The Gamer's POV-Chapter 202: Home of the Hollow Ones [18]

Everyone turned their heads back to see Audrey lowering her bow. Their gaze then shifted from her back to the creature, which was now staggering.

It tried to swing a punch at the nearest cadet, Xavier, but he leapt back. Then it tried to swing at Cedric, before collapsing to its knees while clutching the arrow.

On its knees, the red bridge monster drew its last breath.

Cedric then fell on his bum from the exhaustion, followed by Xavier. Levi’s form began to shed its furs of flames until he was in his human form again, after which he stumbled to a nearby pillar, leaned back against it, and slid down.

As for Audrey, she began to fly closer to the team but then suddenly dropped to the ground, after which she was helped up by Evelyn, who had rushed to her side.

The chamber suddenly fell silent and the creature looked just like a sculpted metallic statue. Then, after a few seconds, the red crystal on its head cracked.

The crack spread like a spiderweb until the crystal shattered and, almost immediately, a wave of energy exploded from the creature’s kneeling frame. The energy engulfed the cadets seated close to it, then it kept expanding upward and outward past the chamber until the entire temple was engulfed in it.

Tiny red crystals began to appear on the chests of the cadets, just like the one that was on the forehead of the monster.

Dion was the first to check beneath his regalia. Then he let out a weak, tired laugh as he showed it to the others. "We did it. Thanks to the gods, we did it, ha."

Cedric let the active form of his regalia fade, then he reached a hand beneath the fabric and felt the small, hard surface of the crystal. He looked down at it and smiled.

Around them, the others were doing the same, their expressions a mix of disbelief and relief as they touched the marks that proved their victory.

Cedric turned to see if Leon was okay, then smiled and looked away when he saw him heading toward them with Uriel supporting him. Cedric looked to the side to see Aika absorbing mana to replenish even if it was just a tiny bit of their reserves.

"We’ll rest here for a bit," Aurora spoke hoarsely as she stood up with June’s help.

The others nodded, relieved to hear those words. They did not need to worry about monsters breaking into the temple because, as long as they were all still inside, the invisible barrier would remain active.

They began to settle into the quiet of the chamber. Some leaned against the cold stone pillars while others simply lay back on the floor, watching the dim light of the chamber flicker against the ceiling.

Cedric took out a pouch of water from his inventory and began gulping it down. When he was done, he washed his cheek and the injury that cut across it, while biting his lip to suppress a hiss of pain.

After that, he dropped the remainder of the water beside Aika, who was sitting in a meditative position with her eyes closed.

Then he dropped onto his back, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Ignoring the stinging pain, he closed his eyes and just lay sprawled on the ground.

Not long after, June walked around giving Health Elixirs to the most injured cadets in the group. It seemed that she had a few supplies like that in her haversack, which was not surprising considering her status.

She gave one to Leon, and another to one of the two other cadets that were part of Aurora’s party. She also offered one to Evelyn, but Evelyn politely refused it. According to her, the health elixir wouldn’t do much for her anyway. Yes, it could heal superficial wounds, but it couldn’t regenerate missing limbs. So, she chose to save the resources for those who could actually benefit from the immediate recovery.

June left her and walked up to Cedric. Then, she crouched and offered him one. He opened one eye. Then, after a few seconds, he reached out and took the elixir. "Thanks."

She nodded and stood up, then left to return to Aurora, who was currently drinking her elixir.

Cedric sat upright a bit, uncorked the vial and drank half, then he looked over to see if Aika had any injuries. When he could see lots of cuts on her arms and legs, he corked the elixir, crawled over and dropped it beside the pouch of water that lay at her side.

He then lay sprawled on the ground again, and pointed his finger vaguely toward the direction where Audrey was sitting, leaning against Toki. Suddenly, Cedric’s inventory appeared in front of Audrey, and a large, wrapped piece of beef dropped into her lap.

Surprised, her eyes widened as she quickly looked from the beef to those around her. When she saw Cedric withdrawing his finger, a tired smile touched her lips.

She looked back to the beef and began to eat it greedily in a manner that showed just how much she really needed it.

Meanwhile, Ino approached Evelyn, who was sitting leaning against the wall with Celeste now sleeping on her lap.

Ino knelt down and reached out her hand. When Evelyn arched a brow questioningly, Ino spoke quickly. "Come on. You need to regrow your arm. We can’t have you walking around like this." Then she nodded toward a pillar to the right where Dion sat and added, "You can thank Dion later."

Evelyn looked over to see Dion raise a hand with a tired smile on his face. She smiled back, then looked at Ino as her fangs descended. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she bit down into Ino’s wrist and began to drink.

Slowly, her arm began to grow out from the shoulder. New bone and muscle knit together, stretching out until a pale, new hand finally formed at the end.