Chapter 103

Fortunately, the black blade stopped just before her throat.

“Another nymph, is it?”

A suspicious voice broke the silence.

Come to think of it, he had been injured before, enchanted by a nymph who had taken on her form.

She, too startled to breathe, slowly exhaled and met Eched’s gaze.

Eched radiated a deadly aura.

The chilling look in his eyes, as if he could sever her neck at any moment, sent shivers down her spine.

“Or perhaps…”

Eched, uncertain of his own thoughts, trailed off and pressed the blade closer to her neck.

The sharp edge grazed her skin, stinging. Feeling blood trickling down her neck, she hurriedly spoke.

“It’s me, Shaterian Astrea.”

Still, Eched did not lower his suspicion.

Well, it was understandable. It was hard not to doubt seeing someone who should be in the imperial capital in such a remote place.

She rolled her eyes, trying to think of a way to prove her identity.

There was only one method.

She reached out her hand to Eched. Raindrops fell onto her outstretched palm.

“Touch… you’ll know if you hold my hand.”

Her voice trembled, fearing that the movement of her throat might cause the blade to cut deeper.

She waved her hand, urging him to take it.

But this wasn’t the method Eched wanted.

Eched merely stared at her hand, where rainwater was pooling.

“What’s the matter?”

“Shaterian, what have you done? Why do you emanate such divine power?”

“Ah…”

Eched was suspicious of the divine energy overflowing from her body.

She opened her mouth to explain but instead pointed to his sword.

“First… could you put that away?”

It was terrifying.

Watching her, visibly shaken, Eched finally withdrew his sword.

At least the immediate threat to her life was gone. She sighed in relief.

But since he still gripped the handle tightly, there was a chance he might aim for her neck again, depending on her answer

She quickly began to explain.

“Do you remember the pattern on the floor beneath the imperial palace? It’s an ancient teleportation array. I don’t fully understand why, but… when I used it, the barrier suppressing my divine power was lifted.”

Perhaps a spirit or a Goddess had intervened.

If not, there was no other way to explain this situation.

“An ancient teleportation array… So, you used that to get here. What about the other knights?”

“There were none. I came alone.”

“Didn’t you receive a report that monsters had escaped from Haltonea Forest into the imperial territory?”

“Not only did we not receive any news, but all communication was cut off. A search party was organized to find you. They left this morning, so it’ll take some time for them to arrive.”

If they had known about the monsters escaping from Haltonea Forest, they would have acted more swiftly.

“It seems the knights sent to the imperial territory encountered trouble. If the scouting party hasn’t reported back either, there must be issues there as well.”

“What about your magical communication orb?”

“It’s broken.”

She glanced behind Eched.

Judging by the scattered monster corpses, it wasn’t surprising that something had been destroyed in the battle.

The rain poured down harder now, the sound of it growing louder.

Eched tilted his head upward to look at the sky before grabbing her robe and pulling her along.

She was dragged by his hand to a tree with wide, dense leaves. It provided better shelter from the rain compared to the tree they had just been under.

“You should head to the imperial territory, report the situation, and return to the palace.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll head further into Haltonea Forest.”

Eched, while brushing aside the wet strands of hair clinging to her face with his gloved fingers, glanced at her neck.

For a moment, a shadow as dark as the gray sky above clouded his face.

“…I’m sorry.”

Though it stung a little, she shrugged it off casually.

“It’s fine. If I had truly been a nymph, your life would’ve been in danger.”

In a situation like this, doubting everything was the right thing to do. She couldn’t blame Eched for it.

Yet, Eched, with a troubled expression, carefully touched the area around the wound with the tip of his gloved finger.

The ticklish sensation made her shoulders twitch.

Eched immediately withdrew his hand.

She looked at him with a curious expression as he avoided touching her.

“Eched. Don’t you need divine power?”

Once again, she extended her hand. But Eched still showed no intention of taking it.

“What’s wrong?”

Having fought monsters, his strength must have been significantly drained, yet he stubbornly refused the divine power.

After pressing him for an explanation, she finally got an answer.

“It’s better to conserve energy to escape the forest. I’ll handle the monsters from above.”

In short, he intended to sacrifice himself to ensure her escape.

Though the word “sacrifice” didn’t suit Eched, that was essentially what he meant.

