Chapter 356 — Get Lost

Before anyone could respond, new presences approached.

These ones less subtle and less careful, their arrival marked by hurried footsteps and agitated voices.

Five S rank awakeners materialized, their appearances suggesting rushed deployment.

They wore the colors of the Murdock Imperial family’s subordinate forces, their ranks marking them as retainers rather than direct bloodline members.

Their eyes found Elizabeth immediately, widening in shock at her condition.

One arm missing, one leg severed, blood soaking her clothes...

Her purple hair was matted and disheveled and her face empty of emotion.

They looked at Vermont next, their expressions showing horror at his aged appearance, at the way decades had been burned away from his life force.

But none of them had purple hair.

None of them carried the distinctive features of the Murdock main bloodline.

These were subordinates of the Murdock, loyal perhaps, but not the immediate family Elizabeth might have expected.

Damian pulled himself to his feet, using Yara’s shoulder for support, his leg barely holding his weight.

He limped toward Elizabeth, each step sending fresh agony through his shattered body, his vision blurring at the edges.

He reached her, looking down at where she sat cradling Adrian, her eyes staring at nothing.

Then he turned toward Vermont, his voice coming out flat.

"Can these people be trusted?"

The question hung in the air like an accusation.

Before Vermont could open his mouth, one of the newly arrived subordinates stepped forward, his face flushing red with indignation.

"What do you mean, can we be trusted? Who the fuck are you to–"

Crack

Vermont moved faster than the man could react, his aged hand striking with S rank power, sending the subordinate flying across the battlefield, his body tumbling through debris and corpses.

The others froze, their eyes wide, their bodies tensing for combat or flight.

Vermont turned to face them, his grey face carrying authority despite the exhaustion and grief.

"Where are the family members?"

His voice cut through the stunned silence.

"Why is no one here? Where is the family when their heir was being assassinated?"

An old woman among the five stepped forward, her expression showing discomfort as she spoke.

"The family head called for a meeting. They’re all gathered at the main estate for–"

She stopped, her eyes sliding away from Vermont’s gaze, her voice trailing off into nothing.

The others looked away as well, their body language screaming of guilt and knowledge they didn’t want to voice.

The truth sat heavy between them.

The current family head of the Murdock Imperial family wasn’t someone from the main lineage. He was an acting head, appointed after Elizabeth’s father had died in what official reports called an accident.

The whole Murdock family was in chaos internally, with multiple factions supporting different heirs for succession.

And the main lineage was being systematically suppressed.

The old woman tried again, her voice gentler.

"Let us first heal Miss Elizabeth first. She needs immediate treatment or permanent damage might–"

She reached out with glowing hands, her healing Aura activating.

The moment her fingers came within inches of Elizabeth’s body, a whisper cut through the air.

"Get lost."

Everyone heard it.

Every S rank present registered the words despite how quietly they’d been spoken, their enhanced perception catching the venom beneath Elizabeth’s empty tone.

The old woman jerked back as if struck, her hands freezing mid-reach.

"But... Miss, you need–"

"Get the fuck out of here!"

Elizabeth’s voice exploded with force, her remaining arm tightening around Adrian’s unconscious form, her purple hair falling across her face like a curtain hiding her expression.

The five subordinates stood frozen and uncertain.

Vermont’s voice came out.

"Get out."

They listened.

Five S rank awakeners bowed in unison, their movements stiff and formal, then turned and vanished in different directions, leaving the survivors alone with their grief.

The sun climbed higher, burning away the last traces of darkness, painting everything in harsh daylight that made the blood and corpses and devastation impossible to ignore.

Damian’s voice broke the silence.

"Come with me to the orphanage... Let’s get you healed first."

****

The orphanage’s private healing room was simple but functional, with medical equipment lining the walls and a large bed in the center currently supporting two patients.

Damian sat on one side, his severed arm laid out beside him, his remaining arm gripping the bedframe for support as Yara’s healing Aura worked its careful magic.

Elizabeth sat on the other side, her one arm still wrapped around Adrian, her face turned toward the wall, her eyes seeing nothing.

Adrian had woken somewhere during the transport, his broken arm splinted and treated by Yara’s skill, but he hadn’t spoken.

He just sat there, his purple eyes dull, his young face showing trauma beyond his years.

For a C rank awakener, everything that had happened was so far beyond his capability that he’d been unconscious from the start and remained so until the end.

The shockwaves alone had kept him down, his body unable to handle the ambient pressure from S rank Domain battles.

Yara worked in focused silence, her Aura reconnecting Damian’s severed arm with precision. She moved between patients methodically, reattaching Elizabeth’s limbs with the same careful technique.

By the time she finished, sweat ran down her face despite the cool air. Even for an S rank healer, this level of precision for this duration was exhausting.

Damian activated his Self-Healing skill without speaking, his own Aura flooding the reattached limbs to accelerate recovery while Yara’s work handled structural repairs.

All the small issues, the minor tears, the countless microdamages from being severed would heal on their own given time and energy.

Vermont stood by the door, his grey face unchanging, his eyes distant.

When Yara approached him with offer of healing, he shook his head.

"I used my life force... It can’t be healed."

His voice was flat and accepting.

Yara’s expression shifted, understanding replacing the offer of help, and she sighed.

S rank awakeners could burn their life force to temporarily gain strength beyond their normal limits, but it was detrimental in ways that couldn’t be reversed.

Their lifespan was reduced significantly, and their foundation became unstable as well.

There were only a few things in existence that could heal life force damage, and none of them were accessible through normal means.

No skill could fix it and no healer could restore it. It was simply gone, burned away in exchange for power.

Vermont looked at Damian and the Unnamed Four, then slowly dropped to his knees, his weathered face showing gratitude that cut through his grief.

"Thank you for saving Mistress."

The words were simple and sincere, carrying weight of a lifetime of service to the Murdock family.

Damian looked at Vermont, his crimson eyes calm.

"You don’t have to thank me... I didn’t do it for you. But... Can you all give me a moment with Elizabeth?"

The words held no cruelty, just simple honesty.