The result was far better than whatever I could have imagined. They tyrelessly hacked at the beast’s body, feverishly swinging their weapons and limbs against it.

From the initial six, there were now fifteen people fighting against the enemy. Although hesitant, Isaac had found himself forced to accept that my plan was actually working. He had then decided to directly collaborate with me, casting his spell on some of the wounded fallen in battle against the beast before I arrived.

My aura patched them up, healing them and saving them from a far more dire destiny. The feelings of rage which had imbued my aura influenced their behaviour, making them go feral and pushing them to immediately go back to battle against the cause of their suffering.

“I already knew you were strange, but this is just too much,” Lily said, baffled.

Taken aback by the initial charge, she had decided to withdraw and she was now currently being a spectator to the scene unfolding in front of our eyes, while sitting beside me and Isaac.

Although he was not directly fighting, he was still playing a vital role. Sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, Isaac was functioning as a nexus to the network, receiving the black aura from its source and rerouting it towards whoever needed it the most. A web of dark veins covered his pale skin and sweat flowed profusely from his forehead.

In the meantime, I was trying to conserve my energies, as I had become the true centre of the array. Every time a fighter had one of their limbs crushed by the beast or their chest slashed by its talons, they immediately recovered, as the entire damage was redirected towards me.

Under my feet the continuously appearing wounds had formed a puddle of blood. I was almost out of energy reserves. It should have been a problem, as in theory this would cause my regeneration to drastically slow down.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t really worried. No matter how much aura I poured out, I didn’t feel my strength decrease. On the contrary, I was feeling better and better, like a huge weight was being lifted from my shoulder. I felt incredibly light. I continued to serve as the energy supply of the network, without taking any further action. I didn’t want to risk my sensation being erroneous and end up in a bad situation.

The equilibrium of the two fronts broke when one of the beast’s legs was finally cut off. After that, the true onslaught began, with the spider being slowly but surely overwhelmed by the continuous assaults.

The situation became worrisome once I felt my aura run out. No matter how fast I was able to replenish it, it was not enough to sustain more than ten people for long periods of time.

For the first time in a long while, murky but red blood dripped out from the wounds constantly appearing on my body. Far less viscous than usual, it could have passed for normal human blood, had it not been for the violet hues mixed within.

The strange purple tints were not unfamiliar, but now they were far more visible than when they were encompassed by the tar-like fluid. They intrigued me, as the violet components seemed to move of their own free will, almost swimming around trying to cover a greater surface.

I tried to exert my control like I did with my aura, but I found it almost impossible to do so. Although I perceived a great deal of power dissolved inside of that blood, at the moment I wasn’t able to harvest it.

Curious from past experiences, I decided to try something out. I gathered some of the aura I had yet inside of me, fused it with a portion of my blood and forcefully mixed it with what I decided to call lymph.

It was not an easy feat to accomplish, as the two different liquids rejected each other like water and oil, but I was ultimately successful. Then I directed the newfound mixture towards the portion of Isaac’s aura enveloping me. The mixture dissolved when it made contact with the darkened reddish aura and then entered the network.

Suddenly, I opened fifteen pairs of eyes. I looked around, seeing from many different sides all of Isaac’s aura disappearing and the crippled beast standing in front of me. Isaac had fallen backward, completely taken aback by what had just happened.

He spoke some words, but it was difficult to decipher them as they reverberated as a cacophony in my many ears. Some of me grimaced because of the unpleasant situation, while others looked at each other, confused about what was happening to me.

Nevertheless, I needed to first take care of the beast. I raised my many broken blades over my heads and slashed at the spider, ripping off what remained of its carapace and cutting off its flesh.

Doing that reduced my migraines, as I didn’t need to be worried by anything else except swinging my limbs around and killing the enemy. The spider hissed throughout the whole ordeal.

Finally, only a carcass remained. Satisfied with the result, I drew multiple simultaneous sighs of relief.

“We did it!” I shouted out loud in a feminine voice.

“We survived! We survived!” I cried out, embracing another me.

It was the sweetest joy I had ever felt, looking death in the eyes and evading it.

“Mr Doe?” Chloe’s tired voice resounded in my true pair of ears, bringing me back to my senses just as I was about to lose myself in the general victory rejoicing.

I opened my eyes. Murky blood mixed with dirt covered my lying body. There was no trace of violet anywhere, only dark red. Mentally fatigued, I rose up, sitting on the ground while grabbing my head with my hands.

“What the f**k?” I mumbled to myself.

“May I help you?” Chloe asked me.

I raised my gaze and met her eyes. Inside of them there was a certain amount of fear, but mixed within there were also gratefulness and awe.

“I just need a minute. I’m fine, but my head is pounding like crazy. Too much information,” I reassured her, raising my hand and declining her help. I needed to sit and sort through what I had just experienced.

I had finally discovered one of the lymph functions. As I had theorised in the past, it served to create a connection, but it was far beyond what I had imagined. If mixed into another being, it forcefully overlapped our minds, making us one and the same. Thoughts, emotions, sensations, aims. They got mixed together into a single overarching melting pot which reigned over the bodies of all that were involved.

“John Doe,” Isaac’s voice attracted my attention.

I turned towards him and saw him and Lily standing above me. They were both in very bad shape, especially Isaac. He was incredibly pale and he could barely stand just because Lily was supporting him. Unsure of what he wanted to do, I waited for him to continue.

I didn’t need to wait for long, as the next moment Isaac let himself fall on his knees.

“I cannot thank you enough for the help you have given us. Without you, every single person here would have died. I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you,” he spoke with sincere gratitude. Lily simply nodded at his words, confirming that was her sentiment as well.

“I don’t need any thanks, I just did as I pleased. Moreover, we already agreed on my tariff: a good punch to punish the bastard…” I said, turning my gaze towards where last I had seen Caleb.

I immediately saw red. There was no one there.

“The coward ran off,” I said, immediately standing up, my mind now crystal clear.

“Caleb? No, there must be a mistake,” Isaac stated incredulously.

“Listen John, although everyone here agrees your request was a little bit… odd, to say the least, Caleb is not the type of man who would flee from his responsibilities. Isaac and him are the most honourable people I have ever met, they are both men true to their words,” Lily tried to intervene.

“It was a promise,” I growled infuriated, ignoring the two.

Without looking back, I sprinted off towards the thick forest, disappearing into the bushes. He could run as far as he wanted, but he couldn’t mask his scent.