Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 233

Chapter 233: The Promise

“That was… less than fully comfortable,” Ari said.  “I think I might be a little queasy.”

Dani laughed.  “It was way easier than my first time teleporting with Lyse.  I felt like my entire body was in knots for the entire rest of the evening.  And then we still had to walk for miles afterwards, all while we were much weaker than we are now.  Of all the days back before the war, that was definitely one of the most memorable.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, Dani.  I didn’t realize at the time that I had the soul of my literal sworn enemy ripping me apart every time I tried to teleport.”

“You what?”

Dani listened in with bated breath as Lysette explained what happened in the Spire Mountains as she and her companions traveled to Ciricu.  Lysette expounded upon her soulspace battle with Asterion and how, with everyone’s help and prayers, was able to overcome his will and dominate the artifact that he had constructed and she had since pilfered.  Ari, on the other hand, stood motionless with eyes widened and mouth wider still.

“With all due respect, Miss Lyse,” Ari finally said, “I must confess that you are once again completely shattering everything I once thought I knew about this world, about Cultivation, about the gods, about… well, everything.”

“You get used to it after a while,” Dani said.  “Might be a bit easier for me since I’ve had a lot less time to learn what’s taught in classrooms and textbooks.”

Ari shook her head.  “It’s still hard to believe that there’s all of these ruins scattered about relating to an ancient civilization, and yet today is my first time hearing anything about them.”

“Well, as you saw, these ruins are sentient,” Lysette said.  “And they didn’t want to be found by anyone else.”

“How are they sentient?  I know that they are from experience.”  Ari paced around on the grass.  “But it doesn’t–”

“When the end of the previous world came, it didn’t come all at once.  It probably took some time for Omnia’s system to… initialize, I suppose?  In any case, the Aestori had long enough to preserve records of their civilization in city-sized artifacts all over Aimarion.  And then, over millions of years, those artifacts were buried beneath the changing landscapes.  But something— most likely my stumbling into one such shrine a few months back— has reawakened them.”

“So what do we do now?  I’m sure the higher ups will want some sort of report after all this.  What should I tell them?”

“Tell them that we found and investigated some subterranean caverns beneath the surface ruins but discovered there’s something extremely powerful living underground.  Something which we were ill-equipped to deal with.  We managed to escape with our lives intact, and reasoned that if there is anything of value, we were not confident that the potential benefits justified the known risk.”

“What sort of creature?”

“I don’t know for certain.  But when the three of us traveled down there, I heard the wind in the caverns.  And when I came back by myself just a bit ago, I saw something watching me.  Something strong enough that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a direct confrontation, even with this body.”

Ari nodded.  “Then I will say that we found something, but that we couldn’t identify it owing to the dark underground environment.”

“Thank you, Ari.  I wish I could stay for longer, but Mirae promised to eviscerate me if I didn’t make it back to them by lunch, and in any case, I shouldn’t be away from Ciricu for too long in case trouble shows up.”

Ari bowed slightly.  “It was an honor to finally meet you… in person?”  She tilted her head at those last two words.

“Hug?” Dani asked.  She didn’t wait long enough for a response before all-but leaping into Lysette’s arms.  Her grip was tight, but warm and full of the care and friendship that the two had built over the previous half a year.  And as the two shared in their cathartic embrace, Ari again stood with even more confusion on her face.

“Forgive me, Miss Lyse… uh, Goddess, or–  I apologize, I am unfamiliar with proper address and decorum here.”

“Just Lyse is fine, thank you.  I am trying to do better about accepting what I am, but I dislike the idea that I should be treated any more deferentially just because of that.”

“I see.  Well, Lyse.  I wish you all the best on your return to… Ciricu, was it?  And I–  I suppose I will also be traveling back with you to the garrison.  Still hard to wrap my head around that,” Ari added under her breath.

“How are the two of you feeling, by the way?”

“Tired.”  Ari’s stomach growled.  “Hungry.”

“That’s not what I meant.  I don’t know if you noticed, but the two of you are fifty percent stronger than you were yesterday.”  Lysette grinned.

“No shit, Lyse?  Then we’ll see how I feel after a long nap.”

Lysette waved goodbye to Dani and Ari and flew off to the northeast while she, together with Dani and Ari, headed back to the garrison for a well-deserved rest.  Despite their protestations to the contrary and insistence that they could continue on, both of the human Cultivators were completely bereft of stamina, hardly able to maintain even a light jog by non-Cultivator standards.  And so, not wanting to delay their return, Lysette ended up carrying both of them back herself.

She flew low to avoid detection by any Elithrians scouting the skies and arrived about half an hour later, touching down about a few hundred yards outside the garrison.  As she approached the main gate, she was surrounded by several guards, some of whom had various weapons pointed at her.

