The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134

Chapter 134: His Return

Tessia took another step forward, less hesitant this time. “A-Arthur? Is that you?” she muttered once more, her voice getting caught in her throat.

Every one of the soldiers, augmenters and conjurers alike, had their heads turned to face our leader as she approached the man sitting atop the hill of corpses, as if in a trance.

Suddenly, the silence that had filled the cavern was broken by a bright chirp. Seeming to come out of nowhere, a streak of white shot out towards Tessia and landed in her arms.

It looked like some sort of miniature white fox.

“Sylvie!” Tessia, exclaimed, embracing the creature before looking back up.

“Y-You! State your name!” Dresh was the one to speak, his usually confident voice wavering at the sight before him.

The blue-eyed man regarded him in silence for a moment, making Dresh instinctively take a step back, before he answered. “Arthur Leywin.”

Prying his bloodied sword out of the corpse it was embedded into, he deftly leaped down the large mound of bodies, landing in front of the large doorway.

As he stepped out of the shadows, I could finally make out his full appearance that had been shrouded in darkness.

He appeared pretty young despite the aura that emanated from him. Tousled, shoulder-length auburn hair contrasted his bright eyes that seemed composed—casual, almost—even in this situation. The splatters of blood and grime that darkened his face and clothes did nothing to diminish his looks.

This man wasn’t glamorous. Nothing like the noblemen I’d seen, who carried themselves with chests puffed out and nose pointed so high up that they might as well have been looking at the sky. No, behind his nonchalant gaze and slightly curled lips was an air of sovereignty that transcended any of those peacock nobles fluttering their power like colorful plumage.”

Sheathing his teal sword into an unadorned black scabbard, he took a step toward us with his hands held up. “I’m on your side,” he said wearily.

The soldiers present all exchanged uncertain glances at one another as Tessia took another step forward.

“Arthur?” several members of the Twin Horns exclaimed as they all ran up to them.

However, Tessia remained where she was. I saw them lock eyes for a brief moment and I thought I even saw a faint smile from Arthur, but neither of them approached each other.

Tessia’s actions caught me off guard, but the way the Twin Horns acted with the guy named Arthur seemed to dissipate the tension and suspicion that had filled the cavern. However, this only brought on more questions in my head.

Assuming that really was the Arthur Leywin our leader had told us so much about, what was he doing here? How did he get here? Did he kill the S class mutant by himself?

I turned my head to Darvus and, by his furrowed brows and perplexed gaze, it seemed like he was also curious about the same things. Caria, on the other hand, had a goofy smile plastered on her face as she ogled the man surrounded by the Twin Horns—ignoring the fact that there was a giant pile of bloody and stinking corpses just behind them.

“While I hate to interrupt your reunion, there are more pressing matters at hand,” Dresh spoke aloud. “What exactly happened here? I had not been informed that anyone by the name of ‘Arthur’ would join us down here in this dungeon.”

“I’m sure no one had been informed since I arrived less than an hour ago,” Arthur replied, stepping out from the crowd of his friends that had surrounded him. “Even I was surprised to be greeted by so many mana beasts.”

“A-Are you saying that you, single-handedly, killed all of those mana beasts—including the S class mutant—behind you?” a soldier stammered.

“Do you see anyone else in there alive besides me?” Arthur tilted his head.

“That’s impossible!” another soldier yelled out. “How can a mere boy do what a whole battalion of mages had set out to do by himself?”

Arthur simply raised a brow, unaffected by the remark. “It really doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. The fact is, the mutant that you guys were ordered to kill is now dead.”

More and more soldiers began asking questions and spouting accusations, but all were ignored by the mysterious man. He simply walked over to Dresh and extended a hand. “You seem like the leader of this expedition. Do you mind letting me stay at your camp tonight? I’m rather spent and would like a decent night’s rest before heading out.”

Dumbfounded, Dresh accepted his handshake and nodded wordlessly.

“What about all the beast cores?” a bearded conjurer blurted out, pointing at the mountain of mana beasts.

Everyone, once again, exchanged glances with one another in hopes that they would somehow find answers within someone’s eyes. Usually, the beast cores that were collected after a battle were split amongst the soldiers. Looking at the sheer number of corpses that had been stacked atop one another in that large hill of bodies, even the most humble man would drool at the potential to be gained.

“They’re all gone,” Arthur answered quietly. “Sorry, but my bond has quite a large appetite for beast cores,” he continued, pointing to the furry white fox still cleaning itself.

“Are you saying that that little thing just devoured hundreds of beast cores?” a burly augmenter retorted in disbelief as his hand gripped tightly at the handle of his sword.

“Yes,” he responded matter-of-factly.

“What about the S class mutant’s beast core? What happened to that?” Dresh asked, regaining his composure.

“I have it.” Arthur let out a sigh. “Any more questions? I’ll be happy to debrief later, but standing around answering everyone’s questions isn’t exactly the best use of our times.”

“We’ll escort him back to base, Leader,” Tessia spoke up as the members of the Twin Horns all nodded in agreement.

“Very well. For now, I want a few teams to stay behind to look for any stragglers and collect anything worth selling. The rest, we’ll go back to camp and wait for further instructions,” Dresh ordered, placating the dissatisfied soldiers.

The trip back to the main camp was almost as tense and stifling as it had been when we had first opened the dungeon doors. Caria, Darvus and I all kept silent as the sour mood of almost every soldier present weighed down on our shoulders. Even Tessia and the Twin Horns kept their conversations with Arthur down to hushed, indiscernible whispers.

Behind me, I could hear the conversations of soldiers, some glad that there was no battle, others disappointed at the fact that they would leave with no beast cores or other bounties. and some downright angry for not being able to battle a strong mana beast. However, despite the mixed feelings everyone had of the guy’s appearance, we all shared one emotion: fear.

Upon arriving back to the main camp, the guy named Arthur headed straight for the bathing stalls by the stream while Tessia and the Twin Horns followed Dresh into his personal tent.