Chapter 530

Swaaaa—

As the wall evaporated, the forms of the beastfolk, sprawled out as if dead, were revealed. These were the ones who had been howling, consumed by their feral nature. The thick, ashen mist that had covered the area was already gone without a trace, likely all used up in the sealing of Kruxica.

One by one, the beastfolk who had remained conscious came into view. None of them could speak; they simply stared up at the sky in Ian’s direction with somewhat dazed expressions. As if spotting Ian standing atop the hill of rubble, their gazes began to lower one after another.

However, Ian wasn’t looking at them.

Swoosh…

Amidst the fallen beastfolk, the figure of the beastfolk Chieftain, standing alone and wreathed in a blazing red divinity, was also being revealed.

Ian met Charlotte’s reddish glint. Though her eyes were filled with exhaustion, they narrowed slightly. It was a look that seemed to ask what had just happened.

Why hasn’t the blessing disappeared yet?

Just as a completely different question popped into Ian’s mind, something fluttering caught the corner of his eye.

Thesaya was holding her horn bow in her right hand, waving it back and forth above her head. The veins around her eyes had subsided, and her face had returned to normal.

"Ian! Is it all over? Did you kill her?" she shouted the moment she caught Ian’s eye, paying no mind to the silence that had fallen over the area.

"Yeah. It’s all over," answered Ian, turning his head before pausing. He had spotted Nehat, sprawled a few steps behind him.

He frowned for a moment. "Or not quite."

Ian let out a dry laugh. Nehat’s body had been reattached. Though she was back to her original size and her right arm was still severed just below the elbow, she was, at the very least, breathing.

It was a situation Ian hadn't anticipated at all. The boss battle quest had been completed. Perhaps it was a final act of mercy from Kruxica to their apostle.

Or the exact opposite.

With that thought, Ian raised his head and looked at Charlotte again.

As she blinked, Ian said, "Will you handle the loser’s fate yourself, Great Chieftain?"

Nehat was dragged into the air by his Willful Grasp, hanging limply. Charlotte’s eyes widened for a second as she confirmed it was her.

"Huh? What? She was still alive?" Thesaya asked in confusion.

The gazes of the wide-eyed beastfolk converged on Charlotte. It was enough time for Charlotte to compose herself. Her face now an emotionless mask, she declared, "Yes. I will do it myself, Ian."

"An excellent choice."

Replying with only a curl of his lip, Ian let Nehat drop. It was then that the quest completion window popped up before his eyes. Karha had finally acknowledged the end of the battle.

Fwoosh—

The faint divinity that had clung to Ian, as well as the blazing divinity around Charlotte, scattered hazily as if blown by the wind.

"Great Chieftain…"

The beastfolk warriors who had been watching began to bow their heads one by one. Even those who had been sitting on the ground did the same. It was no illusion that their actions seemed to come from a place of sincerity. They had all witnessed how she had dealt with the feral beastfolk.

Charlotte, standing amidst the dissipating red divinity, looked back at them and finally added, "Tend to the warriors. I will personally decide the fate of those who remain."

It was then that Ian’s eyes twitched. Having finished speaking, Charlotte was tilting sideways like a log.

A silver-haired elf, cloak fluttering, shot out faster than Ian could run.

Swoosh—

Thesaya, trampling over the fallen beastfolk, slid to a stop as she caught collapsing Charlotte in her arms, having already tossed her bow aside.

"Honestly."

Holding the unconscious Charlotte, Thesaya lifted her head. She looked up at Ian, who was standing somewhat awkwardly on the hill of rubble, and smiled.

"You really can’t do anything with this one, can you?"

Aren’t you the same way?

Ian let out a soft laugh.

Just then, Thesaya turned to look at the beastfolk who were slowly getting to their feet. After giving them a long, hard look, she wrinkled her nose and finally jutted her chin.

"Did you not hear your Great Chieftain? Get moving. And find something to grill. I’m hungry."

***

Warmth, a savory scent, and a gentle pressure behind her head greeted Charlotte as she opened her eyes. Sometime during her unconsciousness, night had fallen.

She blinked lazily, staring at the quiet, overcast sky.

"Can’t deny you’re a beast."

A voice, leisurely and all the more infuriating for it, came from beside her head. A fairy’s face leaned into Charlotte’s line of sight.

"You didn’t move a muscle this whole time, but you wake up the second you smell meat cooking, huh?" Thesaya smiled, her silver hair hanging down.

Only then did Charlotte realize she was using Thesaya’s thigh as a pillow. She frowned and tried to sit up.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

However, Thesaya was faster, grabbing her forehead and forcing her back down.

"Just lie still. You’re not in any condition to be moving around like that, you stupid kitty."

It wasn’t just Thesaya’s strength that made Charlotte lie back down. The moment she tried to get up, a throbbing pain shot through her.

Tapping Charlotte’s forehead with her finger, Thesaya added, "Did you think the elixir could handle you rampaging around so recklessly? You stubborn idiot. You could have just closed your eyes and lopped off a few of their heads."

"I get it, so get your hand off me," Charlotte grumbled, wrinkling her nose with her eyes still closed. "I can cut off that wrist of yours without batting an eye."

"My, is that any way to talk to your savior? I’m the one who wrapped those bandages on you, you know?"

At Thesaya’s words, Charlotte held her breath for a moment.

