Chapter 44: Hypocrite

[You have acquired Minor Relic: Flame Spitter]

Knowledge of Relics and Aether instantly flooded his mind. At the same time, some of his wounds began to close, and a sliver of vitality returned to him.

’Ah, I see...’

Zayn immediately knew what he had to do.

He hurried back toward Lucas as quickly as his injured legs allowed, cutting down a goblin that tried to intercept him.

[You have slain Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]

Upon reaching Lucas, Zayn clasped the man’s hand and imagined moving the Relic from his Aether Core into Lucas’s.

Lucas spoke with ebbing strength:

"W-what are you?"

[You have lost Minor Relic: Flame Spitter]

Lucas froze as he underwent the same psychological metamorphosis Zayn had just undergone.

Then he rose and used the blood coating his fingers to slick back his long hair. Lucas neither panicked nor wasted time questioning what had happened. His focus sharpened immediately.

He plunged his hand into the open chest cavity of a nearby goblin and closed his fingers around the iridescent shard within. Sparks burst between his knuckles as the shard vanished, leaving only motes of light flickering in the darkness.

Lucas looked back and gave Zayn an order:

"Carve me a path."

Zayn answered by turning toward the battle he had just escaped. Only around ten goblins remained, but their objective had changed. They needed to circulate the Relic among every surviving Summoned and awaken their latent powers.

Ignoring the wounds littering his body, Zayn advanced.

He cut down the first goblin in his path, drove the second aside, and struck at a third.

[You have slain Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]

With Zayn attacking from behind and the remaining Summoned pressing from the front, the goblins were caught between them.

Lucas followed in Zayn’s wake.

As his knees began to buckle, Lucas reached Paul and seized his arm.

The man’s face contorted with confusion, but the moment he received the Relic, he understood without needing an explanation. Paul hurried to Didier and transferred it. From there, it passed from one Summoned to the next — at least among those who had remained conscious on the battlefield and whose wounds were not already fatal.

Those still capable of fighting joined the assault against the remaining goblins.

Leora received the Relic last, then sprinted toward the separate group that had attacked the goblins from the opposite flank. Their battle was also nearing its end.

A few moments later, only humans remained standing.

Nobody cheered.

The Summoned stared numbly across the battlefield. Humans and goblins still writhed among the corpses, clinging to lives they would soon lose. Others lay unconscious and might survive if treated quickly. Bodies held bodies as if they were cuddling.

Still...

Another threat was approaching.

Midnight.

Several shadows emerged from the treeline. Those who had fled the battle were beginning to return.

Zayn forced himself upright, lacking the energy to condemn them.

His voice emerged as a weak rasp:

"Those who are able, drag the injured inside..."

The moment he said that, he heard a woman groan.

Zayn staggered over, pulled her upright, and draped her arm across his shoulders and around his neck.

Blood seeped from a wound around her midsection and ran down her side.

’She’s clear...’

Amaya weakly said to Zayn:

"Don’t think helping me is enough to win my favor..."

Zayn didn’t respond.

He merely offered her a faint smile, one that was quickly swallowed by the deepening darkness.

He helped Amaya through the gate and lowered her inside the camp.

Others soon arrived carrying more of the wounded, but Zayn didn’t remain to count them. There was too little time.

He dragged himself back onto the battlefield and searched for anyone still alive.

Among the bodies, he found a beautiful girl with porcelain skin contrasting sharply against her sable hair. She lay motionless, her breaths shallow and faint.

Zayn crouched and lifted her into his arms. His hands brushed against soft skin slick with blood — then the grating old man’s voice reached his ears alongside the appearance of an unpleasant screen.

[Disaster: Shin Hae-Ryung - Identified]

Zayn froze and stared at the woman in his arms.

’W-what?’

He could leave her there and allow the forest to claim her.

’...’

All he would have to do was tell the others she had already died.

’...’

Most of them were inside, hiding from the coming midnight.

’...’

There would be no witnesses...

And, technically, he wouldn’t even be killing her.

"Tch."

’I can’t deal with this bullshit right now.’

Cradling the Disaster against his chest, Zayn staggered toward the camp. He barely crossed through the gate before the forest’s howl descended upon the world and the entrances on either side were slammed shut.

Zayn gently lowered the woman to the ground and brushed the hair from her eyes.

Someone soon approached and transferred the Relic to her. Color slowly returned to her face, and her eyelids fluttered open.

"I’m such a hypocrite..."