Kyran sat paralyzed, the weight of the moment pressing down on him.
He found the moment to be surreal, like stepping into a vivid dream he couldn't shake.
Doubt gnawed at his senses, the shock coursing through him was so profound that he dug his nails into his palm, searching for the sharp sting, that would confirm this was not some, waking illusion.
Once the sting struck his pain nerves, he realized that it was real.
He realized that the words actually came from Rex's mouth.
Upon the realization, he tilted his head down, looking at the ground pensively.
"You saying that..." Kyran whispered, his voice was so light—almost drowned by the sound of the river stream. He paused a second to control his emotions, "It... It really means a lot to me, thank you"
"I know," Rex nodded and lay down beside him. "you've gotten more dependable now"
Silence enveloped the two of them as they basked under the sunlight.
Rex was taking his time to rest his exhausted body and mind.On the other hand, Kyran's mind was in turmoil, the sense of accomplishment—washed over him like tidal waves. He lifted his hand, and looked at it, with a smile, 'I did good... I managed to shed the skin of burden and become my own'
'I am no longer a burden,' He clenched his hand into a fist excitedly.
Kyran has been a burden ever since they were still in Ratmawati City.
He caused most of the trouble, leaving Rex to take care of the absolute mess he made.
Until this moment, he was still surprised that not a lot of people blamed him.
Rex, Adhara, Evelyn, the three of them didn't blame him.
Other than during the moment when they received the news, they weren't blaming him.
Because of those mistakes—there were many things that he regretted—piling into a massive mountain of guilt. In order to fix those mistakes, he tried to be better, yearning for the day he gained Rex's recognition.
It worsens inside Iseldra's realm.
Kyran doesn't have a lot of things to hold in his life—his family is the Silverstar Pack.
Naturally, his mind was only filled with Rex and the others.
Mistakes and stupidity replayed on repeat inside his mind—while he was being confined, and since so much time had passed—all he remembered was his mistakes. Even his sisters, killed by goblins, he couldn't remember their faces anymore.
In fact, the night of their deaths was already foggy—he couldn't quite remember it.
But his mistakes, on the other hand, he remembered them as vivid as spring water.
Recently, he got it—he got Rex's recognition or at least a glimpse of it.
Being entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with the Dark Elves and also becoming the left-hand was clear proof of how much he had grown—evidence that he had become—more dependable and had changed for the better.
But today symbolized something greater, the moment he shed the skin of burden.
Even though he made the mistake of leaving Naela alone, he didn't trouble Rex as he did.
He didn't make Rex clean up the mess he made while he only helped a little.
No, this time, he cleaned his mess up himself and Rex was only helping him a little.
'I tried my very best to redeem myself and now, it has come to fruition,' Kyran smiled, he was barely able to contain his excitement, surging within. 'All of those battles I did in that realm—pushing forward relentlessly, it was all worth it'
"You could go scream if you want, nobody is around," Rex commented, sensing his elation.
Kyran smiled and scratched the back of his head, his cheeks blushing.
Although he wanted to remain composed, it seemed his expression gave it away.
"Are you really that happy?"
"I lost my sisters, I barely remembered what happened to them, but I remember the feeling of complete hopelessness. I couldn't do anything to help them. But now, killing Voltara made me feel like I could keep Naela safe so yes... I am happy"
It was hard to say something like this, something this truthful, Kyran wasn't used to it.
But since it was Rex, he felt comfortable enough to tell his true feelings.
"I never actually tried before—and now that I tried really hard, I managed to achieve it. I killed that hare beast," Kyran continued—the sensation of breaking Voltara's neck he could still feel it clearly.
Just as he turned to Rex, Kyran found that he was smiling.
Rex was smiling, happy about his achievement.
However, Kyran could sense something hiding behind his smile, and it felt like sadness.
Soon he realized that he had been too excited to realize something.
'I tried my hardest and gained results—I managed to achieve what I wanted, but Rex...' Kyran averted his gaze away. 'He tried his hardest, I know he did but even so, he still lost his foster and biological parents. And here I am, bragging about my achievement'
Kyran was lucky, that is a fact that couldn't be denied.
Several nights ago, Naela could've died but she didn't.
On the other hand, Rex was only off guard once and yet that mistake resulted extremely bad.
'It must have been really hard for him,' Kyran grimaced, the sense of accomplishment earlier was washed away instantly. 'Almost losing Naela... the thought of losing her—made it really hard for me to breathe. How much pain did Rex endure, at that time? I could not even begin to imagine it'
Stealing a glance at Rex, he gulped, 'He must feel like his world is drowning...'
Just as he thought of that, the silence was broken once again.
"Promise me that you'll be right by her, don't fail like I did," Rex suddenly said.
He had his eyes closed with both hands behind his head while he was saying this.
Kyran paused for a second before he turned towards the beautiful clear sky.
"I promise," He replied, with determination. "Nothing like this would ever happen again, I will make sure of it. Don't make this all about me. If I'm making a promise, then you also need to make a promise too"
"I already made a promise to myself to keep the others safe," Rex replied nonchalantly.
