Chapter 237: Aestrea Against The World (XIV)

“Wait a moment…”

Derek’s voice suddenly dropped.

“…You agreed to help the Dark Elves?!”

The sheer volume of his voice shattered the cold silence like glass.

He shot to his feet in one blur of motion, snow flying up from his boots as he stormed toward me, his eyes blazing with something between rage and complete disbelief.

Which… was normal, considering that I was going to go against the entire Elven Kingdom if I wanted to help them.

But the location of the Ygdrassil was simply too important for me.

“Are you out of your FUCKING mind?!” Derek roared, grabbing my shoulder. “Do you seriously think you’re some kind of god?!”

His hand trembled as it clenched into a fist by his side, but I didn’t move. I didn’t flinch.

“Maybe you’re strong enough to kill the fucking Emperor,” he shouted, his voice cracking with emotion.

“But don’t pretend you’re strong enough to take on the entire Elven Kingdom just because someone told you to!”

The snow around us fluttered in silence.

His chest was rising and falling fast.

But me?

I just stared at him.

Quietly.

And then… I smiled, just a little.

A small, infuriating smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said calmly, brushing a bit of snow off my shoulder.

That was the last straw.

“THE FUCK YOU MEAN DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT?!” James shrieked, leaping up like a wild animal, his eyes practically imitating Derek’s in rage.

“I DON’T WANT MY BEST FRIEND TO FIGHT A WHOLE KINGDOM ALONE!”

He grabbed me by the arm, frantically shaking it like the elf had done moments ago.

“HELLO?! EARTH TO AESTREA?! You’re seriously going to pick a fight with the elves?! You know, the pointy-eared people who use nature like it’s Wi-Fi?! THEY HAVE SENTIENT TREES! They can make a flower explode your lungs!!”

I didn’t laugh at his words, obviously; instead, I just looked at him and replied quietly:

“I’m strong enough to escape.”

That’s all I said, but it made both of them freeze.

James’s hands fell off my arm slowly, like life had drained from them. As for Derek, his mouth opened and then closed.

GRIP!

His fists shook at his sides as he clenched them tightly.

“You think that’s what we care about?” he said, his voice hoarse now.

“You think we’re worried because we’re scared you’ll die?!” James added, stepping forward. ”

You idiot! We’re scared because you’ll leave! Because you’ll do it alone again!”

“And you always do this!” Derek snapped.

“You act like it doesn’t matter what happens to you as long as the goal is ‘important.’ But what about us?! What happens when we wake up and you’re gone?! What happens if you don’t come back?!”

I looked at them… really looked.

Derek’s chest was rising and falling fast, and his eyes were slowly getting redder by the minute.

James had his arms crossed tightly, but even he looked like he was holding back tears.

I felt my fingers twitch slightly.

Their words dug somewhere deep… somewhere I didn’t like touching.

I looked away.

“…You guys always talk too much.”

They blinked.

And in that very instant…

Thud!

Plap!

They collapsed to the snowy ground in unison, unconscious.

I exhaled through my nose.

“Good grief…” I muttered, walking over and crouching beside them.

Snowflakes landed gently on their lashes, and their faces looked so much more peaceful now.

Slowly, I turned back to the dark elves’ group.

“…Wait for me.”

The woman who had been possessed by Gaia blinked at my words, probably confused by them.

I hoisted James and Derek back over my shoulders with a grunt and kept going, slowly stepping away.

“There are things I need to finish first,” I said calmly.

“I’m dragging these two idiots back to camp. The commander… Zeva’s probably going insane by now, wondering where we vanished.”

The elf woman opened her mouth like she wanted to protest, but I kept talking.

“After that… if the Frost Elves come looking for trouble, I’ll deal with them. Myself.”

Her eyes widened slightly at that.

I didn’t flinch.

“If I have to talk, I’ll talk. If I have to fight… then I’ll fight.”

There was silence behind me for a few seconds, then the soft rustle of cloaks.

A low murmur passed between the dark elves, like wind weaving through dead branches.

“I’ll come back,” I added, eyes forward again.

“But until then… stay hidden.”

I glanced back, just once.

