"Forgetting how to breathe?!" Kiana exclaimed in disbelief. "How is that possible?! How can a living person forget how to breathe?!"
Right, how could a living person forget how to breathe?!
Could muscle memory also count as memory?! If so, could even worse things happen? Like forgetting how to speak, forgetting how to walk...
Even forgetting one's heartbeat? Forgetting how the brain controls the body, leading directly to death?
No... these weren't the most important issues...
The most important issue was why this suddenly happened within his protective shield? Was their analysis that water was the transmission medium wrong?
Was the contaminant something else entirely?
Seeing Bronya's flushed face finally improving under his assistance, Shu hadn't even had time to relax when a sudden sense of crisis forced him to turn back.
Something in the fog seemed to have slammed hard against the protective shield, causing Shu's hand holding it to tremble violently, nearly collapsing the entire shield.
"Something... in the fog!" Shu didn't even have time to gesture anymore. He anxiously started to stand up, intending to use his mind to defend against the unknown attacker in the fog.
But the moment his hand left Bronya's body, she let out an uncomfortable muffled groan.
Had he failed to restore Bronya's memory of breathing?
Shu could only kneel on one knee, one hand imbued with [Wish] helping Bronya continue breathing, the other hand supporting the barrier, defending against attacks that could come at any moment.
But troubles never come singly. Just when Shu wished he had three hands, Kiana suddenly started rubbing her eyes uncomfortably.
"Wait... My eyes hurt a bit..." Kiana complained softly, then reached up to rub her open eyeballs.
"Kiana! Blink!" Mei timely noticed Kiana's abnormality, grabbed her hand, and stopped her from rubbing her eyes.
"But... my eyes feel so uncomfortable..." Kiana's eyes were already red from being open too long and from the wind caused by the earlier impact.
Tears flowed involuntarily from Kiana's eyes, trying to moisten the eyes that would no longer blink.
"Squint!" Shu shouted. Squinting didn't rely on eyelids, only requiring moving facial muscles.
Combined with the moisture from tears, it would be fine even without blinking for a while.
But... why was this happening too?
Shu gritted his teeth. "Mei, I'll hold Bronya. You watch behind us. We keep moving forward!!"
Saying this, Shu scooped up Bronya's waist with one arm, holding her as he stood up, the other hand maintaining the protective shield.
Because he stood up somewhat quickly, as he rose, a small drop of dirty water flung off Bronya's foot and landed on Shu's face.
This slight coolness made Shu pause for a moment. Then, he realized something.
The ground! The water on the ground! His shield hadn't completely repelled the water on the cement ground!
But cement absorbs water! How could...
"Mei, Kiana," Shu said suddenly.
"Grab onto me!"
Shu only said this much before lifting one of his feet.
Although the two didn't understand Shu's meaning, they cooperatively grabbed Shu's shoulders the moment he spoke.
The lifted foot stomped hard on the ground. The immense force caused the cement ground around Shu to crack inch by inch, sending fragments flying everywhere.
And Shu, using the recoil from this stomp, carrying Mei and Kiana clinging tightly to him, protecting Bronya in his arms, the four of them shot forward together.
He seemed to be able to fly?
Can't remember...
The protective shield gradually formed a complete sphere in mid-air, shielding the four within.
But Shu ultimately didn't fly. Before they could shoot far, the group began to fall.
Bronya, severely oxygen-deprived, struggled to lift her finger in mid-air, pointing towards the train's direction.
A palm-sized flat device suddenly ejected from Mei's armor, landing in her hand. Mei threw it like a dart towards the direction Bronya struggled to point, sending it into the fog.
Magnetic Traction Device!!
The powerful traction device capable of accelerating Mei past the sound barrier in an instant!
The sudden burst of traction force resonated with the armor on Mei's body, pulling Mei away from the protective shield centered on Shu.
But... Mei forgot to activate the armor's acceleration protection!
Mei took the sudden burst of acceleration directly with her own body. Caught off guard, she let out a muffled grunt, her hands weakening.
Leaving Shu's protective shield at this speed was instantaneous. And at this moment, Shu held Bronya with one arm and supported the barrier with the other.
Even if Bronya wanted to grab Mei, she lacked the strength due to oxygen deprivation. Besides, breaking the sound barrier... who had that kind of reaction speed?
Kiana did!
Relying purely on instinct, while squinting and holding back tears, Kiana reached out completely by intuition and accurately grabbed Mei.
The traction device pulled Mei, and Kiana pulled Mei, while Kiana simultaneously reached out and grabbed Shu. The four shot forward again through the air!
The fog began to churn visibly. Now, the group had even lost their only frame of reference—the ground. All around was a complete expanse of white.
But now, the fog took shape, like a giant hand grabbing towards them.
At the same time, the whispers Shu had once heard in the fog, perhaps long forgotten now... reappeared beside their ears.
And became much clearer!
"Remember... Remem... you... I must... remember..."
The voice was mournful and desolate, yet carried a thick sense of longing...
"Get—Lost—!"
Veins popped on the forehead of the levitating Shu. He roared at the giant foggy hand rushing towards them. Simultaneously, the protective shield around them violently expanded into a spherical shockwave, pushing the fog, pushing the giant hand wildly outwards.
In this vast white fog, Shu forcefully pushed the fog nearly a hundred meters away from them with this single burst!
At the same time, the group landed heavily. Shu, holding Bronya, tumbled several times on the ground.
"Mei!" Kiana's alarmed cry came. Shu, covered in dirty water, struggled to lift his head and saw Kiana squinting and fumbling around.
"I'm here! Cough cough..." On the other side, Mei clutched her chest in pain, blood coughed up due to the forced acceleration staining her clothes.
Looking again at Bronya in his arms, she had already fainted.
Finally, Shu turned his head back.
In the dispersed fog, a section of the Hyperion's carriage was revealed!!