulders remained still visible.

Alice extended her arms, grabbed Mark by the shoulders with both hands, and pulled.

She pulled with all the strength she had.

Every muscle in her body, amplified by her miracles, tensed to the maximum as she dragged Mark out of the light.

The column resisted, pushing back, trying to keep him.

But Alice didn’t let go.

She wasn’t going to let go.

And with one last pull that tore a scream of effort from her, Alice ripped Mark from the column of light, causing both of them to be sent flying, falling to the ground with him on top.

Then the column of light began to flicker repeatedly until it went out.

[Error]

[Error]

[Error]

[Data Transfer Stopped]

[Final Progress: 20%]

The screen flickered in front of Mark’s half-closed eyes for a couple of seconds before disappearing.

Mark was lying on the ground with Alice on top of him, gripping him with both hands without letting go. His breathing was irregular, his body trembled, and his eyes were half-open but unfocused.

They all ran toward him instantly.

"Master!" screamed Ely, falling to her knees at his side. "Master, please don’t close your eyes!"

"Master, don’t die!" whimpered Aria, gripping his hand with both of hers. "Please don’t die!"

"Is he breathing?" asked Rose, crouching next to him with her eyes fixed on his chest.

"Yes... he is," confirmed Yuki with relief in her voice.

"Master, please!" said Ely, gripping his other hand. "Say something!"

Alice, who was still on top of him, gripping him by the tunic, looked down at him with an expression that mixed the relief of getting him out with the terror of not knowing if he was okay.

"My lord..." murmured Alice in a trembling voice. "Please, don’t leave us..."

Zilu slowly approached from behind all of them, with tears streaming down her cheeks and her ears completely drooped.

"Master..." she whispered.

Mark didn’t respond. His breathing was weak but steady, and his previously half-open eyes began to close slowly as he heard the screams and whimpers of his subordinates around him.

But just before losing consciousness completely, he managed to notice something moving behind one of the houses that still stood.

That thing was small and transparent, barely visible against the wood of the wall, with two tiny horns protruding from what appeared to be its head.

And its eyes, two bright points of a purple color, watched them in complete silence.

’...?’