Ellianor held his head, as he looked at the end of the room where a beautiful woman rested against a machine that looked like a stasis tube. Her face was peaceful and without any sign of corruption.
Two swords rested by her side, as she was peacefully asleep, unaware of the horrors unfolding beyond that room, and coming their way.
Ellianor's head continued to pound, the pain almost unbearable, as if needles pocked his brain from all sides.
"Agh." Ellianor stumbled towards her. The stasis tube she was on had no protection. With a touch of a hand, Ellianor felt a shock course through his whole brain, body, and something more, so removed from normal conventions and sensations that it was impossible to properly describe.
A shock so deep that it runs through all of his memories, his life flashing before his eyes., From his early childhood to the death of his parents, his aunt, and his crap wage slaving work.
Then, the images of a red star, a burning red star, and encroaching darkness ran through his head, the form of an angel flying amidst the infinite sea of the void, the form of a white-scaled devil, and much more started to fry his brain.
The images of wars, of the death of stars and planets, seas of blood flooding moons and celestial bodies, and knowledge so advanced that his mind couldn't handle it.
It was an overflow worse than the one he was having moments ago.,
So far worse it drowned the pain he had previously. It was like the nails stopped, swapped to sledgehammers smashing through his head.
It was worse than he thought it could be. His hand forcefully removed itself from her body, the overbearing pain cracking his skull.
Yet, a hand grabbed him and pulled him, his sword dropped to the ground, and it pierced the floor to stand up as he was pulled.
"It is quite rude to touch a girl while she sleeps." The girl in the stasis had woken up.
Cherry red eyes scanned the room, and then his, black hair with vibrant red insides fluttered even without an airflow.
She slowly walked away from the stasis, her grasp over Ellianor's hand unwavering and tight like a death grip.
Ellianor's head continued to pulsate as his mind tried to process what he should do before the woman with an impossibly strong grip over his hand.
It didn't hurt, but it was far more than her body type would suggest.
"Sorry about… the scare. I was startled." She dropped his hand, and retrieved the twin blades on the sides of the stasis tube, holding it as if it were natural.
"Hm." She turned around, her head gazing at him as Ellianor kept a hand over his head, dealing with the pain.
"Are you… alright? I hope I didn't startle you with my words, I was joking I… don't remember where the jokes come from, but I thought it would be funny…" The woman's face turned into one of worry.
Ellianor shook his head, regretting it soon after as the pain only worsened. "Don't… worry, I just have a killer headache… I was sent here to… help you, I guess."
The voice hadn't been direct in its intentions.
Only that it wanted the woman rescued, and for him to help protect her. Auriel retrieved testament from the ground, the dizziness and pain slowly vanishing. "Do you need help? I can carry you until we are safe."
She was quick to understand the problem they were in, masterfully assessing that they were in some kind of trouble, or dangerous situation over how Elianor went for his sword immediately.
Ellianor grimaced, it didn't feel right for him to be helped by a girl who just awoke from stasis, or something like that. He had some pride left before he wielded or admitted defeat or the need for help.
"Don't worry, I can handle things. Focus on your safety…" Ellianor knew it was redundant to ask for the safety of the woman who immediately went for the twin blades beside her, but he wanted to play the part.
At least for now. A shake reverberated through the room, as the noises of monsters, horrid gurgling noises came from the corridor, their telltale to get out of there.
"Alright, I got your back." Ellianor nodded, and walked out of the room, trying to shake off the pain in his head as soon as possible, not to slow her down or be left behind.
[KISSENN HAS ENTERED YOUR PARTY. PERMANENTLY]
The system, not the voice, talked to him.
"This is too slow. Pardon me, but I will help you anyway." She moved to his side, sheathing one of her twin blades in a mysterious sheath that appeared out of thin air.
She grabbed one of his shoulders and helped Ellianor stand up straight. "Alright, let's go!" She sprinted forward, and the black-haired man tried to keep the same pace as her.
His head throbbed with each step, but he couldn't complain as the noises of spreading corruption and monsters echoed from behind them. "Now, Kissenn… do you know where we need to go?"
A new direction was highlighted on his minimap. "The corridor is straight! There aren't many places where we can go!"
She answered immediately, uncaring about how he knew her name.
Ellianor stared at the map. "Alright! Let's move to the left! It is telling us to go there!"
While his brain had not yet recovered from the overstimulation it had experienced, now wasn't the time to whine and make excuses.
"PRIMAL CORRUPTION HAS BEEN DETECTED! CLOSING UP FACILITY! CLOSING UP FACILITY!"
A mechanical voice screamed on the speakers, as the path behind them started to be closed by gates, cutting up any avenue or chance to backtrack, as they were forced to hasten their paces to avoid being locked up by one of the metallic gates.
"I can run on my own! This way we will be faster!" Ellianor broke from Kissenn, adjusting his position and sword as they ran, the woman nodded, and they forced their path forward to outrun the gates, and the corruption.