Chapter 713 Intervention In Time
Aurora was weak and powerless.
She was not the only one who found herself in such an awful predicament, however.
All of her sisters had been subjugated by the might of the Dragons. Beneath them were the several Elves—both Youngs and Elders—who watched the sight of their defeat in sheer horror and pain.
Upon noticing the many gazes that met her, she tried to summon strength to resist, but it was all useless.
'I-I can't do anything. I can't defeat him. I can't protect… I couldn't protect the High Elder.'
The last memory Aurora had of the High Elder was her impending execution. She had tried to finish her own opponent quickly so she could assist the latter, but with her situation now in such a precarious state, the fate that must have befallen their oldest was already clear.
She was most likely dead.
The very thought broke her heart. Sure, she and the Head Elder did not agree on a lot of things, and their relationship had soured over the past couple of months, but she was still her dear older sister.
Such a death had to be mourned with the whole heart.
"Hm? What's that?" As Aurora drowned in grief, she heard U'riah mutter to himself as he gazed to a somewhat far distance.
His distracted eyes seemed slightly disturbed by whatever he was staring at, and the frown on his face depicted mild confusion.
"Why is R'azak not ending that woman? No… why isn't he moving at all?"
Perhaps it was because U'riah was distracted, or because Aurora used far more energy than previously, but she was able to turn her neck in the direction that he was staring at in order to witness what disturbed him so much.
That was when she saw it—the complete standstill that plagued the General that wanted to kill the High Elder.
'T-that… that resembles [Time Stop]!' She thought to herself as her eyes widened in shock.
But how was this possible? The only person who had [Time Stop] was Feralia, the strongest Elf, and she was busy fighting in the front lines. There was no other explanation for the Dragon General to be standing still as he held his prey, who was too stunned to resist or speak.
'Does that mean Feralia is here? Do we have backup? If that's the case, then… maybe… maybe we can win!' As hope was slowly growing in her heart, she felt incredible pain swell from her throat as U'riah tightened his grip on it.
"A-ack!"
"You know something, don't you?" He growled, drawing his face closer to hers. "Tell me what this is right now!"
"G-gurghh…" She couldn't even speak if she wanted, as he was already slowly suffocating her. Resistance was useless, and within a moment or so, she felt her consciousness slowly fading away.
Then… a somewhat distant sound echoed in her ears.
She couldn't make out what it was, but… the moment the sound echoed out, she felt that grip loosen on her neck.
It almost felt like a slashing sound—a clean ~SWISH!~
Then—
"Gahhhhh!!!" The pained yell of her adversary echoed out, and he leaped away a few meters, his expression that of pain and shock.
Aurora could not properly make out his expression, or the cause of his panic, as her vision was still blurry. She felt incredibly lightheaded and weak, even feeling herself falling down since she was unable to maintain her flight.
But, as soon as her body fell, she was caught by something… or rather, someone.
"You're safe now." She heard a voice—the most soothing one she had ever listened to—whisper into her ears.
A pleasant aroma filled her nose, sending her into a realm of pleasure. As her vision blurred out, a sign she was going unconscious, she caught a glimpse of the one who had her cradled like a baby in his arms.
"R-Rey…?" She muttered, noticing his jet black hair, the black eyepatch that clung tightly to the left side of his face, as well as the crimson iris that warbled in his exposed eye.
"That's right." "You came… to save us?" She asked, her hands slowly reaching out to his face.
She felt his warm touch as he held it gently, nodding while staring compassionately at her. Never in her life had she felt so loved… so special… so safe.
"I came to save all of you." Tears proceeded from her eyes as everything finally went blank, and her last words stuck to her mind in a distant echo.
'Thank you… thank you so much!'
****************
"Now then… looks like she's finally unconscious." Rey muttered to himself as he watched Aurora enter a state of deep sleep.
'She must have been quite exhausted. I have to say, I'm quite impressed by her tenacity. Her fight was certainly the most interesting to watch.'
But, now that it was all over, he didn't have to waste any more time.
"I should—"
"Hey you! What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't Adrien be keeping you occupied?!" A sudden voice erupted from a small distance, prompting Rey to look in its direction.
There, U'riah stood with a deep scowl on his face.
He was clearly intimidated by Rey's presence, but most of this unease about him stemmed from confusion rather than true fear.
He was also clutching his right hand with his left—the same hand that Rey had sliced off in order to rescue Aurora from his grasp.
'Dragon Regeneration really is something magnificent…' His thoughts trailed as he smiled at the sight.
U'riah noticed this expression and growled even further, most likely feeling his pride stained by a mere human.
"Answer my question, you—!"
"Give me a moment." Rey raised his hand to U'riah before glancing away and looking at the ground where many Elves were clustered.
~VWUSH~
He instantly appeared among the crowd of Elves and thrust the unconscious Auorora to one of them, who just gawked at him with both wonder and respect.
"Take care of her." As Rey muttered these words, he witnessed all the Elves get starry eyes.
Using this opportuntiy to flash them a reassuring smile, he gave a thumbs up and declared with a loud and deep voice:
"I'll take care of the rest."