The battlefield lay in an eerie stillness as the bright light from the newly arrived magic circle began to fade. The once-chaotic wasteland was now silent, save for the faint rustling of the wind that carried the acrid scent of smoke and scorched earth. Three women emerged from the glow, their figures sharp against the dimming twilight.

Vanessa, clad in a black gown that seemed to defy the destruction surrounding her, surveyed the scene with cold, piercing eyes. Her icy demeanor betrayed no emotion, but her clenched fists told a different story.

The moment her gaze landed on Alex, she disappeared, appearing right next to him, kneeling with a concerned light flashing through her eyes.

“He’s alive, Vanessa,” said Alenia, her soft voice breaking the heavy silence as she and Beatrice also appeared next to Alex.

Alenia had the word ‘worry’ written all over her face as Alex seemed to be in pain, but she tried to calm Vanessa as she knew what Vanessa might do if not stopped.

After all, they knew who was behind all of this. Though they didn’t have any concrete proof—the only reason for Alenia hoping Vanessa wouldn’t do something impulsive.

She kneeled beside Alex, her gentle hands brushing against his trembling contour. “Thank the heavens,” she whispered, relief evident in her warm, tearful smile.

“Barely,” added Beatrice, her tone laced with concern and an air of casual detachment.

She was worried as well, but she didn’t show much of it as it would give Vanessa the wrong—or maybe the right—idea, which would be bad, as Vanessa and Beatrice didn’t have much good of history.

She crouched beside Zahara’s collapsed form. A sly smirk tugged at her lips as she added, “Seems like your boy’s been playing with fire again. Literally.” Despite her teasing, there was a protective edge in her voice as she kept glancing at Alex while checking for any injuries on Zahara.

Vanessa, however, ignored Beatrice’s remark, her gaze fixed on Alex, her gaze quivering as she muttered, “How bad is it?”

She wasn’t much of a healer or physician. She just knew how to kill people, so that question was directed at Alenia, who knew more about injuries as she was the one who had taken care of Vanessa’s injuries for a long time.

Alenia looked up, her eyes softening with understanding. “He’ll recover,” she assured her. “But he’s exhausted. Whatever power he used has left him drained, physically and spiritually.”

“He needs an earful,” Vanessa growled, her words cold but underlined by a faint tremor that only Alenia and Beatrice noticed. She could still remember how he had attacked them when they were trying to stop him.

‘If this is what the result was going to be, then you should’ve asked for help.’ She clenched her fists as she glared at him, a bit angry.

But her eyes softened a bit as she heard Beatrice’s next words.

“Or a nap,” Beatrice quipped, standing up and brushing her hands off. She gestured toward Zahara. “This one too. Quite the devoted guard dog you’ve got here. She’d probably bite my hand off if I got too close to him.”

Vanessa shot her a sharp look. “Let’s get them both back to the castle,” she ordered. “And make sure no one disturbs him. Not until I say so.”

She glanced at Zahara for the first time, and looking at the remnants of the assassins she had fought, she nodded inwardly. ‘She’s not bad.’

Beatrice raised an eyebrow, her smirk widening. “Oh? What’s this? I thought you would leave that girl to die here.”

“Do as you’re told or leave, Beatrice,” Vanessa replied curtly, turning away.

…………………..

3 Days Later.

‘Hm..’ Alex finally stirred. His eyes twitched a bit before opening, silently observing the ceiling above his head as the world around him was quiet. ‘Sophie.’ He called out to Sophie, not moving as his body felt heavy, as though he’d been carrying a mountain.

He blinked slowly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light filtering through the curtains.

[You are finally awake!] Came Sophie’s relieved reply.

For the past three days, Alex had been sleeping in the dream space as well as the real world.

No matter what she tried, he wouldn’t wake. But now he was awake.

‘How long was I out for?’ Alex asked, feeling like he’d been out for long.

[Three days,] replied Sophie, her voice low as she added, [The drawback of using destruction energy with a weak body was a bit too much.]

