- Hmm, maybe I should have given her another potion? - In the opening of the tent stood a tall, swarthy woman with pointed ears. The first thing that caught an eye was her beauty. Right after that, a bow and several daggers, unhidden on elastic thighs. Usually after that, everyone assessing their chances quickly retreated.

- Back, Zwei ? Bad idea, she drank more than a dozen during the fight while reattaching Ner's arm. A little more and she could hurt herself.

The elf was silent, looking at the sleeping girl. A creature so fragile, unable to take care of itself, had come so far.

The last stronghold of Gilfors. Forefront of the battle. Crap place. That's how she'd describe it, if anyone asked. Without specifying which of these is the most important. Although she herself considered ... An extremely shitty place.

- What are your plans next? - She glanced at Gil.

- Let's go back to the city. We need to move all the wounded, we hurried. Winning is important, but now it's clear that newbies don't belong here. They only distracted the beast without harming it. It looks like only a handful of veterans will go on, I'll prepare a list.

- What about Ner? Has he thought about quitting yet? - Still not expressing any emotions, she led the conversation.

- I don’t know, he’s a lot of trouble, but we need him… Damn, I’ll try to contact the Goddess, we need help! - The fist clenched again, even if he believed in the destiny, but Ner’s words ... - What did you manage to find?

- Nothing important. There are no other monsters in the vicinity. Nobody crossed the ridge, at least for several hours. You can’t say more precisely, such a snowfall there.

- Good. Send half of the scouts to the city, we don't want to run into roaming monsters while we have so many wounded. Stay here yourself, if you feel danger, let us know. - She turned around and left the tent, Gil called out to her - And do not try to stop them yourself, heroism is enough for today.

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Water brought coolness, quenched thirst and beat off this smell of carrion a little. Not tall, but a strong man, covered with a labyrinth of scars, stood in the middle of the stream and looked at the sky. Behind someone sneaked up. Too fast for anyone in the squad. Except her…

- Welcome back, Zwei . I'm glad that everything is all right with you - Ner said without turning around .

- Do not lose your grip, old man - She came up and touched the new scar on his arm - How are you? I saw how many hits you took.

- Nothing to do, it's my role to be in the center of the battle - Ner put his hand on top of hers, lightly squeezed for a moment and removed from his hand.

There was disappointment in her eyes. He wasn't always like this. Once, when they first met, he was the soul of the company. He encouraged the detachment, joked, sang songs near the night fire. But over the years, everything changed, Ner became further and further away. Even from her.

- You won't leave us, will you? - Gathering her strength, she asked a question that had been bothering her for a long time.

- No... I have to get to the bottom of the truth. All these sacrifices will not be in vain, and while I am looking for an answer, I will continue to follow his path.

“His path. This path is not mine, not theirs, but only his. He brought us here."

Ner exhaled, suppressing his inner fury. Almost all of his abilities were passive, they made him faster, stronger, more resilient. But the most monstrous thing he hated was that the pain gave him strength. If he was able to get used to the physical, then the mental one still tormented him. The more loved ones he lost, the stronger he became.

- I want to go to Heim and try to persuade this freak to join us.

- Again? He has already refused dozens of times. It's time to forget about it and cope on your own.

- We need him. This guy is one of the strongest here, despite the disgusting appearance. We've gone too far, I'll use force if he refuses to go himself. For what it's worth, I'll bring help - The conversation was over. Ner picked up his holey boots and set off. There were several days of running to the city with its great speed, he would have time to find it and return, even before a new campaign.

El sadly looked at his back as he walked away.

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Sparks flew across the castle walls, leaving deep marks in the floating bricks. The old man beat with his fist on the table, which was densely covered with all sorts of figures. If you look closely, you could see a map of the world divided into four regions. Three of them were connected by land borders, forming the outline of a horseshoe. The fourth was hidden from prying eyes.

The figurines fell to the floor, spinning between the god's legs.

- Bastards, they all survived! Damn you Airia, go to the abyss! That's where you belong - The final blow caused a small bump to appear on the map, similar to a volcano. Immediately, ink flowed out of it, changing the entire area around - If this idiot had contacted me, we would have already changed the whole world! But he is there, sitting in the snow and fooling my head. I'm sure he hears me, but now I can't see him!

Godry 's anger was strong. In recent years, he has spent a lot of time and energy to generate faith in himself in this world, gain power, abilities, strength, and then face an impenetrable wall. A quarter of the world was for him that same abyss. Standing on the edge and afraid to take a step, if fear can be known to God. No matter what he did, he could not speak to the local lord of darkness. Among the gods there were theories of who he was, what he did, where he came from, but only theories. No one has been able to come close to unraveling his personality or essence. Suspicion began to reign that one of them started this plan. Eternity went from a bit boring to a real hell when these speculations reached Airia . Her anger and paranoia swallowed up the entire pantheon, turning existence into hellish torture.

All this caused fury, with the failure of any of the plans of the old man. The gods must wait, enjoy every moment of watching lower beings… Lower beings?

A plan formed in his head. This brought a grin to his face. And then he burst into laughter. Godry dropped to his knees and searched the floor with his hands for the figurines. Finding two, he held them up to the ceiling and continued to laugh, looking at the ugly face of one and getting ready to contact the other again.