Chapter 463: I’m Leaving

The first streaks of sunlight spilled across the worn pathways that snaked through the city they’d now taken refuge in.

Sunlight bathed every part of the street in pale gold as Damien and Arielle stood before the threshold and faint morning chill settled over the air, brushing against their cloaks.

Behind Damien and Arielle, the survivors of Delwig stirred awake, gathering quietly to give their unspoken farewells even though Damien and Arielle were set to return soon enough.

Apnoch arrived last, still fastening the straps of his pauldrons, Lyone trailing behind him with a somber expression.

“You’re really set on this?” Apnoch asked, though he already knew the answer.

Damien adjusted the strap of his pack. “If I wait too long, I’ll lose the trail. I have a feeling that Ivaan wasn’t the only one that caused Delwig’s fall and it didn’t end just because the city did.”

He sighed before he continued. “Call me paranoid or whatever but if I don’t confirm one final time, I won’t be at rest. I didn’t even plan on going with Arielle but she insisted and I couldn’t refuse. Or maybe I didn’t want to.” He smiled.

“Anyways, I need to check the gate one last time.” Damien adjusted his top, stealing a glance at Lyone.

Apnoch grunted. “Never could talk you out of anything.”

Arielle stepped forward before the conversation could darken. “We’ll be back before nightfall if everything is clear.”

Aquila was in good condition now and so she wasn’t wrong to say they would be back by nightfall considering the summons speed through the skies. Futhermore, Aquila was familiar with their destination.

Lyone approached then, rubbing his right arm awkwardly. His voice was quiet. “Be careful. The forest… it still feels wrong to me.”

Damien rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine here. Train hard. Listen to Apnoch. Soon enough, you’ll be strong to watch my back in battles.”

The boy nodded, though reluctance flickered in his eyes. “Don’t die till then.” His response was enough to cause a chuckle among the group.

Apnoch exhaled heavily. “If you two don’t return by dusk, I’ll assume you’re dead and start preparing speeches.”

A slight smirk touched Damien’s lips. “I’m not dying in that forest. The last encounter won’t be repeating itself.”

“Good,” Apnoch said. “It’d be a pain replacing you.”

Arielle gave the captain a small bow. “We’ll bring back word of what remains.”

“And if the place still reeks of death?” Apnoch asked.

Her expression hardened. “Then we handle it.”

There was no ceremony, no drawn-out goodbyes. Damien had never liked them.

Instead, he gave a final nod to the small crowd of survivors who had gathered, some clutching their children, others standing with straight backs, as if watching him walk forward gave them permission to move on too.

Without another word, he turned toward the open gates. Arielle fell into step beside him.

“Shall we go by foot or sky?” Damien asked but Arielle replied immediately. “We’ll return with Aquila. For now, we go with foot.”

“Still, you should’ve stayed back.” Damien repeated but Arielle completely ignored.

Damien gave a defeated sigh. “So be it.”

They left the safety of the city as the first true light of the sun broke over the rooftops.

The road to the Verdant Verge stretched long and empty. Birds sang in the distance as they progressed but othinh was going to slow them down.

Compared to the chaos of their last crossing, the forest’s border felt almost peaceful.

Almost.

“It’s too quiet,” Arielle murmured after an hour of walking.

Damien nodded silently. He felt it too — the unnatural stillness, like the forest itself was holding its breath.

The trees ahead loomed tall, every branch heavy with moisture. Their leaves brushed together faintly in the wind, whispering secrets Damien couldn’t decipher.

When they crossed the boundary into the Verdant Verge, the air shifted — colder, heavier.

“This place hasn’t healed,” Arielle said softly.

“It’s trying to.”

They continued deeper.

The path was exactly as Damien had left it. Charred earth, fallen trees hacked apart by raw mana, and faint scorch marks where Ivaan’s madness had erupted.

Yet something had changed. The oppressive weight that once smothered the forest was gone.

The mana felt… thinner. Freer. Like a wound beginning to clot.

At one point, Arielle knelt beside a broken tree trunk, her fingers brushing a faint crystalline residue embedded within the wood.

“Essence from your battle,” she murmured. “Faint, but still here.”

“Residual,” Damien said. “Harmless now.”

She gave a small nod, but her brow remained furrowed. “I hate this silence. It feels like the forest is pretending to be asleep.”

“Maybe it is.”

