Chapter 245: The Artifact's Doing

- Mild Gore Warning -

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Late Morning - Early Winter : Outskirts of Fae, Holy Kingdom

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- Unknown Noble ~ (Same as Ch. 235)

"Uwaah..." I let out a yawn as I looked out the window of the carriage and into the forest. -I wonder what that tremor last night was from...-

The night prior, we were camping on the roadside and eating our dinner before we planned to lay down and get some rest, but out of nowhere, the carriage started to rattle slightly and an extremely faint vibration could be felt, but it didn't seem to be coming from the ground.

It was nothing like anything anyone in my escort group had ever experienced to the point that we struggled to call it a tremor, but we eventually came to the conclusion it was some monsters fighting off in the distance and decided to pack things back up and get on the road. -But that.. mercenary has been acting weirdly ever since...-

Looking forward out the window, I saw the small, black-robed figure tightly hugging her cloth-wrapped blade. -Just who is she...-

"Are you alright, young lord?" The voice of the maid who came with me snapped me out of my thoughts in an instant.

"Ah, uh, yes. I'm fine." I felt like I was on the verge of falling asleep, but I had to stay up.

"This carriage can be slept in if you wish to rest. The seats pull out, and there is a cushion and blanket in the cabinet behind the backrest-"

"The knight captain told me not to fall asleep in case something happens..."

"That was nearly three hours ago, young lord... The monsters we felt fighting should be far behind us by now."

I paused as I turned to look at her, quickly noticing her worried look. "Father taught me not to rest without the knights. If I rest without them, I won't have any idea how tired they are..." Although I thought it was a bit of a dumb rule, I could somewhat understand it. -Regardless, it is true that we are in Orc territory... I guess it couldn't hurt to stay alert...-

Right as I thought that though, a faint but growing vibration could be felt. *rrrrumble*

The frantic voices of everyone outside sounded through the carriage immediately as I looked out the window to see two knights blocking the door to the carriage with their horses. -What is...-

"Young Lord! Please lay down! You mustn't let anyone or anything outside know you are in-"

*rrrrrrummmbleee-crunch-crackle* The noise of trees collapsing followed the approaching rumble before the door to the carriage was broken open.

"Young lord!" It was the head knight. "Get on my horse! Hurry! There is a stampede!"

The maid and I both paled instantly as she hastily got me up and moved me to the door. "Young Lord you need to hurry!"

Without being able to say a word, the head knight casually grabbed me as if I weighed nothing and set me behind him on his horse. "Kid, hold on to me!" But instead of dashing ahead or running away when I gripped onto his cold metal armor, he stayed still next to the carriage and frantically looked around.

That was when a man in light leather armor came sprinting out of the woods.

His look of panic only made my mind go blank with fear. "Captain! It's orcs!"

"WHAT?!" The head knight yelled out instantly. "Why would orcs create a stampede?!"

"They didn't create one!" He paused as he frantically looked over his shoulder. "They ARE the stampede!"

Almost immediately after he finished yelling out, a huge plume of dirt and dust peeked over the trees, and the ever-approaching noises of the stampede grew louder.

But before they made it to the road, the dust cloud changed direction.

"They turned..." The head knight watched the plume of dust closely before a single massive orc came charging out of the forest ahead of us.

"Eouu!" *Crackle* It grunted as it plowed through a tree and entered the road.

But it only lasted a mere instant. *fwip* The subtle noise of a thin blade passing through the air met my ears as I watched the huge orc's body fall to the ground in two bloody pieces, cut in half at the stomach.

The sight made me feel sick, but as I looked ahead, nearly a hundred orcs plowed through the forest and charged across the road, quickly causing my disgust to be overruled by fear.

*rrrruuummbbleeee* as the last few orcs crossed the road a few hundred meters ahead, we all stayed still, and quiet, as we watched intently.

But sadly, staying quiet did nothing.

"RRRRROOOOAAARR!" A deafening roar ripped through the air, as everyone looked where the stampede came from and saw an absolutely massive wyvern.

Its roar alone sent a paralyzing fear through my body, and as it landed, I could do nothing but sit still, frozen from fear. *WHAM*

But it's what followed that I would come to remember for the rest of my life. *CRUUNCH-CRRACK* The nauseating noise of bones breaking made me feel the urge to vomit instantly, but when I finally peeked around the head knight, instead of seeing a knight being eaten by the wyvern, I saw the black-robed mercenary standing on its head. -W..what?-

The wyvern's jaw was bloody from being slammed into the ground, but it instantly threw its head up and tossed the mercenary into the air, immediately preparing to breathe fire on her.

But the mercenary simply reached for her sword, still wrapped in cloth and likely even sheathed.

