Chapter 289

Vorbuk struggled under the rubble as he kept things from collapsing further down on them. He had to protect the unconscious princess, Isis. Disgruntled in her condition she groaned and struggled to open her eyes just a slit in order to look up at him.

"Princess Isis, can you hear me?" Vorbuk called out to her while trying to get her to remain alert. It could be dangerous if she fell completely asleep while they were in the situation. He could only do what he could to help her til the others arrived.

"... Vorbuk?" She weakly muttered out his name under heavy breath.

Vorbuk sighed out of relief to hear the sound of her voice, in attempt to reassure her, reaching out to Isis he gently placed his hand against her soft wolf-like ear, "Hold on, Princess. The others will be here soon. Just stay with me, okay?"

"The fire... it started so suddenly.." The princess tried to explain vaguely to him in her weakened state. Her voice shook from how weak and nervous she was. Intense heat swallowing them up only made her more scared. She was the type to loved adventure. It was true that she had always sneaked away and escaped her knights growing up in order to get more adventure. However she was not prepared to feel the sense of fear she did in that moment when he palace went up in flames with her inside.

It felt like the world was trying to suffocate her alive in the heat. How could she not feel fear? Her body shivered and tensed up under him as she tried to curl herself up. Not wanting to feel alone she could only curl her body slightly upwards against his. The princess's face pressed against his chest as she could feel his body struggling to protect her from the rubble.

Vorbuk struggled to move, pushing the rubble away with his arms. Feeling a strange soothing coldness from the pit of his chest. The mana inside his body began to try and burst forth from his body. A feint red glow coming from his eyes.

Black mana began to seep from Vorbuk's body as if to lick the surrounding depth of the shadows hidden in the surroundings. No matter how much fire was within the palace, there were always going to be hidden darkness. Shadows cast in the light could not always be seen. His mana sought out the shadows regardless of how small and difficult they were to find.

Vorbuk's fingers twitched as a slight breeze could be felt brushing against his fingertips. He tried desperately to sense another type of mana. Wanting something to help the predicament they were in. Desperation began to fill him as he wanted desperately to be able to use wind mana. No matter how much he read about it in the book he'd stolen from the temple it was impossible for him to comprehend it. A rough pounding in his chest could be felt as his heart felt like it was being clenched tight from stress.

Why is he so foolish? Princess Isis thought to herself as she could not understand why Vorbuk would put himself at risk to save her. Knowing that she was only going to get him killed with her at this rate. The only thing she could do for him was fight to pull herself together as much as possible.

"Princess?" Vorbuk was startled to see her suddenly pressing upwards with what little strength she could force out. Struggling with all her might, the princess pushed up against the rubble to try and help let up some of the weight on his back.

Vorbuk struggled to use his shadows to fight against the flames in the room around them. There was only one option he could consider. The only problem was he did not know how the princess would take it if he did it without warning to get them out. He had never tried it before with someone else.

"Hahhh.. Hah.." The princess was struggling with hazy vision, listening to the sound of his voice calling out to her through the roaring heat. From all around she could hear the sounds of the palace collapsing piece by piece from the flames. Even if Vorbuk knew how to use wind magic it would not be able to save the palace. It would have taken someone of great level to save the princess's palace from the fiery blaze it had gone up in.

Leaning down and whispering beside her ear, Vorbuk asked her, "Do you trust me?"

"... Yes." Princess Isis answered honestly with tear filled eyes. The sound of his voice in her ear was the only thing left she could hold onto.

He smiled at her response as he whispered to her, "Do not let go of me."

Closing his eyes, shadows began to envelope around the two of them like a black cocoon. Everything was getting dark and soon enough the princess could feel her entire body going cold. It was in that exact moment that she realized what was happening. Her breathing was slowly beginning to stabilize as if the world was becoming clear once again. But that clarity was one that was being given within the darkness itself.

This... What is this? Princess Isis knew that Vorbuk was saving her at the cost of pushing himself greatly. The beast was already draining himself to remain in human form to come for her. Now he was pushing his mana more then he had ever done before to protect her.

She could feel the coldness from their bodies sinking within the shadows together. Vorbuk was pushing his shadow magic to bring her into the shadows with him. It was a different kind of cold that she had never felt before. As if her body was being delicately cared for by the underworld itself. It felt cool against every inch of herself. It felt clean and even calm. Yet there was a deeper sense of something she felt within the shadows, loneliness. That feeling was not her own but one she felt carried heavy in that darkness surrounding her as she kept a firm hold around Vorbuk's neck.

His eyes glowed a bright red and they seemed focused intently on every action he made. She could tell that he was working everything out in his mind with every passing second. There was no time for him to slow down on how quickly he tried to move her from the palace. Princess Isis was not someone who had shadow mana and therefore she did not belong in the shadow realm. He had to move her quickly back to the real world and out of the shadows. It was a sense of darkness that only Vorbuk felt he could understand. The longer she resided within the shadows the more her life would be at risk.

Her arms tightened around him a bit more as she called out to him the second she spotted the worry in his eyes, "Thank you."

It might have not been something fancy. In fact it might not have even calmed his tension. The princess just simply wanted to tell him those two words.

Th-Thump!

Vorbuk felt his heart stir at the feeling of her arms firmly gripping his neck as he moved with her through the shadows, "Don't thank me yet. We still need to figure out who did this."

"... Vorbuk." She called his name with a worried expression.

He was quiet for a moment as he realized her hesitation to speak, "Is it about who did this?"

She nodded quietly, placing her forehead against his neck to hide the expression on her face as she muttered, "I think Grand Duke Heket was involved."