Chapter 105: The Return of the Broken Heroes
I. The Beacon of Blood
The return journey was no victory; it was a desperate flight—a procession of bodies that simply refused to fall. The desert air was a dry knife, cutting into throats and searing lungs with every breath. Eris's blood, tainted by the mark, left a trail that did not just smell of death, but of something even the wind feared to touch.
Kael walked with blood-stained hands, clutching Eris to his back as if she were his final promise. Every step was a death sentence for the broken muscles of his legs, and the dull thud in his chest was a heart continuing only out of sheer stubbornness.
Around them, the world was a collection of nightmare fragments: sunlight bouncing off white sand, rocks as jagged as the teeth of a sleeping god, and behind them, the echo of wolves following, drawn by the corrupt Qi. Violeta, with hollow eyes and trembling hands, could barely maintain a shield of ice. Elara, usually agile in the shadows, stumbled, her daggers bloodied and her gaze vacant from lack of sleep.
Eris's scent was unmistakable: fever, fear, and a sharp, acrid tang of abyssal magic. The girl's skin burned like molten iron, the black mark pulsing, spreading veins of dark corruption toward her spine.
—"Don't let me… sleep," Eris murmured, her breath hitching. —"If I sleep… I stop fighting."
Kael gritted his teeth. —"I'll freeze you before that happens," he growled, without a hint of humor. But beneath his hardened mask, the terror was real. He couldn't lose her. Not now. Not after everything.
A wolf howled in the distance. The sun was plummeting, and the Citadel was barely a shadow on the horizon. Every time Kael felt the wolves' eyes on the back of his neck, a sting of paranoia raced down his spine.
What if the wolves aren't just beasts? What if the Cult followed us here? The desert forgives no one—not the living, nor the dead.
II. The Wall on the Horizon
The third dawn arrived like a wound of light. The terrain shifted; sand turned to rock, and the bones of ancient dragons surfaced like forgotten relics of a crueler world.
Violeta was the first to see the walls of the Morningstar Citadel. The cry that escaped her throat was half-sob, half-dry laugh—a mixture of disbelief and relief. —"Kael, look… home…"
Kael barely lifted his head. For a moment, he didn't believe it was real. He had dreamed of that white and gold profile so many times, yet it seemed foreign now, as if it didn't belong to this nightmare world. What if it's an illusion? What if we don't make it? A shadow crossed his mind: the fear of arriving only with corpses.
But he couldn't stop. Because between them and the gate, the pack waited. Sand Wolves, fifty of them, drawn by the scent of Eris's mark. Weak beasts, yes, but the group was at 10% of their resources, and the wolves' hunger was infinite.
Kael lowered Eris with a sigh that was almost a weep. —"Form a circle," he ordered, his voice cracked with desperation.
Violeta could barely hold icicles between her bloodied fingers. Elara stepped between Eris and the wolves, her body trembling with pure fear disguised as courage.
—"I have no Qi," Violeta warned.
—"I have a sword. I have blood. That is enough," Kael said, unsheathing the Odachi of the Ravenous Eclipse. The blade vibrated, sensing the despair, and for an instant, Kael wondered if this time it would devour him instead.
The wolves attacked. The first clash was pure instinct: Kael slashed, kicked, tore with teeth and fist. Elara moved like a rabid shadow, but every time she buried a dagger, she felt it was she who was bleeding more. Violeta threw ice needles, but the frost was weak and brittle.
An alpha wolf leaped onto Kael, pinning him down. Its weight, heat, and stench were overwhelming, its maw inches from his throat. Kael used the hilt of his sword to block, but claws tore into his chest.
Here? With the cure in my pocket? No. Not like this...
Suddenly, a whistle tore through the air. An arrow of pure light pierced the alpha wolf's skull. The wolves retreated, confused. The Citadel wall opened like a second dawn. A cavalry of shadows and fire shot forth, and at the front was Lilith wreathed in flames, with Malak and the Shadow Legion behind her.
