I jumped down from Astracus' body and put distance between us. My strength buff had worn off.
I looked at my RP.
[RP:0]
If something unexpected happened right now, I wouldn't be able to react.
Luckily for me, Astracus' body fumed and the gigantic golden cross shined brightly.
What was it? Some God's weapon?
My screen informed me of my victory.
[- Integrated Trial Of Destiny-
Congratulations on completing the Second Task.
Astracus' Destiny enforced.
Subtask cleared.
Time taken to clear the main task: 1 minute 59 seconds.
The following reward has been granted:
Assistant's system upgrade ×1
Chances to clear Trial Of Destiny increased.
Please await for further information regarding next Task. ]
I collapsed on the ground. I was in a world of hurt. The grey sky became darker the more I looked at it.
My entire body was shaking.
I tried talking to Lianne to distract myself.
'Lianne.'
No reply came.
'Lianne?'
Still no reply.
I tried opening my stat screen.
[System unstable.]
What was going on?
[All backup energy depleted.
Further access is not possible.
System energy replenishment recommended.]
What? What did this mean?
'Lianne? Lianne, can you hear me?'
[Warning! Excessive usage beyond available resources has turned on Hibernation Mode.
System energy replenishment recommended.]
What? Didn't Lianne say she required my energy to survive?
My energy...?
What was my current HP?
I analyzed my body.
"Lianne?", I tried opening my mouth.
My voice was frail. I barely had the strength to stand up. My arms, lower ribs and one of my shoulders were still missing.
I had no RP left. The only way to sustain Lianne now was my HP but I was running low even on that.
It was only then that I realized Autoheal had deactivated at some point when I was slaying Astracus.
"Lianne...who asked you to be so selfless?"
*Cough, cough*
I felt the taste of iron in my mouth.
I had to eat something to reactivate my system as soon as possible. There was no way I could generate RP in my current state without a system.
I quickly looked around. The surroundings were destroyed. All the nearby buildings were wrecked.
I wanted to leave this place but I was scared.
Will I be able to go back properly? What would happen to Lianne if I did? She's my system so she'd naturally come back with me, right? What will happen to this place that got destroyed by our fight? What will happen to Astracus' body? What will happen to my incompletely healed body?
[Warning! System damage imminent. Immediate energy replenishment recommended.]
I entered panic mode. I forced myself to think.
"What should I do? What should I do?"
My head hurt. So did the rest of what remained of me.
"Ah, should I just give up?", all my energy was leaving my body.
I closed my eyes.
Darkness covered me.
I was dying.
A scene flashed by my eyes.
It was a small glimpse of a smile.
Looking at me and gently saying...
I immediately opened my eyes again.
"Flesh of Fallen Angels", I muttered.
It was what I saw back in my nightmare. A hand had come out of the wall and shown me.
I looked at Astracus. Inky vapours were rising from all over his corpse. It looked unholy.
The thought of eating his flesh was ghastly.
I knew it would kill me the moment I put it in my mouth.
The Cross' golden light drew my attention. The places it had cut were burnt. Starting from his abdomen, all the way up to his neck. I could see Astracus' exposed organs. His intestines, liver, lungs...
"That!", my eyes widened.
His heart, which had stopped beating, radiated a bright golden colour.
It emitted a feeling of serenity.
Putting all the pieces together, I concluded the following.
Astracus was once a divine guardian, in other words, a holy being. Something had happened which led to his downfall and corruption. Thus, Lianne had called him a 'fallen angel'.
[Warning! System damage imminent. Immediate energy replenishment recommended.
Delay in reactivation will initiate forced shutdown.]
Guess I knew what I had to do next.
I mustered all my strength and stood up.
After walking a few paces, I fell down again.
Not letting my disability stop me, I crawled like a worm towards Astracus.
The smell of the dead body was pungent. I felt like puking when I approached his rotten carcass.
Standing on the border of cannibalism, I raised my body.
I looked at my meal. It looked ready for me to swallow it whole.
I slowly pushed my mouth close, making sure not to breathe in any type of odour.
"Here goes nothing!"
I bit into it and took huge bites.The texture of the muscle felt soft and leathery. The blood vessels felt squishy inside my mouth. Physiological disgust took over me and I wanted to throw up but I held myself back.
The heart was big like a bucket but so was my appetite. I hadn't eaten anything since I arrived here.
My brain did not enjoy my raw meat eating session but my gut knew that this was the best thing I could have right now.
Maybe I didn't need my skill and just following my insitincts was a better choice?
It took me over 5 minutes to gobble it up. If this were the real world, the whole of it would never have fit inside my stomach.
I immediately felt re-energized.
[System function restored.]
[Autoheal activated]
I was still in pain, but I no longer felt any danger.
'Ray...?'
Lianne had awoken.
'From the next time', I told her, 'tell me when the petrol needs to be refilled'.