Investing In My Crippled Wife Every Return Makes Me Stronger Chapter 156

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[ … words ]

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Name: Ethea Everly

Status: Comatose (Critical Crisis)

[Age: 21]

[Rank: 7th Circle [Crippled / Regressed]]

[Mental Cultivation: Stellar Soul Weaver Sutra — Stage 1: Intent Foundation]

[Current Mana Level: 0]

[Current Mental Power: 15340 / 50000 (Volatile / Overloading)]

[Core condition: 92% destroyed – severe irreparable damage / Fragmented]

[Mana pathways: 9% functional – catastrophic severing / Rupturing]

[Physical Condition:]

– Paralysis (Near-Complete)

– Chronic Pain (Level 4.5/10)

– Nerve Damage (Severe – Permanent without intervention)

– Spiritual Asphyxiation (Severe – Rapidly suffocating her soul)

– Internal Hemorrhaging (Moderate – Caused by the curse)

[Authority Status: Frost Sovereign – Sealed/Dormant]

[Affliction Detected:]

[Curse: ▇▇▇▇▇’s ▇▇▇▇▇ – Grade: Eighth Circle]

[Current Effect: ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ]

[Details: Insufficient Authority – Unable to analyze.]

[Estimated Survival Without Treatment: 14 minutes]

[Mental State: Unconscious (Trapped in spiritual backlash, agonizing terror)]

[Investment Value: SUPREME]

[Potential: Immeasurable]

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Soren quickly scanned the glowing interface. His eyes tracked down the diagnostic lines detailing the curse before stopping abruptly when he saw the estimated survival time.

’Fourteen minutes?!’

A cold wave of shock crashed through him, freezing the breath in his lungs as he stared at the countdown. The sudden realization left him momentarily paralyzed, his gaze locked onto the numbers as panic flared in his chest.

Driven by growing desperation, he hurriedly skimmed the lower metrics to assess the rest of the diagnosis. A hollow sensation settled deep in his stomach as he read the evaluation of her mental state, which confirmed she was trapped in unconscious agony and completely cut off within her own mindscape.

’She’s gonna die in fourteen minutes,’ he thought, the brutal reality of the timeline pressing down on him. ’Fourteen.’

The countdown repeated like a frantic pulse in his mind, threatening to overwhelm his thoughts, but the internal panic was suddenly cut short by the sharp blast of a horn nearby.

Soren snapped out of his daze and glanced through the driver’s side window to locate the source of the noise. A few meters away, Drake was leaning out of a black car, gesturing frantically through the chaotic noise of the surrounding battle.

“Move it!” He bellowed. “We have to leave right now!”

Gritting his teeth, Soren dismissed the panel. Getting out of this active danger zone took priority over everything else.

He slammed his foot onto the accelerator.

The Vanguard-X launched forward, the high-end engine giving a violent roar as it soon caught up to Drake’s vehicle.

They quickly reached the intersection leading to the main avenue, where the streets dissolved into absolute gridlock. Sirens wailed from every direction as waves of civilians abandoned their vehicles right in the middle of the lanes, fleeing on foot toward a massive underground shelter entrance.

Drake’s car slowed to a crawl, trapped behind a row of empty sedans. He leaned out of his window, gesturing toward the mess ahead while shouting through the noise of the explosions. “The road is blocked! Let’s head into the shelter!”

Soren looked at the packed crowd swarming the shelter entrance, then at the digital clock on his dashboard. Seeking cover was the most logical choice for survival, but for them, it might become a trap.

First, the medical staff inside a standard civilian shelter lacked the specialized knowledge or tools to handle a high-tier curse. Second, waiting in lines to clear security checkpoints would only waste their remaining minutes. Finally, Soren knew this catastrophic event was not random. The timing was too precise. The mastermind behind Ethea’s curse must be actively manipulating events, and if he brought her into an enclosed space filled with thousands of people, he would be turning those innocent civilians into collateral damage.

