Free Web NovelChapter 81: Drel
"There are only three Empires in the Reach, all located in the Heartlands. The Steel Empire, the Eternal Flame Empire, and the Gold Road Empire."
"The Eternal Flame Empire is the strongest, ruled by the strongest man in the Badlands, Dracus Pendragon, and is also the richest community in the Badlands. The Gold Road Empire comes second as the second-largest and strongest community, ruled by the famous Lord Hemsworth. The man who single-handedly made his community a city several years ago, and the rest was history." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"And as for the Steel Empire..."
"No one asked you about the current affairs of the Reach, Lyra. Can you try to be silent for a little bit so we can focus?" Sapphire stared at the energized speaker, who suddenly had her eyes darkened the moment she said that.
Nightmare was only walking without even sparing a glance at any of them. He didn’t even seem like he was hearing whatever Lyra was saying, and that was very much like him, as they knew.
"Come on, Sapphire. Just gotta stick this in my head, because I know one day, I will be talked about by other people as well," Lyra said with a glare at Sapphire, who shook her head.
"You are already being talked about, Lyra. The Tyrant Slayers, the Dominion Legion, the ones who went beyond the Reach and returned," Sapphire said.
"Oh yeah? That’s right. We went beyond the Reach, discovered the sea to the unknown, and encountered the craziest Tyrant Monster that has ever lived.
"Lost Drel. Found no answers. Failed. Returned, and now we are waiting for the Anomaly to get us back on track. How is that interesting to the ears?"
Sapphire turned to Lyra, a sharp glare appearing on her face after hearing what she had said.
In truth, that was exactly what had happened, but bringing it up at this time wasn’t that ideal.
Even Nightmare had to turn to her, the kind of look that didn’t hold a single trace of nonchalance or casualness.
It was a real expression that carried the weight of something terrible that had happened in the past.
Lyra immediately felt bad, as she lowered her head, let out a long, stressed sigh, and offered a wordless apology.
"Still hard to get by, you know?" Sapphire muttered without looking at any of them.
"Never easy..." Lyra began. "I could still recollect the scene of him screaming and laughing at the same time.
"Laughter of pain and anguish," Nightmare voiced.
"Drel was... the one we thought was the one," Sapphire said. "I couldn’t believe a single bit of the event until recently. And even after believing that he was gone, I still didn’t believe that he was really, really gone."
"Same. But what can we do? We don’t stand a chance of bringing him back. Not a bit... not even a little bit," Lyra stated.
"The only thing we can do for him is to get our asses back there and find the map. If we don’t, he really wouldn’t forgive us," Nightmare said, giving a nod.
"First step. Get the one who inherited his power, and get straight to the mission as soon as possible. If we waste any more time, some other clueless groups might find it before us."
"Like hell they will... As if it would be that easy," Nightmare shook his head before walking away.
And Lyra stared at Sapphire, nodding to her right after.
"For Drel..."
"For Drel."
They both forced a soft smile before continuing the walk.
Soon, they reached the next territory around that region, and they soon got ready to start their clearing.
[Location: Woods of Shreds.]
[Inhabitants: Horned Copper-toothed Jaguars.]
[Chances of Survival: 96%.]
"Super fun, isn’t it?"
"Yeah, gonna be."
They all decided to go professional, as this was just going to be a piece of cake for them.
Nightmare stepped forward.
[Profession: Tank.]
And behind him was Lyra...
[Profession: Swordsman.]
And Sapphire.
[Profession: Spearman.]
Before them was a swarming group of Jaguars charging to make their hurried attacks. However, it was only a matter of time before they would discover that it wasn’t the typical F-rankers from Blood Trial Outpost that were attacking.
It was the Tyrant Slayers.
The Dominion Legion.
*****
A group of monster corpses scattered around the region, as what remained was a fallen territory with no boss.
Rena was wiping her dagger as she watched the lifeless body of the boss disappear, and right not far behind her were Melissa and Melisandra, watching her with amazement.
"You have been hunting for over four hours now, miss. Don’t you think you’d need our help?" Melissa asked.
"No thanks," Rena replied for the first time in a while as she stepped out of the scene, walking away.
They both followed her immediately, and this time Melissa figured it was at least time to say something really reasonable to her.
"What you are going through right now... I have been there before," she spoke as she tried to catch up. "Well... experiencing a loss you didn’t expect. Something you never imagined would happen."
Rena spared a glance and then looked away in no time.
"We used to be seven before Roman joined us. We went on a certain mission, and then he had to sacrifice himself to slay a corrupted monster.
The Tyrant Slayers they’ve been calling us. It’s not just about us, trust me. It’s more about him, who lost his life trying to take all the burdens for himself."
"Who is he?" Rena was intrigued enough to ask.
"Drel. He used to be North’s fiancé, and after he died, she never remained the same. She would hunt at the same spot he used to, eat what he loved to eat most, drink what he used to drink, listen to the music he loved, and do everything that would connect her to him."
"We did our stuff too. Not believing that we were going to lose him forever, but here we are, trying to move on again even when the weight is still strong in our hearts."
Melisandra was walking behind them, but she was hearing everything that her sister was telling Rena.
And she then decided to add something after waiting for quite a while.
"He is as handsome as Roman. And as..."
"Special." freewёbnoνel.com
’An anomaly.’
And inwardly, she said that one.
.
.
[A/N: Let’s get to 50 Golden Tickets for a massive mass release!]