They walked for another hour, weaving through shattered undergrowth and toppled branches. Damien’s boots crunched softly over dirt and ash. Sunlight struggled to pierce the dense canopy, painting scattered beams across the ruined floor.

A lone breeze tugged at Damien’s cloak.

“It’s too different,” Arielle said. “Compared to the last time I was here before the fight.”

“It should be,” Damien replied. “Half the forest was leveled.”

“No, I mean…” She paused. “It feels like something was scraped clean.”

Damien glanced around, at the blackened soil, at the faint white dust where essence-rich beasts had once died. He knew what she meant. Something about the air was… lacking. The forest’s spirit felt muted.

“It’ll return,” he said.

“Will it?”

He didn’t answer.

By mid-afternoon, they reached the deeper part of the forest. The air thickened slightly, carrying the faint metallic tang Damien remembered too well.

Arielle stopped first.

“There,” she whispered.

The clearing spread before them like a crater. Trees bent away unnaturally from its center, frozen as if recoiling from a presence that had long since vanished. At the middle lay the cracked stone platform that once housed Ivaan’s ritual.

Damien stepped forward, boots crunching over shattered rock.

The Gate’s seal was still there, faintly glowing with dull, silvery threads.

A crack ran across it. Very thin but unmistakable. At least to Damien’s eyes. He’d seen them when they happened.

Arielle knelt beside the seal, brushing the crack with her fingertips. “It shouldn’t remain like this without something feeding it.”

“Something did,” Damien said. “And something still is.”

She glanced up at him. “You feel it too?”

He nodded once.

The seal still pulsed faintly, as if breathing.

But it was intact. Closed. Dormant.

“Whatever broke out… didn’t,” Arielle whispered.

Damien’s gaze narrowed. “Not fully.”

They circled the clearing, inspecting every inch of ground, every faint mana residue. Damien crouched beside a set of deep scratches etched into the stone, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Ivaan pushed the Gate harder than he should’ve. Even with his power, this should’ve killed him.”

“It did.”

“I mean sooner.”

Arielle stood. “Then why didn’t it?”

Damien’s eyes moved to the treeline. The shadows between the trees seemed darker than before.

“Because something pushed back,” he said. “And it wasn’t just his essence after all.”

The forest rustled faintly — leaves trembling with a sound that didn’t belong to wind.

A moment later, a small mana beast emerged from the underbrush — a rabbit-like creature with crystalline fur. It paused at the edge of the clearing, sniffed the air cautiously, then darted away.

Arielle froze. “That’s—”

“The first one,” Damien said.

Another rustle. Then another small beast. A fox. A winged lizard. A deer with faint glowing antlers.

They didn’t come close. But they lingered at the edges, watching.

The forest was returning.

Beasts, timid but alive, stepping back into the territory they’d once fled in terror.

Arielle exhaled slowly. “Then nature doesn’t see danger here anymore.”

“Or it sees less danger than before,” Damien corrected.

For the first time since arriving, the forest didn’t feel empty. It felt… wounded, but healing.

Arielle brushed her cloak aside, stepping closer to the cracked seal. “So we’re done here. The Gate’s closed. The beasts are returning. Whatever danger was here is gone.”

Damien stared at the crack, the thin silver line throbbing faintly beneath the stone.

“It’s not gone,” he murmured.

“But it’s asleep.”

He shook his head. “It’s resting. Sealed.”

Arielle turned to him, eyes searching his expression. “Damien… we can go back. Apnoch and the others will want to hear this. They’ll be relieved.”

“We will go back,” he said.

But something in his tone made her still.

She took a step toward him. “You’re not saying everything.”

Damien’s eyes lingered on the Gate for one last moment, then he turned away and began walking back toward the treeline.

Arielle followed, her footsteps quickening. “Damien—what aren’t you telling me?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

The forest grew lighter as they walked, sunlight spilling across their path. Mana beasts shifted in the distance, watching from the corners of the woods.

They moved quietly, each step taking them farther from the Gate, closer to the living world again.

When the trees finally thinned and the faint outline of the forest’s edge appeared, Damien stopped.

Arielle halted beside him, her breath soft but steady.

He didn’t turn to face her. His voice was low, steady.

“Arielle,” he said. “After we report back…”

She waited.

“I’m leaving.”

Her breath caught.

His gaze stayed on the path ahead. The way back to the city, to their people, to the fragile peace they’d found.

He finished quietly. “I’m leaving to train.”

And the moment he said it, the forest wind fell still.

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