Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece
Chapter 182: The One Who Started It All [6]

Chapter 182: The One Who Started It All [6]

[Seraphina’s POV]

Seraphina’s breath hitched as she watched the man in the black coat leap through the shattered window. His long coat flaring behind him like wings.

The hooded figure chased after him. Vanishing into the night like a shadow.

But she didn’t have time to worry about them.

Her eyes snapped back to Kyle.

The dome of darkness that had been shielding him faded, melting into the air like smoke.

He was kneeling on the floor. His hands braced against the broken tiles. His shoulders were shaking.

His white hair stuck to his forehead, damp with sweat.

He looked pale. Too pale.

"Kyle—"

Seraphina rushed to him, dropping to her knees. Her hands gripped his shoulders. His skin was ice-cold.

Her stomach sank.

His eyes fluttered open for half a second, unfocused. Then. Like a puppet with its strings cut, his body slumped forward.

She caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Kyle!" Her voice cracked with panic. She shook him gently, trying to wake him up. "Come on, say something."

No response.

His chest was rising and falling, but it was faint and shallow. Each breath looked like a struggle.

She pushed aside her fear and placed her glowing hands on his chest. A soft green light spread from her palms, sinking into his body.

Her mana moved through him, checking for wounds, damage. Anything that would explain this state.

She found it quickly.

’Severe mana exhaustion. His core was almost empty.’

Worse, his life force had been drained. Not fully, but enough to leave him on the edge.

Her heart pounded faster.

Without hesitating. She reached into her dimension ring and pulled out a small vial. It was deep green. The liquid inside swirling softly with light.

A high-grade recovery potion.

She popped the cork with her teeth and leaned in.

"Drink," she whispered, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

Carefully, she tilted the vial against his lips. The liquid glowed as it passed into his mouth, sliding down his throat.

It only took a moment to start working. His breathing steadied a little. His pulse grew stronger under her fingers.

But he didn’t open his eyes.

The floor around them was a mess.

Broken tiles, scorched walls, glass everywhere.

The hallway outside was full of smoke and ash. The hospital’s tenth floor was destroyed.

She had no idea where the guards were. Probably taken out before the attack. Or they ran when explosion started.

Didn’t matter.

She slid one arm under his knees. The other around his back, and lifted him up. He was lighter than he looked. His body pressed against her chest, limp and still.

That scared her more than anything else.

She had already called Vice Principal Seris the moment the explosion went off. Help was on the way. But she couldn’t sit here and wait.

She ran.

Her boots hit the floor hard, dodging shattered debris and cracked walls.

The emergency lights flickered overhead. Casting the world in a cold red glow. Elevators were useless now. So she sprinted to the stairwell.

She took the stairs fast and smooth, careful not to jolt him. Step after step, her arms held tight around him.

Why did she leave him?

The thought came like a dagger in her chest.

She had chased after the man in black. She thought he was the biggest threat. She thought Kyle was safe. She had been wrong.

She should’ve stayed.

She should’ve protected him.

Her pace didn’t slow. The stairwell echoed with her footsteps and the soft sound of Kyle’s uneven breaths. Every step made her grip him tighter.

When she reached the ground floor, she kicked the door open.

Chaos. Patients shouting, nurses rushing, injured people on stretchers. Smoke still lingered in the air. Sirens screamed somewhere outside.

A medic in white stood near the entrance, yelling orders.

Seraphina made a beeline straight for him.

"He needs help," she said sharply.

The medic turned and froze when he saw Kyle.

"Over here!" he barked. He pointed to a nearby stretcher.

Seraphina laid Kyle down gently, brushing hair from his face one last time before pulling her hands away.

The medic was already working. Placing glowing hands on Kyle’s wrist, his chest, his forehead.

The diagnostic spell lit up blue. Then red.

"Severe mana depletion," he muttered. "His life force’s been drained too. Not completely. But he’s dangerously low."

Seraphina’s hands curled into fists.

"Will he be okay?"

The medic hesitated. "The potion you gave him helped. It bought us time. But he needs specialized care. We are moving him to the intensive wing."

She nodded once, tightly.

The orderlies rushed in with the stretcher. Wheeling Kyle through a side door. She didn’t move.

Her eyes stayed locked on him until the doors shut behind him.

Only then did she breathe.

She looked down at her hands, blinking.

Her hands were trembling.

She clenched them into fists, forcing herself to stop.

’He’s okay,’ she reassured herself.

———

[Ground Floor – Eldermere Hospital]

Seris Voidcrest lowered her hands slowly. The last traces of magic fading from her fingertips. The golden glow in her eyes dimmed.

The ground around her was cracked and scorched, still warm from the burst of spatial energy she had unleashed.

But the target was gone.

He escaped.

Her jaw tightened as she scanned the area. Her senses reaching out for any lingering trace of the portal.

But whatever magic had been used. It wasn’t like hers. It wasn’t even normal spatial magic.

’An Ability.’

And then there was the hooded figure.

Seris turned her head slightly. Her gaze sweeping across the fractured pavement, broken railings, and shattered glass of the hospital entrance.

There had been someone else here. Someone who had stepped into the fight. Not to join it. But to stop it.

To protect Kyle.

But they had vanished too. No trace of their mana remained. It was as if they had slipped between the seams of reality. Like smoke fading into darkness.

Seris clenched her gloved hands at her sides.

That mana presence of that hooded figure... it was familiar.

But she couldn’t place it exactly. It felt like something.

Someone... she knew.

The distant sound of sirens began to rise, slow at first. Then louder as it neared. Police. Emergency teams. Cleanup squads.

They would arrive in seconds.

She didn’t have time to stand here staring at the ruins.

With a quiet breath. Seris turned and walked away from the wreckage, her coat trailing lightly behind her in the wind.

Her boots tapped softly against the pavement.

She had failed to capture the man in black.

But this wasn’t over.

There were too many unknowns. Too many pieces that didn’t fit.

———

[Intensive Care Wing – Room 304]

The room was quiet.

The only sounds were the steady rhythm of the heart monitor and the soft hiss of oxygen flowing through the tube beside the bed.

Kyle lay still. His chest rising and falling in a slow, calm rhythm.

His face had regained some color, though the shadows under his eyes were still dark.

By his side sat Seraphina.

She hadn’t moved from that chair in hours.

Arms crossed. Legs tucked to the side. Her pink hair fell loosely around her face. Her eyes didn’t leave Kyle’s for a second.

She had barely spoken since the battle ended.

Then,

The door opened with a soft creak. Seraphina didn’t turn.

She already knew who it was.

Seris stepped into the room. Her coat brushing the edge of the doorframe.

She took one look at Kyle, then at Seraphina.

Neither woman said anything for a long moment.

Finally, Seris closed the door behind her. The click of the latch the only sound in the room.

Her voice was quiet. Low and Steady.

"Tell me everything."

Seraphina did.

———