Reunion

"Are you sure about this Nidia?"

Arsh asked, his eyes trembling slightly, as he climbed up and took a seat on the back of the little Griffin.

"Ku"

Nidia gave him a smug look and started flapping her wings with full force, letting out a stream of dust in every direction.

"Don't worry, kid. It is the instinct for our people to sore through the sky. You'll be fine…probably"

'... Probably?'

Ms. Gelina gave him a reassuring smile. Suddenly flying up into the sky. Nidia followed her trail and flew upward too.

As her promise, she had promised to help him, in exchange for accompanying him on his journey.

Arsh didn't know what kind of reason she had, so he was suspicious of her. But, considering she had the power to swat him like a fly, her motivations were very unclear.

'.....This feels liberating.'

Flying is a liberating act. Arsh reached this conclusion while skimming through the sky on the back of the little Griffin, his hands up in the air.

"WOOHOO"

Ignoring the funny look given to him by Nidia. Arsh was astonished by the speed they were flying through the narrow valley. It didn't take them much time to fly above and away from the valley.

As they flew out of the valley, Arsh looked below at the giant valley extending so deep, that even its end was not visible from the sky. He now had confirmation as to why a millennium-like monster died from a fall.

'.....That is a canyon rather than a valley.'

Miss Gelina flew high toward the sky and gestured for Nidia to follow her. Soon they were at an unimaginable height that could only be possible with the power of flight.

"...."

Arsh silently stared at the Giant continent below him with a somber expression.

A large mass of land that was filled with a large range of mountains in the middle with forest in every other direction, with a little town at the very side of the continent.

"So… where should we go now?"

Miss Gelina asked Arsh, a trail of interest dripping in her voice. Arsh looked at her face suspiciously, before answering with a sigh.

"....We should look for my group first. I was separated from them near the fog-encircled forest. We should look over there, I have a feeling they must be somewhere near the forest of silence"

Arsh pointed his finger at the middle part of the forest, the part surrounded by intense fog. So much so, it was impossible to peer past it, even from the sky.

"We should fly just above the forest. Maintaining a little distance between the ground and sky. That way, we will be able to pick traces of them quickly...If they are alive. That is"

Arsh added warily. Miss Gelina nodded in his direction and complied with his suggestion.

As they hovered over the forest, Arsh was surprised by the view in front of him.

Whenever any monster sensed their presence, they started running away without a second thought. Even the powerful gargoyles in the sky didn't try to obstruct their path.

'...Must be instinct'

Arsh didn't know how strong Miss Gelina was exactly. More exactly, there was no reference for him to measure her power to.

The dread he felt at their first meeting, made the difference in power between them very clear. But, comparing her to Alan was also impossible, as he didn't know how strong both of them really were.

They hovered over the forest for some time, until they heard a few human voices coming in their direction from the inside of the fog.

Arsh signaled Gelina to stop. As they landed in the forest covered by the fog, following the echoing voice.

Arsh skimmed through the forest, he was pretty sure he knew the voices. While Nidia and Ms. Gelina followed him silently.

He stepped past a massive tree, looking at the flickering fire in front of him and the group of people sitting together around it. He knew them all.

Arsh looked at them closely and heaved a sigh of relief. His eyes relaxed, as he noticed Alan sitting with the group, eating something together with them.

'...They are alive'

Arsh ran ahead to them with relief. To meet up with his group again and tell them how genuinely relieved he was that they made it alive. Especially Alan.

But as Arsh closed the distance between him and the group, Alan disappeared from the spot, reappearing just in front of Ms. Gelina's head.

"..Wut the-?"

Arsh tried to stop him. But, he was too slow compared to his mentor. Intercepting them both by force was impossible for him.

Ms. Gelina didn't move looking at the incoming attack. Instead, she blocked his sword with her wing and attacked Alan with the other one.

Alan retracted his sword and deflected the second wing before taking a few steps back. His expressions were grim and bloodthirsty.

Arsh looked at them, wide-eyed before shouting out loud.

"Hey, maniac It's me right here. Can't you sense my presence?"

Alan's eyes followed the source of the voice, his expression startled and unsettling. As he looked at Arsh with a longing gaze, he replied with a coarse yet pained voice.

".....Kid? ...You are alive?"

Arsh nodded with a genuine smile raising both of his hands to confirm for him.

"...Yes, I am alive and fine, mentor. How have you been?"

Alan backed away from the giant Griffin, Ignoring it completely. Alan Moved towards Arsh, his eyes trembling slightly, as he touched his face to confirm if it was a hallucination.

He smiled a little, hugging Arsh tightly.