‘Well, that power made it possible for a star formation realm expert to kill a six-star, star-connection realm expert, so I guess this much isn’t uncalled for,’ Alex, however, just shook his head, trying to sit up straight.

[But still…] Sophie tried to complain, as the last three days had been hard for her.

‘I know I worried you. But don’t worry, I won’t use it before I have reached the star connection realm,’ Alex smiled lightly, assuring Sophie before his thoughts turned a bit serious. ‘How is Zahara?’

[She is fine. She recovered in a day.]

Sophie’s reply brought him relief as he sat straight, but a sudden ache in his muscles made him groan.

“Argh…” It was low, but the moment that voice was heard, something beside him shifted, making his gaze turn to her.

She was right next to him.

Vanessa. She sat on a chair beside his bed, her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly downward. She seemed to be sleeping until Alex moved.

Now, her eyes were wide open as she stared at Alex; her long, white hair framed her face, and her expression was cold as always.

Before Alex could even greet her, she moved, quickly hugging him tightly, only to have him groan.

“Ughh, Mother, I will die,” he spoke, and Vanessa quickly jumped back, worry flashing in her eyes as she looked at him.

It was only after Alex had assured her that everything was fine and only his body hurt that her body relaxed.

“I… was worried,” she said, her tone low and unreadable. “Never do anything like that again.”

Alex smiled. The first thing she said since he woke up was this. “As you wish, Mother.”

None of them spoke anything after that. They didn’t need to. Just looking into each other’s eyes conveyed what they felt until Vanessa finally spoke again.

“I won’t ask many things, as I know you must not be feeling all well, but I still have one question I want to ask you,” her eyes locked into Alex as the guy waited for her question, hoping that it wasn’t something he couldn’t answer.

Vanessa’s eyes turned serious but tinged with confusion as she asked, “Why did you not use the attack function of the artifact I had given you?”

Alex, who was expecting a question about his abilities, froze. Too stunned to even speak.

‘Huh? Why didn’t I?’ He couldn’t answer that question because he didn’t even have an answer to that.

[You forgot.] Sophie replied in his head and realization finally settled.

‘Damn this memory backlash!’ Growled Alex as he knew why he didn’t.

The same artifact that he used to shield Zahara could be used to kill every assassin in the area. That artifact stored one of Vanessa’s attacks along with defense, after all.

“… I forgot.” He finally answered Vanessa, his gaze averted as he felt embarrassed just saying those words.

How could he forget it?!

[It was probably because of the backlash along with your desire to protect Zahara and use your power against someone powerful like that assassin.]

Sophie’s words made Alex nod his head. ‘That’s possible,’ he thought, but Vanessa just stared at him with a dumbfounded look on her cold face.

“You forgot…?” She couldn’t believe it, but she was sure that Alex wasn’t lying, so she just sighed after a while.

Talking about some things for a while, Vanessa stood, turning her back to him. “Rest well; you need it.”

She started toward the door but paused, her hand resting on the frame. Without looking back, she added, “You did well.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the words hung in the air long after she left the room.

As the door clicked shut, Alex leaned back against the pillows, a faint smile tugging at his lips. It wasn’t much, but coming from Vanessa, it felt like the highest praise.

Moments later, the door creaked open again, and Alenia stepped in, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and a pitcher of water. “You’re awake,” she said warmly, setting the tray on the bedside table. “How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a dragon,” Alex joked weakly.

Alenia chuckled softly, her eyes full of warmth and relief. “Close enough. You had us all worried, you know.” She sat on the edge of the bed, brushing his hair back gently. “You should eat something. It’ll help.”

Alex nodded, his gaze drifting to the door. “Where’s Zahara?”

“Back to the academy,” Alenia replied. “She’s fine, thanks to you.”

“Good.” Alex nodded, knowing that he needed to take care of things at the academy as well.

He just wished that nothing major happened at the academy. After all, just because he didn’t go didn’t mean the plot would stop progressing. He wasn’t the protagonist.

However, he was sure that many people must be wishing that he stayed lying on the bed, as his presence wasn’t that beneficial to them.

For now, Alex decided to take it easy as things would get hectic soon.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep