CHAPTER 49 - WILL NEVER END
LUKE HODGES
I turned to my childhood friend and the main character of this world.
"He has gone unconscious, for now." I said, already igniting the healing factor into my hands and delivering it to his injured body. "That Dragon's Awakening is sure to take a toll on the human body." I lightly said, turning to Aya who put him down slowly for me to treat.
The flickering of my spell showed to the lances who had been worried and jolted since I arrived. Of course they would be, even I am, since there is no guarantee that the ice wall will keep these mana beasts there.
"For now, the best course of action is taking them back to the surface and to head towards the guild for their recovery."
Aya and Alea agreed with my words and began taking the adventurers alive. Elijah was the first to wake up before we even stepped foot outside the cavern, where the doors were closed. "Ah! What?! Who are you guys!? Note! Jasmine! Where are they–"
I held my hand up for him to stop yelling. "Don't worry they are fine, we are just going to the surface before we head over to the guild to get you guys treatment."
The boy's startled and fearful facial expression turned to relief and comfort. Aya had conjured her multi-clones with her deviant to carry them out of here. Surprisingly enough, she still had mana left for her to share with me. Alea was the same, sharing her mana, I was able to be around eighty-six percent full with mana.
Even after lightly healing them all, there was still mana to spare.
Maybe the capacity of the white core mages is greater than I thought. I told myself, turning to the scenery of what became a battlefield not that long ago. Elijah, Jasmine, Arthur… There was still one more missing.
I halted before we even made it to ten steps outside the dungeon cavern. Alea noticed my action before questioning me. "What are you doing, Luke?"
Turning my full body around, facing the doors giant enough for the rest of the elderwood guardians to escape, I said, "There is one more missing."
"Then let me do that. You go with the rest and explain to the guild about–"
"No. It would be better if two of the strongest mages go to the guild and explain the situation. And more than that, we can't leave an adventurer who might be in need of help."
"But you're going alone? After what we witnessed?"
I didn't reply to her and instead started to walk.
"Then at least take Sylvie with you…" A weakened voice said behind me.
The giant sounds of footsteps echoed through the cave, showing that the dragon was already here. She had grown.
I let a soft smile rule over my face, I was happy that she was okay.
As the giant glossy black dragon got closer to me, I slowly let my hand rise to where her snout was. "Hey there big girl, remember me?"
My hand touched her snout before I scratched her chin. Her confirmation of letting me even touch her told me that she did recognize me.
"Alright, all we have to do is bring back one more person, then we are to get out of here."
Sylvie understood what I meant by that. I was being honest, all we needed to do was grab Samantha along with the beast's cores and what not. Hopefully, no Elderwood guardian escaped.
"I will take you up in that, Sylvie along with the missing adventurer will be safe, I promise you that." My tone and voice were in solid waves, there wasn't a lie or a honey covered term there. It was the truth, I cared for Sylvie and those who died a horrible death on Dicathen's side, those at least that were good people.
Upon entering the cavern again, I realized how much destruction there was just by one human boy with Asuran powers. Crazy.
"Sylvie, we will search for her by sensing mana. She might be using mana to keep her body warm or protected."
We both proceeded to search for the blonde girl who in turn had the beast core of the giant tree, one thing that Tessia needed for this story to continue. The main protagonist needs this magical object to his future lover.
And if that doesn't happen, I don't know what will happen and I don't think I am willing to find out.
Not yet at least.
A loud cry came from the dragon, it was a signal that she had found something.
"What did you find, Sylvie?" My voice had a hint of excitement. I thought we were going to be done with this before the rest of the elderwood guardians even escaped, but Fate wasn't playing on my side.