Worse still was the bitter weight settling heavily in his chest. He could barely ignore the crushing fact that this chaos, the explosions, and the terror surrounding them were all happening because of them. They were the lightning rod for this disaster, and staying in the shelter meant endangering everyone in it.

Forcing the guilt down, Soren turned to look back at Aunt Clara.

“I am going to leave here,” Soren said, his voice firm despite the noise outside. “Do you want to stay in the shelter?”

Clara looked at him, completely confused by the decision to bypass safety, but she did not hesitate for long. “I will follow you,” she said.

“Good. I promise I will protect you both.” Soren said and leaned out of his window and shouted back at Drake. “We are leaving!”

He took a quick glance at the floating screen.

[12:14]

The numbers seemed to burn directly into his retinas, a stark reminder that every single breath counted. He didn’t waste another moment waiting for Drake’s response or watching the hunter’s baffled expression.

He gripped the steering wheel, spun the tires, and swerved the car onto the wide pedestrian sidewalk. He accelerated through a narrow gap between an abandoned public bus and a structural pillar, completely bypassing the line of stuck vehicles.

Drake’s partner hesitated to pull such a reckless stunt in the middle of the chaos, so their car remained stranded at the intersection as Soren left them behind.

Navigating the maze of empty cars with precise turns, Soren spotted an entrance ramp leading to the upper expressway. The lower streets were choked, but the elevated highway offered a clear path since the gridlock below had cut off the influx of traffic.

He swung the chassis sharply onto the incline, the tires screeching as the car climbed away from the crowd and surged onto the more open lanes of the elevated expressway.

Just as the vehicle gained momentum on the straight stretch, a large shadow dropped straight out of the sky.

A four-meter winged creature slammed onto the ground directly in front of the hood, cracking the surface under its claws. The beast threw its head back, its jaw parting as it let out a deafening roar aimed straight at the oncoming car. Before the echo could even fade, it spewed a massive torrent of fire, enveloping the road in a blinding sheet of flames that rushed directly toward the windshield.

Soren didn’t even flinch, his foot remaining pinned to the pedal as the car drove straight into the inferno.

The defense barrier flared to life around the chassis, casting a sharp blue glow across the interior. Simultaneously, he channeled his ice mana outward to wrap the SUV in a dense, frost-rimmed shroud.

WHOOSH!

The layer of freezing energy hissed violently as it met the incoming heat, neutralizing the worst of the temperature before it could strain the vehicle’s automated shield.

The car plunged straight through the roaring wall of fire.

The sheer speed of the vehicle caught the creature completely off guard. Before the monster could sweep its massive talons down to crush the hood, Soren threaded the SUV right through the narrow gap between the beast’s left leg and the highway guardrail. The ice-armored side of the vehicle scraped against the monster’s scales with a grating screech, shattering a layer of frost but maintaining full forward momentum.

They tore past the beast in a fraction of a second, leaving a trail of frozen vapor in the burning air.

Enraged by losing its prey, the monster wheeled around on the cracked ground. Its wings snapped open with a heavy gust, launching its massive frame into the air to give chase. It unleashed another deafening, shrill screech that echoed across the elevated expressway.

The cry acted as a beacon.

From the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, several other winged shadows stirred, their eyes locking onto the lone vehicle accelerating down the highway. Within moments, a small pack of monsters swarmed down from the heights, flapping their wings furiously as they fell into formation behind the lead beast, pursuing the car at high speed.

’Dammit,’ Soren cursed inwardly, his knuckles turning white against the steering wheel.

He glanced at the side mirror. The reflection was a nightmare of flapping wings and predatory eyes as the pack rapidly closed the distance behind them. Swiveling his gaze back to the corner of his vision, he checked the timer again.

[11:21]

The digits were ruthlessly ticking away, each second shaving off Ethea’s chances of survival. Watching the numbers drop while a swarm of monstrous predators tracked his exact position, a suffocating wave of doubt crept into his mind.

’Did I really make the right choice?’