The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 492: Land or Water ? Part - 4

[In the Middle of the Ocean, Unknown Planet – Lumi's POV]

Even before Lumi could fully grasp the weight of the situation, before her scream of terror could subside, she saw something that made her eyes widen in horror.

Reize pulled herself through the bloody sword, liters of blood gushing uncontrollably from her wound. With a loud, primal scream, she launched the laser cube again, blasting the other knight's brains all over the metal ship.

Reize collapsed alongside the dead knight, falling to the ground. Lumi immediately rushed toward her, taking her head into her lap. Her vision was blurred by tears, and she was still crying, her mouth unable to stop screaming. Only when she felt Elias's hand press firmly on her shoulder did she regain some sense of reality. She forced herself to stop screaming and wiped her eyes.

"Quickly! The potion! The highest-tier healing potion you have!" Elias shouted.

Lumi nodded hastily. She pulled out the high-grade healing potions that Maximus had given all of them free of cost and immediately pressed one to Reize's lips. Reize drank more than half, but there was no response.

A portion of her wound closed—but not fully. Lumi quickly gave her another potion and immediately tore open her skirt to try to stop the bleeding. Reize had lost a lot of blood. It was hard to say if she had enough strength left to recover.

"Let's take her into their room," Elias said.

"Yes," Lumi answered, looking worriedly at Reize's unmoving body.

They carefully lifted Reize and placed her inside the room she shared with Maximus. Elias also laid Toph beside her; he was still unconscious. The flames on his tail seemed much weaker. He hadn't taken any damage.. So what was happening to him?

Elias held Lumi in his arms and pulled her out of the room. Ignoring the bloodstained seating compartment, he guided her into the control room and sat her down. Then, he took a seat beside her.

"It's fine. Maximus's potions are powerful. They'll work," Elias reassured her.

Lumi just nodded. After a minute of silence, she said, "She saved us.. She sacrificed herself to save us."

"I know," Elias replied simply.

"And we bound her and took her things.."

"It was the right thing to do."

"Will Maximus ever forgive us if we lose her?" Lumi asked.

This time, Elias had no response. He looked away.

Suddenly, the whole Dreamlight screeched, and the ship lurched, falling lower into the water. Lumi and Elias exchanged tense glances before, without a word, rushing back to the seating compartment.

Water was leaking into the ship through the gaps in the entrance door. The generator room and the corridor leading to it were already flooded past their ankles.

"We're sinking faster," Lumi said.

"We have to do something," Elias replied. "Should we abandon the Dreamlight and try to stay afloat on something else?"

"Let's check the spatial storages of those guys first—maybe we'll find something useful," Lumi suggested.

They hurried back to the bloodstained room. Trying her best to ignore the grotesque corpses, Lumi grabbed the spatial storage from the beastmen while Elias took one from the other knight. They left the room and returned to the control room.

"Nothing. Just weapons, potions, and money," Lumi said.

"Same here," Elias replied.

Out of options and growing more anxious, they both returned to the room where Reize was resting and sat near the bed. Watching her and Toph in silence, while trying hard to think of a way out of this situation.

Then, suddenly, Reize groaned.

The relief that washed over Lumi was indescribable—it was as if a crushing weight had finally lifted from her shoulders.

"Reize..? Reize, can you hear us?" Lumi asked, holding her hand.

Reize murmured something unintelligible, her eyes still closed. Lumi leaned in closer, trying to hear her.

Finally, she caught the faint words:

"Use El for generat…"

Before Lumi or Elias could make sense of it, Reize fell unconscious again.

They stared at each other.

"What did she say?" Elias asked.

"She said to use you for the generator.. but that doesn't make any sense," Lumi answered.

"Use me.. Does she mean I can power the Dreamlight with my mana?"

"No, it takes a lot of mana to fly. That can't be it.." Lumi murmured. "Only Maximus and Reize can use mana generators.. Is she saying there's a way we can use it too?"

"Let's check."

Lumi nodded, and they rushed back to the generator room. The water level had risen to their knees. Two generators were completely destroyed—only one remained intact. Lumi had no idea whether it belonged to Maximus or Reize.

They quickly transferred all the remaining mana liquid into a separate steel container. Maximus had warned them that mixing different mana sources was a bad idea. They had done this process before while cleaning the storage drums, so they worked swiftly. Once finished, they returned to the control room.

"You try it," Elias said.

"I can't expel aura. You know that," Lumi replied.

"Ah, right.. Mine isn't that strong either. And I don't understand how the Dreamlight works.." Elias admitted.

"Don't worry," Lumi reassured him. "Just do as I say—I paid full attention when Maximus explained it."

She flipped a few switches to send materials into the generator, then watched with bated breath as Elias took Maximus's seat. He pressed his hand to the lever, attempting to channel his aura.

For several long minutes, neither of them could tell if anything had changed. Then, at last, the indicator showing the liquid mana level in the storage containers began to rise—though only to the bare minimum.

"It works!" Lumi exclaimed.

"But how?" Elias asked, confused. "All of Maximus's things are locked to his use only.. This shouldn't be possible."

"Reize said your name," Lumi murmured. "She knew you could do it. If it's still locked but somehow working for you, that means.."

"What does it mean?" Elias asked impatiently.

Lumi just looked at him and asked, "Do you, by any chance, know the name Damian?"

Elias's eyes widened in shock. Lumi could see the raw surprise on his face. But after a moment, his expression darkened. He shook his head and said, "He was one of my brothers.. The Goldilocks killed him. Why are you asking? How do you know that name?"

"Uhm. I overheard Reize call Maximus by that name once," Lumi answered.

At that moment, realization dawned on both of them.

>.>