Chapter 169: Everything... finally came to a conclusion.
In Leo’s house,
Thuck...
Essa slowly put Valra on the table in the living room. Raphael and her friend immediately rushed to her side as they checked Valra’s pulse and breathing.
Her chest rose shallowly as her breathing was weakening.
Leo, who had just placed the unconscious Ophis gently onto the sofa, looked over at Valra with a worried expression that hardened into fear.
"Is she alright?" Leo asked.
Raphael glanced at him briefly but didn’t answer directly. Instead, she snapped, "Get me the first aid kit in my room!"
Leo flinched at the sharpness of her tone and immediately sprinted from the living room. His hands trembled as he tore through the cupboard, muttering, "Kit, kit... kit..." His eyes darted across drawers, shelves, scattering items until—finally—his fingers closed around a large box.
"First aid?" Leo frowned. The weight and size of it felt heavier than any simple pack. Whatever it contained, he didn’t hesitate and dashed back into the living room.
Raphael and her friend were already cleaning the blood-soaked wound on Valra’s abdomen.
Valra’s top was stripped away, leaving her in nothing but innerwear. Just below her chest, inches away from her heart, a deep gash carved across her flesh, tearing almost to her back. Blood poured out steadily, spilling over her side, dripping off the wooden edge of the table.
"Her ribs are broken... we need to get her to the hospital or... she won’t make it," Raphael’s friend said in a grim tone, her gloved fingers sliding across the jagged break of bone.
The touch was horrifying.... her hand sank against her chest with no resistance, like pressing into soft cotton... There was no protection left.
If left untreated, her internal organs could be torn apart.
This was not something that could be treated in the house... for now, they could only slow the bleeding.
Raphael snatched the first aid kit from Leo’s trembling hands. He stood frozen, his eyes locked on Valra’s body.
His face had drained of all colour, his lips quivering, his eyes brimming with tears.
Raphael and her friend worked with focus, their hands pressing gauze, stitching what they could, desperately trying to stop the flow.
Essa leaned silently in the corner, her eyes fixed on Leo. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t even blinked.
Leo’s gaze flicked to Ophis.
She seemed fine—her wounds had closed, her body healing itself naturally due to her vampiric trait. Yet she remained unconscious. Leo had checked her head earlier. The injuries had already sealed over, the cracks in her skull knitting as if time itself reversed... but she would not wake.
If it had been anyone else, their head would have been reduced to broken pieces.
Vampires’ bones were truly strong!
Leo swallowed hard, "She will be alright... right?" His words shook, his hands twitching as if he was forcing them to stay still.
Raphael didn’t look up.
Her friend gave a weak smile, "This is serious... life-threatening. The odds are very low."
Leo collapsed into the chair, breathing heavily...
If anything happens to her... would he be able to live with guilt?
It was too much!!
Then his eyes fell to the corner of the table. Her top lay crumpled there, drenched in blood. Something within the fabric caught the dim light.
He frowned, slowly reaching for the bloodied top. His fingers closed around it, sticky with drying crimson. His stomach churned as he lifted it. The sight of the glint made his blood run cold.
He forced his trembling hands to steady, pressing the cloth down on the table as he dug deeper into the folds. And then... he saw it.
A phone?
Leo stared at the phone with an indifferent expression before slowly standing up and walking away from the living room.
Raphael glanced at Leo, her hands still pressing against Valra’s wound, then looked at her friend. "Her heartbeat’s getting low..." she whispered.
Raphael’s friend lowered her eyes, the motion slow... It was the look of a doctor who had already given up.
Meanwhile, Leo walked down the corridor.
His eyes were locked on the cracked phone screen, frozen on one particular number in the dialer history.
The date and time in the log matched perfectly with the very moment he had returned home after saving Ophis.
The number wasn’t saved, no name, no contact—just a bare string of digits.
He inhaled sharply, then pressed the button to call.
...Beep.
...Beep.
...Beep.
Ring~ Ring~
Tuck!
The call connected... Yet no voice came through.
For a moment, Leo wondered if he had dialled the wrong number. His brows furrowed, confusion flickering across his face. But then—
"What is it, now?" A cold voice echoed.
He flinched at the sudden cold voice. Slowly, he steadied his breath, forcing himself to speak. "My name is... Leo—"
Before he could even finish, the voice cut in sharply, "Where is she? And what happened to her?"
Leo sighed, "She is in my house and... deeply wounde—"
...Beep.
The line went dead.
Leo blinked, eyes wide in surprise. He stared down at the phone as if it had betrayed him.
Veins pulsed visibly on his forehead, "What the hell?" he hissed. His thumb jabbed at the screen, trying to call again, but the line cut off the instant it rang.
Grinding his teeth, he muttered through clenched lips, "Pick up the phone, you bastard!" His voice cracked with desperation as he called again and again, but each attempt ended the same—abruptly severed.
Until—
Knock. Knock.
Leo stiffened, his head snapping toward the door.
From the living room, Essa leaned out with a frown etched on her face.
Leo raised a hand, motioning her back inside. His heart thudded as the knocking grew louder and stronger.
He swallowed hard, his throat dry, wondering—had the police already tracked them down? Or... had the monsters followed their trail here?
Clenching his fist against his chest, he took a breath and reached for the handle.
Slowly, he pulled the door open.
And there, standing before him, A figure in a pure white cloak.
Leo frowned, "Who ar—?"
