[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 225

Chapter 225: The Storm Before the Embrace

The little edge of the northern border was in a mess. The barely-there plants had rotted away, along with the crumbling of small caves.

How could it not be when the archduke had come teleporting right in the middle of it all?

Teleportation was an act of obscene mana consumption, one that could easily kill the caster.

If by some miracle they survived the rapid mana drain, the pressure buildup in the air was enough to crush the lungs, puncturing delicate organs like a balloon.

And yet, the moment Darius spotted the tiny figure on the blood-soaked snow from the cliff, he abandoned his cavalry to appear where Xion was.

The green mana pulsed so violently, it lashed at its surroundings like an agitated beast. It smashed into the wall of the cave, crumbling it.

The bodies that might’ve survived due to being frozen had already begun to rot rapidly. Even the barrier Xion had formed had cracks on it.

It saved Noxian and others from decaying like the attackers, but that barrier didn’t last longer than a few seconds.

Even when his mana was so fierce, so full of rage, the green tendrils didn’t go near Xion at all.

They surrounded the dazed young man and the archduke like a shelter.

Darius didn’t blink, at least not until he was punched square in the face.

The moment the fist collided with his face, his pupils dilated to such an extreme that for a bare second, it looked as if his green eyes were changing color.

"Xion..." he muttered, holding the cold body closer.

"Your Grace?"

Darius’s tense shoulders loosened, albeit only a little. That call, that voice... he had heard it in his dreams so many times that even now, he had to repeatedly remind himself... It is real.

The pain in his face was real, the touch under his palm was real... His Xion was real.

Darius kept staring at those eyes. Those deep blue eyes could make him drown even without doing anything. And he might’ve continued to do so if not for the next words.

"You... Are you out of your mind? What if I hurt you?!" Xion hissed, clutching the lapel of the grey robe which had been shielding Darius from the cold.

Darius blinked slowly. "...You already did," he said. The stinging pain on the side of his face was proof enough that Xion didn’t hold back at all.

Xion’s eyes widened slightly. "Let me see." He brought his hand up again, and this time, the blue mana swirled around his fingers. With a barely audible hum, it spread across Darius’s bruised skin.

Just as Darius opened his mouth, most likely to object, Xion shot him a glare.

"I’m already pissed, okay? Don’t make me more angry and stand still." With that, he used his mana to heal the blood-soaked cheek.

That sentence made the wind still for a second. It wasn’t just the soldiers rushing after their sovereign who froze.

John, who’d barely managed to peek from behind the ruined cave wall, looked one second away from digging his own grave. Why did I decide to follow this lunatic?!

Ironically, John’s thoughts perfectly aligned with the gasping soldiers who finally managed to rush to the site. In their minds, they had already labelled this youngster to have a death wish and a brutal one at that.

Last time, someone tried to ’kindly advise’ the archduke, his tongue was pulled out.

But to everyone’s surprise, Darius chuckled.

Should I pull my hand back? Or should I stay like this?