Her long hair fluttered in the cold wind, and her lips parted in surprise. Her hand moved to her chest like she didn’t know what to say.

She took a shaky breath.

“…Yes. We will wait.”

I gave her a small nod, almost imperceptible, then turned again and vanished into the trees.

FWOOOOP~

The wind howled between the trees as I dashed through the snow-laced forest, James and Derek limp over my shoulders.

The military camp was only a few thousand meters away now. I could sense Zeva’s mana faintly, flickering with agitation.

She was pissed.

Good.

That meant things were normal.

But just as I moved to step into the clearing near the outer barrier, something shimmered in the air.

Thin.

Invisible to normal eyes. B

ut my senses had long since been honed past that.

A string.

No… a killing thread.

I stopped mid-stride, boots planting deep into the snow.

My entire body tensed. The thread hovered in the air, so faint that the moonlight barely reflected off it.

I narrowed my eyes, and then…

Shhhk.

The world around me turned blue.

I snapped my fingers.

Crack—!

A burst of frigid mana exploded from me in an instant, freezing the snow, the trees, the air itself.

Ice crept upward across the string, outlining it, trapping it like a spider’s web caught in the first frost.

A breath of silence passed.

And then, from the shadows near a branch above…

A soft, amused chuckle echoed from above.

“Bravo!”

Followed by a clap of the figure’s hands.

Kagetaro stepped into view from a branch draped in shadow, the same eerie grin carved into his porcelain mask.

His slicked-back black hair glinted in the moonlight, his jester-like coat fluttered lightly, almost alive.

The long, dark ribbons hanging from his sleeves drifted across the frozen grass, brushing it with the whisper of silk against bone.

“What do you want now, Kagetaro?” I asked coldly, not moving a single centimeter.

“Just checking in on my favorite Moonlight Swordsman,” he said cheerfully, leaping down with the grace of a cat.

His boots didn’t even make a sound as he landed.

“You always surprise me, Aestrea. I like that.”

He extended one gloved hand and flicked the frozen thread with a finger.

Tling~

The brittle ice rang out like crystal.

“I wove that for you. A little gift.”

I didn’t look impressed.

“You thought a thread would kill me?”

His laughter spilled out again, playful, and as always, just slightly unhinged.

“My dear Aestrea… kill you? No, no, no. Don’t insult me. It was just to slow you down. To see if you’d notice. And you did.” He smiled wider.

“Beautifully, in fact.”

He stepped forward slowly, boots crunching lightly on the frozen earth.

“Oh, and I heard the news,” he went on, voice lilting like a song. “You’ve officially become the Vessel of the Moon, haven’t you?” He gave a flourish of his arms and bowed deeply.

“My most sincere congratulations~!”

My mouth twitched slightly at his words, but I said nothing.

“But more importantly…” He raised his head with a glint in his eye.

“Did you get my little file? You know, the one with your… information?” His grin deepened, as if he already knew the answer.

‘…That was from him?!’

I frowned slighly at his words.

“What did you think of it?” His voice dropped into a purr. “Do you still love your sweet big… sister?”

His words slithered into the air, soaked in amusement and venom.

But surprisingly, I remained calm… maybe too calm.

I could feel both James and Derek resting on my shoulders, still unconscious, and maybe that was why I didn’t snap.

Maybe that was the only reason.

But then…

A voice echoed through the cold silence.

It sounded sweet, sultry…

And horribly familiar.

“Astra~”

My breath hitched immediately, my fingers twitching as my shoulders stiffened entirely.

“Do you still remember me~?”

It was like hearing a ghost smile.

The voice curled around my name like silk wrapping around a knife, gentle, slow… yet deadly.

And then she stepped out.

From the shadow between the trees, her figure emerged, graceful, deliberate. Each step she took was like a memory resurfacing, one I had tried so hard to bury.

Her silhouette was unmistakable, her presence like a perfume I hadn’t smelled in years, but could never forget.

The snow didn’t dare fall on her.

The wind didn’t touch her.

She wasn’t supposed to be here.

She wasn’t supposed to exist anymore… at least that was what I thought.

And yet…

I knew that voice.

I knew it better than I wanted to.

But even after knowing the truth…

…It still made something inside me twist.

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