Chapter 74 - Aftermath

"Hey, you alright?"

Rynold recognized the voice but his mind was so out of place that he had trouble identifying who said it.

His vision blurry, Rynold stared in silence as he still fought to stay awake. It was obvious that his senses were extremely dulled but his own resilience and stubbornness didn't allow him to give up. In his mind, Rynold still felt as if there was a fight going on.

Jack sighed.

Knowing his capabilities, he let down Oliver from his shoulder and placed him beside Rynold. There was no way for him to carry both of them outside. Not if one of them was unconscious and the other was brain dead.

There was just no way.

With a deep sigh of relief that the battle was over, Jack sat down beside them and waited for them to recover.

"We won, Rynold," he said to the man stuck in a daze.

Jack wasn't sure if Rynold had heard him because he was barely moving. Not until it was a few seconds later that he saw Rynold lower his guard a little bit and closed his eyes.

Rynold could finally rest.

It took some time for him to understand what Jack was saying but he understood it a few moments later. He was glad, relieved even. Rynold could finally close his eyes and rest. Deep down, he was glad that he had people that he could rely on.

Jack sat down quietly and decided to wait for both Rynold and Oliver to recover. Consider this as an act showing his commitment to his duty, Jack sat still and watched over the two.

A few hours later, Rynold was the first to wake up.

He looked around and saw that Jack was casing the room. The guy was bored out of his mind waiting for the two to recover so he decided to check the room they were in.

Body aching, Rynold tried to stand up but winced at every movement. It was clear that the battle inflicted major injuries. Without a proper healer or any medication, it might become permanent damage that would hinder him for the rest of his life. Well, for a normal, Mana-less human anyway.

"You're awake!"

Jack instantly heard the sound of struggle and turned his head around to check on Rynold. It didn't take a fancy medical degree to realize that the guy was in pain but he couldn't really do anything to make it better.

So, being the good friend that he is, Jack helped Rynold maintain his balance.

"Thanks," Rynold splurted out as he groaned in pain. "What happened to Oliver?"

Jack looked back at the guy that took out Shado. "No idea," he responded with a defeated tone, "All I saw was that he changed. He must've undergone a transformation or something."

Rynold raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "A transformation?"

"Yeah," Jack said as he recalled what happened in the battle beforehand, "I'm not gonna go into it in super detail but... all I saw was whoever killed Shado wasn't Oliver anymore. It was like he was consumed by darkness itself."

Rynold was caught by surprise by Jack's last statement.

If Oliver was consumed by darkness, it would mean that the worst has happened. Rynold thought that maybe Oliver was pushed to his absolute limit and won using the powers of the devil. Unprecedented as it may seem, it was the only explanation for their victory.

"You alright, man?" Jack asked Rynold who was once again in a daze.

Snapping out of it, Rynold nodded. There was nothing they could do about it now, after all. They just had to deal with the aftermath that followed.

Speaking of the aftermath, Rynold was curious as to what happened to the Tree after they defeated Shado. Naturally, with the Shado Beasts gone, doesn't that mean that the Tree was safe? If so, how come Margareth hasn't found them yet? Or, better question, why are the lights still dim?

Even though the room they were in had its own Mana supply, the outside was still the same.

With the small slits in the room that showed the outside, it was obvious that the Tree was still under attack. It was clear to Rynold that Shado was merely meant to be the distraction while someone else was going after their main objective.

With a click of his tongue, Rynold summoned X.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked as the magic array shone with a brilliant light.

"We gotta go. Now."

Without even looking at Jack, he could tell how serious Rynold was. There must be something that he missed but he decided to leave the thinking to Rynold.

X appeared from the magic array and Rynold grabbed ahold of the Mech Knight that was as stoic as always. He exchanged pleasantries with X for a few seconds but got to work straight after.

Rynold ordered X to carry Oliver while Jack supported him out of the room. With a beaten and bruised team like this one, there was no way that they could actually be of help.

But, he had to try.

Without wasting a moment, the group staggered out of the room and into the hallway.

The battle between Oliver and Shado was intense, to say the least. Even if Rynold weren't there to see it, he could tell from the marks and grooves on the wall. The holes and cracks that the battle had left behind were too many to count.

Seeing this, Rynold just felt like it was maybe a bit too much for Oliver to fight alone. But the guy did so anyway and won too.

Rynold and the rest continued forward and soon came to Shado's unmoving corpse. Even without looking up close, he could tell that Oliver didn't even show him a singe of mercy. Seeing his sorry state, he almost felt bad for the guy.

"Oh? What do we have here?"

A man suddenly spoke from upfront.

Rynold didn't recognize the guy but he immediately raised his guard because of the natural hostility that the man gave off.

The man's silhouette was overbearing and Rynold couldn't help but gulp at the sheer power he was giving off. This guy was stronger than Shado. Much, much stronger.

Without even a slight shift in his movement, he appeared right before Shado's corpse. It was as if the guy teleported but Rynold didn't sense any Mana that indicated teleport magic.

Having a closer look at the guy, Rynold noticed that the man was built differently.

His physique was bold and muscular with an overbearing and powerful aura to match. Whoever this guy is, it was clear to Rynold that he was leagues above Shado.

"Tsk, tsk," the man clicked his tongue as he looked down on Shado. "What a pity. Shado, you were never really useful in one-on-one battles, anyway."

At the very end of his sentiment to his lost ally, the man raised his left hand and cast fire magic. The fire was so intense that Shado was burnt to a crisp in almost an instant.

Without sparing another glance, he turned his head and looked at Rynold and the group.

"Who might you be?" he asked with a friendly smile on.

Rynold could barely even make a sound, let alone a word. There was more than a single reason why he couldn't answer.

Apart from the man's overwhelming nature, he held something in his hand that Rynold couldn't see at first. From far away, he could barely make it out but, up close, Rynold's eyes instantly widened, and stared in a daze.

'Margareth!'

The man held her head with his massive hand. The elf's clothes were tattered and burnt, her pale skin was slightly red and riddled with bruises. Suffice to say, the battle took a lot out of her.

"Oh?" the man caught Rynold's gaze, "Is this yours?"

He asked with a friendly tone to which Rynold didn't respond. Truth was, he didn't have the guts to oppose this guy; not when he was holding Margareth's life in the palm of his hand.

"Take it," the man suddenly threw Margareth at Rynold like she weighed nothing. "I got what I came for, anyway."

Rynold released his grip on Jack's shoulder and immediately toppled down to catch her. He feared that Margareth had already died before he could do anything about it.

Without sparing a second, Rynold checked her pulse and was instantly relieved. Luckily for him, the man had enough sense to spare the elf. He sighed and let out his worry before facing the man once more.

But, before Rynold could say anything, someone suddenly called out from the distance.

"HEY! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!"

Streaks of lightning could be seen as the person who called up was zooming through the hallway.

Sword in hand, Leo struck the man who was nonchalant by the sudden attack. The man simply responded with a flick of his two fingers.

Almost immediately, Leo was thrown back to the wall with a loud bang.

The power gap was as clear as day.