Chapter 198: The Gateway To Tartarus[2]

Rain sat on the silk covered bed wearing a loose night gown in the dimly lit room, Maria sat not far away from him as she looked at him without speaking anything.

In her hand she held some bandages, it was time to change the bandages of Rain. She grabbed onto his missing arm and gently unwrapped the arm.

She was a fierce woman but seeing her husband lose an arm made her throat dry, her words weren’t coming out. Yet despite all that she gulped down the weird block in her throat.

“You saved a child, that’s great but at the cost of your arm. You were reckless again, you promised you won’t be like that…” She said barely able to contain her tears.

Tears came rushing out of her eyes and dropped onto Rain’s legs, he flinched as he felt his leg get wet from the tears. He looked at his wife and pulled her head into his chest, still wrapped in bandages.

“It’s only an arm my dear, I can still beat Thomas and Ming together.” He replied confidently to soothe her hurting heart.

But that had the opposite effect on her, however strong willed she was seeing her significant other in pain and smiling through it would always hurt her more than him breaking down in her arms.

She removed the bandages from his amputated arm and started cleaning it, then started wrapping fresh bandages over it. He thought she would give him a reply as she was never someone who couldn’t talk.

That kind of person was him, he always shouldered the burden and didn’t tell anyone anything as to not worry them.

“You’ll never stop mocking death…but stop making me wait for you.” She said as she continued her work.

The smile from Rain’s face disappeared as he looked down in defeat, mocking his injuries was not a good option.

He had always relied on comedic relief in these moments but he fumbled as Maria couldn’t afford losing her only family, her husband.

When she finished they both got into bed, Rain pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly, stroking her long blonde hair.

“I’m sorry my dear, I will try not to be like this, just don’t be upset.” Rain said as he brushed her hair with his fingers and had her in his embrace.

“You always say that and you always do the opposite. You will leave the tower with me after this, let Xior and Becca be the ones who lead Dragon Guild inside the tower because I need you out with me as the times are changing and the other Guilds are moving fast.” She said her voice full of worry.

“We are their target, I can’t fight them all alone but with you I know I can and win.”

Rain was too engrossed with clearing the tenth floor that he forgot about how many issues Dragon Guild had to face out on Earth.

The other Guilds had always wanted to crush them and with Rain, the Vice Guildmaster gone they would only have one person to take care of.

He hugged her more tightly as he realized how stupid of him it was to leave her all alone among the hyenas.

He felt her breath on his chest as she drifted to sleep. These were his final days inside the tower, he would have to tell Becca and Xior everything he knows about the tower and other things.

But that could be done tomorrow, right now he too closed his eyes and fell asleep.

*****

Becca and Xior carried logs on their backs towards Aegis city. The broken city was being built a new with the help of the Tribesmen.

Rain sat under shade as Maria helped the Rabbit Tribe members in rebuilding the Dragon Guild building.

She wore her gym clothes as she lifted a huge boulder from the broken area and carried it towards the masons reusing the stones to make bricks.

Becca and Xior looked at her singlehandedly carrying the huge stones and were shocked, she was strong they knew that but this strong? Damn their jaws almost dropped onto the ground.

Well that was a given, even among the SSS Rank hunters, she was one of the top ones being close to the next rank.

Becca and Xior dropped the logs they carried and saw Maria walking towards them.

“Good thing you’re both here, I have an announcement to make. I will be taking my reckless husband back with me. That leaves the Dragon Guild tower branch without a leader. I appoint you both as the leaders of the Dragon Guild inside the tower.” She said with a brimming smile on her face.

Both them were shocked to hear this but they both smiled and nodded their head. The day passed by and the rebuilding was in motion slowly.

It was night now, Alice sought out Xior and Becca. She still wore her battle gear, but her usual sharp tongue was tempered by grief.

“I… I owe you both,” she admitted, bowing her head.

Becca shook her head gently. “We all carried each other.”

Alice looked between them, her lip quirking into something almost like a smile. “Feels like I’ve become the older sister caught between two stubborn commanders.”

Becca laughed softly, the sound like a balm over the frost. Xior only gave a small nod, though something faintly warm flickered in his black eyes. In the ruins of war, a new bond had been forged.

When the camp grew quiet, Xior found himself alone by the mass grave. Torches flickered against the snow, casting long shadows across the mound where hundreds lay together, no longer divided by tribe.

The night wind howled, carrying the smell of ash and the faint echo of cries that would never be heard again.

He stood there a long time, staring at the grave as though memorizing it. Then, in a voice too quiet for any to hear, he whispered:

“We carry them with us. Every step upward is heavier than the last.”

His breath fogged in the cold air. The Tower loomed in the distance, its spires glowing faintly in the dark, a reminder that this was only one floor, only one war and countless floors waited for them.

Xior turned from the graves, his shadow stretching across the snow. The weight of this war didn’t lift, it would never. But someone had to bear it, and he would.

*****

In a massive palace inside the Abyss, a man with red horns and a small stature looked out of his window.

The ever still black hole loomed over the horizon as the man or demon was in deep thought.

He never thought that Dantalian would fail him, but it was expected. The Child of the End was a dangerous adversary.

Be it the original Monarch of the End or the Child of the End, both were bound to shake the whole cosmos.

They had to do something about him, they had to either kill him or seal him. But sealing only will result in the forming of a new Child of the End.

A portal opened behind him and a man twice as tall as him entered the room, his upper body was that of a human and his lower was a mix of tentacles and spider legs.

The demon looked behind him and bowed slightly.

“Oh you’re here Mnethis, I was about to come visit you.” He said, his voice mocking the man who just entered.

The man simply ignored the mocking and raised his arm, the small man started choking as he was lifted in the air.

And with a snap his neck was broken and his limp body thrown outside of the palace. This was a reminder for anyone who dared to mock the Nameless.

He gathered the documents on the table and went back inside his portal. For now the Nameless will stop the pursuit of the Child of the End but soon they will start again and this time they will win.

Xior had some more to stay in peace because his life was about to turn upside down as everything he holds dear is a target for the Nameless.

They sealed the End once and they will do it once again, the other Monarchs would gladly help them.

In the distant end of the universe, a group of veiled entities sat together around a round table. They didn’t speak, only observed the countless worlds being shown in front of them.

All of them had one thing in common, and that was a tower. It was as if they were the administrators of the towers.

They saw different species rip one another apart, parents kill their children and vice versa but their expressions remained the same, uninterested until they saw one specific world.

It showed them the fight between Xior and the Nameless woman, they grinned as they saw Uriel descent into his body.

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