Chapter 129: 125. Speedrun Any% I

'Hold onto it, Ryan! You can… do it! Do not... give up… do not, stop… endure… endure… the rescue team… will arrive….'

Underneath the rubble of what was once an apartment bedroom was a man, shouldering the fallen upper floor. His sweat had turned red after meshing with blood; he was tired… hungry… and losing strength with the passing of seconds.

His only source of strength was his wife trapped in the unfortunate accident with him. His forehead had a deep cut, and his right shoulder was already shattered from protecting his beloved. His cracked knees already trembling, but with his gritted teeth, he held on.

Ryan's body could no longer hold on for much longer. It had been 43 minutes since his hell of holding up the debris began.

Temptation plagued him to end his suffering, to free him from the pain and fatigue. Give up, and allow the bony fingers of death to take hold of his heart.

He was tired to even think, his smile was wavering, and his thoughts began to—

Rumble!

"Iya!"

"AHhhhh!"

His wife cried out in fear as Ryan began keeling over. He had long crossed the line of his strength; he was already beyond what he could carry. Bloodshot, his eyes had become, his breathing ragged, and his sanity drawing closer to the edge.

Ryan couldn't give up; her silent whimpers gave him reason to continue. As a father, as a husband, Ryan could not give up for the sake of his family—

Smiling, Ryan just laughed, "Haha, scary... wasn't it… Leah?"

"Ryan…"

"Don't worry… rescue… will come… they will… have hope."

Ryan's wife saw her husband's plight; she had given him all the Mana she had and could hardly do anything but pray. She would have called for help long ago if not for their phones getting destroyed in the earlier chaos.

She put her hands together and closed her eyes, 'Please… help us—'

They prayed, and the next best thing they could do was then… wait—

And so, they waited… and waited… holding onto the hope that someone would come to

"IS ANYBODY HERE! ANSWER ME!"

A voice finally reached them.

"HELP! WE-WE'RE STUCK HERE! PLEASE, HELP! PLEASE! MY HUSBAND! HE—HE CAN'T HOLD ON!"

"THE—THEY'RE REALLY HERE! WE'RE COMING! THE SAINTESS'S WORDS WERE RIGHT!!!"

"HELP US!!!"

Leah could not understand what they were referring to. She did not know if a Hunter from a different Sector called the Saintess was present, but when the bits of light that pierced the gaps of the rubbles widened.

Leah smiled, "Ryan, they're here, just a little mo—"

But as those words were uttered, the last of the rubbles was lifted. Small pillars of earth sprouted from the ground to support the debris and avoid the people trapped inside being trapped, and, at that moment, when all of the tension disappeared, Ryan got the chance to fall.

"Finally…" he whispered as his body fell, limped, on Leah's body. Blood dripped on Leah's shoulder.

Slowly, Ryan's breathing became fainter by the second… Leah grew horrified.

"RYAN! Nonononon! Open your eyes, come on, Dear!! Please, open your eyes—"

He did not respond to her words. Only the tiniest of grunts remained, "PLEASE! HURRY! MY HUSBAND NEEDS TREATMENT QUICKLY!"

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Rumble!

A path finally opened for the rescuers to take, and they saw Leah with her horrified expression as Ryan's body lay limp on her shoulder. The Rescuers' faces warped, their Medic was in another area, yet Ryan needed immediate help.

The Leader of the four present rescuers needed to think of some way.

'Moving him is also dangerous right now.  But, we need to take him to be healed and....' he abruptly turned his attention to the right, "Take everyone out immediately! I'm going to bust the walls open!"

The Leader backed away, allowing the others to pull out Leah and Ryan to safety. The rescuers placed Ryan on the bed next to where they were found. In tears, Leah held Ryan's hands "Don't leave me, Ryan. You promised that you'll never leave me, please, please, please… don't leave me—"

BOOM!

The walls to the bedroom exploded with a single punch! With the opening, the Leader looked around, praying, "Please… be there, please appear, ple—it's there, everyone, get away from the injured!"

The rescuers retreated to the side as golden light shot up to the skies. The light expanded and reached the room that touched Ryan, Leah, and their son. The warmth it brought was not only refreshing but healing as well.

Their wounds slowly closed, and Ryan's breathing normalized. The blood coming out of his body stopped.

The light subsided ten seconds later, and its effects did wonders to Leah. The minor wounds she had disappeared, and though far from being stable, Ryan was now away from death's door. The majority of his bleeding stopped, and if they could bring him to a specialist then, there was a high chance he'll live.

The rescuers strapped Ryan and Leah to Mana Boards, and before leaving, the Leader made sure to mark their location in the WNP (World Network Phone). He had to make sure the others knew that the rescue of his area was complete.

"To the Healing Area! We still have several hundreds of locations to secure in accordance to the Saintess' directions we need to move quickly!"

"Understood!"

Carried by the rescuers, Leah looked in the direction of the light that overtook the night. The light that brought the sun to shame, providing them hope in the midst of the dark.

Curious and thankful, she remembered her prayers, being answered, as though the one who appeared was God herself. She wanted to know, "Who is she?"

"What was that, ma'am?"

"The one you called the Saintess? The one who told you we were trapped in our house, and the one who used that blinding ball of light?"

The Leader of the rescuers smiled. Many had asked the same question in this very same night, all of them curious as to who it was that saved them, and after so much, he would answer them in the way the Saintess told them to, "She is an Apostle of the Goddess Letza, a daemon, by the name of Lilith."

"A daemon?"

"Yes, and she's this Sector's Savior."

===

April 21, 427

02:13 AM

Walking towards the heart of the battlefield, without fear.

Protected by humans, the daemon did not stop.

And as she walked, her every movement was captured in a Livestream.

All across the Sector, many were saved by the light of a daemon. They were in disbelief, but to those who rerecovered and managed to open their WNP, or HNP, or computer, a Livestream was ongoing through the World Network of a nameless survivor.

And in the Livestream, millions gathered to watch, from all corners of the Stronghold, a daemon, giving it her all to provide light to humans.

Thus, marked the date of Lilith's appearance on the world stage… the Saintess was born.