The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Chapter 155: Why I’m Here

My heartbeat quickened and my palms grew slick with sweat as Sylvie’s emotions leaked onto me, but I had no time to rest; with their conjurers and archers nearby sustaining serious injuries, the enemy augmenters and soldiers were quick to approach us.

“We got some headed our way. Don’t get cold feet on me now,” my former professor chuckled. Her lighthearted tone didn’t suit the screaming and clashing of weapons resounding in the background.

“Cold feet? I’ve been taking the brunt of attacks from their conjurers and archers, trying to establish a pattern in their attacks,” I answered, drawing Dawn’s Ballad and burying its sharp blade in through the breastplate of an enemy soldier in one swift motion.

“Is that how you were able to set off those explosions just now?” Vanesy asked as she parried a large warhammer. It was compelling watching my former professor fight up close without holding back. Her fighting style, combined with her utilization of both earth and fire in a unique way to conjure glass, produced an array of glimmering attacks. She was able to create a layer of sharpened glass around her swords to extend her reach, cleaving down enemies several yards away.

“No, that was something else.” I pulled my sword out from a different enemy. “Vanesy. We should end this battle soon, or at least take it away from here.”

“You say that as if we”—Vanesy ducked, narrowly avoiding the head of an axe—“were purposefully prolonging this battle.”

I swung Dawn’s Ballad, sending a sharp crescent of wind at my former professor’s attacker. With a sharp hiss, blood splurted out from the barrel-chested Alacryan’s unprotected neck. He was only able to let out a soft gurgle before collapsing to the ground, his eyes wide and frantic while his hands pressed down on his fatal injury.

My tone grew stern as I replied. “I’ll admit my priorities may have been a bit different until now, but there’s no time now. Take the battle elsewhere—anywhere away from here.”

Her forehead creased. “What’s going on?”

“There’s going to be someone coming, someone as strong—if not stronger—than me. Get everyone away from here so they don’t get caught in our crossfire.”

Vanesy’s furrowed brow deepened. “Our? You can’t mean—”

I nodded gravely. “This is why I’m here—in case something like this happened. Get everyone away from here.”

“I know you’re strong—actually, I can’t fathom how strong you actually are—but damn it, that doesn’t mean you can’t use any help!”

My eyes loosened as I gave my former professor a look of concern, but remained silent.

“Shit,” my former professor cursed, surveying the battlefield. She looked back at me with a resolute gaze. “Fine, but you better come back alive or I’ll pull you out of hell myself just to send you back.”

I couldn’t help but let out a chortle from her ridiculous threat. “I promise.”

Vanesy took a step back and saluted me before Torch swooped down from the sky. The captain jumped onto the flare hawk and bellowed out, “Dicathens! Retreat!”

Like that, the tide of battle shifted. Vanesy flew overhead, rallying her men that might not have heard, but already our soldiers had begun edging back while defending themselves from our enemies.

I watched as our soldiers withdrew, holding back any enemies that tried to chase after them, but there were simply too many.

It’s okay, I told myself. The Alacryan soldiers weren’t the problem. Vanesy and Captain Auddyr’s divisions were going to have to manage.

I put away Dawn’s Ballad and made my way toward the edge of the clearing. Jumping up onto a tree, I conjured a cushion of wind underneath my feet and made my way southward, hopping from one branch to another.

Just beyond the clearing, the tame trees, evenly spaced and maintained by woodcutters from the nearby town, became more wild and dense. There were large trees strewn below, fallen in storms. The harsh winter had stripped away much of the bark but by the thin layer of frost on the untouched ground, it seemed like the Alacryan Army hadn’t passed by here when they made their way up.

The only sound around me was the rustling of leaves and the occasional snaps of branches from the wildlife.

Sylvie. Are you there? How close are you?

I was met with only silence from my repeated attempts at establishing contact with my bond. She was either too far away, which shouldn’t be the case, or intentionally ignoring me.

‘Aren’t you a cute boy. Could it be that you’re lost?’

I flinched from the unfamiliar voice that rang in my head, nearly falling off the branch I was perched on. Whipping my head left and right, I tried to locate the source of the sound.

I wanted to move but my body froze—not from the cold, but from a tangible fear. A deep sense of dread creeped up like a rising tide, slowly but surely, as I surveyed the area.

Even with augmented vision and hearing, I couldn’t find her. Yet, I knew she was there, her high, grating voice still scratching the insides of my ears.

‘Are you, perhaps, looking for little ol’ me?’ her shrill voice screeched inside my head like a coarse blade being dragged against ice. I gnashed my teeth, trying to keep calm. My mind knew she was intentionally intimidating me but my body couldn’t help but fall victim to her tactic.

Her voice seemed to come from all around me and at the same time, inside me. My limbs grew stiff as my heart beat hard enough to break out of my ribcage.

Without a second thought, I bit down on my lower lip. As the pain and metallic taste of blood washed over my tongue, freeing me from the holds of her killing intent, I immediately activated Realmheart.

The once lush green and brown scenery washed down into shades of gray with only speckles of color radiating from the mana around me.

Unable to see any sources of mana fluctuation, I began to doubt what I heard—no, I wanted to doubt what I heard. Suddenly a flicker of light whizzed past the corner of my eye like a green shadow. It was almost impossible to follow the shadow’s movement but if I kept my eyes unfocused, I could catch glimpses of her movement.

The green shadow stopped. From her location, it looked like she was inside the trunk of a tree about thirty feet away.

‘Sharp eyes, little boy. Sharp eyes.’ She moved once more, travelling from inside one tree to another, using branches as if they were tunnels, leaving behind traces of sickly green mana. My eyes darted, trying to follow her movement as she let out a cackle of laughter that echoed in the thick forest.

“Your eyes look like they’re spinning, dear,” she teased, her shrill voice just as earsplitting out loud as it was in my head.

“Am I here?” she asked, farther away this time.

“How about here?” Her grating voice sounded to my left.

She let out a childish giggle. “Maybe I’m here!”

Her voice seemed to grow more distant than before. Was she trying to avoid me?