The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Healing Procedure

The mysterious figure cast a suffocating pressure throughout the cavern as it stepped out of the gate. Even Sylvie, who had been so eager to leave, was frozen stiff as she helplessly peered down at the sight below.

As the rest of its body appeared through the teleportation gate, my eyes immediately became fixed on its horns.

The horns I’d seen on all of the other Vritras so far looked menacing—as if they were part beast—but looking at the two spikes protruding from above the figure’s temples and veer back toward the crown of its head, they exuded a sense of prestige and regality, like a tiara placed gently on its head. Unlike the murky black horns I’d seen up until now, this Vritra’s obsidian horns all but glowed like precious stones, contrasting starkly against its pearl-colored mane that flowed back past a set of narrow shoulder.

As the Vritra indifferently surveyed its surroundings, I was able to catch a quick glimpse of its face before retreating back behind the entrance of the tunnel out of fear that the Vritra would be able to sense me even with Mirage Walk activated.

It was then I realized that this oppressive aura had come from a girl that looked no older in appearance than Tessia. She possessed elegant features, dark eyes and a thin frame underneath a fur-trimmed obsidian robe, yet even amongst a crowd of dwarves, she appeared small and petite.

After a few seconds, I mustered up the courage to look down once more.

“L-Lady Nezera?” a barrel-chested Alacryan soldier greeted as he remained genuflected in front of the crowd of kneeling dwarves, confused.

“Where is Cylrit?” the female Vritra asked cooly, facing one of the many Alacryan soldiers surrounding the gate and the kneeling dwarves.

The female soldier that Lady Nezera acknowledged immediately rose to her feet. “Commander Cylrit is currently stationed near the northern coast of Sapin, awaiting you before he begins his attack, Lady Nezera.”

“Very well. Let us depart.” Her soft voice spread like a cold breeze, sending shivers down my back despite the distance between us.

“Yes, Lady Nezera!” The female soldier saluted, rallying her troops to follow after the dainty Vritra.

However as she walked past the soldier who had first called out her name in surprise, he spoke out. “Forgive my rudeness, Lady Nevera, but what of the new scythe? I was instructed to take him to Commander Uto.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the vicinity anxiously shifted glances between Lady Nezera and the large soldier. She peered down at the soldier with a cold, emotionless gaze until she finally spoke. “He’s not ready. Melzri and Viessa are still working on him.”

“I-I see,” the soldier replied, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “My apologies for wasting your time.”

By her speech, it was obvious that she herself was a scythe as well but a part of me didn’t want to believe it—that such a being, comparable even to an asura, was an opponent I would ultimately have to face. Better yet, the number of scythes we had to worry about had increased.

‘Another scythe?’ Sylvie echoed, her voice dripping with worry.

Come on, let’s get out of here, I sent to my bond. Now that a scythe had entered the war, getting this information back up to the castle had to be done quickly.

I took one last quick glance at the scythe named Nezera when she looked back over her shoulder as well.

For a split second, her gaze passed by the tunnel where we’d been hiding and our eyes met.

Her gaze eventually swept past me but in that flashing moment, her cold eyes had locked onto me with the focus of a predator.

There was no doubt about it; she knew I was here.

My body stiffened as if every ounce of blood in my body had congealed. My hand grew clammy while my heartbeat rose to the point where I feared the entire cavern would hear me. Yet, she turned back and continued up the stairs in the same curt manner she had before—unfazed and uncaring.

‘What’s wrong?’ my bond asked.

I stood still, afraid to move. It was only after she’d left that I let out a breath. I think she saw me.

Feeling my apprehension, she knew I wasn’t joking, making her all the more restless. ‘Now can we leave? Or do you want to wait until the rest of the Alacryan army knows we’re here...’

I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile. It was in these rare moments that my bond showed glimpses of her immaturity. Yeah. Let’s go.

Exiting the tunnel, we were greeted by the ever-pleasant slap of desert wind. Sylvie and I had agreed to hold off on flying until we’d reached the forest on the border of Sapin and Darv. However, after a mile of careful trekking, my body had succumbed to a fit of shivers. Constantly using Mirage Walk in case nearby Alacryan soldiers sensed my mana fluctuations had drained my meager reserve of mana. Using the rest of the mana to strengthen my legs, I was left with only my cloak to protect me from the sharp sand-embedded winds.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten this cold. I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. Leaning my back against a boulder for temporary shelter from the wind, I wrapped my cloak tightly around me.

‘Just a little more. We’re almost there. Should I use aether once more?’ my bond asked as she gazed up at my pitiful state.

No. I can barely keep Mana Rotation active in this state. Using aether might set off the soldiers, or worse, the scythe.

‘Okay.’ Pressing against my leg to do what she could to keep me just a little warmer, we stayed still for a brief moment until the wind died down just a bit.

After painstakingly walking back toward the forest, walking zigzag from one boulder to another in case of any Alacryan soldiers hidden from the faint light of the crescent moon, I almost broke into tears at the shadowed figures of trees in the distance.

Just a few minutes into the forest, the wind had died down significantly and—despite it being the same temperature—my body slowly began to thaw.

‘Let’s rest here for a bit,’ Sylvie said, pointing with her snout at a nearby hollowed log.

We should... get back to the castle, I replied, my eyelids growing heavier with each word.

My bond nudged me toward the log. ‘We need to put some more distance between us and the soldiers ahead anyway. Just a one hour nap. At this rate, you’ll freeze without mana to protect you while flying.’

There was a comforting power to her words that seemed to drain the rest of what little energy I had left in me. Suddenly hit with a wave fatigue, I stumbled into the hollow log. My consciousness slowly faded into darkness with the last thing I witnessed being Sylvie dropping a mouthful of leaves on top of my body for warmth.

Despite my feeble state, deep sleep eluded me. From the tension of being out in harm’s way with little strength to protect myself and the recent turn of events, my mind worked overtime to stay at least half-conscious.

After about an hour of resting my eyes and body, Sylvie and I climbed out from the comfort of our blanket of leaves and departed. Without the need to use mana to strengthen my legs while riding Sylvie, I was able to protect myself from the prevailing winds.

The journey back to the castle was silent aside from the howling gales. Conversation was almost nonexistent between us as both of us had become lost in our own thoughts.

The war had just gotten exponentially more complicated now that we knew the dwarves were aiding the Alacryan forces. It wasn’t as black and white as us versus them now. There was still the possibility that it was only a specific faction of the dwarves that were aiding our enemy, but if Rahdeas, Elijah’s foster guardian and now leader of the dwarves, had something to do with this, then that meant we were potentially down two lances.

Assuming the worst, the only positive that came out of this was that Rahdeas was still acting as if he was on our side. This meant that he either had more to gain from being a double agent or that he wasn’t confident enough to openly defy the rest of The Council.

‘We’re here,’ Sylvie announced.

Despite my condition, I couldn’t help but worry. They might run into the Alacryan platoon that was marching up north. Worse, that scythe might try to find the retainer I killed.

‘I’m not too worried about the scythe, since she seemed to be leaving in a different direction, but you’re right about the platoon,’ my bond replied.