Chapter 94: Aftermath

I deactivated the gauntlets and the rest of my abilities, staring down at the corpse. Aside from the ruined mass of bone and flesh that used to be his head, the body was mostly intact.

Not that it mattered. Still gotta get rid of it.

I bent down and began dragging the body. Would've been nice if I had a way to incinerate it, to scorch it to ash and leave no trace. But a good old-fashioned hole in the middle of nowhere would have to do.

I moved deeper into the woods, eyes scanning for a clearing. Eventually, I found a spot scattered with fallen leaves and broken branches. Enough debris to help disguise freshly turned soil... hopefully.

Unfortunately, there was the issue of my robes. It was the late evening, which helped, but walking around the sect in nothing but my undershirt and pants would still look super suspicious. And those weren't exactly clean, either. Now splattered further thanks to carrying a leaking corpse.

And of course… no shovel.

I sighed, summoning my gauntlets once again, not for battle this time, but for digging a grave. Felt like a bit of an insult to their purpose.

The wind whistled through the trees, cold against my skin. Moonlight spilled down through the canopy, illuminating the slow, grim rhythm of my work. By the time I was done, a light shiver had taken root in my spine, and a deep pit stared back at me.

I nudged the body to the edge with my foot.

'WAIT!'

"AH!" I shouted, jerking upright, Luna's sudden outburst nearly making me lose my balance.

'What could you possibly need right now?'

'I—I'm hungry.' Her voice came small and sheepish.

Does she want to... 'No.'

'Come ooon. Either that, or I drink from you again and I can't take enough to make more toxin without knocking you out for well, who knows.'

Hmmm.

'I don't wanna stick my hand in a dead guy's head. Plus, what if someone finds us?'

'Fine. Hop in the hole with him. Also, don't forget about this little guy. Still holding onto it.'

Luna's suggestion came with a casual tightening and a reminder. The parasite was still squirming inside me, held tight in her roots.

I looked at the corpse and shuddered. Luna's power was immense, no question, but she could only refine her toxins with the right… raw materials.

I sighed, shoved the body into the hole, and climbed in after it.

Doing my best to avoid looking directly at the damage, I reached for the largest wound I could find and jammed my hand in. Luna's satisfaction was immediate, a small rumble, like a cat purring through my wrist.

Time passed slowly and filled with discomfort. I stayed crouched there in the dark, my hand buried in what used to be a man, mind spinning with what came next.

I couldn't stay here. Not for long. But something about this place… this incredibly realistic illusion which was the only excuse I had for what I did. That is, not waiting to see if Ramus really meant harm.

Anyway the illusion had drawn me to the sect since the moment I arrived. Felt like it anyway.

The Intersect Meeting, as tempting as it was with all its promised knowledge, now felt like a pipe dream. Someone would come looking for him. Someone would be blamed.

Maybe… I took out the wooden token again, running my fingers over its surface.

Maybe I could sneak in just one more breakthrough. To form an essence, or at least learn how the process works. Something. Anything.

I took a deep breath, settling on a plan. That would be my last stop then I'd disappear. To where? I had no idea. Just far away.

'Luna, please tell me you're going to finish soon.'

'Oh, umm. I've been full for a while. I thought you were just taking a rest.' she replied, far too innocently.

Patience. I really needed to work on my patience more and more these days.

I pulled my hand from the corpse and gave it a dirt and grass bath, trying not to think too hard about what I'd just done as I hopped out of the ditch.

'I think I want to stay, Luna. At least long enough to reach an essence realm.'

'Are you sure? If you get caught…'

'I'll try to get off with a convincing lie, I'll try anyway.'

It took far less time to fill the hole back in. I patted the dirt down as best I could, trying to make it look as natural as possible. Then I scattered twigs, branches, and dead leaves over it, hopefully in a way that would avoid the "obviously-a-burial-site" look.

Ultimately, I decided to keep my clothes and when I got back, I'd change and burn them.

Finding the sect's direction wasn't difficult. The crescent moon cliff overlooked the entire complex from above. Technically, I could climb down… but even with my strength, that felt like tempting fate. And I'd tempted fate enough for one day.

Instead, I began the long jog through the forest we'd flown over, sticking close to the edge to keep my bearings.

Even at a pace faster than comfortable, the journey was slow. The terrain rose and dipped wildly. Rolling hills and sharp ridges that slowed me down at every turn, making progress frustratingly sluggish.

'Flying should definitely be on the agenda,' I muttered.

Luna coiled slightly around my wrist. 'Let's work on perception first.'

That had been on my list longer, I guess. Still…

After what felt like hours, I finally started to feel like I had made some significant progress, but still, the temptation to jump and try to catch myself with Silencing Current grew stronger by the minute.

I mean, I did it before… while high on some monster's hallucinogenic toxin. Sober me should technically have better odds, right?

I glanced over the edge. and my stomach filled with butterflies at the imagined outcome, one specific failure playing on repeat in my mind. One word was enough to describe it.

Pancake.

I sighed. "Running it is."

As I neared the sect, sweat trickled down my back, only half-relieved by the cool wind brushing through the trees, Luna spoke again, brief but focused.

'I think I'm close to finishing the purification process. When we're safe, let's start the next part.'

'Got it.'

It probably took longer than necessary, sticking to the edge of the cliff, but eventually I found a winding path that spiraled down toward the sect. The moon hung high now, and I took the final stretch at a full sprint.

Before long, the intricate buildings of the sect came into view, with even less time passing before I hit the hill that led to my house.

I definitely passed a few disciples along the way and maybe it was my speed, maybe my core disciple status, but no one stopped me. Still, being seen like this didn't sit right. Covered in blood, sweat, and stress? Not my best look.

The moment my house came into view, I rushed inside and slammed the door behind me.

"Synthia?"

I heard rustling from the bed.

Thief.

"Peter? You're back? That took a whi—" She stopped dead at the sight of me. My majestic, bloodstained self.

"Yeah, sooo… how good are you at turning cloth into ashes?"

"I—Wh—what the heck happened?" she stammered, eyes locked on the mess that was me.

I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair. Halfway through, I realized it was a terrible idea and stopped.

"Well," I started slowly, "you may not be able to stay here as my servant anymore, so hopefully Daniel can take you in. Or maybe they'll let you test in. Anyway... I may or may not have killed an Elder."

I expected silence or shock. Maybe a sarcastic inappropriate comment, but instead, she jumped into action.

"Go get changed," she said firmly. "Leave your clothes, I'll take care of them. Then you need to leave. The faster, the better."

I let out a long breath. That was… reassuring.

I didn't waste time. I headed into the bedroom, grabbed a fresh set of robes, and stripped out of the blood-soaked ones, tossing them aside with the rest of the ruined clothes.

I heard her step outside as I quickly finished dressing.

She returned just as I tied the last knot on my robes.

"No more evidence?" I glanced at her.

"From the clothes?" She shook her head. "Nothing left. Maybe there's a way out through town where you could slip away," she said, eyes searching mine, urgency etched into her expression.

"Maybe," I agreed, stepping toward the door. "But I'll figure it out."

I resigned to make this our goodbye, and thankfully her last words seemed to be in agreement as I opened the door, pausing as her voice followed me.

"Peter… good luck. And thanks... For everything." She offered a small smile. "I'd tell you to visit my family if you ever pass through Voxter, but I doubt I'll be there. I hardly even know where I am right now."

I returned the smile. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

"Maybe try appealing to Elder Craine again… or see if they'll let me take the test." She shrugged. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on getting out of here."

"I hope we meet again," I said simply.

Then I stepped outside and turned toward the neighboring house, the questions already forming in my mind.