Under the rubble that Sylvie stood on top of, was a young girl whose skin was pale but not entirely. The yellow and golden hair was spread around her head like it was mimicking some holy symbolism. "Oh no…"
I tried to lift some more giant rocks that covered her body. The streaks of crimson red were on the ground like stepping on a kitchup bag. With the help of the asuran dragon, I was able to see what she looked like. She looked sweet, and gentle with a kind heart to those around her. Her arms and legs were mushed down by the falling crystals. My knees felt weak upon seeing how she ended up. "I-I'm sorry. I did this to you…"
The shaking of my hands and the chaos that was in my head when I knew that something was going to happen because I messed with the original story line but I was certain that I was going to save them all from tragic deaths. Yet I had forgotten that not everyone from before died in the Dire Tombs arc. "I…I…"
My sentence wasn't able to be completed because I was still trying to comprehend the actions that I did and the consequences that it brought with it.
She was dead.
Samantha Tempest died because I decided to kill and eliminate the alacryans spying in Dicathen. All because I wanted to feel like a hero. I had to run into Agrona and Cadell, provoking them before with Draneeve's failure to recruit more Dicathens. Everything was my fault.
I tried igniting once more my healing magic, casting it to a body without the kind soul. It was futile, I knew it but I didn't want to accept that she had passed away. To die like this before she accomplished anything?
Sylvie tried to pull me off from doing something reckless, I knew it well. But I couldn't. I didn't want to live with this guilt of having someone with a bright future killed because I did something that wasn't supposed to.
Instead, Sylvie sat next to me like a dog in her dragon form and with her own way, she hugged me. Consulting me on what she thought was best. Finally, I tried removing all the blood that spattered on her body with a piece of cloth from my armor. That is when I realized that she was hiding something beneath her fire-resistance cape.
It had taken me the courage I had left to lift up the cap before seeing what it was.
It was a white mask that had a blue musical note imprinted on the left side of the eye. Along with the mask, was the giant green and gray mana core that exceeded a beast's will.
My vision got blurry, that is when it finally hit me like a truck. I had taken an innocent's life. Until the very end did she accomplish what she did in the novel, she would tell Arthur about the mask and how handsome he was without it. She was going to say… how much of a normal life she wanted after this…
And for the first time in a long time… I cried. I cried like a kid.
The sobs that came from my nose, the feeling of not being able to bring this person back was… agonizing.
I had stolen someone's future.
That was the sentence I had in my mind, all the time I cried. Minutes turned to hours and before I knew it, I had run out of tears.
I felt dead. With no meaning or knowledge of what to do next.
Killing the alacryans wasn't giving me a hard time but in my dreams I would hear their curses, just before they were killed by me. Decapitation, pierced with magic, torn limb by limb. It didn't bother me but rather it helped me understand the implications of my mental fortitude.
Yet after all that, how come only her death makes me feel this way?
She wasn't someone I knew from the heart. I had read the novel multiple times and never felt a thing for her, so how come I feel this way?
No matter how much I asked that question in my mind, the answer would never come and perhaps it never will.
***
Having still a lot of mana remaining, I froze Samantha's body for Sylvie to carry to the guild where the rest are waiting.
"It's okay Sylvie, take her, and make sure her family reads this note."
Sylvie's golden eyes stared at me with sadness and concern. However, I wasn't in the need of wanting someone to worry about my mental health right now. There were still many things I needed to do, and mostly everything is in that letter.
Not completely bought about it, I said, "Don't worry, I will be fine. I-I just need some space and time to think. And thank you for making me feel better."
Easing her worry a little, she walked away before flying.
I took a couple of minutes, taking a breather after a breather. Taking in what happened a moment ago like it was nothing– I am lying in fact. It still hurt in one way or another and forgetting about it was not an option I had.
"Now…"
The ground shook and trembled in concordance with the footsteps of the mana beasts behind me. The feeling of their mana waves came in contact with me, bloodlust was all they had for me.
"You guys escaped? Because of him?"
There was a stronger sense of mana and aura in front of the 'normal' guardians. The one in front was bigger in size and had a vine crown. It distinguished him from the rest. Sticking out like a sore thumb, I only did what my mind told me.
And that was to kill them all.
The crackle of the fire made me realize that I had gotten the control of the fire affinity but there wasn't any excitement in me, all I had harbering in me was hatred and responsibility.
I turned, in my vision of view, the blue fire that I once wasn't able to conjure or even muster until now.
"It doesn't matter, you will not make it out alive."