Ever since he lost his parents, he already vowed to lose no one.
No matter who he was up against, he'd made sure that nothing could bring harm to those he loved. Be it mortals, beings from the past, or even the Gods themselves—he wouldn't let any of them take more from him.
Experience tales at empire
But surprisingly, Kyran shook his head, "No, I don't want you to promise that"
Rex opened his eyes and met Kyran's gaze—greeted by an intensity that spoke volumes.
It seemed Kyran was being serious about this promise.
"I want you to promise that you would also keep yourself safe,"
"Keep myself safe? Protecting others is also aligned with keeping me safe"
"No, I don't mean that. I want you to also pay attention to your well-being too. Physically or even mentally. I want you to think about yourself once in a while, do not always think of the others. You can always ask me to keep watch on them while you rest"
Upon hearing this, Rex was stunned for a second.
Soon, he laughed exuberantly, "Since when are you this sentimental, Kyran?"
"I'm serious," Kyran intervened, still keeping his serious face.
Even though Rex tried to change the topic, it didn't seem to work—Kyran was fixed on this.
"You can laugh but you know what I meant and I mean it" He added.
Finding that he was really serious about this, the smile on Rex's face vanished as he let out a tired sigh, "If you're serious, then I'll answer you seriously. I can't promise you that," Rex said, shaking his head. "there's a calamity approaching and I don't know if I can survive it"
"I can't think about myself, I just... can't," Rex added, his voice filled with emotions.
Kyran frowned, 'Is he planning to die...? No, that shouldn't be the case'
Other than planning to die, Rex seemed to be accepting of death.
If the situation calls for it, he was not going to hesitate—death couldn't waver him anymore.
Clenching his jaw tightly, Kyran forced out the words at the tip of his tongue.
"Death, you're willing to sacrifice yourself? Are you not scared of death?" He asked lightly.
Of course, earlier when he was still with Naella—he risked his life to protect her but he didn't know what would happen to him. He could either still be alive, or die in the process. And due to not knowing, he didn't need to hesitate.
Accepting death, on the other hand, was completely different.
Kyran wasn't confident that if he knew the outcome was death he would dive right in.
Not that he didn't have the guts to lay down his life, for someone he cared about, but Kyran was not confident that he could do that without hesitating. His resolve was clearly different from Rex's.
For Rex, he wouldn't hesitate to step in even if it meant death.
"Scared of death...?" Rex gazed at the clear blue sky, seemingly contemplating this question deeply. "Being scared, afraid of death, is far too grand, for someone like me. My life was not mine anymore, it slipped out of my hands the moment mom died..."
Upon saying that, Rex stood up and went over to Iris who was still unconscious.
Kyran could only look at his back, processing what he said.
Giving no time for Kyran to think, Rex carried Iris again and glanced over his shoulder.
"Let's make it clear, what do you want to do with the Angels?" Rex asked.
It was the Angels who attacked Naela unprovoked, he couldn't let something like that slide.
Considering that he has a lot of people under him now, if he didn't respond to a close person being beaten to half-dead, the subservient kingdoms would feel threatened. If Rex could not act for Naela then they would doubt Rex would act if their kingdoms were attacked.
Maybe not instantly but the seed of doubt would be planted.
Rex already knew what he needed to do but he wanted to make it clear by asking Kyran.
As soon as he was asked that question, Kyran's expression tightened.
"I want to kill whoever did it..." He answered raspingly.
Upon hearing this, Rex nodded before the two moved, not forgetting to put Voltara's carcass inside his inventory. The Demon Moon's night ended. Rex went back to Ratmawati City while Kyran stayed behind in the Dark Elven Kingdom.
Naela was treated there so he stayed behind.
Along the way, he regrouped with Adhara, Flunra, and Gistella and received the bad news.
Contrary to his expectations that the Undead might have taken only a portion of the Death Order stones, Adhara informed him that not a single one was left behind. The Undead, had completely swept the forest clean.
Not only that, Shadow was also somehow killed and its carcass taken away.
From this alone, the Undead managed to take everything—hoard everything of value.
Since Shadow was taken, then the Undead has access to a Nigh Lord-class Order Beast's Elemental Order, it was really bad news as that amount of resources for the Undead might propel one of them to the tenth-rank realm.
Rex was able to obtain Voltara's Elemental Order, it was compatible with him.
But compared to the Undead's haul, his was way lesser than them.
Arriving back home, Rex told Evelyn what had happened and what he had been doing.
It was already bad as it is but Evelyn told him about the incident that happened in the city.
"So the dead coming back to life, that's a Blood Spell...?" He muttered with a frown.
Evelyn nodded, "Yes, I asked Calidora and she verified that it was indeed a Blood Spell. But it was inconsistent. Calidora said that the Blood Spell, can't influence the dead—it needs blood and a corpse has little to none"
He knew about this incident, he sent his clone back to check on the city.
However, as he pondered about this, his eyes widened.
"Damn it..." Rex cursed. "It's the Blood Spell alright but it was the Undead who cast it to lure me"
"What? How...?"
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