Every head turned at the sudden interruption.
What they saw was nurse stood at the end of the corridor, cheeks flushed, sweat glistening on her forehead, clutching a chart to her chest as she gasped for breath.
Mika didnât waste a second. He spun the wheelchair sharply, the wheels screeching faintly against the tile as Fauna steadied herself in his lap.
Cecilia and the other doctors fell in line behind him, their coats fluttering like banners as they ran.
"Where?" Mika demanded, his tone clipped.
"R-Room 238!" The nurse stammered, turning and leading the way.
"Whatâs the situation?" Fauna called, already bracing herself for the worst.
The nurse spoke between hurried breaths.
"About an hour ago a woman, thirty-four years old was admitted. Her water broke early, she went into labor. Everything looked normal at first: vitals good, no complications, healthy pregnancy. We expected a smooth delivery." Her voice shook. "But then...everything went wrong."
Mikaâs eyes narrowed. "Explain."
"When the baby started to crown, its pulse began to drop. And itâs skin..." She swallowed hard. "...itâs skin turned purple and blue, like it was suffocating."
"We tried to help, but then something impossible happened. The baby slipped back inside during a contraction, and the color returned to normalâperfectly healthy again. But the moment the head came out once more, it turned blue again!"
Cecilia gasped. "Thatâs...thatâs not possible..."
The nurse nodded frantically.
"We thought it was oxygen deprivation, but it isnât. The heart rate stabilizes inside the womb. Every time the child enters the outside air, it starts dying. Every time itâs pulled back inâit recovers."
"Itâs...itâs like the baby canât survive the outside world itself."
"The doctors inside have tried everything." She continued, voice trembling. "Artificially altering the contractions, oxygen control, emergency ventilation, but nothingâs working. The motherâs exhausted and in agony. We canât keep the delivery stalled much longer."
By the time she finished, they had already reached the door marked 238âEmergency Delivery.
The muffled chaos inside was unmistakable. Voices barking orders, machines beeping, the motherâs cries echoing faintly.
Faunaâs eyes widened slightly.
"A child that heals inside the womb and dies outside..." She murmured. "Iâve never heard of such a thing." She turned toward Mika, searching his face. "What do you think, Mika? Have you seen a case like this before?"
He shook his head, frowning deeply.
"No. Not once. Something like this shouldnât even exist." He exhaled sharply. "Weâll know only after we see the readings for ourselves."
Without another word, he rolled forward. Cecilia and the others followed in silence.
They entered the observation hallâa narrow space beside the main operating room. Cecilia slapped her palm against the control panel on the wall, and the opaque glass turned translucent, revealing the scene within.
A dozen doctors were moving around frantically inside the room, their movements blurring under the harsh white lights. Nurses darted between machines, passing instruments back and forth.
The monitor screens flashed rapidly changing numbers, all fluctuating wildly.
On the operating table lay the mother, pale and drenched in sweat, her hair plastered to her face. She was half-conscious, whispering her husbandâs name between weak sobs as she clutched the sheet.
Her belly convulsed under the tension of halted contractions.
Outside, in the corridor, a man paced back and forth like a ghost, hands shaking, eyes red. When he saw Fauna, he collapsed to his knees, clutching her lab coat.
"Lady Fauna! Pleaseâplease save them! Theyâre all I have! My wife, my babyâplease!"
Fauna leaned over, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Weâll do everything we can. The best doctors in this hospital are here." Her voice was calm, gentle, but firm. "But you need to stay calm for them. Take a seat. Let us handle this, alright?"
The man nodded shakily as two nurses guided him to a bench.
At that moment, the doors to the operation room slid open, and several doctors rushed out, still in their gowns and masks.
The instant they saw Fauna, they froze for a heartbeatâeyes widening in shock at the sight of her sitting comfortably in Mikaâs lap on the wheelchair.
But the emergency snapped them out of it.
"Lady Fauna!" One of them exclaimed. "Thank goodness youâre here."
"Report." Fauna ordered briskly.
The lead surgeon nodded quickly, fumbling through the data pad in his hand.
"The patientâs name is Arienne Vale. Thirty-four years old, first pregnancy. Blood pressure stable, oxygen saturation 93%. The fetus is full term, positioned correctly, no umbilical strangulation detected."
"But whenever the head breaches the cervix and makes contact with open air, the heart rate drops to 20 BPM, oxygen saturation crashes, and cyanosis sets in within seconds."
"But the moment the head retractsâeverything normalizes. Itâs like the child canât exist outside the womb."
He scrolled through the holographic chart and added,
"Weâve checked for oxygen-flow obstruction, amniotic embolism, maternal hypoxia, umbilical torsionâbut nothing explains it. But we did find a little mana residue."
Faunaâs face darkened. "Magical residue?"
"Yes." Another doctor said quickly. "Thereâs a faint anomalous readingâan unclassified mana signature around the uterus. We thought it was an equipment error, but now..."
"A mana reaction...at birth?" Ceciliaâs hand went to her mouth.
Mikaâs eyes narrowed, his mind already racing.
"Show me the resonance chart." He said quietly.
One of the doctors projected a floating hologram of the mana graph in front of him. The lines spiked wildly whenever the fetal crown emerged, then flattened the moment it retreated.
"This isnât a natural reaction." Mikaâs voice dropped.
Fauna glanced at him, recognizing that toneâthe one he used when he was piecing together something that defied explanation.
"What are you thinking?"