—"SIBLINGS!" Lilith's voice was the roar of a mother goddess. The wolves didn't even flee; they simply ceased to be.
III. Safe, but Not Safe
The arrival at the fortress was a whirlwind of screams, orders, and tears. Kael barely remembered being carried away by friendly hands, the wolf blood and his own mingled on his clothes. Everything ached. Everything except the icy dread he felt for Eris.
Lilith fell to her knees beside the girl. Seeing the mark, she paled as if she had seen the Abyss itself. —"Malak, get them inside. Seraphina, prepare the Pool. Now!"
Elara clung to Violeta, who only then let go of her icicles and collapsed, trembling. A healer tried to help her, but Violeta pushed her away. —"No… later… Eris first…"
Kael, leaning on Malak, refused to go to the infirmary. —"No. Take me to Samael. I have to…" his voice broke, stifled in his chest.
The hallway to the Pool chamber was a parade of ghosts. Disciples and servants watched them, terrified. Are these the princes? The heroes? They look like wraiths. Paranoia seeped into the murmurs: What if Eris's mark has already brought the curse here? What if victory is only the prelude to our fall?
Kael ignored the gazes. He only thought of fulfilling his duty.
IV. Reunion at the Edge
The Lotus Pool was a sanctuary bathed in dim light. Samael floated in the medicinal water, his skin whiter than milk, his lips parted like a sleeping child. Seraphina, broken but dignified, held his hand.
Upon seeing the group, Seraphina cried out, covering her mouth in relief and fear. —"You came back!"
Kael knelt by the edge, his hands shaking. He extracted the jade box containing the Dragon Root and, from Violeta's pouch, the Phoenix Tear. Eris, barely conscious, whispered: —"Celeste… the stone…"
Violeta pulled it from a pocket and laid it beside the ingredients. Kael pressed his forehead against the edge of the pool, weeping without tears. —"We did it, brother. We brought the fire and the earth. Now… please… wake up. We need you."
Lilith took the ingredients. There were tears in her eyes, but her voice was steel. —"Prepare the ritual. Today, the Dragon awakens."
For an instant, the silence was total. Only the dripping of water, the gasping breaths, and the trembling of the citadel under the pressure of curses remained.
V. Paranoia, Cost, and Hope
Kael closed his eyes, collapsing into the darkness. He felt the weight of it all: Eris burning, Violeta broken, Elara in silence, the guilt, the fear of not being enough.
In the shadows of the hallway, two elders whispered: —"What have we brought home? Is it salvation or condemnation?" —"Perhaps neither, or perhaps both."
Eris, in her fever, was delirious, feeling invisible fingers pulling at her soul, voices whispering in a language that was not human.
Violeta, sitting in a corner, hugged her knees. For the first time, she wanted to give up, to sleep and let the frost swallow her. How many times can I return before I am lost forever?
Lilith, preparing the ritual, felt a sting of fear: What if it isn't enough? What if the enemy is already inside? But looking at her children, her rage surpassed her fear.
Malak, on the wall, watched the night, waiting for the next threat. Nothing rests here. The war didn't end; it only changed its face.
Seraphina, beside Samael, whispered an ancient prayer: —"May the dawn shelter those who return broken."
VI. The System and the Future
As Kael fell into sleep, he heard a strange sound. It was not a human voice; it was the mechanical echo of the System resonating within Samael.
[Conditions Met.]
[Saint-Grade Ingredients detected: Dragon Root + Phoenix Tear.]
[Initiating Patriarch Reconstruction Protocol...]
[Warning: Lineage Curse detected (Target: Eris).]
[Generating Awakening Mission: "The Wrath of the One Who Returns".]
Kael smiled amidst his exhaustion. Perhaps, after all, there was hope. Or perhaps just another battle.
Hit them hard, brother. We have no other choice.