"....Dumbshit! I looked for you in the whole freaking forest"

Arsh squinted his eyes by the sudden surprise.

'Still foul-mouthed as always'

"Oh, I am very happy to see you alive, my lovely Mentor. I was pretty sure you croaked in the fight. I am thankful you made it"

Arsh raised his hand trying to act haughty. Alan moved his hand away and smacked him on the back of his head.

His eyes trailed between Arsh and Gelina.

"Leaving all that aside…"

Alan pointed a finger at the giant Griffin, his expression fairly surprised.

"What kind of creatures is that?..... A griffin?"

Arsh sighed looking at the group of battle-ready adventurers and his worried mentor's expression. As he added in a tired voice.

"....It's kind of a long story."

It took a long time to explain the situation to Alan, who was visibly confused throughout every part of the story, but reluctantly nodded.

During their conversation Nidia and Ms. Gelina assumed their cat form, surprising everyone present in the group.

Arsh told them how he fell down with the Millennium in the dark valley. If it weren't for Miss Gelina to save him from the fall, he would've been a squashed bug.

"...."

He still kept a few things from them.

Arsh didn't tell them about his conversation with the ominous voice, and how he was on the verge of maddening because of it.

He needed some time to process and comprehend it. The familiar voice was connected to him somehow to his very soul no less.

And it surely was a sentient being with motives of its own. It striked him as a meticulous schemer from their previous conversations. If it was a part of him, there surely should be a way to converse with it, and Arsh was waiting for the opportunity to come, before making a solid decision regarding it. Or it could also be...

'....It could also be a fragment of my imagination'

Arsh and Nidia sat down with adventures, leaving Alan and Ms. Gelina alone in another direction. Where he again was showered with hugs and sobs from his party members.

"I was pretty sure….. you died, kid"

Leo said with a doubtful expression, his gaze lingering on the little cat on Arsh's lap...

"Naah. I will die from Alan's training before any of the monsters can kill me"

This got a chuckle out of the whole group, leaving Nidia in confusion. Nidia stared at Arsh in confusion. In return, Arsh just patted the head of the little kitten.

"Brother!! Can I touch the cat in your lap?"

Elsa asked with excitement brimming from both of her eyes. Arsh looked at Nidia, who was not too into the idea from her expression. He sighed and agreed to give her up.

Elsa took Nidia in her lap and started caressing her head. Nidia jumped out of her lap annoyed and gestured to Elsa to come with her. They moved inside the forest together leaving the group in silence.

"...Is she going to be okay?"

Leo asked in a worried voice.

"Don't worry about them. She may look like a little kitten. But, I doubt even the primate-level monsters will be able to stand a chance against her"

Arsh sighed, before looking at the adventurers with a curious gaze.

"By the way…. How were you guys able to survive the siege of the monsters? Even though I deflected the Millennium, there were just too many of them."

Arsh asked in an intrigued voice.

He knew how hopeless the situation was. Even though he was successful in killing the Millennium, the survival percentage of the adventurers was still pretty low.

"We were able to defend against the coyote's horde easily. But… when the Primates horde hit us, it became much direr of a situation"

Ethan replied this time, instead of Leo turning everyone's attention toward him.

"We were able to barely defend for some time. Until the gargoyles joined the fray. At that moment, we just lost all hope of survival. We held out for some more minutes until Adam got badly injured…..After losing our vanguard, we were sure of our death"

Ethan chuckled suddenly, looking at Alan's distant silhouette.

"But…. then Alan emerged from the other side, with heads of the millennium in his both hands. The monsters started retreating away from us, just because of his presence alone."

Arsh's eyes went wide from the last line.

He was not sure anymore. About how high Alan's ceiling went in terms of power. He never saw him going all out once in his training, but perhaps this was a real outlook of his capabilities.

Destroying thousands of monsters along with two living disasters without losing a single strand of hair was beyond amazing. Topping it off with scaring an army of monsters with just his presence alone.

'Damn!..... I underestimated him too much'

"After the whole ordeal ended, we started searching for you. But, we didn't find any trace of you in the whole forest for 4 whole days."

Ethan then continued in a sad voice, his eyes uncertain at the same time pitying.

"...When we became sure that you had died….. Alan told us about your past and why he wanted to help you, and how he was not going to stop until he finds your dead body, and confirmed your death with his own eyes."

Nathan went silent again. Leaving the whole group in a state of lingering awkwardness. As they shuffled back and forth.

"....That is…. really surprising, considering his personality."

Arsh let out a grating voice, his expression hesitant. As waves of several emotions hit him all together.

He now knew someone, who really was on his side in this accursed world.