-W..what is she...-

*CRRRUUUUNNNCHHH* The head of the wyvern suddenly exploded into a bloody mist as the mercenary instantly appeared next to it.

*flop-THUD* As the wyvern's body limply fell to the ground, everyone who was frozen from fear looked at the scene in awe.

The robe the mercenary wore continued to grow bloodier as she stood in the clouded remains of the wyvern's head, yet somehow the cloth around her blade was untouched, untainted by the blood of the monster even though she had driven it through its head.

But I was simply too awestruck to notice such a minor detail.

The only thing that could even enter my mind was the sensation of awe accompanied by a single thought. -How can.. someone be that strong...-

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- Vasilias ~

*rumble* The muffled rumble of shrunken thrusters filled the air as I flew over the wide channel between Khor's island and the mainland. (The big northeastern island Myles's estate and the northern prison are on)

"Haah..." I let out a quick breath as I dispersed the thrusters to glide once again. -I really wish I could nap right about now...- "Uwaah..."

It had been a little over two hours since I had killed Tyr, and I still had a lot on my mind, but I was so exhausted that my thoughts were stuck in a fog. -Mana exhaustion is a really.. unpleasant experience...-

Thankfully, even though my reserve was almost empty, I had more than enough mana to sustain my body's function even if I couldn't absorb mana for a couple months, but this didn't numb the feeling of mana exhaustion at all. "Ugh..." -At least Myles took the flak for me...-

Back when Myles landed next to me, he quickly silenced the crowd and essentially erased my influence from the whole event. -Now the gods will target him, and I can continue to lie low for the time being...- But just as I thought that, the idea of checking out the 'ancient wreckage' in the mountains of the Holy Kingdom crossed my mind. -The gods don't seem to be able to sense what I am, so.. maybe I can sneak over there...-

As I looked down though, I saw a large dragon with two children who could only barely be 10 years old trailing behind. The children smiled brightly as the mother slowed down to let them catch their breath on her back.

Without even realizing it, I started smiling. -I wonder how everyone is doing...-

But my smile didn't last too long. "~Every time I see you, I get more jealous...~"

-Wow, not having a lot of aura is really bad... I didn't sense her at all...- "Can you not stand on my head?" I tilted my head slightly to look up at the cloudy figure. -She's still cloudy compared to Tyr... Does that mean she's weaker than him?-

"~You know it's not nice to look at me like I'm some weak being...~" She casually floated out in front of me, perfectly keeping up with my pace. "~I'm a goddess, you know.~"

"Uh-huh..." I agreed with some sarcasm before seeing her cross her arms. "So what is it you want this time?"

"~Can I not simply visit you to chat?~"

"Why would some ten-thousand-year-old goddess want to simply chat with me... Especially a human one..." -She is definitely only helping me because she has something to gain... I just don't know what it is...- I squinted my eyes slightly as I spoke.

"~Haah, Im not sure whether to agree or be offended...~" She mumbled under her breath before looking me in the eye. "~Regardless, since you aren't in a playful mood, I'll get to the point.~" She paused as if waiting for a reaction from me before continuing. "~When you kill a god, you essentially shred their soul and scatter it in that.. other dimension.~"

"Yeah, and?"

"~Well, I might be able to absorb the remnants of their souls even if their divinity has already been devoured... By now, there should be no impurities left in the soul fragments at all, so I should be able to absorb them with no side effects...~"

A bad feeling came to my gut in an instant. "You can't seriously think I'm that stupid, right?" -She's out of her mind if she thinks I'll even consider that...-

"~You are impossible to fool... I already learned that years ago...~" She let out a quick breath before giving me a serious look. "~This isn't a thoughtless request...~"

After squinting my eyes for a moment, I decided to at least hear her out. "So, what do I stand to gain?"

"~If you let me absorb the soul fragments, I will be able to better assist you in your growth...~" Seeing me not convinced, she quickly continued. "Even after absorbing the soul fragments, I will be far too weak to even scratch your scales.. plus, you cannot absorb the fragments yourself, so you have nothing to lose...~"

-Hm?- "Why couldn't I absorb them?"

"~Because...~" She immediately started clamming up. "~You don't exactly have a soul to absorb the fragments...~"

My whole body tensed instantaneously as the fog clouding my mind cleared. "That's not possible. Every living being must have a soul."

"~Yes, that is correct, but your soul isn't in your body...~" She promptly continued seeing my look of disbelief. "~That artifact you touched right after you hatched.. although I don't know everything it did, I know for a fact it detached your soul from your body... It's actually one of the reasons you're still alive...~"

I paused as I looked at her with a threatening glare. "I'm going to need you to give me some details... Don't even think about running off this time..."

"~I won't.~" She put up her hands with a calm expression. "~It's about time you learned anyway...~"