After smacking her lips and letting out a low growl, she opened her eyes again and muttered, "So that’s why it was so hard to breathe."

"That’s probably because your ribs are broken."

Ignoring Thesaya’s retort, Charlotte turned her head. A bonfire flickered, with a splayed-open lizard and chunks of meat, clearly from a large snake, roasting on branches above it, side-by-side.

"That one’s yours. Thesa will feed it to you."

At the calm voice that came from her feet, Charlotte lifted her head.

Ian, who had been sitting lazily by the fire, gestured with his chin. "You’re a sight to behold, Great Chieftain."

"Ian." A faint smile spread across Charlotte’s lips.

It was then that Thesaya grabbed a handful of her mane. "Why do you only smile for Ian? You ungrateful kitty."

"How am I supposed to smile when you’re doing this?"

"Is that so? Sorry. I just felt like teasing you a little." Thesaya smiled and patted her mane with her palm.

Smacking her lips, Charlotte turned her head to the left, away from the fire, and asked, "Where are the warriors?"

"They’re resting now. They were incredibly busy until a little while ago," Thesaya answered. She was resting her chin on her hand, her arm propped on the thigh of her crossed leg.

Charlotte’s gaze swept over the ruined village.

Centered around the hill of rubble, several bonfires were burning here and there. Around them, beastfolk sat silently, resting or sleeping. Though they were some distance away, a few seemed to have noticed she was awake and were looking in her direction.

"I see," answering softly, Charlotte pushed herself up with her arms.

Thesaya frowned. "I told you not to move. At least for today—"

"I cannot show weakness," Charlotte, cutting her off, shakily sat up.

She looked back at Thesaya, who was narrowing her eyes in disapproval, and added, "Besides, it’s not like I can’t move. It just throbs a little."

"Don’t be ridiculous. You were beaten to a pulp, enough to make feeding you the elixir feel like a waste. You had several broken bones… huh?" Thesaya’s eyes widened. Charlotte had just ripped off the bandages wrapped around her torso.

"Now that’s less constricting."

"Hey! I worked so hard to wrap those! Besides, what if your wounds get infected…" Thesaya’s shouting trailed off.

She blinked, her gaze sweeping over Charlotte’s back, now visible through the torn bandages. "What, your wounds have already healed?"

"It must be thanks to the elixir you gave me," Charlotte muttered, then tore off the bandages on her left arm. "I’m fine, so stop making a fuss."

Thesaya gaped for a moment before stammering, "No, I’m sure the effects had worn off. It had barely stopped the bleeding."

"She’s probably right about the elixir’s effects," Ian interjected softly.

Charlotte and Thesaya’s heads snapped toward him almost simultaneously.

Turning the splayed-open lizard on its skewer, Ian added, "The Platinum Dragon didn’t tell us everything. For the Pointy-Ear that took my elixir, the amount of magic she could accumulate increased. Even after the initial effects wore off, it kept going. The dragon’s magic must have caused some kind of permanent change."

As Thesaya’s eyes widened, Ian added in a strangely bitter tone, looking at Charlotte, "It seems the after-effects change depending on who takes it."

"So you’re saying my recovery speed has increased?" Charlotte asked, blinking somewhat blankly.

Ian shrugged. "Seeing as it’s been less than half a day and you’re only left with muscle aches, probably. You took two elixirs, so maybe the effect was doubled. Or maybe, you just got a different result each time."

"Come to think of it," Charlotte murmured, looking down at her own hand. She clenched and unclenched her fist. "After I took the first elixir, I felt like all my senses had become sharper. I guess that wasn’t my imagination."

"Well, aren’t you lucky," Thesaya sighed, while Ian smacked his lips again. "Such an amazing side effect… Why are you only telling me this now, Ian?"

"Because I didn’t know you were going to use it on Charlotte. And even if you had known, I doubt anything would have changed," Ian replied nonchalantly, looking at her.

"What do you mean nothing would have changed? I never would have used it like this. Spit it out. Spit it out right now, you idiot!" Thesaya grabbed Charlotte’s neck with both hands and shook her back and forth.

With her head bobbing and a frown on her face, Charlotte added, "It seems like a lot of warriors are missing. Where are the rest?"

"In the huts over there. Your subordinates tied them all up," Ian said, tilting his head to the side. He picked up the sizzling, fully cooked lizard.

Charlotte’s head turned to the left. Though it was in ruins, not all the village huts had collapsed. Like the one near them, the huts on the far edge were still intact. Spotting a group of beastfolk tied up and sprawled out near them, Charlotte’s brow narrowed slightly.

"Where is Nehat?"

"That damn bitch is in the hut," answered Thesaya, who had finally given up and released her hands. She clicked her tongue and dusted off her hands. "One-Eye tied her up personally. I gagged her. She’s probably drooling all over herself by now."

"One-Eye?"

"Palmer. Since we have another Spotty now, I gave him a new nickname. It suits him better, don’t you think? Anyway, he’s guarding the hut, too."

After giving Thesaya a sharp look, Charlotte shifted her gaze to Ian. He was chewing on the lizard’s head with a slight frown.

"I’m thinking of going over. Will you come with me, Ian? I didn’t capture her with my strength alone," Charlotte asked, catching his eye.

"Sure. I was planning on going with you anyway." Ian replied, still chewing. He gestured toward her with his chin. "Put something on before you go. One person walking around half-naked is more than enough."