Chapter 689 - In the restaurant

I land back on the ground with a disappointed sigh. "The triplets ran off. Those assholes removed my marks, and they had a movement skill I couldn't disrupt in time. But I think I got a few of their buddies."

Weslin turns to me with a snort. "You think you got some? The triplets escaped into the outpost, so it's good you didn't follow them there. We don’t want to pick a fight with the Black Tower’s master."

“How shameless, those little shits,” I note.

“You would do the same if needed.”

“Yup,” I confirm.

He looks at me for a while longer before asking, “Are you okay? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this exhausted.”

I wave it off. “It’s fine. I tested some new stuff, it was more difficult to process than I expected, but I already started making modifications. Next time it will be much smoother.”

He sits on the ground next to me, resting against the same boulder. “Nothing like testing new things in combat.”

“I was never a theory guy.”

“Me neither,” Weslin smiles. “Want me, as a void energy specialist, to point out a few weak points I noticed? There aren’t many. You’re better than me when it comes to dealing with mana, but I might have seen something you missed.”

“You know I won’t say no to that. Just give me a few minutes to rest, I feel like I might throw up that nice steak I ate. Also, your eyes are slightly red.”

Weslin reaches to touch his face, but his hand freezes midway before he puts it back down. After a few long breaths, his heartbeat calms, and the faint red hue in his eyes disappears.

He, like everyone, has his secrets. I’m just glad to be one of the people he trusts with them.

“Thanks, I seem to lose control more often lately,” he says.

“It happens. Were the triplets really that fast?”

“They used teleportation. I almost cut them off so you could finish them off, but they pulled out some weird shit I'm still confused by, and used that opening to escape. It cost them, though, they had to drag one of the triplets into the city because he blacked out from backlash.”

“Did they not even want a proper fight?”

“I don't think they were prepared for what you have shown,” Weslin says with mockery. “I think they will give it a lot more thought before messing with you again. Was that what you’ve been working on?”

I confirm with a nod. “There’s still a lot more work, but it could become something truly great.”

“I can imagine. And you still plan to avoid increasing your constitution.”

“You know the answer. High risk, high reward.”

“And you know I’ve called you fucking dumb more than once. All that teasing bullshit aside, and all the jokes, I wouldn’t like to see you die because of it.”

“I know.”

“And yet.”

“And yet,” I repeat with a nod.

“You said your pride is that the winner is the one alive in the end. Doesn’t that clash with your approach?” he asks.

My body is already feeling better, the movement of my mana less erratic. It slides back into control as I use Mana Cycling to guide it through pathways and circuits, across my conductive body.

“There are things I value more than my life,” I answer.

“Nathaniel.”

“Yes?”

"This is the most fucking cliché thing I’ve ever heard from you. I’m cringing just listening to it."

“Fuck you, Weslin.”

“Fuck you too.” He snorts and looks toward the fake sky in the distance. “But I can’t say much. Same as you, I’m also quite fucked up. As much as I think you’re dumb, you think I’m dumber.”

“That is very correct. Sorry to tell you, Weslin, but you are indeed very dumb.”

He glances at me and grins. Then he looks back upward. “In one thing, I think you are right. If your planet really is in a Pairing, and it’s possible you face Champions or maybe even an Absolute, then you all need to become stronger and fast. Even if it’s only about protecting a few people instead of the entire planet.”

“I’m glad you specified that. Protecting the entire planet of people I have never met and will likely never meet? What am I, some kind of fairy tale selfless hero? I would never do that.”

“But if you had the strength to do it easily, would you?”

“I mean, probably yeah. I’m an asshole, but if it were easy to do, even I wouldn’t just let billions of people die. At the very least, I’d want a good life without dealing with the mess a mass extinction would cause.”

Weslin nods. “I do agree with you that you’re an asshole.”

“That is correct.”

“An asshole addicted to progress and the thrill of danger. An asshole who only digs in deeper the more people tell him he’s being stupid. An asshole who believes he can push through impossible situations with nothing but sheer, obsessive dedication. A prideful, arrogant, infuriating little shit of an asshole.”

“Please carve that into my tombstone if I die.”

***

Night creeps closer, and there are no more attacks on our base. Still, we come to the conclusion that The Clown Brigade, or however they are called, will likely strike again. As much as I believe them about having someone stronger than the triplets on their side, I doubt they will rely on that person, hopefully showing up sooner than Morwag.

But what can they really do? They can’t do much against me, and they don’t have the people to face Weslin either.

There has to be something they are still holding back. I just can’t believe someone in the top seven would challenge Primordial Lunatics without at least a half-decent plan. Maybe they plan something against us on the second floor? But we don’t have that many people stationed there. So perhaps they are planning something with another outpost on the third instead of ours.

The fourth floor feels like a stretch for them to mess with, especially since it’s so close to the fifth. One wrong move there and they would have Nyssa on them in an instant. So it is obvious they try some sneaky shit.

Just like now, as we return to the city with darkness already closing in. Monsters begin crawling onto the surface, their roars echoing in the distance. Several powerful signatures appear just as we reach the outpost.

