Chapter 416: *The battle of the Royal Palace part 16*
He then put a hand on his shoulder and said to him, "You may not be able to fight against this kind of opponent at the moment, but be confident; with your willpower, you will manage to stabilize your chakra reserve. It’s only a matter of time. Believe me, you have earned the respect of all the Warrior Spirits."
Miguel then added, once Isaac had left to check on his man, "Isaac is right; you are a great and brave man, Connor, and you’re definitely not useless. Besides, in the next few weeks, we’re going to need your unique ability, if you’re willing, of course."
Connor just nodded, glad to be of any help to them. The fact that people as powerful as Miguel and Elias always gave him a choice and didn’t put any pressure on him had really surprised him at first.
But when he had watched the two of them interact while extracting this ore from the rock, he had discovered that they were like any other couple madly in love with each other and that they were both very concerned about protecting their families, which included all the Warrior Spirits and their friends.
Besides, if they wanted to, they didn’t really need him because Miguel could have mined the ore himself, even if it would have taken him more time, and Caleb could already craft all kinds of weapons.
Miguel snapped him out of his thoughts when he put his hand on his shoulder and said to him, "Stay with me from now on. Elias and Mykael are watching the battlefield where Derek and Kerry are, and our Warrior Spirits are watching the one where Solomon is. Everything will be fine."
Connor nodded again and thanked him warmly. He then walked through the portal that Isaac had just passed through, and Miguel followed right behind him.
...
When Sora arrived on the other side of the portal, her heart was pounding really hard.
She had not seen her sister in 17 years, but thanks to Lena’s exceptional abilities, which remained a real mystery to her, they had been able to keep their telepathic link despite all the barriers that stood between them. But Lena was always exhausted after contacting her, so they had agreed that Lena would only do it once or twice a month and for a short time.
It was hard and stressful for both of them to be without contact for so long, but it was enough to keep her hopeful for the future and to make sure she was still alive and well. When she saw that her little sister still looked like she was 20 years old and had not changed at all since the last time she had seen her, she stopped dead in her tracks and frowned.
Lena, who had clung to Caleb’s arm again when she saw the portal open, let go immediately when she recognized Sora. Even if the latter had suddenly frozen when she saw her, it had not prevented Lena from throwing herself into her arms and starting to cry into the neck of her big sister.
Sora, overwhelmed by the concentration of particles of light that always remained around Lena, felt invigorated like never before, and she finally hugged her tightly, stroking her hair to comfort her while telling her that this time, this nightmare was well and truly over.
She had had a doubt when she had seen that Lena had not changed, but after thinking about it, it could very well be that those particles of light constantly surrounding her had prevented her cells from aging. And anyway, now that she was hugging her, she could feel the energy vibrating around Lena, and all her doubts were gone.
In addition to the particles of light that remained permanently around Lena, she had always had a kind of benevolent energy that emanated from her, making her unique and totally inimitable.
When Lena calmed down and felt her sister stroking her hair as she used to do before they were separated, she said to her using their telepathic link, "That’s him, Sora. The man lying unconscious on the ground—he’s the one who saved me, and he’s also the man I fell madly in love with."
Sora looked at the man on the ground, and what she saw was not very engaging. She said honestly to Lena, using their link to communicate, "Lena, sweetie, I have never seen this kind of injury before; I don’t know if I can help him."
Lena remembered Caleb’s words, and she didn’t want to believe them. But if even Sora was telling her there was nothing she could do, then her only hope was that other Titan who had made it clear he would never trust Atlas. Could she really leave the life of the man she loved in his hands?
Sora then walked back to Caleb, who took her in his arms and said to her, "It feels weird not seeing you without those chains anymore... How do you feel?"
Sora looked at her hands, and the marks of those chains were still visible on her wrists, but she said with a big smile, "I finally feel free, and after seeing Lena, I feel even better. Thank you for everything, Caleb, and thank you for staying with Lena. I’m sure you’re dying to go fight."
Caleb then surprised her by saying, "I’ll stay with you here. Even if this Titan had protected Lena, the high concentration of black particles he absorbed should have made him lose his mind, and we don’t know in what state of mind he will be when he wakes up."
Isaac, who had just arrived, turned pale when he saw the extent of the black veins on the body of this Titan.
The fact that Jordan was already beginning to sweat while trying to save him was really not a good sign, so he said to them, "Even with the help of Ian, it is not certain that we will be able to save him. In any case, it is certain that Jordan will not be able to do it alone; he will end up exhausted, and we still don’t have an effective remedy to fight against the side effects of the absorption of the black particles."
