Chapter 22

When I regained consciousness, I was sprawled on the sewer floor. The sound of water dripping echoed through the darkness around me. I needed to find Cristal and catch up with Hina, but I'd wasted precious time fighting Kael. I had to get up—now.

"You're awake," a voice said from beside me.

I turned my head to see Kael—the street thug with the rough appearance—crouching nearby. He was my enemy. I had to get on my feet and ready myself for another confrontation.

"Relax. I'm not going to attack you," he said, noticing my defensive posture.

"What?" I replied, confused.

"Our objective was to pursue the noble girl, and clearly we've already failed at that. My partner's energy signature has gotten much weaker. And that dog over there is watching us." He gestured toward the distance.

I followed his gaze and saw Drust, Hina's black dog, standing several meters away with his eyes fixed directly on us.

"It looks like Hina took care of things," I said, relief washing over me.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Kael asked with a hint of curiosity.

"No, no—" I felt my face flush at the suggestion. "We're apprentices of the same master. We live together, and she helps me when I'm in trouble."

"Sounds like your babysitter."

"Don't treat me like a child," I said defensively.

A faint smile crossed Kael's face.

"I had a brother I had to look after like that," he said quietly.

"Had?" Something in his tone made me pause.

"He died in an accident," Kael replied, a hint of melancholy entering his voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago." He fell silent for a moment. "Because of that, I wanted to become stronger. To climb. But everyone looked down on me until finally I managed to land a job working for a noble."

"Even if you had completed the job, they would have killed you," a voice called out from the darkness of the corridor.

I turned to see Hina emerging from the shadows, dragging an unconscious young woman in chains across her shoulders. Cristal walked beside her, looking shaken but unharmed.

"What do you mean?" Kael asked, not understanding.

"Nobles don't leave witnesses with these kinds of jobs. They likely planned to kill all of us the moment Cristal was handed over."

"What?" I felt my stomach drop. "They weren't going to spare us if we brought Cristal back?"

"For my father, the lives of people like you mean nothing," Cristal said quietly, her voice heavy with bitter truth.

"Aedric warned me about this when we learned you'd been captured," Hina said, glancing at me with concern.

After my conversation with the Aithmuir family leader, I had understood that no matter what we said or did, his position would never change. We had felt powerless, trapped with no way out. But I couldn't accept dying like this. There had to be another way. As I looked around, desperately searching for some alternative, something suddenly clicked into place.

"Wait," I said, my voice gaining strength. "Cristal, you're a noble too."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confusion clouding her features.

"You have the power to save us."

"You're wrong," she said, shaking her head. "I'm just a trophy to my father. He would never listen to me."

"Maybe that's how he sees you, but you're not a trophy. You're a person."

"I... I don't understand what you're saying," she said uncertainly.

"A trophy doesn't escape from home. A trophy doesn't stand up to its owner. Everything that happened—all of this started because of you. You have more power than you realize."

"I couldn't do it. I'm not strong enough."

"You've reached a good conclusion, Navnlos," Hina said with a smile, and then she turned to Cristal. "You don't need a prince charming to rescue you. You have the power to save yourself and all of us."

"You two are strange," Kael said suddenly, breaking the moment. "Any normal person in this situation would have taken the girl hostage to guarantee their safety."

"I don't think that would get us anywhere," I replied without hesitation.

"How so?"

"Fear and oppression won't help us move forward. That's the easy path, and it only leads to more darkness."

Kael fell silent, seemingly taken aback by my answer.

"You really are someone unusual," he said finally. "For now, I'll follow you."

I tried to push myself to my feet, but pain shot through my entire body. Every muscle screamed in protest.

"It looks like you've pushed yourself beyond your limits," Hina said, approaching me. She extended her hand. "Advanced sorcery, verdor of dawn."

A circle of light materialized in her palm, emanating a warm, golden radiance. The light washed over me, and suddenly my strength returned. The exhaustion that had been crushing me lifted like a veil being drawn back.

"What was that?" I asked, astonished.

"Aedric will explain it to you when the time is right," Hina said with a knowing smile.

There was still so much about magic I didn't understand. But that circle of light had reminded me of the sorcery I'd seen in video games I used to play—though I still wasn't entirely sure what a video game even was. Yet somehow, I felt it was important to me.

"You're healed now, so we should get moving," Hina said.

We formed a line to make our way through the sewer corridors. I took the lead, Hina followed behind me, then Cristal, with Kael bringing up the rear while carrying the unconscious Elaine across his shoulders. Drust padded silently alongside us, keeping watch.

The passage was eerily quiet now. The adrenaline from the battle had worn off, and I became acutely aware of the putrid stench of the sewers—a nauseating smell that clung to my skin and clothes. I hope we get out of here soon, I thought grimly.