He didnât answer yet. He leaned forward, eyes tracing the messy readings as his mind connected invisible dots, while the muffled sound of the motherâs cries bled through the glass wall.
In this day and age, complications in pregnancy caused by mana interferenceâespecially after the collision of the two worlds werenât exactly unheard of.
Rare, yes. But not impossible.
Ever since mana began seeping into the mortal realm, countless research papers and medical guidelines had documented its unpredictable influence on human biology.
For the blessed or those born with mana circulation, it was a giftâa source of strength, healing, and longevity.
But for ordinary mortals, mana was a double-edged sword.
Too much exposure could distort the natural equilibrium of the body, leading to cellular instability, genetic mutations, or even mana poisoning.
In the early decades following the collision, stillbirths, miscarriages, and fetal malformations had become alarmingly frequent.
Pregnant women who even briefly came into contact with unstable mana fields often found their babies affected by it. Some were born prematurely with abnormal organ development; others couldnât survive a single breath outside the womb.
That was why, over the years, rigorous protocols were enforcedâmonthly screenings for mana residue, mandatory diagnostic scans for anyone living near convergence zones, and specialized prenatal wards equipped with mana filtration fields.
Those measures had drastically reduced the risks to the extent that such cases were none existent and the baby was always delivered without any issue.
Which was exactly why this case was so alarming.
The woman, Arienne Vale, wasnât an explorer or a mage. She wasnât a researcher or an adventurer who dabbled in cross-world studies.
She was an accountant. Someone who lived an utterly mundane life, far from mana zones, working in a small firm within the capital.
Her medical records were also spotless. Every single prenatal testâfrom mana presence to toxin panelsâhad come back negative.
No traces of contamination. No exposure to otherworldly particles.
And yet, now, the readings showed something deeply unsettling: a faint, nearly imperceptible level of internalized mana.
But what chilled Mika the most wasnât the presence of mana...it was its nature.
It wasnât external. It wasnât something that had entered her body.
It felt like something within herâsomething dormant that had suddenly begun reacting to mana in the air. Something that shouldnât have existed inside a human in the first place.
He silently scrolled through the motherâs diagnostics, analyzing every detail while the team around him exchanged worried looks.
But then th senior physicians, who moments ago had spoken to him as an equal, were now realizing they were dealing with someone far youngerâand that realization made their unease grow.
Finally, one of them turned to Fauna nervously.
"L-Lady Fauna, if I may ask...who exactly is this boy? Should he even be here right now?"
Before Fauna could reply, Ceciliaâs voice cut through like a whip.
"He stays." She said sharply, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Youâll listen to him and do exactly as he says. Whatever he asks for, youâll provide."
"Heâs not just a bystanderâheâs someone whose word you follow without hesitation. Understood?"
Her fierce expression made even the senior doctors stiffen.
Fauna, smiling faintly at her discipleâs newfound confidence, added gently,
"Ceciliaâs right. Do as Mika says. If he gives an order, follow it to the letter. I promise, everything will be fine."
The staff exchanged bewildered glances. Whoever this boy was, the fact that both Lady Fauna and her top disciple treated him with such deference was enough to silence any doubts.
"Ahhhh! It hurts! It hurts so much! My baby!!!!"
Inside the operating room, the mother screamed again, a piercing cry that rattled the air. The babyâs vitals flickered red on the monitor.
"Artificial inhibitor wonât hold much longer!" One of the obstetricians shouted.
Faunaâs expression hardened. "Weâre running out of time."
They all gathered around the holo-projection, reviewing the readings again, but the more they looked, the less sense it made.
The anomaly was unlike anything in recorded medical history. Every second the team spent debating felt like sand slipping through their fingers.
Then, suddenlyâ
"I got it."
Everyone turned toward Mika.
Fauna perked up immediately, hope flashing in her eyes. "You figured it out?"
"Not entirely." Mika said, still scanning through the data. "But I have a strong suspicion. I just need to confirm something first."
He rolled the wheelchair forward, stopping in front of the terrified husband who was still sitting near the bench.
The man looked startled as the young boy in a wheelchair addressed him with an unexpectedly calm tone.
"Mr. Daniel, during your wifeâs pregnancy..." Mika asked. "...did you ever travel to the other world? Or anywhere close to it? Any exposure to mana zones, even brief?"
The man blinked, confused, shaking his head quickly.
"Of course not! The doctors warned us about that. We stayed in the capital the whole time. I didnât even let her near the outer gates where the portals open!"
Mikaâs eyes narrowed slightly.
"Not during pregnancy then." He said slowly. "But what about before that?"
The man hesitated. His brows furrowed.
"What Iâm asking is, before she was pregnant..." Mika continued gently. "...did you or your wife ever visit the other world? Maybe for work? Or even...a trip?"
The manâs eyes widened as realization dawned. He looked stricken. "...Our honeymoon."
The doctors glanced at one another.
"Yes." The man said shakily, clutching his head. "It was years agoâwe spent our honeymoon in the Spectra Highlands. Two weeks there. We thought it would be romantic. She wasnât pregnant back then, so we didnât think it mattered..."
His voice trembled. "Donât tell meâyouâre saying thatâs whatâs causing this? That...because of that trip...my wife is suffering now?"
Mika looked at him quietly for a moment, his expression unreadable.
Behind his calm eyes, however, gears were turning rapidlyâconnecting pieces of the puzzle and everything heâd studied about mana-biological interactions, while everyone else except Fauna and Cecilia were already starting to lose hope