The second female lead Dual Cultivates

'Please keep Maria busy so that she could not do something stupid. We'll somehow take care of the node' Samuel clutched the note tighter in his hand as he ran after Maria.

'Those stupid people are overestimating me. Just what can I do against someone like her?' Samuel winched as Maria blew away another boulder being aimed their way due to the battle going in before their eyes.

It was incredible and well worth the name befitting a guardian. Daniel was holding well against the invader and Samuel could not be prouder of him. This battle made him realize just how much of a difference there was between him and his brother.

"Listen. Follow me so that we can retrieve the node. You need to take it to Nao and Suna. I'll stall Rucci" Maria suggested as she quickly took in the changing state of the battle.

The initial plan had been to force the ceremony right in the middle of the battle but it was no longer an option for them. The battle would make their magic unstable and cause irreplaceable harm to the node.

"Alright" Samuel agreed without much of a fight. He had realized the graveness of the situation as well. This was a fight that would determine the end of their world so they could not afford to sit back and relax like that.

Unfortunately for them, Rocci chose the moment they exited to scout their way and spot them. Maria managed to block the incoming attack but not without compromise.

"Don't stop on my account. Take the node" Maria cried as she held the attacking chimera in her chains. She could not allow the creature to move because its target had been the node. But her chains shook, worth the effort it took to contain the chimera.

Daniel attacked Rucci as well and it finally connected dead on. Maria let her chains go just in time for the attack to connect. However, the chimera was still conscious and well enough to fight. The skin on her body was just too tough to fight against by normal means.

Samuel did not waste even a single second during the exchange and picked up the bloody node. He had to fight his gag reflex to not hurl his breakfast out due to all the blood but he held on somehow.

"I'll be going ahead" he called out but got no reply in response. The other two had their entire focus on the adversary in front of them. But Samuel had a job to do and as the only one left in his clan, he had to see the task is finished.

Samuel felt the attack some behind his back but he did not turn away to face it. He would not allow the enemy this luxury and he also respected his friends to be able to protect his unguarded back at all costs.

And just as he had believed, the attack never made it to him because Maria stopped it right in its tracks. Daniel also stood as a shield between himself and his attackers. It would have been a touching moment for sure, had Samuel turned back to look at it.

But all he did was run and focus on getting the node back to the other half of the party. Nao and Suna were trying to achieve impossible things and Samuel wanted to be a part of it.

The earth around him quaked and Samuel could start to feel the breakage build up in the core. It was the feeling of decay and damage all around him that was beginning to affect the world plate above them.

"Here. Bring it here" Suna called as she waved her hand toward him. She looked like she had been through a wringer and Samuel felt bad about everything that was happening.

"Is it alright? I feel guilty about not telling your companion anything" Samuel asked as he gently put the node down. While he did agree that the actions that were about to take place were necessary, it did not mean he agreed with them.

If someday his brother tried to pull this shit, Samuel would have killed him. Or at least tried to. Maybe the pair in front of him was afraid of that as well. Maybe they were doing it to protect themselves as well.

"Maria will be alright. She's stronger than you think she is. Besides, I'm more worried about ourselves. We already know that one of us won't make it out alive but the other one might also not make it with their mind intact" Nao explained with a pained expression.

And Samuel did understand why that was. It was not easy to maintain the kind of magical pressure needed to treat the node so there were bound to relapse. The whole thing was not even guaranteed to work in the first place.

It was a big gamble on their part and Samuel felt himself gulp in nervousness. The anticipation was killing him but the necessary arrangements had already been made. Now it was all left up to them to complete it.

"Tell me what you need me to do. You know the sequence, right? Guide me through it" Nao asked and Samuel could not deny the convection in her eyes. She was ready to die for something she believed in.

"Transfer your magic here and-" so Samuel repeated the words his ancestors had left for him. It was supposed to be his younger brother who did this in case of emergency but things had changed. Samuel felt his stomach roll at the gratitude he felt at the turn of events.

This might have just spared his brother's life at the cost of two others but Samuel could not help but thank god for it.

Magic flowed into the node and it finally started to respond again. The broken veins were beginning to heal between the prayers and the magic which meant it was time for the final step.

"I'll take it from here. You both lure the zombies into the pit" it was time for the sacrifice. The amount of life force needed to correct it would be massive but Samuel had a feeling that things would turn out to be alright. He had faith in his community's lifeforce to not let him down.

They would get over this obstacle. And the zombies arriving at the right time reinforced his belief. They just needed to play it outright and it would be all over.

"Lookout" Samuel felt a shove and then a bleeding body over his own.

Suna had shielded him at the cost of her own life and her head bleed from the cut she had received.