BTE (60) — The Nightmare Never Ends V (Patreon)

A/N: This chap might undergo edits when it goes public.

Her son cut a striking figure with ripped sleeves and blood-drenched clothes. 

She only managed to properly get a good look at him now, yet it was almost surreal—

“Mother?”

Leandro spotted her, with a bleeding Alfred in her lap. Her clothes were terribly tattered. Yuna, next to her, had a wounded lip and cheeks that had swollen. Both women looked on the verge of crying—from terror, anguish or relief, he didn't know. 

"Leandro!"

Myeong's eyes sparkled like never before. She made to move, to dash over but the Galvathians—they charged towards her instead, knowing she'd obviously make a valuable hostage. Leandro moved between her and them in less than half a millisecond, sword twirling.

Moonblade Style — Horizon.

He slashed the air horizontally.

The blade projected a single crescent arc, encompassed by white-silver lunar energy.

Its shape was simple, the size barely thick enough for it to be visible. But its speed was sub-sonic. It cut through the air. Its existence only lasted a tenth of a second; all it needed to split the Galvathians, and any other obstacle, in its path.

Myeong sucked in her breath. 

The Galvathians fell severed, cut open like butter, in their own puddle of gore. 

Leandro stared apathetically at what he accomplished. These weaker, average aliens posed no problem even with their much larger numbers. Though it was obvious that he couldn’t allow himself to be surrounded, lest something happened to either of the girls. 

His eyes widened slightly, when Myeong ran into his arms, embracing him as tightly as her arms allowed. She didn’t care if blood got on her. As soon as she felt that familiar warmth, tears began welling up. He was here. He was really here.

He could feel her hot tears staining his cheek as she repeatedly kissed his face.

Ah, she couldn’t contain herself—her precious son survived, even found them amidst the chaos. He was okay, no harm came to him.

"Son." Myeong managed between stifling sobs. She hugged Leandro tighter. Her cries shook and trembled along with her embrace, which grew progressively fiercer by the moment. He was the only family she had left now.

Leandro momentarily lifted his Moonlit Edge, while still embracing her. Then he sliced forward. A soft flick of the wrist; he didn't want to potentially hurt or disrupt his mother's moment, after all.

A blade made from silvery light impaled and scorched two more Galvathians who tried sneaking away. Stupid lizards. Leandro kept his mother pressed closely to his chest for a moment longer. She still needed to feel him. "Mother, we can't stay here for long."

She sniffed, begrudgingly pulling away.

She took one last proper look at him.

Yeah. He was so different from the pictures. He was taller, so much taller. His build was firm yet lean. And she could hear it, smell it, even—the fluctuations of power, of strength radiating off of him. 

"Is it safe now, Leandro?"

Hari spoke up, quietly, as she jutted her head out of a nearby women's toilet.

Nari, Bada, and Yuhee followed behind. Yuhee carefully scanned their surroundings for any lurkers. Finding none, she relaxed and whistled upon seeing the blood-drenched tarmac and a ton of dead lizards, the air smelling vaguely of burnt blood. Leandro really outdone himself with these fuckers.

Good. She smiled in approval. She caught Myeong staring at her with a curious expression upon her face. Huh. She kept Leandro at arm's length, her eyes red and puffy. There was a faint resemblance in their countenance. Leandro never really talked about his family.

“Mom!” 

Hari and Nari tumbled into their mother's embrace.

“Hari… Nari… what are you doing here?”

“For you, duh!”

Nari stared at Yuna, a watery smile on her face. 

“We’re here to save you.” Hari said, looking up at her mother with a rabbit-like expression. “Well… Leandro is, to be honest. We haven’t done much.” She chuckled, awkwardly, and in no small part—guiltily. 

Yuna enveloped both of them in a tight hug. She used to be so standoffish, even to her family. Myeong was surprised to see tears dripping past her cheeks, a pained but also thankful smile pulling past her lips.

Yuhee walked over and briefly glanced down at a wounded Alfred, his chest bleeding heavily. Leandro also looked at him, frowning.  