With perfect timing, the mana stones I had not detected, buried deep underground, suddenly activate, ripping through a mile of earth and shooting into the air above us after breaking through the surface. A web of arrays sparks alive, meant to hold us here until the monsters can finish the job.

This time, I do not interfere. Instead, I watch as a monster appears on the cliff while Weslin’s primordial void energy flares to deal with the trap.

I step away from the others to face the monster and slow it if needed.

The creature towers on its spidery lower body, eight legs with far too many joints, each step clacking against the ground like knives on stone. Its upper body mimics human muscle but swells in grotesque proportions, cords of flesh and veins under armored hide gleams as if drenched in oil. Where a face should be, a cluster of eyes blink out of sync, black and wet, and beneath them opens a vertical maw lined with hooked teeth.

[Skreth - lvl ????]

“Weslin, I think you should hurry, like really hurry,” I say.

Something in my voice keeps him from asking questions, and in the next second, the barrier around us shatters, just as more monsters climb over the hill. They are all twisted and broken like the first one, but instead of attacking, they stand still, watching in silence as we rush toward the city. Only when we cross into the safe zone do they turn back, retreating behind the hill as their screeches return.

In the distance, a sudden burst of fire lights up the night, flames shooting into the sky. Dozens of attacks detonate in rapid succession, explosions scattering across the horizon like a battlefield igniting all at once. I recognize the direction and already know what it means, yet Talon still confirms it at my side, his face set in a grim mask.

"That is an outpost called Minefield. Or was. It was for a thousand people," he says.

For a while longer, I watch the storm of attacks raging in the distance, bursts of fire and light tearing the night apart as defenders desperately try to hold the line or escape. The sky flashes again and again, each explosion marking another desperate stand. A part of me swears I can hear faint screams carried on the wind.

When I finally force myself to look away, the others head toward the guild branch, while Weslin and I make our way into the city, following the lit streets where a few people still wander. We do not even speak, both in sync as I track the faint remnants of the marks I left, gathering fragments of information from the air.

Following those traces, I find the triplets and enter a crowded restaurant with Weslin right behind me. The lumoran triplets sit there as expected, showing no sign of the fight earlier today, and daring as always. But someone else catches my eye. At the table near them, a tall thylarin with four arms sits beside a black-haired woman with green eyes.

I blink a few times at Sophie, who only shrugs and gestures a quick “later.”

Luan does not even glance my way, continuing to enjoy his food. I know he noticed me, and Weslin, too, who stares at him longer than I do. I nudge my partner and head toward the triplets, sitting opposite them at the largest table in the center of the restaurant. Near them is another free spot: a massive chair with a plate already set, as if they are waiting for someone.

I open my mouth to say something, but a huge hand gently lands on my shoulder. Goosebumps rise across my skin. I had not even felt the presence behind me, although I should have. Especially now, since my kinetic, thermal, and mana senses run all the time. Yet I missed her?

"Thank you for joining us," the woman says in a smooth, deep voice. She is a velnar, tall like every other velnar I have met so far. She wears casual clothes, and I notice rings on eight of her ten fingers, each one a powerful item.

"Deva, don’t tell me you joined their guild," Weslin says next to my side, as the woman releases my shoulder and moves to sit near the triplets, towering over them. Her movements are smooth, nimble, and entirely unfitting for someone of her height.

Facing Weslin, she answers without apology: "They pay well."

"Enough for one of the strongest S ranks? Don’t you have better things to do?"

"They…"

Before she can continue, one of the male triplets interrupts: "Please, keep the details of our deal to yourself, Lady Deva."

The velnar woman tears her gaze from Weslin, then stares that triplet down for a solid ten seconds before turning back to him until the lumoran looks like he is about to collapse. "As I was about to say, they offered me an item from their treasury. My tutorial ends in a month, so why not take it?"

"You will not get it if you die."

"Was that a threat, Weslin?"

"A friendly warning. Nyssa sent Morwag."

"You are sweet, Weslin, but I considered all that. And I already met Morwag. If he does not leave the Black Tower to fight the monsters that seem to be having so much fun out there, he should be joining us soon."

To that, Weslin sinks into his chair defensively, earning an understanding smile from the velnar.

And just as she said, the doors swing open and a tall figure enters.

The moment he steps inside, everyone in the restaurant turns to him. Not in admiration, but in the wary way you look at a ticking bomb when you have no idea how much time is left.

Morwag, the most demon demon to ever demon, is muscular and tall, almost as tall as Luan, although both remain shorter than Deva. From beneath his white, wavy hair, which reaches his shoulders, two thick black horns peek out. They are not overly long, but they grow from the sides of his head near the ears, twisting forward in a dangerous curve.

His eyes burn redder than any demon’s I have ever seen.

Only after taking in the entire room does he start walking, his boots heavy against the floorboards. He moves between tables without hurry, each step pulling every eye until he stops at the largest table in the center. Without asking, he drags out the empty chair beside Weslin and drops into it, leaning back like the seat had been waiting for him all along.

***

Next Chapter