"Valra?" The white figure interrupted, before stepping inside the house without the slightest hesitation.
Its footsteps echoed across the floor as it moved directly toward the living room.
"Hey, wait—what are you doing—" Leo started, but the figure cut him off.
"Mage Association," the cloaked one said in an indifferent tone, standing tall before the living room entrance.
Raphael and her friend turned at the sound, their eyes narrowing as they saw the white figure. Their faces twisted into worried frowns, both instinctively on guard, fearing they had just encountered another enemy.
But Leo raised his hand quickly, motioning them to stand down.
Raphael and her friend exchanged uncertain glances, then reluctantly moved aside, lifting their hands slightly like people caught in the middle of something wrong.
The figure moved forward without hesitation. It knelt beside Valra, its cloak brushing against the blood-soaked table. Its gaze swept over the wounded girl before shaking its head slowly. "You pitiful child..." it murmured.
Then, it slid its arms beneath Valra and cradled her against its chest.
Leo’s eyes narrowed. "What are you guys going to do?"
The white figure looked at him for only a second, then answered curtly, "For the reason you just called now."
Leo blinked in surprise, his hand tightening around the phone. He lowered his eyes toward the dialer history, staring at the unfamiliar number again.
’Did I... really call the Mage Association?’
Their reaction...so fast, almost instantaneous!!
When he looked up again, the figure was raising its hand toward him, palm open.
Leo frowned, bracing himself.
"Phone. And her top cloth,"
Leo hesitated as he looked at the number one more time before handing over both the phone and Valra’s torn, bloodied top.
His eyes flickered toward Valra’s pale face, his voice breaking as he asked, "Will she be alright?"
But the figure gave no answer. In the blink of an eye, it vanished—taking Valra with it.
Everyone froze.
"What... was that?" Raphael’s friend whispered, her face pale with shock.
Raphael moved closer to Leo, "Who was it? Do you know them?"
Leo didn’t answer. His body remained still, his eyes blankly staring at the spot where Valra had disappeared.
From the corner, Essa’s form emerged like a phantom, leaning against the wall, as she thought, ’Mage Association... ah. Master, it seems something really shitty is going on here.’
The Mage Association... an organisation that was supposed to protect the innocent and hide anything related to magic, but they weren’t lifting a hand against the fallen.
They allowed those monsters to roam freely, leaving destruction and death in their wake... yet now they had suddenly appeared, only to take Valra.
Why?
"Leo?" Raphael muttered softly. Her eyes drifted downward before widening in sudden realisation. "Wait—what about your neck?"
Her hands reached out, pulling at the collar of his shirt to check for wounds. Her eyes widened further, shocked.
There wasn’t a single scratch on him.
Not even a scar.
She remembered vividly... when Leo had been punched through a building, his body had been broken, bloodied, covered in wounds. But now... now there was nothing. Every injury had disappeared, as though his body had never suffered at all.
There were so many cuts on his clothes, torn edges dangling and soaked with dried blood, but when Raphael tugged his shirt away... his body underneath was spotless.
Not a single scar remained.
Heck, it was even glistening faintly, as if his skin had been freshly renewed.
"What... what happened?" Raphael muttered, her eyes trembling as they scanned his flawless chest.
Essa frowned sharply, her gaze narrowing on Leo. ’What’s with this boy? I’m sure something happened to him... but he looks perfectly fine. Master, this is getting even weirder now’ she thought.
Just then, Raphael’s friend sneaked a peek at Leo’s bare body, her eyes wandering longer than they should have. Raphael noticed the glance immediately. Her face darkened and, in one swift motion, she pushed his shirt back over him, covering him.
Her friend clicked her tongue in mild annoyance, muttering under her breath.
Leo’s eyes softened as he looked at Raphael. "Are you alright? Any wounds?" he asked, his voice careful and tender.
For now, his worry for Valra was set aside... he knew she was in the Association’s hands, for better or worse.
Raphael’s strength finally gave out. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Raphael!" Leo panicked, dropping beside her, but she quickly shook her head with a weak smile. "I’m fine... I... I just... ah..." Her voice broke, her eyes welling with tears as she raised a trembling hand to touch his head.
"I... I was so scared... so scared, Leo..." she whispered, before finally breaking down. Her glasses slid slightly, and she collapsed against him, hugging him tightly as sobs shook her body.
Leo froze for a moment, blinking at the sudden closeness, before slowly wrapping his arms around her in return.
He could feel her shaking, could feel how much she had endured without showing it.
His own eyes misted over. "T-Thank you... for not giving up until the end," he muttered softly.
His words broke her further, and she sobbed harder into his chest.
After all, it took guts and unshakable resolve to keep fighting when every second threatened despair.
Three monsters devouring others... it would have been hell.
It had been hell for him once, too.
As Raphael cried softly in his embrace, Leo pulled her closer, whispering promises he couldn’t even think to break. His arms locked around her, as if he would never let her go.
Essa and Raphael’s friend watched in silence. Raphael’s friend shifted, her lips pressed tight. Truthfully, part of her wanted to be included in that embrace, to bury her face in the same warmth. But after a breath, she sighed and shrugged, choosing instead to give Raphael the moment she desperately needed.
’He is the same boy... ah... but he’s grown so much,’ Raphael’s friend thought, her shoulders relaxing as she sank into a chair.
For the first time in what felt like forever, her own body loosened.
A long sigh escaped her lips.
Everything... finally came to a conclusion.
Right?