“What’s going on?  What’s the meaning of this?” one man asked.  “How dare you show your face here after–”

Lysette cut him off.  “If I wanted to harm Lieutenant Rothiel or Corporal Mielle, I wouldn’t have brought them back here afterwards.  And they aren’t injured, either.  They are sleeping because we have been on a mission that lasted all night.  So, with Lieutenant Rothiel temporarily out of commission, I will be reporting back to command in her stead.  And summon a medical team at once as a precautionary measure.”

“Y–  Yes, at once, Cadet Tronete.”

***

“So,” Vice Commandant Bertrand began, “The three of you arrived at the ruins as ordered shortly after dawn yesterday morning.  You spent some time investigating the area, when you stumbled upon a staircase that led into a subterranean cavern.  At that point, rather than return to the surface and wait for a proper survey team, the three of you decided to investigate yourself.”

“That is correct, Sir.  We reasoned that the Domarian military could not spare the resources for a full survey in the midst of ongoing hostilities, and reasoned that the underground caverns might be used by the Elithrian army as a way to sneak a large number of troops past the front and into our heartland.  While I understand wanting to send a survey team, there were risks to taking the more cautious approach as well.”

“You have a lot of nerve, speaking out of line like that, Cadet.  Were we not in a situation where every able and willing body is critical, I would see you sent to the brig for insubordination, reckless disregard for protocol, and ignoring the orders of your commanding officer while on official assignment.  As it stands, I still have half a mind to do so anyway.  Continue.”

“We surveyed the ruins, searching for anything within which might serve to the benefit of Domaria.  However, the three of us discovered a Cultivation beast resting in an underground river far beneath the surface.  Between the unknown terrain, us being in the dark, and being within its lair, we reasoned that fighting was a fool’s errand, and so we had to wait until the creature finally went dormant before we were able to sneak our way out.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t until morning.”

“At which point the two of them both collapsed from exhaustion.  I immediately took them and made my way back to the garrison so they could both rest and recuperate in relative safety.”

“I see.  I can’t help but feel that something isn’t quite adding up about your story, Cadet.  And yet I cannot quite figure out what it is.”

“Sir,” Lysette said.  “We did discover one other thing about these ruins.  They contain some sort of artifice.  It is possible, perhaps even probable, that they are sentient, and that that sentience is somehow linked to the creature we encountered.  If so, sending a survey team may be ill-advised.”

“Your words will be taken into consideration by Commandant Cournot and the high command of the Domarian army.  For now, you are to remain confined to infirmary quarters for the next forty-eight hours and submit to a full medical examination.  Although you claim that the two are merely fatigued, if what you say is correct, then it is possible that Corporal Mielle and Lieutenant Rothiel were both infected by some agent.  And we cannot neglect the possibility that you were as well.”

“Sir, Yes Sir!”  Lysette gave her best military salute before returning to the infirmary as ordered.

***

Lysette, in her primary body, made her way back across the northern stretches of Domaria and back across the Spire Mountains en route to Ciricu.  Along the way, she took a brief stop just outside the caverns where Karchek had been held months earlier to again pay her respects.

She lowered her head slightly as she recalled Karchek’s words.  And how eerily similar they were to Lavenna’s.  That being a demon would mean being hated by the entire world.  That it would mean never being truly accepted or trusted by others.  That it would mean accepting the mantle of villain, no matter how noble her intentions or motivations were.

Lysette could not bring herself to regret helping Mirae and Saffron slay Karchek for good.  He was still a threat to the people of Ciricu, no matter the camaraderie he might have shared with her.  But he too had rational justifications behind his actions that didn’t boil down to being evil for evil’s sake.  And so it probably was with everyone else, even if those justifications were just to carry out the order of their commander or king or god or whomever else.  But she too had her reasons to fight, and she resolved once again to protect everyone.  Everyone who relied on her, who empowered her, and most of all, gave her life a purpose higher than killing and base revenge.

She looked out to the north as she flew off, gazing toward Ciricu, where the ice and snow was melting inch by inch and war would soon return.  Sure enough, Mirae was there to greet her arrival with arms crossed and a stern look on their face.

“You’re late,” they said.

“I am.  I stopped by the cavern where we fought Karchek.  To pay my respects, I suppose.  He did give me his body as well as some advice and training, and that was even after we helped Saffron kill him.  It’s not nearly enough, but I owe him more than a little bit for that generosity,”

Mirae smiled and shook their head.  “There’s that Reciprocity that I love so much about you.”

Lysette took Mirae into her embrace and, once the two were resting in each other’s arms, she twisted space and time around them both, returning the couple to their bedroom.  And once she arrived, she dropped to a single knee.

“I know this is forward of me to ask so suddenly, but with the war on the northern front poised to start up again soon, I don’t want to wait and risk not having the chance to do so.”  Lysette pulled out one of the two rings and held it before her love.  “Mirae, love of my life, will you, now and forevermore, be my betrothed?”

“Absolutely, Lyse.  I want nothing less than to remain by your side for all eternity.”

Chapter 232: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113573374

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 234: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113683289