Yuna made to move as well, if anything to check on Alfred. Thankfully, the man was still breathing—but his life was, very clearly, hanging by a thin, fraying thread. 

The butler wheezed.

"Alfred, stay strong!" She was genuinely concerned; no matter how emotionlessly stoic his butler could act around her, he was always a kind person at heart. To see him gurgling, barely breathing, as he slowly bled out, was heart-wrenching. “Stay with me. We’ll get you to—”

“He’ll never make it.” Leandro spoke as he walked up to her and crouched down. Yuna was about to retort when he tore the man’s suit, intending to use the fabric to stabilize his bleeding. Myeong and Yuna were quick on the uptake and helped, gently lifting the butler up so that Leandro could wrap the makeshift bandages around him. 

“He’s bleeding too much…” Myeong said, biting her lip. Her hands were stained. 

Leandro reached into his inventory and pulled a Minor Healing Potion. “Drink this. It won’t heal you, but it’ll make it more… tolerable.” He uncorked the vial and poured it inside Alfred’s open mouth. 

His throat bobbed up and down. It was only a minor potion; it couldn’t do miracles. In fact, he was still pale, but at least his breathing wasn’t as brittle as before. 

It was the best Leandro could do for now. And as much as he respected Alfred’s staunch loyalty even in the face of such a dangerous threat, he’d use his Standard Healing Potion only for real emergencies.

“We need to move. Someone, pick him up. We'll make a detour for a pharmacy to stock up on some supplies.” He calmly said, his gaze surveying around for any remaining Galvathians. 

There wasn’t any, at least nearby, but that didn’t mean their escape would be entirely free. Terrifying sounds echoed from all over the airport. For a bustling airport, there was a glaring lack of activity. Anyone who managed to escape from the first wave of monsters must’ve found a hiding spot. 

Yuhee bent her knees next to Alfred and picked him up in her arms. Yuna helped as well. The butler, still barely conscious, nearly yelped due to the sheer force but immediately schooled his expression as much as possible. Being a Challenger himself, he had a few more points to his physique, which allowed him some stability and sobriety despite the excruciating pain. 

Myeong gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze and a few words of comfort. Then she hastened to catch up to Leandro. They were moving quietly, sticking close to each other, the walls against their backs.

After a few minutes of skulking and promptly finishing off any stray Galvathians that got a bit too close, they reached the pharmacy on Terminal 1. A bunch of shelves were overturned, with gruesomely bitten off corpses littering the area, but at least most of the medicines were intact, still wrapped and in good shape.

Leandro scanned the pharmacy with his Aura to avoid nasty surprises.

There wasn't anything.

The women were quick to rummage through the medicine, searching for anything and everything they could get their hands on. They needed them more than they thought, especially since they didn’t know what would happen from then on.

Alfred was carefully laid down on the floor with his legs elevated. Leandro wasn’t a doctor. His knowledge was only up to basic first aid. In the Monolith, injuries were either treated with potions or magic.

Nari noticed him looking around the area and hurriedly asked. "What are we going to do, Oppa? Do we leave? Is this airport even safe?" She swallowed nervously, looking at all the bodies. She had to promptly look away, the sight alone making her queasy.

Leandro quickly located the switch he was looking for. He flicked it down—outside, the security shutters began to roll down with an echoing rumble, and all the glass windows shuttered with protective grills.

"Safe? Hardly. We do not know how many of them are out there. But this should do for the time being. While they're all distracted, we'll rest here. Use this time to replenish any stamina and energy you spent, and any injuries you sustained. It must have been hard on all of you. Eat as much as you want."

There wasn't anything like a fully-fledged food court within this pharmacy; that didn't mean it was devoid of edible food. They raided the vending machines for a quick snack. Besides, Leandro still had bags of food in his inventory. Staying there for a few days wouldn't be problematic. However, Alfred needed treatment; a lot of it, as his wound was grievous.

"We need to clean Alfred's wound." Yuna said, slowly peeling off her butler's upper garments. The improvised gauze was stained red. He was still in a state of shock, or his scream of pain would be unbearable. Myeong gave Alfred some painkillers first,  keeping the injured man in a blissfully numb state as he lost consciousness.