She furrowed her brows in disbelief.

“I’m not going back unless we go together.”

“Shaterian.”

“And you said the knights sent to the imperial territory ran into trouble, right? The forest is dangerous enough as it is, and you expect me to leave you behind and go down alone?”

“…You’re right. It would be dangerous for you to go alone.”

That wasn’t the point she was trying to make.

Eched seemed to be contemplating what to do with her.

Then, it happened. A burst of light shot into the sky with a loud noise before quickly disappearing.

“It’s a signal. It seems the knights who went to the imperial territory realized something was wrong. The knight over there will head toward the imperial territory.”

After a moment of thought, Eched turned back to her.

“This place is dangerous, and the path to Haltonea Forest won’t be smooth either. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

Eched seemed to have decided to accompany her into Haltonea Forest.

But he couldn’t completely hide his lingering concerns.

She nodded vigorously, reassuring him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be a burden. I’ll make sure to be a reliable source of divine power for you.”

Right now, she was like a high-quality backup battery, fully charged and ready.

“Backup charger…”

Eched didn’t seem to fully understand what a “backup charger” was, but he grasped the general idea from the word “charge.”

For the third time, she extended her hand to him.

“Now, take it.”

This time, Eched didn’t refuse.

He removed his soaked gloves and took her hand.

She could feel the divine power flowing out faster than ever. Despite the significant amount being transferred, it didn’t feel overwhelming.

Soon, Eched released her hand, and the flow of divine power stopped. His face looked more alive than ever.

Eched stared at his hand in surprise.

If she felt this different, how much more so for Eched, who received the divine power?

As she pondered the sensation of her divine power being unlocked, she suddenly wondered about the spirit that had brought her here.

She looked around, but the spirit had already disappeared.

Why the spirit had helped her remained a mystery, and she hadn’t even had the chance to thank it.

Though she felt regret, there was no time to search for the spirit.

Eched and she embarked on the long journey toward Haltonea Forest.

The biggest challenge was the torrential rain. The downpour obscured their vision, and the ground turned to slippery mud.

They slipped and stumbled, barely making progress, only to be met with monster attacks.

Eched and she worked surprisingly well together.

They managed to fend off the monsters without sustaining any injuries.

But that didn’t mean their stamina remained intact.

The rain blurred their vision, making them tense, and the relentless monster attacks drained their energy.

As night fell and it became too difficult to continue, they decided to find a place to rest.

“Eched, over there.”

Scanning the surroundings, she spotted a gap between large rocks. It looked like a space formed by a collapsed boulder.

The entrance was small enough for only one person to squeeze through, but inside, it was spacious enough for five or six people to lie down.

Although part of the ceiling leaked rainwater due to misaligned rocks, it was still a decent shelter.

Once inside, they avoided the areas where rain dripped and settled on the dry ground.

Leaning against the wall, a sigh of relief escaped her.

“Shaterian. I’ll go find food nearby.”

“There’s no need.”

She stopped Eched, who was about to stand, and rummaged through the bag she had placed beside her.

“I packed something just in case.”

She hadn’t expected the situation to escalate to this extent when she packed it that morning.

From her bag, she pulled out a flint, a water bottle, and a cloth-wrapped bundle of scorched rice.

This scorched rice was the reason she had been so careful to keep her bag dry.

“There’s not much, but if we ration it, it’ll last us four days.”

Scorched rice, which doesn’t spoil easily and expands when boiled, was the perfect food for such a situation.

They instinctively divided the tasks.

She gathered dry leaves, twigs, and grass from inside the cave, while Eched went to fetch water for the bottle.

Though the amount of firewood she collected was small, it was enough to boil the scorched rice once.

The real concern was the cold.

The weather was chilly, and with their clothes soaked, they would undoubtedly shiver through the night.

If only she had magical power instead of divine power.

Unfortunately, divine power was specialized for healing, leaving her with limited options.

At least it was helpful to Eched, which was a small consolation.

As she pondered, Eched returned, having taken longer than expected.

He entered the cave and placed thick logs on the ground.

The sight of the sturdy wood left her speechless.

‘There’s no way he just… found these.’

The smooth, cleanly cut ends of the logs made it clear they had been deliberately chopped.

Her earlier worries about the cold now seemed utterly ridiculous.