BXBX NOVEL Chapter 146 Running Home
"What do you mean by all of you are no longer in Amizanima Forest? Are you saying that Winerva and I are left behind?"
[I mean it as is. A Portal suddenly appeared below us the moment we entered the forest. It teleported us away to the south; now, we are only 2,000 Absitan away from Scentillion City.]
At the information, I stay quiet. I instinctively turn my eyes to Arieda because I am curious how she looks currently.
I can't help immediately turning my eyes away the moment I see her lips tremble in despair. The fact that Eliseus is no longer around must be a lightning strike to the back of her head.
She was hopeful of the situation, but her hope is now crushed by the absurd development. I can't even believe it happened, let alone her.
Still, as unbelievable as it is, there is an explanation for why it happened—Iorael's scheme. I believe Iorael made it happen because he didn't want his plan to take over Lysimork to be interrupted this time.
I believe he wouldn't do any of it if we didn't come to Lysimork. The appearance of Eliseus, the very Demon who had turned his plan into a complete failure years ago, must have made him extremely paranoid of her intervention.
What I find absurd and equally funny is the fact that I am the only one among us, who somehow the Portal missed. Considering I am the weakest among us however—the least threatening to Iorael—I don't think this is a coincidence.
With that said, it is time to apologize to the Dark Elf Princess, and nope the hell out. There is no way I am going to still help her despite the odds.
I still have many things I want to do. I abhor the idea of risking my life just to be someone's white knight.
"Arieda, I have to apologize..."
I am sorry, but it is time to cut our ties. Haletha's fall is an unavoidable outcome. The moment she falls, we will also lose our clutch on Lysimork. For this reason, maintaining our ties is no longer beneficial.
"I don't think I can—"
[Layland, an order has been received.] Eliseus cuts me before I can finish my sentence. [You are to escort Haletha Envenaddle and her daughter Arieda Envenaddle to Verniculos Kingdom.]
"What? Are you joking?" I ask in bewilderment. "You know that I am weaker than the most incompetent among us, Vibiane, don't you? How do you expect me to face against those... Wait, do you want me to be their guide?"
[Yes, you don't need to fight the rebel's army. Demon King Ilschevar only wants you to lead them to our Kingdom alive, so he can give them asylum.]
"... I don't remember exactly the way to our Kingdom."
[...]
I have been saying this a lot, but running away is my specialty. I can easily accept the task to be the guide for Haletha since I only need to run and let them follow me; however, the current me is not a good guide.
I have stayed in this world close to three months now, but I have only spent a weak outside the castle. Hoping someone like me to be a good guide is as ridiculous as calling a snake dragon.
Don't get me wrong, I made sure to pay attention to the route we chose and the way passed since the first day. Regardless, we are talking about tens of thousands miles traveling distance; it is absurd to expect me to be able to immediately memorize it.
[It is alright... You just have to let your Rank Necklace to guide you to us. Send out a pulse everytime you are uncertain of where you are, and it will give you our general location. When you are close to us, we will immediately pick you up.]
Lucky me, the Rank Necklace has such a function. Although it won't tell me the exact location of where the Kingdom is, it will still suffice since I remember some of the way vividly.
"Well, I guess we can save Haletha, Arieda," I say as I turn to said Dark Elf Princess.
"I—I am very thankful!" Arieda clutches her hands tightly in front of her chest. Her eyes tear up out of relief. "L-Let's go save my mother then. I believe she—"
I put my hand up, prompting her to stop speaking. "I need you to hear two things. First, I am only going to guide you and Haletha to our Kingdom, and give you both asylum. In other words, I won't help you retain your status."
Arieda nods her head quickly, easily accepting the information. "Second, I don't know what our Demon King wants from the two of you, so I can't really guarantee you will like your stay in our Kingdom."
"That is not a problem." Arieda waves her hand nonchalantly. "We, Dark Elves, are used to living in an uncomfortable environment. As long as we can live, we don't care about it."
"I see..."
You see, I have a little soft spot for kids—at this point, I don't bother to hide it any longer. Although Arieda is technically an adult, given her appearance, I feel the need to make things clear to her.
I just don't want her to look at me betrayed later just because things didn't go as she expected. It turns out however, she is more mature than I gave her credit for, so she is not that surprised by the information.
Now that the matter has been settled, I can do my second mission without risking being tripped by guilt later.
[Layland, good luck.]
"Oh... Yeah, thank you, Eliseus." I have honestly forgot she is still on the line. Turning to Arieda, I say, "Can you lead me to your mother?"
Arieda immediately lets go of her hug, then stands in front of me. "Of course! Come, follow me!" She looks ecstatic.
"U-Uh... What is happening actually?"
Surprised by the feminine voice, both Arieda and I turn to Winerva. I don't know if Arieda even knew Winerva had always been there, but I forgot that Winerva was with me.
Her presence brings me to a realization that I have an extra baggage with me, which is her. It makes me wonder if I can still accomplish the mission as I am afraid she will drag me down.
It doesn't take me long, fortunately, to realize that I can just discard the baggage anytime I want.
"We are going provoke an entire Kingdom of Dark Elves," I say calmly. "The key to survive the predicament is to have fast feet, so..." I lean my face closer toward Winerva. "If you want to survive, don't fall behind."
Mouth gaping in disbelief, Winerva looks at me in horror. I act as if I don't notice it, turn to Arieda, and tell her to lead the way.
"Ah, can I ride on your shoulders?" Arieda asks. "I have slow feet."
"No, you can't," I answer instantly. "We are going to travel at a high speed, so it is better to carry you instead."
"Oh, that is preferable!"
"H-Hey! Can you carry me too?" Winerva asks awkwardly. "I have jelly feet."
"No, overcome your fear," I respond with a command.
"Okay..."
Picking Arieda up, I immediately dash toward the direction she is pointing to. Winerva is a few steps behind me, but she is keeping up with me.
I am not impressed, of course; I am not even running at half of my top speed. Regardless, it is something that I am still grateful for since apart from being slow, she hasn't slowed me down so far.
This way, few minutes are spent with us focusing on running. It is not until another three minutes passed can we see the glimpse of the battlefield.
Among the darkness filling Amizanima Forest, like Lysimork, the battlefield that is just a few miles away from us shines the brightest. Unlike Lysimork however, it is exuding a very unwelcoming aura, which is unique to every battlefield.
I slow down my running speed, and stop at a distance that is close enough to the battlefield, but still makes me undetectable to the busy people. Putting down Arieda, I observe it carefully to look for a gap for me to exploit.
"Oh no... Mother and the others are slowly being surrounded," Arieda mutters.
Her observation is spot on. Although Haletha still has the upper hand now, she will be overwhelmed the longer the battle stretches.
I don't know why she is very adamant on staying there. It is very clear to me that she wouldn't have ended up in this situation, had she run away with her Guardians.
Turning to Winerva, who is still calming her breath down, I say, "Take Arieda with you, and follow behind me closely. Don't be slow for I can't guarantee you I will be able to save you if you are."
I can't obviously fight while carrying Arieda. I can't also just leave her behind, so entrusting her to Winerva is the best choice I have.
When Winerva is ready to run, I immediately dash toward Haletha. Some of the Dark Elves turn to me the moment they notice me; but, uncaring to that, I jump, activate [Great Impact], and smash Rexorem to the ground.
Boom!
The ground is split open. I knock many Dark Elves off their feet in the process, and also torn some of them to pieces with the impact of my Skill.
"Who is it?!"
Every Dark Elf's head turns to me in bewilderment. Both Haletha and her enemy don't seem they expected my arrival at all.