I opened my eyes to the bright sunlight while feeling the cold spreading across my back and the entire rear part of my body.
Amid that cold, and the silence consuming everything around me, pain gnawed at my bones and insides.
I couldn’t feel my fingers, and I couldn’t move much beyond trembling atop what seemed to be a temporary bed.
But I could feel some Essence within my body.
Without hesitation, I healed some of my more severe injuries and let out a sigh before pushing myself into a sitting position.
My hearing returned as my hand touched the makeshift bedding separating me from the freezing ice, and at that moment, a powerful dizziness struck me, blurring my vision for a few moments.
That last hit had truly been strong enough to leave me in this miserable state.
"You finally woke up..." a familiar voice echoed out, and I turned my head to see Elliot.
He was sitting with his back against an ice wall, his clothes torn in countless places and dried blood covering his body, staining him completely and obscuring his features.
And amidst all of that, the exhaustion in his eyes was obvious.
I opened my mouth, my voice coming out fragmented and unclear.
"How much time has passed?"
He shrugged.
"Around half a day."
I looked around the place we were in.
What appeared to be four ice walls surrounded us without a roof, allowing some of the sun’s warmth to reach us.
Ellen was lying unconscious while bandages wrapped around her right side and arm, with stains of blood clearly visible on the white cloth.
A few meters away, Izel was also lying down, what seemed to be improvised splints surrounding each of her legs.
Even Leona, who sat near the wall staring at the ground, wasn’t unharmed either, with her left arm in a splint and several bandages around her body... It looked like she had just woken up and was suffering from dizziness.
"What a miserable sight..." I muttered with a smile before glancing at one of them.
"But you seem fine."
Elliot nodded at my words.
"Yeah... I barely suffered any injuries aside from a few torn muscles during the fight... but they’re healing quickly."
I nodded and pulled out an Essence stone from my ring before consuming it to replenish my reserves.
With that, I began feeling some strength return to my body, while the dizziness gradually faded away.
I looked at Elliot, who seemed lost in thought.
"Where’s Kyle?"
"Outside," he answered immediately.
I sighed as my body continued healing. "That suits him perfectly."
Some time passed as we sat there in silence until most of my injuries had healed and I was able to stand once again.
I looked down at myself.
Let’s just say I looked like a lump of coagulated black blood.
And let’s not even talk about the smell...
It was literally unbearable.
I looked at one of the ice walls before glancing at Elliot, who was staring toward the ground.
"What is it? Why do you look like that... sad?"
He raised his head toward me.
"Sad?... I’m not sad. I’m just thinking about this battle."
His voice sounded genuinely tired.
I shrugged.
"Well, think as much as you want. Just open a door here."
Elliot looked toward the ice wall before a small section slid downward, allowing me a glimpse of the outside.
I stepped forward while Elliot rose from his spot and followed.
The moment I stepped outside, I was able to see the area around us, and a low whistle escaped my lips.
"Fiuuu... what a sight."
The landscape before us had been erased, destruction spreading everywhere and completely changing the appearance of the region.
In the distance, large red pools and stains stretched all across the path leading to the rift, which had become far away from us during the battle.
And several dozen meters away lay the corpse of the evil monster, lifeless, while its blood had frozen and formed a layer of red ice beneath it.
"That was really tough," Elliot muttered from beside me.
I gave him a look while raising an eyebrow.
"Well, when have things ever been easy?"
He shrugged.
"You’ve got a point."
Staring at the enormous corpse, I placed a hand on my stomach as I heard a faint growl of hunger and some wonderful ideas crossed my mind.
"I wonder what it tastes like."
Elliot looked at me, disgust written all over his face.
"Disgusting... just stop saying your thoughts out loud."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What’s wrong with my thoughts?... This isn’t the first monster we’ve eaten."
Elliot shook his head tiredly.
"No one thinks about eating the monster that almost wiped us all out immediately after the battle."
I smirked.
"Please... It would’ve eaten us if we failed, so this is the fairest thing we can do."
He blinked at me for several moments.
"That’s exactly why I said your thoughts shouldn’t be spoken out loud."
"Anyway, its body is full of poison. You might die if you do that."
I walked toward the massive corpse as I spoke.
"Maybe if we cook it well enough, the poison’s effect will disappear... I can heal myself anyway."
"Or maybe not. I’ve never tried this before."
As I approached the giant corpse, I spotted Kyle emerging from behind it with a bundle of arrows in his hands.
Every one of them was covered in dirt that had frozen onto them.
Looking at Kyle, he seemed almost completely healthy and unharmed...
He wasn’t even that dirty.
He stared at us as we approached the corpse.
"Looking for something?"
Elliot shook his head.
"No, but someone is determined to eat this thing."
Kyle looked at me the moment he said that, while I simply shrugged.
Seeing that, he sighed while bending down to pull one of the arrows lodged in the monster’s body free.
"I don’t think that’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done, but I wouldn’t recommend it."
I ignored them and reached the massive corpse before jumping upward, my feet landing on the gray skin stained with blood.
Without hesitation, I drew my sword and cut into one of the undamaged areas of its body.
I really do wonder what it tastes like.
...
Some time passed while I sat inside the shelter, staring at the small fire before me.
The meat was nearly done cooking and ready to eat.
By now, Ellen and Izel had both woken up, while Leona had recovered somewhat and sat near the fire, staring into it.
"I understand where the idea comes from, but doesn’t doing this seem a little strange?" her calm voice echoed through the shelter.
I gave her a confused look.
"What’s strange?"
She hesitated slightly.
"You know... It was a rather different kind of monster, and a mother after all."
"It’s still a monster regardless... and what does motherhood have to do with me?"
Leona sighed as she enjoyed the warmth of the fire while the others rested in the corners after cleaning themselves up a little.
The shelter remained silent most of the time.
So after noticing that the meat was ready, I removed it from the fire and brought it toward my mouth.
Then I took a large bite from it, and my teeth could barely tear through it.
Everyone stared at me before Izel asked with genuine curiosity.
"How is it?"
I chewed the meat, swallowed it, then tossed the rest in my hand into the fire, letting the flames devour it.
"Very bad."
"What a shame... I wanted to eat some too."
A look of surprise appeared on Ellen’s face.
"You wanted to?"
Izel shrugged and pointed at the splints on her legs.
"Of course. It would’ve been great revenge."
I nearly laughed as I rose to my feet before looking at everyone.
"Shall we go now?"