CHAPTER 310: HOLD ON

’Who...?’ Marvas couldn’t calm his pounding heart. He had been moments away from death. As his trembling gaze took in the man who saved him, his eyes widened.

"Warden!"

There was only one Warden in Sylvastein; Warden Eras Sanguine.

"Rhett, you have to calm down," Eras said through clenched teeth. Even after the major collision, aftershocks rippled through the air. He was shocked he was being pushed back.

They met eyes, then separated in unison, creating distance.

Eras’ expression hardened. He glanced around to ensure there were no casualties from the clash. Only when he confirmed that did he turn back to his brother.

"Rhett..." Eras hid his unease. The clash had been more than he expected. His hands were shaking.

’He’s strong.’

Eras scrutinized Rhett, who hovered silently at a distance. He looked more like a creature of legend than a man.

Most considered Rhett a waste, a drunk, but Eras knew he was far from that.

’Red Vow.’ Eras recalled their past, back when Rhett was still Rhett. Back when he was a legend in the underground world.

Serving as blood guardians, witnessing atrocities was commonplace. Death was a daily affair.

But one day, they found an entire family slaughtered by an influential underground syndicate. On that day, after the blood knight took care of the spawned darkness creature, Rhett swore to hunt them all down.

Eras had called him mad, but weeks turned to months, and news came that shook him to the core, the syndicate had been ripped apart by an unknown force.

Life went on, but in every impossible situation they faced, Rhett always did the same thing: vow to get it done. No matter how long or difficult, he got it done.

Eras had given him that name even before he became a bloom, Red Vow.

What unsettled him now wasn’t the name, but what it meant. That relentlessness. Once Rhett set his eyes on a goal, he would mow down any obstacle to reach it.

Eras gripped his blood forged sword tighter. Right now, he was that obstacle.

"Eras..." Rhett’s voice held none of its earlier warmth. "You’re responsible for all this?"

Eras held back his unease.

"Multiple grade fours have spawned. This area is under lockdown."

"From a Blood Knight captain?"

Eras’ expression darkened. Darkness creatures were Blood Knight territory, in a sane world, a blood guardian, Warden or not, should not stand in their way.

"The situation’s already being handled. Go back, brother. I won’t say it twice."

Silence fell. But Rhett broke it, shaking his head.

"You know, I told myself after we met in your office, my brother is a good man. There’s a reason he’s acting like this."

His gaze locked on Eras, tension spiking.

"But no matter your reason, you’re the farthest from a good man anyone could ever be. I know that now."

Rhett’s aura kept rising, bloodlust drenching the space.

"The blood spilled today is on your hands, Eras."

Eras’ aura detonated. The temperature for kilometers dropped, gravity spiking.

"Brother! If we fight, the city will be in ruins! Thousands will die. Go back now!"

Rhett swept his crimson spear to the side, releasing a gust that collapsed buildings.

His words were subzero.

"Thousands are already dead. What’s a thousand more?"

"Brothe—!"

Eras’ panicked voice had barely echoed when Rhett’s words rolled out.

"Blood Rend."

For a moment, the silver glow of the moon vanished, replaced by a blanket of blinding scarlet.

...

’Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’

Malakai’s mind was in utter disarray. The small vita dome that once surrounded him had vanished, leaving him deep underground.

All he could see was darkness. All he could feel was earth.

Yet, his mind kept replaying the same scene.

’Nyx... fuck!’

Nyx was undoubtedly strong, Malakai could confidently claim at the level of a pulse, but the forces inside the vita veil were far too much for one person.

More than a dozen enemy blooms. Vita lances. Multiple grade four fucking darkness creatures!

He knew he could do nothing to help, but before he realized it, he was clawing upward. He had to get to Nyx.

Bam!

His momentum vanished as he slammed into a heavy force.

’The vita veil!’

Malakai clenched his fist, using every ounce of his power, his blood, his vita.

Immense strength surged through his arm as he punched. The earth around him parted for meters, but his heart sank, there wasn’t even a scratch on it!

"Fuck!"

He threw a few more desperate punches, but the veil didn’t so much as ripple.

’Nyx... what do I do...’

Her last words echoed in his mind: ’Survive.’

Was he supposed to just... leave? Abandon her? Malakai replayed every moment with her. The times she’d saved him were countless.

He was just starting to understand how much he cared for her. How much he’d neglected her.

Malakai took a deep, shuddering breath.

’Think. Think.’ He forced himself under control, taking slow, calming breaths. His mind was his most powerful weapon, and now, he needed it more than ever.

He could swallow one of the grade three vita cores he’d asked Nyx to get for him and try to break the veil. But not only might it fail, if it did, he’d lose consciousness, and he couldn’t afford that.

’Staying here is useless. Even if her life is in danger, she won’t die immediately. I still have time.’

His second thought was to find Rhett, but he erased it almost instantly. With chaos like this, finding him would be impossible, and too dangerous.

’The Fourth Pulse...’

He recalled what the Sutrex clan head had said: the Fourth Pulse wanted to pass something through his estate, but he refused.

That "something" might be at the boundary of the estate.

’It could be where Renlo is being held.’

It was the perfect moment to rescue Renlo, wherever he was. From there, he’d find a way to handle this situation.

’I’ll move underground towards her mansion.’

Malakai turned toward where the Fourth Pulse mansion lay and began moving through the earth toward it.

’Please hold on, Nyx.’