"Hey, kid, don't worry. You're safe now," Roy said, his voice firm yet gentle as he lifted the badly bruised and bleeding child off the ground. The child's frail body trembled in his arms, his face ashen, and his eyes closed.

No child should have to suffer like this, he thought.

For a moment, it seemed as if the child had given up hope, resigned to his fate. His eyes had already closed, and his breathing was shallow. Roy could feel the child's body growing colder by the second. The child's life force was flickering away, and something had to be done fast, or else he would die.

Roy cradled the child in his arms, careful not to aggravate his injuries. "Hang in there, kid. You're stronger than you think," he whispered, his voice laced with a faint hint of hope.

The child's eyelids fluttered open, and he looked up at Roy, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and uncertainty. "C-Can you...can you save me?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Roy smiled reassuringly. "Of course I can!"

Roy wasn't about to let Death snatch this innocent life away. Not on his watch.

His healing-type runic stones wouldn't be able to save the boy in time, but his life force could!

Roy activated his second soul-herding ability, Miracle, which had the power to fuse concepts with skills, making it possible for him to pour his life force into the boy. He channeled his own life force into the child, determined to breathe life back into his frail and battered body!

As he did so, he watched in amazement as the child's broken bones reconnected, and his wounds started to close at an astonishing rate. A few years of his life went up the smoke to make it possible, but Roy didn't regret it. He has a young, innocent life. What was there to regret?!

After a few moments, Roy inspected the boy and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his HP bar was full and he had no debuffs affecting him. Roy even found out the boy's name when he inspected him, a small detail that made the connection between them feel stronger.

Totally healed, The boy's eyes shot open, and then they widened in utter disbelief. Just moments ago, he was on the brink of certain death, but now, he felt his entire body teeming with renewed vigor and vitality, as if he had never been injured in the first place. The boy couldn't believe his own eyes, and yet, there he was, hale and hearty once more, all thanks to the benevolence of the handsome brother who had just saved his life.

"Y-you..." stuttered Ethan, still struggling to come to terms with what had just happened as he lay in Roy's fatherly embrace. "You saved me! Thank you so much!" Ethan exclaimed, his voice filled with gratitude and relief.

Roy simply smiled and shook his head, dismissing the boy's thanks as unnecessary. "No need for thanks, my young friend," he replied calmly, his inky, black eyes radiating a serene and almost otherworldly glow. "I was just doing what I felt was right."

As Arlo observed the interaction between the two, he couldn't help but reminisce about the time when he had selflessly sacrificed his own life force to help his friend, Roy.

With a gentle approach, he slowly and steadily stepped closer to the pair, ensuring that the young boy wouldn't be frightened by his presence.

Crouching down next to Ethan, Arlo flashed a warm smile and posed a question, "Hey, kiddo, do you mind if Uncle here asks you a question?"

Ethan shook his head, sniffling through his tears, "N-No, I don't mind."

Arlo inquired, "What are you doing so far from home without your parents, buddy? And why were you being chased by that monster?"

Ethan tried to answer, but he was too overwhelmed by his emotions. All he could do was cry, tears streaming down his face, leaving him speechless.

Arlo's eyes brimmed with compassion as he patted Ethan's back in a soothing manner, "It's alright, there's no need to force yourself to speak."

Roy, on the other hand, knew that time was of the essence and that they couldn't afford to waste a single moment. He knew he had to share the information he had obtained by inspecting Ethan with Uncle Arlo, even if it meant exposing his own abnormalities.

He took a deep breath before divulging, "Ethan is an orphan. His parents passed away not too long ago."

Arlo was taken aback by Roy's words, and upon seeing Ethan's reaction, he knew that Roy was not fabricating the truth.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Arlo said to the child before turning to Roy.

"How do you know this?" Arlo inquired, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Roy.

Roy had grown up in Baldwin County and had no apparent connections to the people of Constantine County. How could he know about Ethan's tragic circumstances?

"I'll explain later. Right now, we don't have the luxury of time. Constantine County is about to be destroyed, and we need to act quickly to help them," Roy responded urgently.

Confused by the urgency in Roy's voice, Arlo asked, "What do you mean? Destroyed by whom?"historical

"The rat men. It's worse than what you feared. They have already invaded the county through the sewers and are currently wreaking havoc there. Ethan ran deep into the forest out of fear after being targeted by one of them - the same one we just killed," Roy explained.

Arlo turned to Ethan, looking him directly in the eyes. "Is what Roy's saying true, kiddo?"

Ethan faintly nodded as he suppressed the emotional pain that threatened to consume his consciousness and tried his best to recollect every minute detail of the gruesome incident that had just transpired. It was a day like any other; he had been frolicking with his friends on the fringes of the County when out of nowhere, the rat men had emerged from the shadows, unbridled savagery etched on their grotesque faces, mercilessly killing anyone in their path.