Chapter 55 – After The Impact
The fighting didn’t stop immediately after the Tyrant fell, but it changed.
What had been pressure turned into cleanup, the remaining creatures breaking apart instead of pushing forward as a unified force, their movements losing the same intensity that had carried them through the last wave.
The line held.
Not because it was strong, but because it didn’t need to do more than finish what was left.
Jack barely registered most of it.
He was still standing where the Tyrant had fallen, his grip on the scythe loosening slightly as the adrenaline that had carried him through the fight started to fade, leaving behind something far less manageable.
Pain.
Not sharp anymore.
Heavy.
His breathing didn’t settle.
It stayed uneven, shallow in a way that told him something wasn’t right, even without the system confirming it. Every inhale felt restricted, like his body was working around damage instead of through it.
Too much blood.
He tried to take a step.
Managed one.
Then the second failed halfway through, his balance slipping just enough that he had to catch himself to avoid falling outright.
The battlefield came back into focus slowly.
The Sisters were still fighting, but the movement had changed. Less urgency, more control, fewer mistakes. Hanna was moving through them, not correcting as much anymore, just directing where needed.
They had it.
Jack exhaled carefully.
That was enough.
He didn’t need to stay at the front.
That realization came just a moment too late.
His vision shifted.
Not black.
Just… unfocused.
Then his knees gave out.
He didn’t hit the ground.
Someone caught him before that.
“Got him,” Hanna said, her voice closer than expected.
Jack didn’t try to push her off.
Didn’t have the strength for it anyway.
“Still with me?” she asked.
He nodded slightly.
That was enough to answer.
Hanna adjusted her grip, supporting more of his weight than she should have needed to.
“…You look worse up close,” she said.
“Noted,” Jack replied, though it came out quieter than intended.
“Yeah,” she said. “Try not to bleed out before we fix that.”
Behind them, the last of the fighting ended.
No cheering.
No shouting.
Just a gradual shift as movement slowed and people realized they weren’t under immediate threat anymore.
Adelaide reached them quickly.
“Set him down,” she said.
Hanna didn’t argue.
Jack was lowered carefully onto the ground near the mid-zone, though it didn’t stay that way for long.
“No, not here,” Adelaide said, already assessing. “Move him closer to the Cathedral.”
Hanna adjusted again, lifting him without hesitation.
“…You’re getting carried a lot today,” she muttered.
Jack didn’t respond.
He was focusing on staying conscious.
They reached the inner area quickly.
Adelaide was already moving before they stopped.
“Lay him down.”
Hanna did.
Adelaide’s hands were steady as she checked the damage, her expression unchanged even as she worked through it.
“Ribs,” she said quietly. “At least one break. Possibly more.”
Jack let out a slow breath.
That tracked.
“Internal?” Hanna asked.
“Probably,” Adelaide said. “We’ll find out if he stops breathing.”
“…That’s reassuring.”
“It’s accurate.”
Jack almost laughed.
Didn’t.
Adelaide continued working, pressing carefully along his side before adjusting the way he was positioned.
“Don’t move unless you have to,” she said.
“Not planning to,” Jack replied.
“Good.”
Around them, the rest of Sanguina was shifting again.
The injured were being brought in, some walking, others supported, but no one panicking, no one breaking down. The system Hanna and Adelaide had built during the fight was still holding, even now that the pressure had dropped.
Jack’s sister was nearby, assisting without needing to be told, handing over cloth, adjusting wraps, doing what Adelaide needed without interrupting her flow.
Good.
Hanna stayed where she was, not moving back to the line immediately.
“They held,” she said after a moment.
Jack nodded slightly.
“They did.”
A short pause.
“They’re not the same as before,” she added.
That was true.
They weren’t.
The way they had moved at the end of the fight had been different, less reactive, more controlled, fewer wasted movements, fewer mistakes that needed correcting.
They had learned.
Fast enough.
Hanna glanced down at him briefly.
“…That thing hit you hard.”
Jack exhaled slowly.
“Yeah.”
“Thought it had you for a second.”
“So did I.”
That got a small reaction out of her.
Not quite a smile.
But close.
She looked back toward the outer area.
“They saw it,” she said.
Jack didn’t ask what she meant.
He already knew.
The way he had fought.
The way he had taken that hit and kept moving.
The way he had finished it.
That changed things.
Not in a loud way.
But enough.
Adelaide tightened the wrap around his torso carefully.
“This will hold for now,” she said. “You’re not moving for a while.”
Jack didn’t argue.
“Define a while,” he asked instead.
Adelaide glanced at him briefly.
“Longer than you want.”
That sounded about right.
Jack leaned back slightly, letting the pressure of the Cathedral’s effect settle over him as his breathing slowly stabilized, the edge of the pain dulling just enough to make it manageable.
The system stirred at the edge of his awareness.
He didn’t open it.
Not yet.
For now, it was enough that Sanguina was still standing, and that everyone inside it was still moving.