When there is nothing to heal

ㅤ No one knew where this affliction came from. It was clearly a disease. Which meant the patient could be cured. "If the infection affects the mind, then I can save him!" Kor said confidently, containing his anxiety. "I'll cleanse his spiria!" 'In the end, he covered me… Protected us all…' They managed to hide in a small house. Kohaku barricaded the doors and windows, standing guard. Kor prepared to infiltrate the spir maze. Hisui… held back the struggling Chalcedony. For the sake of his friends, he put himself in harm's way and became a human shield. Kor couldn't abandon him. He promised to save him. Convinced to believe in him! Only then, while still conscious, Chalcedony reached the house with everyone else, but he soon lost his mind. They didn't have time to tie him up, so they had to rely on brute force. Kor had to go alone. But that wasn't what he feared. It was that he wouldn't keep his promise. 'No!' he slapped himself, bolstering himself. 'I absolutely can't go with that attitude! I have a tough fight ahead of me! And I'll be ready for it!' Having mustered his resolve, Kor set to work. But… he had no one to fight: Chalcedony's spir maze was completely empty. In oppressive silence and in increasing darkness, Kor walked towards the spiria. His footsteps echoed with a hollow thud. Unnatural. Frightening. Dust hung around him. So much that he had to cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve and squint his eyes as hard as he could. …There was no spiria. Only a small shard remained, to mockingly crumble to dust right before Kor's eyes. The very dust that made it hard to breathe. The last shard… The remnants of Chalcedony's mind faded. His soul was consumed by utter darkness. Kor stood there for a moment longer, realizing. Struggling to accept. He need to move on. To save those he still could. But could he? Kor returned from spir maze. Other infected were trying to break into the house. Kohaku was barely holding her own, holding the line. Hisui couldn't even think about helping her: Chalcedony had gone completely crazy. '…I've ruined everyone.' If Kor had listened to Chalcedony and left, Kohaku and Hisui would have had at least a chance of salvation. But now they'd trapped themselves. Monsters outside, a monster inside—doomed. No escape. No cure. "Kor!" Hisui's voice cut through the darkness of Kor's thoughts and self-flagellation. "What did you see!? What happened!?" "It's gone…" Kor said quietly, his voice dead. "What!?" Hisui flared, unable to understand. "There's no spiria. There's nothing to cure." "Flew apart?" Hisui suggested, breathing heavily and gritting his teeth. "Like Kohaku's?" "No. Just turned to dust. It's gone. There's no cure…" Hisui fell silent. His spirits were almost broken… He almost let go of Calcedonia. But it was the struggling body that prevented him from giving in to despair and forced him to quickly pull himself together. "So what!? Are you planning on just up and dying!?" Kor knew: Hisui and Kohaku would fight to the last. Kor understood… they couldn't win this battle. Too many "soulless" had gathered outside for him to risk his life to clear the way for his friends. And Kor couldn't bring himself to kill Chalcedony. 'I can't even be a worthy fighter… Until the end…' Kor looked at his soma with a bitter grin. But simply lying down and dying wasn't an option either. "Forgive me…" he said quietly, only angering Hisui even more. "I know I'm of little use right now. But I'll fight anyway." And the battle had to begin here. And now. Kor closed his eyes and raised his sword… ㅤ