Chapter 7: The Flame Carries Love (2)

Chloe looked at Tehis, surprised by his unexpected words. Her bewildered gaze met his calm eyes.

“What are you planning to do here?”

“Whatever I can.”

“So…”

“Like this.”

The sword, wrapped in aura, swiftly cut through the flames beside it. Chloe’s gaze lingered on the retreating fire before returning to Tehis.

“If your concentration is divided, you might get hurt. I’ll protect you, so you can focus on the Phoenix.”

Chloe understood Tehis’s words, but she didn’t understand him. A question lingered in her mind.

“Why?”

There was no reason for him to take such a risk. Or was there a clause in the contract that she had missed?

Chloe blinked her confused eyes and lost her balance as the ground shook. Tehis was quicker to catch her than she was to steady herself with her slightly twisted foot.

The hard armor touched her back. She felt the arms securely holding her waist and the breath landing near her ear. The sound of small stones falling next to her face was heard.

Tehis’s voice continued as if it were natural.

“Chloe.”

It was a simple call expecting an answer, but Chloe, startled for no reason, stammered.

“Th-thank you.”

“Yes, Chloe.”

The mage took a deep breath in and out. The situation was urgent for her to be distracted by something strange.

Soon, freshly refined mana through her circuit permeated the burrow and the ice shield.

“Earth, harden. Ice, bind.”

Two elemental spells. Chloe, who had set up a safety device with double incantation, licked her dry lips. The most challenging part was about to begin.

“Fire.”

The third incantation. Chloe furrowed her brow as she poured strength into the conflicting attribute. Consuming two high-grade mana stones to maximize power made her feel queasy. In return, a powerful force imbued her will.

“Rise. Burn. Boil. Overflow.”

The visualization of the image. The layered magic spewed out bright red flames.

The fiery lava surged straight toward the Phoenix beyond the ice wall. It filled the space, tearing through the relatively thin flames.

“Hup…”

Tehis unknowingly held his breath. Even with the thick ice acting as a buffer, the heat rushed in. The hot air, heated by the constantly poured lava, pierced his lungs.

‘Why is she attacking the Phoenix?’

Didn’t she say she would save it? 

He was puzzled but did not ask. Instead, he prepared to grab Chloe and escape if the ice melted too quickly.

Chloe, focused on the Phoenix, seemed unaware that the ground was starting to shake again.

“Fire.”

Chloe conjured fire once more. The same runes transformed into lava again and poured onto the Phoenix. Crack, another mana stone quickly served its purpose.

Her eyes, narrowed from fatigue, squinted.

What she was doing now was not resonating with the mana of an existing element. Starting with mana attribute conversion, it was several times more challenging due to refinement, enhancement, and layering.

Through that arduous process, she aimed for two things.

The Phoenix’s recovery and hatching.

‘Is it not yet?’

Chloe expanded her senses to understand the situation within the sea of flames.

At first glance, it seemed like she was attacking the Phoenix, but in reality, it was the opposite. She had to keep casting spells because it ravenously devoured the lava.

A legendary species known as the Incarnation of Fire. The Phoenix could absorb fire above a certain temperature and convert it into vitality. It could heal wounds and even grow.

That was why Chloe was pushing herself to pour magic into it.

“Chloe, is it far off?”

“I want to believe it’s almost… done.”

It was an uncharacteristically uncertain statement from Chloe, who was always confident.

No matter how much she had learned about legendary species while studying fairies, there were limits. No book covered this situation, so she had no choice but to push until results emerged.

“Fire.”

It was already the umpteenth attempt. Another mana stone shattered, and a dense flame rose.

Her body, which had become an excessive mana conduit in a short time, trembled finely. The ground also rumbled with her.

“Watch out!”

Thud.

Tehis clicked his tongue at the collapsing entrance as he hugged Chloe to avoid a large boulder. The ice wall had almost melted, and the flickering flames were plainly visible.

The thought that he should have withdrawn earlier dominated his mind, but he couldn’t leave Chloe or forcibly take her away.

Tehis found the reason in the contract.

‘Because I agreed to respect her opinion.’

He ignored the fact that it was a clause about romance. He also ignored the fact that he could escape alone. He rationalized that he was cooperating and wouldn’t go back on his word.

Because he didn’t want to see this person get hurt.

Because he didn’t want to be hated by this person.

He didn’t think it was because of that.

“Th-thank you. I tried to finish quickly…”

“It’s all right. Even if the burrow collapses, we can escape, right?”

“Of course.”

