CHAPTER 343: THE CALL

The cramp in Nero’s foot had not been alleviated just yet - Nursing Touch may be a healing card, but the effect was gradual, not instant. Even so, he forced himself to move, ignoring the throbbing pain running up his leg. The price of not moving would be far worse than just pain, after all.

Binding string was a very useful card, but Nero was pretty sure there wasn’t enough aether in his whole group combined to seal the Primal Exarch, so the card would have to be reserved for another situation.

Infinite Lux, however, could prove useful. The problem was that even with these new cards, he was coming close to running on empty. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on that though, given that the situation called for him to either pull through or die.

Coating his blade in the light from Virtuous Moonlight II had made cutting the vines much easier, so maybe it would work on the Exarch too. It was unfortunate that he hadn’t tried that before since he was trying to use Frostburn, but it wasn’t too late now either.

Nero used Infinite Lux and touched the shadowy energy that surrounded him before replicating it to continue hiding himself. He had no idea how Vanessa was doing this, since she clearly hadn’t been able to do so before, but that didn’t matter.

With Nero controlling his stealth himself, he could move at whatever speed he wanted without the stealth dropping, just as long as he stayed out of direct light.

Although Nero hadn’t specifically done any prolonged stealth training, his extensive training in tracking allowed him to know exactly what to avoid doing. Silently, but quickly, he approached the Primal Exarch.

For three continuous seconds, the vines kept slamming the ground, but Nero no longer appeared which caused even the Primal Exarch to frown. He didn’t believe Nero would remain hidden even in death, so that meant...

His innate, inherent strength, even suppressed to the Initiate realm, allowed him to sense the sudden threat that appeared out of nowhere. For the first time, the Primal Exarch flapped its wings with a thunderous might, launching itself vertically in the air while suppressing everything underneath it.

Even so, the glaive coated in the white light managed to touch its eyelid, leaving behind a small cut - a cut that his healing ability ignored entirely.

Pushed down by the force of the unexpected wind, Nero was knocked to his knees, the shadows around him suddenly dissipating.

Instead of anger, the Primal Exarch felt even more

excitement at being injured - truly, genuinely injured, even if it was a minor one. He was about to unleash even greater strength when, from his new height, he spotted teams of humans rushing towards him.

The commotion of their fight was not small, so it was natural that it would attract attention, yet the Exarch did not want to end their fight so soon. Just as he was about to divert his energy into keeping the other humans away, the Exarch heard a loud birdcall.

It did not sound sweet or melodious, nay. It was dark, sinister, and filled with power that rivaled his own - if only because the one making that sound had been greatly weakened. It was a summons - one that greatly irritated him, but one that he could not ignore either.

The Exarch looked down at the human who had lifted himself back up to his feet, resting his glaive beside him as if waiting for the Exarch to descend.

"Not an entirely disappointing display, human," the Exarch murmured, his voice causing the ground beneath Nero to rumble. With that, he flapped his wings and flew off, heading towards the call that only he heard, leaving Nero behind.

The woody vines did not disappear, and instead stood back up, as if imitating pines. It was only the lack of any branches, or leaves for that matter, that marked them as anything other.

The Exarch disappeared too quickly, but Nero dared not believe it was truly gone. He promptly returned to the shadows, moving quickly so that he wouldn’t suffer when his previous location would be attacked. Yet the attack never came. The Exarch had well and truly departed, leaving behind only a confusing silence.

Nero didn’t understand. Even if he weren’t entirely and completely exhausted, he wouldn’t have been able to guess the Exarch’s motives, let alone now that his condition was so poor.

After an entire minute of the Exarch not returning, Nero dispelled the shadows, not because he believed the Exarch was truly gone, but because in this situation, they should focus on escaping.

As soon as he reappeared, Vanessa and the others did too - along with Dave, who looked like he was on the verge of death.

"Is he gone?" Vanessa asked, her complexion entirely pale. Her body was trembling and she was entirely unable to stop herself. That thing... that thing had been so terrifying that its mere presence was overwhelming. She could barely move at all, so she couldn’t imagine how Nero had fought that thing.

Instead of responding, Nero quickly approached the group and kneeled beside Dave. Noman still hadn’t recovered enough to seal him, and if they didn’t do something Dave would truly die.

While such a death would also mean some of Nero’s secrets, such as the pillar of white light, would be preserved, he couldn’t bring himself to let Dave die. The death of his teammates needed vengeance - needed justice - and he couldn’t destroy the chances of learning about the truth simply to hide his own secrets.

Maybe if Nero truly was as callous and indifferent as he sometimes pretended to be, he would have sacrificed this chance to preserve his secrets. After all, his own personal goals were not going to be easy to fulfill and he needed every advantage to make them happen. But... well, he could not bring himself to not care about those who had fought under his command - fought beside him.

Fighting together, surviving together, going through hell and more together, all had built a bond of camaraderie he could not ignore. So, even if he needed to let some hints of his secrets pass through, even if he had to do what he knew was stupid, he could not give up the opportunity to find out who exactly had orchestrated this.

Without hesitation, Nero began to use Binding string. Even nearly exhausted, his aether was a lot more potent than Noman’s, so he managed to wrap Dave in string entirely, sealing his body. He had no idea if Dave would survive being sealed, but he could only hope.

"The sun is setting," Nero said hoarsely as he pushed himself to his feet, using the glaive as a crutch. "We need to escape."

No one protested. Bael picked up Dave and marched forward. He carried Noman on his back as well, but compared to the fight Nero had been through, his contributions weren’t even worth mentioning.

He simply clenched his jaw and marched while maintaining his vigilance. If Nero wasn’t spent, he would have cracked a joke at Bael’s expense. As it was, he focused on not stumbling.

No sooner had the group emerged from the forest of woody vines that a team of Initiates appeared over a hill, spotting them.

"You’re alive," said a woman with clear surprise as she rushed to them, observing their beaten and bruised state.

Nero didn’t respond. The moment he saw the rescue team coming to them, his brain finally relaxed, allowing the exhaustion to flood through. His eyes rolled backwards, and he fell unconscious - though he did not actually fall.

He remained standing, his glaive firmly planted in the ground beside him, helping him maintain balance. It was only when the team actually arrived that they noticed his condition, and quickly rushed to him.

The others, however, did not relax. After everything they had been through, they did not trust even these soldiers. So, even as they were evacuated, all of them maintained their wary state, staying close to Nero in case they needed to defend him.

The soldiers noticed the weird actions of the group, but they couldn’t be bothered to care. They simply focused on retreating as quickly as possible, hoping that the giant monster they had seen flying in the air did not return.

With their aid, it only took the group another thirty minutes to finally, once and for all, exit Perilith.

Waiting for them outside, as expected, was a whole team of doctors who immediately rushed to heal them, though Vanessa pushed them aside and made her way to Lieutenant Earl who was standing there with a grave expression.

"We were betrayed," she said, skipping all formalities and making sure that there were no misunderstandings. "Dave betrayed us, and tried to kill us all. We’ve brought him back, sealed. Whatever happens, you better not let him die!"

Earl, whose expressionless gaze was fixed on his wounded son, finally turned to look at Vanessa.

"Tell me everything."