In This Rebirth, The Male Lead Is Mine [BL]

The first few hours could only rely on Thalia. Rise sighed deeply and let Thalia take him to the rooftop of a building. The angry crowd could only look at them helplessly, some wanting to enter the establishment, but they were stopped by the peculiar vines that Thalia unleashed.

They were not in their right minds, and so some still tried to destroy the vines, which was close to impossible unless they were at least A-rank espers.

Thalia and Rise did not talk, words were unnecessary in their situation. With just one glance, they already knew what to do. Rise sat and closed his eyes, trying to accelerate his recovery.

Thalia stood by his side, looking down at the vast crowd and waiting for the espers to arrive and besiege them.

With a deep breath, Thalia’s gaze darkened. She looked into the distance where a huge mana concentration was fast approaching.

’Come... and die.’

Thalia’s whole demeanor directly changed. It was like she had become a different person. The dangerous aura in her body rose, and the vines quickly rose, like serpents ready to devour anyone who came close.

In no time, the enraged espers finally arrived. Their gazes were furious, as though facing the world’s number one enemy. Or perhaps they were.

Their gazes did not see any reason, only Rise and Thalia. The sky darkened even further, a sign of a calamity about to descend.

The two sides stared at each other, and the fight began.

At the same time, Rise was trying to ignore the fight and calm himself for his recovery. However, how could it be so simply done?

While he knew Thalia’s prowess as an S-rank, her mana was, after all, limited. Facing too many espers, she might still fall short in the end.

He did not know how many minutes, or maybe an hour, had already passed since the fight started. Rise could feel the chaotic mana around and the deep malice coiling around their location.

Rise was already anxious, yet what was the use of continuing to get anxious? It only slowed down his recovery more. Still, he could not help it.

Especially as time passed and he could feel that Thalia’s momentum was slowly subsiding; the powerful mana around her was almost at her limit.

What to do? Rise bit his lip.

Minute after minute, the situation was becoming graver.

Thalia stood at the top of a vine. Her form had long since become disheveled. She did not remember how many vines and plants of hers were cut down and how many she had killed.

Not only espers but also regular citizens. She had no choice, everyone was already in a berserk state. They were now in this desperate situation, and thinking that they were innocent was not enough for him to slow down her defense and offense.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and blood vessels had appeared in her cheeks and on her body. Some black blood had stained her lips, and so had her elegant dress.

The exhaustion on her form was becoming apparent in the minutes that passed. Right, she knew that she was almost at her limit. Yet...

Thalia bit her lip as she endured the painful sensation from her gut, letting new vines appear. The espers and citizens seemed endless.

In the end, she was almost numb to it. In fact, she also saw some anomaly. It was as if the espers were replenishing. Not that they were reviving or that new reinforcements from other cities arrived. It was more like new espers were being awakened at a rapid rate.

Everyone has become mad under the influence of some force.

Thalia’s mind was already in turmoil and on the verge of exhaustion, and so she failed to notice a fast-approaching esper, her dagger glinting ferociously towards her neck.

Thalia only noticed when the dagger was almost at her neck. Her eyes widened. ’Not good!’

Her body reacted, but it was already too late. The woman smirked and pounced towards Thalia, her dagger directly stabbing at her neck.

In front of Thalia, the two men who were cutting the vines saw this as an opportunity to attack her as well. In just a split second, Thalia’s life was almost at their mercy.

They smirked evilly; their gazes glimmered with deep malice. That was when everything seemed to stop, or only their bodies were. Before their smirks were wiped off their faces, the three bodies slammed onto the ground, blood and flesh splattering around.

Thalia blinked, her life flashing before her eyes, stopped, and her heartbeat raced. She blinked and looked at her side, meeting a furious gaze.

"R-Rise?" Thalia could only exclaim.

Rise stood and gave a small reassuring smile. He looked around and solemnly bit his lip. Things were far more severe than what he sensed earlier.

"Wait, are you..."

"Not yet." Rise shook his head. "But, passively recovering won’t help us."

And that was the truth. He could feel Thalia was already at her limit. If he did not do anything, they could only die here. He had yet to fully recover, but at least... He could fight until Thalia recovered a bit.

"You’re tired, rest a bit. I’ll stop them until you recover."

Thalia wanted to say something, but Rise stopped her with a pat. Her lips trembled, but ultimately, she nodded. What Rise said made sense. She was truly tired.

Rise looked at her for a few more seconds before his eyes shifted to the furious crowd. The moment that he showed his face, the malice within their gaze deepened.

