Caius’s POV.
I sat there, feeling the burning pain in my joints and muscles while my breathing remained fast and unstable.
Rain poured heavily over me, flowing through my hair down my face and soaking into my clothes that clung to my skin... at least what remained of them.
My swords were planted into the ground before me, while I felt the softness of the thing I was sitting on. It wasn’t hard, nor was it too soft.
In short, it was comfortable.
Far better than every chair Elliot had made over the past few weeks.
And it was nothing more than one of the remaining petals of the Nightmare Flower.
Although the battle had been short, the final moments truly exhausted me.
I had given everything there... and far more than that.
I looked around a few meters away, where many dark-colored tendrils lay lifeless on the ground.
All of them had been close to crashing down on me at once without any escape, and if I hadn’t managed to tear apart that flower in time, I would be nothing more than a shattered body right now... and perhaps lifeless as well.
Well, it didn’t really matter.
It wasn’t the first time I came close to death, and it wouldn’t be the last.
The only thing that mattered in the end was that I didn’t actually die... otherwise that would’ve been bad for me.
I mean, I was still just a poor single young man.
"You alright?"
I turned my head toward the source of the voice to see Elliot arriving near where I sat.
His clothes were torn everywhere, especially the upper part which was completely gone, revealing a massive red scar covering his entire upper torso, along with his pale face exhausted from consuming all his essence.
He looked miserable.
I smiled as I looked at the marks left by the tendrils on his chest. "Looks like that thing left you a little farewell gift."
Elliot frowned as he glanced at the large scar before trying to touch himself, only to quickly pull his hand away with a pained expression. "Ouch..."
"Trust me, if you were in my place you wouldn’t call it little... this really hurts."
With that, he pulled a shirt from his ring and put it on within moments.
He approached the massive petal I was sitting on and threw himself onto it, causing its surface to ripple beneath me for a moment.
It seemed he had gotten used to sitting on corpse remains after everything we had gone through.
He let out a tired sigh, his words reaching me through the noise of the storm. "That was awesome."
I raised an eyebrow while staring at the glowing blue trails formed by that thing’s blood.
"What’s awesome about this?"
"You know, this is the second Rank 5 monster we’ve killed... that’s kind of an amazing achievement for our age."
I shook my head, water scattering from my hair.
"We’re only lucky because they were monsters related to the mind and dreams, otherwise we’d have died from the first hit."
"But it’s still awesome."
I smiled.
"Yeah."
For some time, we sat there resting beneath the rain while watching the glowing blood flow away with the water before disappearing into the tunnels.
"I think it’s time to head back and take a hot bath."
Elliot nodded as he stood up.
I pushed myself up as well, but before leaving, there was something we needed to do.
I stared at the corpse of the Nightmare Flower while licking my lips.
"Let’s absorb this first."
...
After absorbing every last drop of essence from the flower’s body, Elliot and I began heading back to the camp.
Unlike before, we moved at our own pace instead of running through this chaos at full speed.
"I wonder if they woke up." Elliot’s voice sounded beside me.
I shrugged as I answered. "They should have, as far as I know."
Elliot passed me, jumping across a river formed by the rain until his feet landed on a massive piece of concrete.
The next moment, I did the same until I reached the other side.
"What are we going to do about what Leona saw?"
I looked at the blond guy. "Just pretend you didn’t hear anything, and no matter what happens, don’t tell the others about this." I made sure the last words were clear.
I didn’t want things becoming more complicated than they already were... seriously, who was going to tell a princess that her empire and the entire world could die because of some unknown thing?
But apparently Elliot didn’t think the same way I did.
"Not tell them?.. Why would we hide this from the others?"
I shook my head as I continued walking toward the shelter. "The question is why should we tell them?"
Elliot took some time before answering. "To prepare for the future."
A laugh nearly escaped my lips. "Preparations? What can three Axis students do? One can barely think about anything except his sister, a girl who can barely control her anger, and a princess who doesn’t even know what to do to solve her own problem."
I glanced at Elliot from the corner of my eye and saw him staring ahead with a somewhat lost expression as I continued. "Trust me, this will only make things worse. I heard what Leona said and saw how she was acting."
Leona’s panic alone was proof that this was something they shouldn’t see.
"So what are we supposed to do?" His question returned this time in a tone that sounded resigned.
"We talked about this before, just strength. Make sure you become stronger... at least you have the potential to do that and achieve something."
I was only telling him the truth.
"Potential..." I could barely hear his murmur through the sound of the rain.
After a few minutes, he finally gave up on the idea of telling the others. "Fine, let’s not tell them, though this still leaves a bad taste in my mouth... but what about Leona?"
"I’ll talk to her later. Just make sure to keep your side shut."
For a while, we walked quietly without saying anything, until something clicked in Elliot’s head and he turned toward me as if he had just discovered something new... and maybe he had.
"What do you mean by someone who can’t think about anything except his sister? You mean Kyle?"
"Yes." I answered indifferently.
"Kyle has a sister? I knew he was an orphan, but I didn’t know about his sister. He’s kind of hard to talk to... wait, how do you know about that out of all people?"
"I don’t."
I ignored him while focusing on our shelter, which had become visible before me.
It didn’t take long to arrive there, and through my senses I could feel where each person was.
And apparently, they really had woken up, and clearly they weren’t in a good mood... I mean, who would wake up in a good mood after a long series of nightmares?
I sensed each of them sitting in a separate corner away from the others... perhaps crying over their memories or blaming themselves for falling into that...
Kyle was alone on the upper floor, while Ellen and Izel were scattered around the place.
Only Leona was standing there where we had jumped from earlier.
It seemed she noticed us as well, a small smile forming on her face while she waved at us.
Within moments, I reached beneath where she stood and jumped directly inside. Finally, the rain stopped pouring over my body, and the noise of the storm lessened slightly.
"I’m glad you returned safely." Leona’s voice echoed through the hallway.
I nodded while looking at her. "I expected a slightly warmer welcome with more people."
She sighed. "The others are still confused, but they’re fine. They just need some time."
I nodded. I wasn’t planning to talk to them anyway.
Elliot arrived, climbing up here while my eyes met Leona’s calm gaze as I stared into her blue eyes. "You didn’t tell them, right?"
She shook her head, her hair scattering in the air. "No, I didn’t tell them... and I won’t."
I raised an eyebrow. "You won’t?"
"I won’t... I don’t think this is something I should talk about from the beginning."
For a moment, my eyes widened. I thought I’d have to talk and convince her not to reveal what she saw, but... it was easy.
Not like someone else.
I looked at Elliot, who was listening, while smiling. "See how easy that was?"
Elliot shook his head as he walked past me. "I’m just going to take a hot bath." He truly sounded exhausted as he said that.
Leona stared at his back. "Is he okay?"
I shrugged. "He was fine just a moment ago."
I shifted my focus back to Leona, feeling slightly curious. "Why did you decide that you’ll never talk about this?"
She smiled calmly, but that smile held no happiness. "Because they were never supposed to know about it."