The stone floor broke apart under Evren’s boots.

Huge slabs of black rock cracked and fell into the dark purple pit below. Wind shrieked through the air as heavy debris rained down from the crumbling ceiling.

Twenty feet ahead, the stone ledge where Amber lay tilted hard. Her limp body began to slide right toward the edge of the pit.

"Hold on!" Evren yelled.

He pushed all the strength in his legs into a dead sprint. His boots kicked off a falling slab of rock, and he jumped straight across the fifteen-foot gap.

He reached out his right arm in mid-air.

Just as Amber’s shoulders slipped off the edge, Evren grabbed her by the waist. He yanked her hard against his chest, twisted in the air, and landed heavily on his side on the last piece of solid ground.

The hard landing sent a sharp pain through his bruised ribs, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

But he didn’t let go. He held Amber tightly with one arm, grabbed her two fallen dragon-bone swords with his other hand, and tossed them straight into his Spatial Ring.

CRACK!

The stone ledge beneath them snapped and gave way.

Evren looked up just in time.

Right above the broken altar, where the Level 60 boss had died, a glowing golden portal had torn open in the air.

’There!’

Evren planted his boots on the last chunk of rock, bent his knees, and jumped upward with everything he had.

He shot straight into the air, holding Amber in his arms.

They flew into the golden light just as the whole underground cavern caved in behind them in a massive blast of dark purple dust.

BOOM!

Up on the streets of Sector 4, the purple rift portal vanished with a loud crack of thunder. The dark storm in the sky disappeared, leaving behind only gray dust and the wet city street.

A second later, a bright flash of golden light lit up the pavement, spitting out Evren and Amber.

Evren landed on both feet; his dark coat was ripped and stained with blood, but he was holding Amber safely in his arms.

For a second, the whole street went dead quiet.

Then, the crowd went wild.

"They made it! They’re alive!"

"The S-Rank Rift is closed!"

Dozens of camera flashes went off all at once as news reporters ran over. Behind the police lines, hundreds of rescued people cheered and clapped with huge smiles.

Commander Derrick slammed his fist against his chest armor, rushing over from the barricade. "Chairman! The rift is sealed! Tobias and our logistics trucks just finished getting the last group of civilians to safety!"

"Good job, Derrick," Evren said with a nod. "Amber took a hard blast from the boss and used up all her energy. I need to get her back to the manor right away."

"The command truck is idling right behind the line, sir!" Derrick said, immediately waving his hand toward the black-and-gold armored vehicle parked behind the energy barricade.

A driver had the rear doors wide open. Evren stepped past the line, carefully laid Amber onto the padded rear bench, and climbed in beside her.

"Take us back to Victoria Hill," Evren told the driver.

"Yes, Chairman!" The driver pulled out from the barricade, and the truck tore down the street into the night.

Inside the vehicle, Evren reached into the truck’s wall-mounted first-aid cabinet, pulled out a thick emergency thermal blanket, and draped it gently over Amber’s shoulders.

Evren leaned back into his seat and let out a long breath.

He pulled up his System screen where a simple list waited:

[STAGE 1 PURIFICATION MEDICINE — INGREDIENTS]

- 1x S-Rank Abyssal Shadow-Lotus (Acquired)

- Top-Grade Alchemical Solvents & Mineral Mixers (Needed)

Evren didn’t waste a second. He pulled out his phone and dialed Mikay.

"Chairman!" Mikay answered on the first ring. "I’m watching the live news stream right now. The whole city is talking about you and Vice-Chairman Amber closing the S-Rank rift."

"We’re on our way back to Victoria Hill," Evren said calmly. "Amber took a hard blast from the boss and used up all her energy. Call Dr. Hayes and have him waiting on the front steps with a medical team. Also, let Arthur know to prepare the lower hot springs."

"Right away, Chairman!" Mikay said.

"And one more thing," Evren added. "Contact the Central Apothecary Guild right now. Buy their highest-grade alchemical solvents and mineral catalysts... only their purest, top-tier batch. Have it delivered directly to Imperial Crest Manor within twenty minutes."

"On it, Chairman," Mikay replied without hesitation. "Should I negotiate the pricing?"

"Just have it delivered. Whatever it costs, authorize the wire and charge it directly to my account."

"Understood! Executing the order right now!"

Less than two minutes later, Evren’s phone chimed with a bank debit alert: exactly $5,000,000.00 wired to the Grand Central Apothecary Guild.

Right on cue, a huge golden screen flashed in front of Evren’s eyes:

[DING!]

[MONEY SPENT: $5,000,000.00 USD ON HEALING MEDICINE FOR HEROINE #2 (ZEPHYRA NIGHTSHADE)!]

[REBATE MULTIPLIER... 100x CASHBACK APPLIED!]

[REWARD: +$500,000,000.00 USD SENT TO YOUR APEX VIP BANK ACCOUNT!]

[NEW CASH BALANCE: $1,405,047,542.50 USD]

Evren closed the screen with a small smile. His bank balance was now over 1.4 billion dollars.

Twenty minutes later, the armored truck drove through the big front gates of Imperial Crest Manor.

Butler Arthur and Dr. Hayes were already waiting on the front steps with a medical cart.

Evren carried Amber upstairs to the master bedroom and laid her gently onto the big bed. Dr. Hayes quickly ran his medical scanner over her chest, spine, and mana channels.

The diagnostic tablet beeped green with normal vitals.