They all looked up at him with their bloodshot eyes. If it were anyone else with a faint heart seeing these terrifying sights, they might have already trembled in fright.

Rise merely smiled. He already felt the malice towards him, and so this did not surprise him.

"You want to kill me?" His voice was not loud, but everyone seemed to have heard it. Or more like the one behind them heard it. Their faces turned ferocious in an instant, glaring at Rise and wanting to tear him to shreds.

Rise laughed at the sight. In fact, he was crazy too. Facing such a sight, he only felt it was pathetic.

"Come and take my life, you bitch."

With this voice, a force field directly descended, slamming at the crowd below. In no time, most of them were flattened to the ground; the espers could withstand it, but they were still immobilized for a few seconds.

If he were at his peak, Rise could control the intensity and pressure on everyone without killing anyone. However, in his state, he could not care less about that.

In this siege, Rise could only look at everyone as his enemies, even if they were controlled! Such was their reality.

"Kill... I must..." Everyone roared; those flattened in front were replenished, and the zombie-like crowd did not even care about their situation. "...Kill you!"

Rise did not smirk this time. His expression was solemn, but the ferocity in his eyes did not lessen. In a sense, this was already a provocation towards the other party.

He increased the intensity of his ability, making sure that the periphery of the building was protected.

The espers and the citizens turned frenzied in their attacks, to the point that the ground had started shaking. The speed of the espers being awakened had increased too.

Minutes passed, and their actions did not stop and instead became more intense. At some point, Thalia had no choice but to also enter the fray. Some who had managed to bypass the force field were killed by her.

Rise’s face had already turned pale. Fortunately, unlike Thalia, there were no blood vessels around his face. This was usually a sign of exhaustion and losing control.

After all, Rise was also a guide who could neutralize the toxins from using his ability. Thalia was not optimistic. The signs on her body were increasing at each passing second.

Although the two were teaming up this time, their situation was still hopeless.

Rise took a deep breath, his face pale and almost devoid of blood. His eyes had turned gloomy long ago as he looked up. The dark sky mirrored his mood. The enemies were endless, and escaping might not be an option.

He could not help but think of Kamille. It was not just because he missed him. Rise wanted to see him, maybe if it was the last time.

He was always optimistic, but this hopeless situation was getting to him. Rise was powerless, always powerless in front of the author.

Are we... not meant to be?

Rise swallowed the metallic taste in his mouth. He felt a different kind of suffocation. He was not really afraid to die, but he was scared that he would die without seeing him again.

He then glanced at his side. Thalia...

Sure enough, you were still destined to die because of me.

Thalia sensed his gaze as their eyes met. Rise felt even more bitter. In those gazes, which were devoid of resentment, there was pure dependence and trust.

Rise closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and the force field around him grew. It was a desperate stretch to fight with fate.

Despite his pessimistic thoughts, Rise would never surrender without a fight! He could be defeated, but surrendering to his fate was never an option.

It was only unfortunate that after everything, they still returned to square one. Rise did not even know if the next reset, if... They could still find themselves in such a favorable situation.

He and Thalia exchanged glances and nodded at each other. This time, they went all out. No matter the outcome. They could face it.

Yet, in the end... As the malice overwhelmed them, they were still defeated.

Rise coughed blood as he caught Thalia, who had already fainted. The building they were in had already become a ruin, debris falling everywhere.

Only a tiny forcefield around them was the reason they had not been buried. Thalia’s life was critical, and so was he. Only a slight obsession was keeping him awake.

The roars, as though laughing at him, did not decrease. The frenzied enemies shouting his name encircled the tiny area of reprieve they had left.

He looked down at Thalia, tracing her face. The memories overlapped right then. She was always there, standing beside him, getting hurt and dying.

Rise coughed once more, and his vision became blurry. His chest tightened, and the area of protection decreased to only around their bodies.

Rise took a deep breath, and that was even a bit difficult. He tightened his embrace around Thalia as he closed his eyes, waiting for his demise.

Just as he was almost falling unconscious, the surroundings seemed to become quiet. There were no roars anymore. Had his senses left him already?

But that was not right... The pain was still there.

Rise forced himself to open his heavy eyelids. The encirclement he expected was nowhere to be found; the crowd seemed to have vanished.

He looked around, and his eyes widened, and his breathing became heavy. Rise’s emotions, which were already in turmoil, seemed to intensify.

Everywhere he looked, there was fire. A very familiar black fire.

Rise, then sensed a familiar presence. With his heavy eyelids, he looked up. Rise’s tears quickly sprang into his eyes. His lips trembling, he called out.

"Kamille."