Chapter 18
…
Meanwhile, Kyren was communicating with Cragborne through their mental link, a hint of heartache evident in his inner tone.
"I'm sorry, Cragborne. But you can't come with us. Please, hold them off for as long as possible. And it means… You need to give up your life for now."
"My life is yours from the moment you summoned me, my lord. It is my duty. And it is my honor if my life can serve your cause, even in this weak state of mine…"
"No, you are not weak, Cragborne. You are strong. Believe me… and thank you!!"
There was no response to his last parting words as the four of them quickly ran toward the forest to regroup with Malrik's group.
Kyren bit his lower lip and took one last glance at Cragborne.
The rock prison began to tremble, and the two Acolytes seemed to be close to breaking free from Cragborne's Rock Embrace.
Deep inside, he felt really uncomfortable. It felt like filth just happened to be where he stepped.
It felt as if he had abandoned and sacrificed his comrade just to save his own skin.
This was the first time for him to summon a permanent creature, a hero-type to boot at that. And in the end, he was letting it die instead.
Because after expending all of its Nirvana to create its strongest version of [Stone Coffin Execution], Cragborne had barely any strength left to fight and could only rely on its formidable body.
After spending some time with a temporary summon that he could exchange from both the Sorrow and Hatred Store, he realized they didn't behave like an NPC in a video game at all.,
But a real, living creature or entities with their own judgment and mind.
The reason they did as he ordered was because once Kyren summoned them, they treated him as a mighty chosen lord or something.
And their task was to obey and serve him in complete submission.
It unhinged him a little bit, as he wasn't the type to enjoy being a lord or someone who happened to have a superior position compared to the others.
He didn't enjoy ordering people around, as he knew he wasn't perfect, and he could be wrong about many of his actions and decisions.
He liked it more when he could treat people genuinely as his equals, and forge together toward one goal.
Though he still knew that in a team, or an organization, position and leadership were extremely important to control how everything progresses based on the target it had initially started.
On the other hand, the reason he had chosen to summon Cragborne was that it had the lowest price range, with Stage 2 Foundation Realm strength.
There were no options for a temporary summons either.
He wondered if it died this time, would he be able to summon it back?
What if he couldn't?
Meanwhile, on the other side, Cragborne didn't reply to Kyren's, 'Thanks,' was not because of the distance, nor because he was disappointed with him.
Instead, it was because he was touched and didn't know how to respond.
"Goddess Gaia was the only one who showed me genuine appreciation and ever gave me thanks before."
"I see. So, is this what you mean, Goddess?"
Cragborne thought, as it watched the stone coffin tremble even more, knowing that the real enemy started to wake up.
While the two in its arms were close to breaking free and crushing his arms to pieces.
…
Inside the forest, they quickly moved toward where the Kyren Wraith had passed, drawing closer to where Malrik was currently locked in a tough battle, as there were too many of them.
There were thirty enemies, most of whom were attacking Malrik, as he was the strongest among them all.
Yet, even then, he had already claimed six lives so far.
The enemies wore plain white robes, just like the two Acolytes earlier.
Kyren had instructed the Wraith to use its Death's Breath to distract the enemies facing his uncle and his team.
The Soul Wraith had no means of attack, but it was certainly annoying, especially when it was constantly blowing a cold breath of death at the enemies' ears.
And prolonged exposure to this type of breath could make someone feel ill, or worse, shorten their lifespan.
And Voila, It was effective; the enemies suddenly felt a cold breath on the side of their faces, breaking their focus in the fight.
"Wha-what is that?? Arrgghhh…"
Shouted one of the white robed guys, as he ended up being slashed by one of the Transcendence from Malrik's side.
"There's something invisible here. Be careful…"
One of them decided to use a wide attack that covered a vast range.
[Art of Nirvana: Sunlight]
A golden light, reminiscent of the sun, exploded outward from the man. A moment later, it subsided.
Unfortunately for them, the Soul Wraith suffered no damage and continued diligently blowing air into the enemies' ears without stopping, as if what the person who used his Nirvana had done was just a light breeze.
Looking around, the white robed men still found nothing, which promptly amused Kyren.
'Amazing. I thought it would be exposed. So that Art doesn't have any Divinity to affect the wraith then,' Kyren thought, shrugging his shoulders, not expecting the Soul Wraith to perform better than he initially anticipated.
He was also kind of curious about this divinity and stuff.
Meanwhile, along the way, because he was the shortest, weakest, slowest, and youngest in the group, he was being carried on Melyra's back as she sprinted toward their destination.
Though her mother's weak body was also a concern for not only Kyren, but also Veyra and Melyra.
But thanks to the Agility Potion, she was looking just fine throughout the journey.
"Where are they? How long until we meet them, Kyren?" Melyra asked Kyren, who was hanging on her back, without any prejudice toward his age or small stature, nor did she doubt him for what he said.
"Soon. They're just up ahead—"
As if it were karma, an arrow suddenly flew toward Kyren, cutting off his words, just like how he had interrupted Deacon Adhavan earlier, and crushed him the next second.
Luckily, Melyra, being the fastest, managed to deflect the arrow to the side.
…
'Damn, I almost had a heart attack!'
Kyren cursed inside his mind, as the arrow came so fast, and he didn't manage to detect and catch its movement at all.
Only now did he realize how helplessly weak he was.
He had thought reaching the 17 Feathers was an amazing achievement, as he felt stronger than ever before.
Yet here, he could only remain on the sidelines.
If not for Melyra, he would have been dead, pierced by an arrow to the head.
"Hyuhhh, you almost lost your head there!!" Veyra chimed in.
Veyra subsequently drew her dagger and…