Then the ground began to tremble.

It started as a distant rumble, but it grew steadily louder. Whatever was causing it was getting closer. The vibrations intensified with each passing second, echoing through the corridors with an ominous rhythm.

"Navnlos!" Hina's voice suddenly pierced through my thoughts, followed by a hard shove that knocked me off balance.

I stumbled forward and caught myself against the wall. Behind me, I heard a sickening crunch of impact. The corridor wall erupted with cracks, and from within burst a massive fist that connected directly with Hina, sending her flying backward with terrifying force. Her body crashed against the far wall, leaving a spiderweb of fractures in the stone.

"Hina!" I couldn't help but cry out her name, my voice raw with panic. Everything had been calm just moments before. What was happening? Who was attacking us now?

From the gaping hole in the wall emerged a towering figure. The dust and darkness obscured its features at first, but as it stepped into what little light filtered through, I could make out its shape. It was massive—far taller than any person I'd ever seen—with bulging muscles and an inhuman physiology.

"A gorilla?" The words escaped my mouth without conscious thought. What was a gorilla? I couldn't remember, and the frustration of these missing memories gnawed at me.

"A Gorvak?" Kael's voice was tinged with genuine shock. "Where in the demons did that come from?"

The creature was clearly some kind of beast-species called a Gorvak, but what was it doing in the sewers? And there was something else—a metal collar around its neck with a glowing stone set into the center. Was it being controlled?

The Gorvak's massive head slowly turned toward Cristal, its eyes locking onto her with predatory focus.

"The girl—run!" Kael shouted urgently.

He immediately set Elaine down on the ground and rushed toward Cristal, but it was too late. Cristal was frozen in place, paralyzed by panic and fear. The Gorvak extended one of its enormous arms and snatched her effortlessly, lifting her into the air.

Without thinking, I pushed myself to my feet and activated my trance. Lightning erupted around my body, crackling with barely contained fury. I had to do something. I had to save Cristal.

The moment the Gorvak seized her, it seemed to ignore us entirely. It turned and leaped toward the ceiling, its claws tearing through stone and earth. Sunlight flooded in through the hole it created, the sudden brightness blinding everything below with harsh illumination.

"Keep watch over Hina, please," I called to Kael, who was shielding his eyes against the glare.

Without waiting for a response, I launched myself upward, pursuing the creature. I heard Kael shouting something after me, but I was beyond hearing—beyond anything except the need to save her.

I emerged onto the street above to utter chaos. People ran in every direction, screaming in panic. The Gorvak was scaling the sides of buildings, its massive claws scraping against stone and brick as it bounded between rooftops, Cristal clutched in one oversized fist.

"I won't let you escape!" I roared at the top of my lungs.

I leaped with all the strength my electrified body could muster, leaving a trail of lightning in my wake. I managed to position myself directly in front of the creature, cutting off its path. The Gorvak let out a deafening roar that rattled windows throughout the entire block, but I refused to flinch or back down. I launched myself from a nearby rooftop, rocketing directly toward the beast. With its hands occupied holding onto the building and gripping Cristal, the creature had no way to defend itself.

I grabbed onto one of its thick, white-colored hairs and poured every ounce of electricity from my body into it. The current surged through the Gorvak's frame, and it convulsed violently, screaming in agony. The creature lost its grip on the building and plummeted toward the street. As it fell, its hand involuntarily released Cristal, sending her tumbling through the air.

I pushed off from the creature's back to intercept her fall, but the Gorvak's other massive hand shot out and caught me mid-air. Before I could react, it hurled me with tremendous force directly into the side of a building.

The impact knocked the wind from my lungs and shattered something deep in my chest. Pain radiated through every nerve in my body—a searing, all-consuming agony that made it a struggle just to remain conscious. My legs trembled beneath me, threatening to give out at any moment. But I couldn't afford to worry about myself. Cristal was still in danger.

In that moment, Kael suddenly appeared, his form moving faster than I could track. He caught Cristal out of the air and spiraled away from the Gorvak's reach, setting her safely in a sheltered corner away from the chaos of the street.

"Don't be so reckless, kid. You could have died," he said, catching his breath.

"Is Hina okay?" I asked, the desperation in my voice unmistakable.

"I've given her basic first aid. She's wounded, but she'll survive."

"Thank God," I said, relief flooding through me despite the pain.

The Gorvak pulled itself up from the rubble, its eyes blazing with pure rage as it fixed its gaze on us. Kael gently set Cristal down in a corner away from the immediate danger.

"You can't do this alone," Kael said, and from the ground beneath him, a bat made of compressed earth emerged into his waiting hand. "This time, we fight together."