Should I run? It's been two days since he went in, Melissa thought as she shot a glance at the cave entrance before shifting her eyes toward Letto, who lay on the grass with his eyes closed.

All that talk about how there were no certainties with that young man and now he doesn't seem the least bit concerned. Truly helpless. If I'm going to run away, I can't count on people like him lest they drag me down.

Over the past couple of days, she had talked with Letto several times, either to ease her boredom or because she genuinely wanted to know more about his relationship with Nova.

What she got, however, was anything but concrete answers.

Letto seemed to have entirely given up on running and was enjoying the current blessed free time he had before he would probably be grabbed by the neck and zoomed across the kingdoms to search through corpses for anything valuable once more.

But, contrary to expectations, knowing what awaited him not only didn't scare him, it even helped him come to terms with it.

"Another blue sky devoid of clouds, another day I spend reflecting on all the wrongs I've done. I spent my whole life as a bandit and the wrongs I've committed don't even come close to my sins over the past two weeks. Is this my punishment? To commit sins so heinous even I want to forget? I swear I won't take a day for granted anymore, and will repent for the rest of my life," Letto muttered under his breath, his expression as serene as it had never been before and his heart was at peace.

Melissa heard him speak and frowned. Another one of his crazy talks. I don't have time to waste listening to his useless words, that demon might come out at any moment. I need to stop second-guessing myself and get my act together.

She turned her head toward the place where, just two days prior, a fire had started, leaving a visible gap in the forest. She thought for a brief moment but ultimately shook her head.

I need to go deeper and use the forest's terrain to hide. Once I'm far enough, I'll be able to use Mana to quickly run away without him detecting anything.

Thinking of the warning Nova had given her, she scoffed. Who am I kidding? Nothing happened after all this time. I'll admit, he did have me worried—just for a moment, though.

Slowly, her steps carried her deeper and deeper into the forest. It began as a normal, innocent walk, just a dozen meters in, but soon she got farther and farther until her figure disappeared among the trees.

Letto cracked one eye open and muttered, "Naïve. How can a human beat a demon?"

Closing his eye again, he started rambling to himself while Melissa hurried deeper into the forest.

/////

Inside the cave, Nova lay on his stomach dressed in what remained of his light armor that now looked no more than rags. The pool of blood that had been there before was now completely dried up, leaving a dark brown stain.

His leg had fully regenerated, and his body was perfectly healthy without even a trace of a scar.

There was a problem, though.

Nova had yet to wake up, and the reason for that lay deep within his mind.

If a healthy mind could be likened to a flawless mirror, then Nova's current state was like a shattered one, its scattered fragments slowly drifting back together, reforming piece by piece. Time was needed for this process, and its length depended entirely on Nova himself.

Stolen novel; please report.

It was already a miracle he was still alive after his mind had cracked under the immense strain brought on by his reckless behaviour during the formation of the wind core. But the slow convergence of the mirror's broken pieces—that was no miracle. That was all Nova.

His instincts and subconscious clung to life with everything they had, not giving in to the sweet call of death.

///////

Melissa stood exactly ninety-nine meters away from the cave.

She had been in this spot for the past hour, and there were many times when she had lifted her leg to take a step but couldn't find it in herself to move forward.

What if he wasn't lying? What if something really happens when I cross the 100-meter mark? Will I die?

Gnashing her teeth, she muttered, "No! I can't stop now, not when there's a chance to escape from him. Stop hesitating, Melissa!"

She gathered all the courage and resolve she had left and stepped forward, nerves taut.

Nothing happened.

Anytime now. I must stay alert.

Sweat rolled down her forehead. The waiting was driving her insane.

Seconds ticked by. After five minutes, she couldn't take it anymore and finally relaxed, collapsing to her knees. Through gasps, she said, "I knew it. He's nothing but a liar. Just you wait, I'll make you pay for this."

Her eyes frosted over.

Time passed. A day later, when Melissa noticed that Nova hadn't even followed her, she let out a sigh of relief and smirked. "Heh, he must've killed himself trying to bite off more than he could chew. Well deserved. For a peasant to aim higher is a sin in and of itself and the King will decide his sentence. Here is far enough."

Her body glowed green, and she vanished from the spot instantly.

Days slipped by, and a week after Melissa had left, she returned, this time accompanied by the First Knight of the Blackridge Kingdom, Rollyet, and an old man dressed in mage robes.

"You say that boy is hiding here, right?" Rollyet asked.

The three, with Melissa acting as their guide, made their way toward the cave where she was previously brought to by Nova.

Melissa nodded. "Yes, and he's definitely injured or he might even be dead by now."

"Why didn't you go check inside before running away?" the old mage asked sharply.

"Sir, I was afraid I wouldn't have been able to run away if I did."

He snorted. "First you get kidnapped by someone you couldn't fight against, and then you miraculously manage to escape? Does that even make any sense?"

"Calm down, Arix. We should assess the situation before blaming her. She might've done the right thing to run without looking back, if that young man is as strong as she believes," Rollyet interrupted.

Arix, the old mage and one of the kingdom's strongest, a rank 8 mage, looked at Rollyet and sneered. "You expect me to believe those stories?" He pointed at Melissa. "Though she's a fool, she's also one of the kingdom's greatest geniuses. How am I supposed to believe she was kidnapped by someone younger than her, and to top it all off, that someone isn't even a mage?"

Melissa's face flushed red, her hands gripping her robes tightly, but she couldn't refute any of the accusations. Damn you. It's all because of you or I would never have to endure these insults. His face flashed in her mind, and she couldn't help but curse him silently.

"What are you trying to say?" Rollyet asked, narrowing his eyes.

"She must've made it up to save face with us all. Worse yet, she might even be colluding with that person."

"I'm no—" Melissa started to protest, but before she could continue, Rollyet interrupted.

"There's someone ahead."

Though annoyed at the interruption, Melissa looked over and shouted. "That's the guy's friend!"

Arix nodded and stepped forward. "Good. Let's interrogate him."

The ex-bandit stared up at the canopy of leaves, lost in thought, when a voice cut through the silence.

"I've heard you're that guy's friend. That means you know his current condition, right?" Arix's gaze dropped to Letto's face.

Letto met his eyes, then glanced behind the mage and saw Melissa, standing proudly beside Rollyet.

A sigh escaped his lips. "You managed to run away so why did you have rush back? I may not be able to save all his victims, but since he's yet to come out I'll try to save you. If you want to live, turn around now."

"Am I hearing this correctly? Did this man just tell us to leave if we want to keep our lives?" Arix turned to look at Rollyet and Melissa with an incredulous expression.

Melissa, seeing how Arix's face was slowly darkening, hastily said, "Don't take what he said seriously. He keeps blabbering without thinking. The good thing is, if he's here, then the young man must still be in the cave."

"Since we've confirmed that the person we're looking for is still here, let's head inside and not waste time. His Majesty is waiting," the First Knight said, shooting Letto a glance before walking toward the cave.

Arix snorted but didn't act recklessly after the King had been mentioned and, although dissatisfied with the situation, he still followed Rollyet inside.

Tailing behind them was Melissa, who smirked. I'll get my revenge now.

Letto watched them go, a hint of pity flashing through his eyes before he closed them and continued his ramblings.

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