"Her internal organs and spine are completely intact," Dr. Hayes said with a sigh of relief. "No broken bones, no internal bleeding, and zero dark mana corruption. Her core is just completely drained of mana from extreme exertion. She’s simply exhausted. With twelve hours of quiet sleep and a hot meal when she wakes up, she’ll make a full recovery."

"Thanks, Doc," Evren said.

As Dr. Hayes walked out, Amber moved a little on the bed. She blinked her eyes open slowly and looked up at him.

"Evren..." she whispered in a tired voice.

"I’m here," Evren said softly, sitting by her side and holding her hand.

Amber looked around the warm room, then saw Evren’s torn coat and the dried blood along his ribs. A warm, tender smile showed on her face.

"We made it home," she said.

"Yeah, we did," Evren smiled back. He pulled the glowing purple lotus from his ring, letting its soft light fill the bedroom. "And I got the medicine for Zephyra."

Amber looked at the glowing flower, her eyes soft with care. "Go heal her, Evren. Don’t make that poor girl suffer in the dark anymore."

Evren leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Get some sleep. I’ll check on you later."

Evren took off his torn trench coat, cleaned up the shallow scratch on his ribs, and headed downstairs.

Down on the lower floor of the manor, the natural hot spring pool was filled with warm, thick steam.

Arthur had already received the Apothecary delivery at the gate and placed the sealed silver containers of top-grade alchemical solvents on the stone table by the water.

Evren walked over and took the glowing Abyssal Shadow-Lotus from his Spatial Ring, setting it beside the solvents. He pulled up his System interface and activated the recipe: ’Synthesize: Stage 1 Purification Elixir.’

A bright circle of golden System light lit up across the table.

The purple lotus dissolved into pure, glowing liquid essence, swirling smoothly together with the clear alchemical solvents. The System light pulled the mixed ingredients together, refining out all the impurities until it settled into a clean crystal vial.

Sitting in the center of the table was the finished Stage 1 Purification Elixir, glowing with a warm silver-purple light.

Across the warm pool, Zephyra was sitting on the stone edge in a simple black silk robe.

Her bare feet were in the warm water, but her shoulders were stiff and tense. Her pale hands lay on her lap, shaking badly from non-stop nerve spasms.

Evren picked up the bottle and walked over, sitting down beside her on the warm marble edge. Zephyra didn’t pull back this time, but she stared nervously at the glowing bottle in his hand.

"What is that?" she asked warily.

"It’s the healing medicine," Evren said calmly. "I went into the Sector 4 Shadow Rift tonight to get the purple lotus for you."

Zephyra’s eyes went wide. "You... went into that S-Rank rift? Just for me?"

"I told you that you weren’t broken anymore," Evren answered simply. "And I don’t break my word."

He popped the cork off the bottle, and a sweet, herbal smell filled the warm air.

Evren held the bottle out to her.

Zephyra reached out with one hand, but her fingers twitched hard the moment they touched the glass. The bottle almost slipped right into the water.

Evren’s hand caught it before it could drop.

He didn’t let go. Instead, he wrapped his warm hand gently over her shaking fingers and helped guide the bottle up to her mouth.

"Take it slow," Evren said quietly. "I’ve got you."

Zephyra looked into Evren’s steady eyes. The cold fear that had been stuck in her chest for months finally melted away.

She opened her lips and drank the warm medicine.

It felt like sweet, warm honey going down her throat.

The second it hit her stomach, a nice, soothing heat spread through her whole body. The medicine rushed down the veins in her arms, right to the damaged, locked-up nerves in her wrists.

HISSSSS!

Thin trails of black smoke started coming off Zephyra’s wrists. The dark poison that had locked her hands in terrible pain for four months began to melt away into the air.

Zephyra gasped, closing her eyes as the burning pain in her forearms completely stopped.

The violent shaking in her fingers slowed down. Then, it stopped completely as the smoke cleared away.

Zephyra opened her eyes and looked down at her hands.

Her fingers were completely still. Her skin was warm and had a healthy color again.

She slowly made a fist, then opened her fingers wide. No shaking. No sudden pain. No numbness.

Her hands were totally steady.

"My hands..." Zephyra whispered. "The shaking... it’s really gone."

Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

[DING!]

[ZEPHYRA NIGHTSHADE — STAGE 1 HEALING COMPLETE (1/4)]

[HEROINE TRUST LEVEL UP: 10% ➔ 20%]

[STAGE 1 REWARD: S-RANK SHADOW-LOTUS MANA VEIN RECOVERY UNLOCKED!]

Zephyra looked up at Evren with tearful eyes. "Evren..." she choked out softly. "I... I don’t even know how to thank you."

Before Evren could say anything, the wooden doors at the top of the stairs pushed open.

Arthur led Mikay down the stone steps. Still in his dark suit, Mikay carried a secure, gold-embossed leather case.

Arthur bowed respectfully. "Chairman Evren, forgive the intrusion. Director Mikay just arrived with an urgent matter."

Mikay stepped forward, slightly out of breath. He opened the case to reveal a glowing holographic tablet stamped with a pure gold imperial crest.

"Boss," Mikay said, catching his breath and bowing his head. "I’m sorry for coming down here so late and not waiting until morning, but this couldn’t wait. An official envoy from the Imperial Capital has just crossed the city gates under heavy military escort. The National S-Rank High Council has issued an emergency imperial summons for you, Chairman Evren Crawford."

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