Chloe pushed away the intense fatigue and regenerated the ice shield. Her breathing, uncomfortable in the hot air, eased considerably.

She stopped the increasingly collapsing ceiling in a hurry and checked the Phoenix, which had devoured all the flames.

‘At least the abnormal symptoms are gone now.’

Chloe sighed in relief, confirming that the cracked parts had been neatly restored.

The Phoenix egg, which had almost retracted its self-emitted fire, was much larger than before. Although she had strained herself to hatch it in the place where it had stayed the longest, it seemed she had to give up on that.

‘Maybe other conditions are needed.’

Having finished the minimal cleanup, Chloe levitated the egg once more. Gently wrapped in wind, it floated cautiously without any incidents this time. It flew quietly, not emitting the unstable heat of various colors like when she first saw it.

Feeling relieved, Chloe smiled faintly and looked at Tehis.

“Let’s go back.”

* * *

Chloe and Tehis safely exited the burrow. The expedition members, who had escaped first and were digging at the collapsed entrance, sighed in relief upon seeing them.

The day’s activities ended there. Under Tehis’s command, tents were set up near the site where the burrow had been.

The Phoenix was sealed with Chloe, but since it was the place where the heat had started, the winter forest’s wind couldn’t invade without protective magic.

The bright day faded away. After a deep night, dawn arrived.

“When we return to the Mage Tower, I’ll create a proper environment for you.”

Chloe spoke softly to the Phoenix. Naturally, there was no response.

The egg, floating quietly above the layered magic circle, looked peaceful within the designated high-temperature range.

‘How did I end up with two eggs?’

And they were a Fairy and a Phoenix. Legendary species not seen even on the Sky Island.

Wondering why the Phoenix had been in the winter forest, Chloe thought of Isrion. He was the only person who came to mind, but if he had seen the Phoenix, he would have been the mage to take it in and raise it himself.

“Sigh…”

It had been a long day. Chloe lay in her sleeping bag and looked at the ceiling.

Having already slept and woken up, her eyes didn’t close immediately. As she blinked blankly, the events of the day replayed in her mind.

Escaping from the burrow wasn’t particularly difficult. She had been moving the ground she had been controlling all along. However, since she was already strained, she came up in Tehis’s arms rather than using flight magic.

As soon as she built a magic circle for the Phoenix just in case, she fell asleep as if fainting and had just woken up.

“……”

Chloe absentmindedly felt her waist. It was the first time she had been held by someone else for so long, and that strange buoyancy lingered in her mind.

She was unfamiliar with being protected. It made her feel unnecessarily indebted. It felt even more so because it was something she hadn’t asked him to do.

Feeling unsettled, Chloe got up and left the tent. She had already slept enough and needed to observe the changes in the winter forest.

‘The air is still fine.’

Leisurely crossing the campsite, she gauged the mana in the atmosphere. The winter forest’s wind was gradually escaping the Phoenix’s influence, but it wasn’t as sharp as a veil.

She exchanged light greetings with the member on night watch and walked around the area as if taking a stroll. In this area, the snow had melted, and a rustling sound was heard with each step.

Many winter plants had died because of the Phoenix. Regretfully sweeping the herbs under a tree with her hand, Chloe turned her head at the approaching presence.

“You’re up early.”

“Tess.”

She straightened her bent body and greeted Tehis. He seemed to have come from a distant reconnaissance, as snow was on his clothes.

“I slept a lot. Did you get some rest?”

“I rested enough.”

Though he didn’t seem to have taken much of a break, Chloe nodded. More importantly, she had something to say to him.

“I couldn’t properly thank you yesterday because I was preoccupied. Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing…”

“But I was fine on my own.”

Chloe cut off Tehis’s words. If he had offered to protect her because he saw her as weak, she would refuse. It hurt her pride as a mage, and she didn’t want him to get hurt trying to help her unnecessarily due to a misunderstanding.

Things had been glossed over in the field, but it was time to address it now.

“You didn’t need to stay on purpose. I would have been more careful alone, so I wouldn’t have gotten hurt…”

“I know.”

This time, Tehis cut off her words. Chloe, at a loss for words, opened her mouth and then asked a beat later.

“…Then why?”

Why did you stay? Why did you say you’d protect me? Why did you take the risk? 

It was a question that encompassed all three doubts.

Tehis was silent for a moment and looked at the sky. He looked at Chloe, then to the side, and sighed. One hand unconsciously swept the back of his neck.

Finally, his eyes, reflecting a blue light, turned back to Chloe.

“Because you’re my lover. I wanted to.”