Liam sighed in relief at this sight. They both had made it. He was now free to collapse. He closed his eyes, but he did not collapse just yet. He slowly inched back to enter the perimeter of the magic shop fully. Especially with the predator standing in front of him and eyeing him with hatred, he did not want to take his chance with just his single finger being inside the boundary. "You are lucky, Mr. Liam." A voice from inside the magic shop sounded. Liam saw the store manager standing at the doorstep of the magic shop and observing everything. The fairy observed the ison hive queen, who was outside the barrier, and Liam and Luna, who were inside it and chuckled in amusement at the disparity between both the parties. "You really got lucky today." The fairy shook his head and laughed as if he was enjoying some sort of show. Liam did not respond. Luck? Only he knew that this had nothing to do with luck. His entire body was writhing in pain from top to bottom as he tried to squeeze dry a husk that was already squeezed to its limits. They had fought tooth and nail to arrive here. A single misstep could have resulted in their instant deaths. So how could this be luck? Liam did not have the strength nor the intent to explain this to the fairy who was ridiculing him from inside the shop. He only had enough strength to take another sip out of the canister as he tried to ease his pain somewhat and regain his body function. His gaze then shifted to the hive queen, who was still standing rooted in front of the shop as if she had no intention of leaving. Liam gave a rueful smile at the ison. "So there were always two queens, huh?" He let out a sigh and tried to recover a little. He also fed Luna some water so that the fox would feel better. The two of them lay at the doorstep of the shop for a few minutes before they finally stood up. Liam looked one last time at the ison and stepped inside to use the teleportation portal. He was still dead inside and out and would have liked to rest a little bit more, but one could never tell when the fairy would kick them out. Even if the rules of the shop did not allow them to, sometimes these vicious creatures would somehow find a way. He would only be foolish to trust a fairy after all of this. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 So he did not take any chances and dragged himself and Luna into the shop the second he could gather some energy. He went straight into the teleportation portal room and selected the guild base as the destination. A warm glow enveloped the both of them as they found themselves in the familiar decor of the magic shop that was near their home base. Liam tumbled out of the teleportation room, heaving and panting. He was still in pain as his body, soul, and mind were currently being mended and regenerated. But he managed to drag himself all the way to the main hall of the magic shop, where a redhead stood transfixed with her eyes glued onto him. The store manager Tilia rushed to Liam's aid, but Alex was faster. She reached him first and held him tightly. She saw the condition he was in and the way Luna was sprawled lifelessly on the ground next to him. Her heart shuddered. "Where did you go? What did you do?" Tears dripped from her usually feisty eyes as she held the fox close to her chest and supported Liam by putting his arm around her. She then slowly brought them out. Without putting them under extra stress, she barged into one of the renovated buildings right next to the magic shop and helped Liam and the fox rest on a clean bed. Alex then tiredly slumped on the side, her eyes fixated on the man in front of her. The person who always appeared invincible in front of them was lying today, just one step away from death. His entire body was bathed in blood and mangled in various places. The flesh had peeled away, bones were sticking out. His breathing was haggard and uneven, and his eyebrows were creased in pain even though he was only barely conscious. Just what had happened to push him so much? Alex then suddenly realized something. "I am so stupid." She scolded herself. In shock, she almost forgot the healing skill she had learned recently. She quickly snapped out of it, wiped her tears, and knelt by the bed. She then slowly and patiently cast her healing skill, again and again, all over Liam's body from top to bottom. Ever so often, he groaned in pain, but Alex patted him gently and continued healing. If someone else from the guild saw her at that moment, they would be stunned silly. No one would believe that their fearless guild vice-leader could even display a face like this. Alex tried her best, but the injuries that she could heal currently were the most superficial. This was simply not enough. She saw that Liam was hurt so much more deeply than that. She clenched her fists in embarrassment. This person was working so hard for her, for the guild, for everyone and yet she was still standing in the same spot. She closed her eyes and focussed, and then summoning every single divine energy strand that she could assess, she placed her hand on his chest. This was [Healing Touch], a better healing skill. She knew about it from the game. She had personally never used it as she was a paladin, but she had seen Mia use it a lot of times inside the game. However, seeing it was different than actually executing it. She had previously tried using this same skill several times after learning the healing skill book, but every time she had failed. "Please let me succeed this time." Alex wanted to get this right badly. She placed her hands gently on Liam's chest and bit her lips, willing with all of her mind for this to work. And to her surprise… Almost immediately, a wave of nourishing energy swept across Liam's body. Alex gasped, parting her lips in shock. It really worked! "It worked!" She grinned wildly as she used the faster healing skill to heal the person in front of her once again. With this, she could physically feel some of his wounds recovering at a visibly faster pace. In her excitement, she started mass-spamming the skill everywhere, soon making herself breathless. But Alex did not regret it. She could finally see the man's eyebrows relax. Was he feeling better now? She stared at him for a bit, lost in her thoughts, and in an impulse, she leaned forward, bringing her face close to his. She then hesitated for a moment before pecking lightly on Liam's lips. *** Mass Release Chapter 4~ Please thank JSwizz for sponsoring this mass release!