Yuna proceeded with the disinfection, a pained expression crossing her features as her hands trembled while she cleaned and disinfected his torso. 

Leandro watched the proceedings, leaning against a shelf.

Hari approached him with a chocolate bar in her hands. With a small smile, she offered it to him.

"Thank you."

"Hm-hm." Hari shook her head. She was chewing on her lips while fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Thank you, Leandro. Honestly... I'm scared. I don't know what to do... I feel like a burden... but I'm glad everyone's safe. And it's thanks to you."

When she turned to level him with such passionate and kind eyes, he was reminded once again why he was fighting so hard. She stepped closer, stood on the tip of her toes, and wrapped her arms around him.

He could feel her shuddering against him. She was so small and fragile. Hari nuzzled into him. He returned the hug and petted her hair, stroking them as soothingly as possible. She calmed down quickly.

Leandro quietly breathed in the scent of her hair. It was soft. Hari always smelled good.

"There's no need to thank me, Noona. Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's moving forward despite it. You've done that, and it's more than enough. You're part of the reason why I keep going. All I need is your faith, Noona."

Hari chuckled into his shoulder. Her ears were hot.

Leandro let himself relax into the hug as she gradually pulled away. 

They sat down on the floor, quietly eating. Leandro, naturally, had his senses on full alert, scanning for any disturbances or danger. There weren't any at the moment, which was a bit of a relief, as far as he was concerned.

Well. The only disturbance, if it could be called such, was Nari plopping next to him. "Oppa." She said, softly, and sweetly.

He couldn't help but smile. "Hm?"

"How are you?"

She wasn't even subtle when she latched on to his arm and began playing with his fingers. Her thumb stroked his wrist in small, feather-light circles. "I'm worried."

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw Yuna glancing at them with an indecipherable expression. Then again, hadn't she vehemently rejected the idea of him being with any of her daughters?

Now, both of them were snuggled up to him, seemingly uncaring of who watched. 

Well, with Nari, maybe she was doing it on purpose, knowing that their mother was right there.

He sighed, exasperated.

Nari continued playing with his fingers. Leandro simply let her do as she pleased. It wasn't like it was unpleasant. "I didn't think you were this strong..." She said, chuckling, as if even after witnessing it, she couldn't still believe it. "Seriously... what the hell have you been up to?"

He let his hand wrap around her shoulder, and she smiled brightly in response. She was very close. The small space between them seemed to melt, like it was never there in the first place.

"Just some normal and healthy exercises. Push-ups. Sit-ups. And a 10km run every morning."

Nari snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. "Yeah, right. Totally sounds like the secret to becoming a monster-slaying hero."

Leandro smirked slightly. "Well, I also drink a lot of milk."

She giggled, snuggling closer. "Of course you do. The secret's out now."

"Wait, is it?"

"Yup. I won't ever let it go." She replied with a smile so dazzling, her teeth shone bright white.

"You better keep quiet. My mother is just right there."

Leandro gently pinched Nari's nose, prompting a lighthearted squirm. He grinned when she scrunched up her face in mock-pain.

On his other side, Hari also pasted herself into him, playing with his other hand. It felt nice—comforting, to have her, them, in his arms, snuggled up to him with their sides pressing against each other. She also smiled up at him. "How about me? Do I need to drink more milk?" She said, in an airy, breathless whisper. Her hand slipped up, and began lightly scratching his inner thighs.

He didn't know whether he should feel mortified at this point, with her doing that so publicly. Maybe it was a mistake, yeah. A simple coincidence, maybe, because her hand had to slip up in that exact location just as such easily misunderstandable words left her lips. This was Hari, for fuck’s sake, not Yuhee. 

"Noona, you—" He was about to reply, when Bada's smirking visage appeared in front of them. The coat he had given her was so large that it seemed to swallow her entire frame. 

Her eyes were twinkling with mischievous intent.

"Yes, Hari Unnie, more milk. As much as you can stomach. You can use Leandro as your own personal cow~"

Both of the sisters blinked.

"......"

Yuna, who had been within earshot, nearly killed Alfred by mistake.