86 2.41 Aftermath - Part 2

He left her hand after which she backed down and changed back to her earlier form. It looked like she too was familiar with the man that showed up.

"Alright. I might have gone a little overboard in excitement, but I didn't expect you to show up here by yourself."

"Well, my intuitions were telling me that things might turn out this way. And it looks like I am right on time."

After saying that, he turned towards us. He looked at me with a big smile on his face as he said continued speaking.

"Hey kid, we finally met."

Despite the familiar voice, I wasn't sure whom I was talking to. I had a pretty good guess about who it might be. But instead of going with the guess, it might be better to use the 'I don't know you' approach here.

"Do I know you?"

"Ha-ha! Yeah, just a while ago, I gave you some advice. Do you remember who I am now?"

"Black Dragon King?"

"That's too formal, you will embarrass me in front of my colleague. Call me Sullivan."

After introducing himself, tuned towards the chalice at the center of the lake.

"Looks like breaking all those walls was worth it. That puny voice was really bugging me, but I am glad that I was right on time."

My intuitions were telling me that the 'puny voice' he just mentioned was the voice of the labyrinth. Looks like he was aware that things might turn up this way, so he gave me the advice that I needed to survive until he himself makes it up to here.

'What a shrewd man… but why is he doing all this for me?'

The question came to my mind but judging by the circumstances, this wasn't the right time to ask that question.

"Olive, do you remember the favor that I asked of you when we last talked?"

"I do. So, is this what you wanted?" Olive took out the vial of nectar as she said that.

"Yes, would you mind giving that to this boy?"

"Well, I was planning to give him this eventually," she said as she threw the vial towards me. I caught the vial right before it could fall on the ground. "Oh yes, I did something else too. I took a liking to this demi-human girl and her kindness. So, as a reward, I awoke her element."

"Thanks, Olive. You have my gratitude"—He turned towards me— "Now that you have what you need, why don't you kids go back home? Also, this time when you are going down, use stairs. I saw them on my way here and I think the exit on your right leads to them."

That was what we were planning to do, but before that there was something that I was really curious about.

"Hey Sullivan. I am not sure if I have ever met you before, so why are you helping us?"

It might have come off as an awfully rude question. But I thought it would be better to ask it now instead of keeping that question in mind.

'Damn! He did that on purpose didn't he?'

"Okay, but you better tell me if we meet next time"—I looked towards Zagan— "Zagan, let's go."

I caught Marina's shoulders and helped her get up. Yoru carried Lucy, and all of us slowly walked out of the floor. On our way out, we took the exit on the right that led us to the spiral stairs.

There were many stairs to climb down, I was worried about Marina, but she stayed strong as we climbed down the stairs.

Zagan too stayed with us as we walked down. I was still using Flare's power because I wasn't sure if I would even be able to stand up without it. I, myself had taken a lot of beating in this battle. I wasn't feeling exhausted because of these powers, but I was sure the exhaustion would show itself if I stopped using it.

We took several breaks on our way down, and after climbing down for a few hours, we heard a voice coming from below.

"Drake, I hear human footsteps. Looks like it's them… but why are there only four of them?"

It looked like Billy and Drake waited for us instead of going down by themselves. I was surprised that Drake didn't go down on his own. Hopefully, he has had enough of all the adventures for now.

"Oh! They are here. But where are the other girls? And who is this girl, and this man." Billy said with a worried expression in his face when he saw us coming.

"They are alright, no need to worry. I will explain everything later, for now, let's just get out of this place," I said when we reached closer.

"Yes, but how could leave the girls here and get out?"

"They are safe in my home. Now, let's get out of this place quickly so that I can take a nap," Zagan said looking a bit irritated. He too took some beating, so it was understandable that he would feel tired.

On our way down, Billy made several attempts to start a conversation. But we all were too tired for one, so we just kept on walking. After walking for a while, we reached a darker passage, at the end of which, we could see the sunlight.

"Nara, that monster," Marina said while pointing her finger towards a one-horned red monster at around 250 meters away in our right.

"That's Red Horn, a monster common in the Northern region. It won't attack you as long as you provoke it," Drake said after looking at the monster Marina pointed at.

"Okay, let's get out of here, before it notices us," I said after which all of us slowly walked through the exit.

Outside, it looked like it was still noon. The sun was bright, and a gentle wind was blowing. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to this level of brightness, but after it did, we walked towards where we had left the carriage.

Looking at the green trees and the forest felt somewhat soothing to my eyes. The air outside felt relieving after staying inside the labyrinth for days.

The horses that we had released before going inside were grazing nearby. It was a good thing that they didn't run off because we would be needing them on our way back home.

It was a hectic experience, but at the end of the day, we won. We all survived and saw it through.

I let Marina stand on her own and walked a few steps forward. It was about time I released Flare, so I closed my eyes and felt the flames within my soul. I separated those golden flames from my soul and summoned it in my hands. And from those flames came out Flare in her divine form.

"I guess, I should sleep for now."

I felt dizzy as my eyesight became hazy. I could barely feel my feet, every inch of my body was in agony. Right when I gave up on standing and was about to fall, I felt a shoulder supporting me.

"You did well kid, no— My master."

Those were the last words I heard before my consciousness faded.