Realm Wars

Chapter 173: Aftermath

"Argh. . ." Ryu groaned, and his eyelids fluttered. The first thing he saw was Seraphina's beautiful flustered face parched against his chest.

"Y-you're alright!" Seraphina croaked, and she flung into Ryu's arms. "I was so worried! You were on the brink of death when I woke up, and you've been sleeping for so long!"

Ryu blinked. And before he knew it, he hugged Seraphina back in a tight embrace. It was great that she was alive. He thought that he was too late and lost her too.

Seraphina was surprised when Ryu returned her affection for the first time. His shoulders shook slightly while he buried his face deeper into her bosom. A soft blush bloomed on her face, and she gently rubbed Ryu's hair while a slight smile lighted her face.

"I'm glad that you're okay too."

Ryu closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Seraphina's warmth. He couldn't believe that he had made it. That he defeated that monster. That they were still alive.

Then Ryu's eyes shot open. How about Marcus and the others?

Ryu pulled away from Seraphina's embrace and grabbed her shoulders. "How about Marcus and the others?"

Seraphina was silent for a moment, and Ryu feared for the worse. He couldn't save Theodore, and if Marcus was dead too, then Jane. . . 

"Marcus is alright," Seraphina said and looked in the direction of the others.

Upon laying his gaze on the sleeping figure of Marcus and Halfjack, Ryu released the breath he held. 

"Don't worry. Like you, they still haven't woken up. It was a good thing that I managed to save them just in time." Then Seraphina's tone turned low. "But Abby. . ."

Ryu looked in the direction of the halfbreed. There was only sand in there now.

Seraphina sighed and squeezed Ryu's shoulder. "It was too late for her. Her body was the fastest to turn into sand from all of us."

Seraphina's heart squeezed when Ryu let out a long sigh. "Don't think too much about it. You've done your best."

Ryu was just disappointed with himself that he couldn't save another one of his own kind, and he muttered in a daze, "it's always us who die first."

".. ." Seraphina couldn't retort to that. The halfbreeds were simply weak except those whose half were strong like Ryu's beast. 

Come to think of it, Seraphina didn't know how Rakash was defeated. When she came too, the old elf was gone, and Ryu was severely injured to the point that if not for his beast side that kept him alive, he had long been dead.

"And the demon?" Ryu asked after a short silence.

Seraphina shook her head. "He woke up after me."

That got Ryu worried. "He didn't do something, right?"

Seraphina huffed a laugh. "No worries. He was probably more shocked that he couldn't defeat the old elf while you can. He just went out of the exit that appeared out of nowhere."

Seraphina pointed to an opened archway with a stair going up. "I couldn't even believe it myself. He just left without a word. I guess not all demons are evil," Seraphina said, voice fading.

Yes. Not all of them were bad. Ryu thought about Ferris. It was her who rescued and taught him. Her demon side might be mean and dangerous, but he had lost count on how many times she saved him. 

"Come thing to think of it. .. How did you defeat Rakash?"

Ryu was silent. He didn't know exactly how. "The last thing I remembered. .. I seem to be floating in my consciousness while another took my form."

Ryu tried to recall what happened, but it was all blur. He was in and out of his consciousness, but he still saw the bits of the battle. His body was moving, but he felt like a spectator as another took hold of him.

Seraphina squeezed Ryu's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If you can't remember, then that's fine. The important thing is, we're alive. You save us."

Ryu was somehow comforted with Seraphina's words. He gave her a small smile before he went to his feet and inspected Marcus and Halfjack.

He felt better knowing that he managed to save them. He could only hope that Jane and Marcus would reunite one day.

At the thought of reuniting, Cecily and Ferris entered in Ryu's thoughts. If this were the levels of semi bosses in the Islet then. .. Ryu's face darkened before he shook his ominous thoughts away.

Lucian, Rosa, and Cecily were strong. There was no way that they would end up dead in the Islet.

Comforting himself, Ryu finally settled his eyes on the only chest at the center of the room.

"The demon didn't take it?"

"No." Seraphina was surprised too that Azor just left without a word after he asked who defeated the old elf. 

It was good that he left, though. However, if he did contest the items in the chest, Seraphina would fight him tooth and nail for it.

"Go on. Open it. After all, you're the one who killed Rakash."

Ryu looked over at Marcus and Halfjack. If the Lost Jewel of Tethyt was in there, then he'd rather take it for himself. The rest he'd give to them.

Ryu and Seraphina hovered over the chest and checked its contents.

"Oh." Seraphina's eyes sparkled with the amount of precious stones in the chest. But her sight just lingered on a single item an anklet decorated with different precious stones in the hue of the ocean. 

"It's Tethyt's anklet!"

Seraphina grabbed the anklet and took a twirl with it in her hands. "I can't believe we already found two of the set! Now we only need the ring!"

Ryu tilted his head. "What does it do?"

Seraphina's voice was shaking as she explained, "It raises your physical and magical defense by fifty percent! It's a God-tier item! And if we complete the set and find the ring, then it's considered a legendary item! You'd be powerful as a god!" 

She then giggled. "Or so they say."

Ryu didn't have to guess that Seraphina wanted it so bad. Her eyes were practically begging him to keep it.

"I won't ask for anything but this. Please?" she cooed.

Even without her asking, Ryu would give her the anklet. "You already have the tiara. You might as well have that anklet, too, since your defense is lacking." And it was better if Seraphina was using it now so he wouldn't have to worry about so much.

"Thank you!" Seraphina squealed and immediately put on the anklet while thinking to herself. If only Ryu would know that her defense was comparable to his or so much more at his current state.

While Seraphina was humming in her world, Ryu checked the treasures on the chest. To his dismay, none of the treasures in the chest contains an item that could be the potential Jewel of Tethyt.

The only items that caught his attention were a dagger and an old-looking teapot. 

The dagger was short and looked like sand. Its blade was rusty and chipped and looked like it couldn't cut anything. There were also runes engraved on the center of its blade. Few grains of sand were spiraling inside an odd-looking hourglass on its hilt, and Ryu thought what it was for.

Too bad he couldn't use a dagger, though. His gauntlet was destroyed with his fight with Rakash, and now he didn't have any weapon left.

"That's. . ." Seraphina looked closely at the dagger but then frowned. "I think it's a magic sword."

"Do you know what it does?" Ryu asked. 

Seraphina shook her head. "I'm afraid not. My knowledge on the sea is limitless, but other than that, I am much as clueless about the world as you are."

"Hmm. . ." Ryu didn't know why but he took a liking at the old blade and decided to keep it.

Then he shifted his attention at the teapot. There were also runes carved in each of its sides. It must have been of a fine quality centuries ago. 

Ryu shook it, but there was nothing inside. It didn't even have a lead, so he didn't know what it was. He tried to read the little runes to no success. It was covered in grime and mud, and he decided to rub some of the dirt off to take a good look.

Poof!

Ryu almost let go of the pot when a large puffed of smoke rose in the air and took the shape of an odd-looking creature. Its body was made of sands, and it had a short pointy ear and crescent eyes. The only hair it had was tied in a ponytail at the center of its skull and a goatee so long it reached half of its body through half of its body was nothing but swirling sand.

"My name is Ramuh. Sprit of the sand."

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A/N

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