Chapter 501: Back To Earth "This should be one of the last of them..." Stella muttered under her breath as she floated at the top of the Sky Mountain area. The wind whipped around her at this altitude, it was cold and thin and below, a Bone Wyvern prowled among the rocky outcroppings, its skeletal frame creaking with each movement as it searched for prey. It hadn’t noticed her yet. She raised her hand deliberately, letting a rune materialize in the air before her palm. The symbol glowed with intense heat and the monster’s body instantly went ablaze, burning to ashes within seconds. The flames consumed bone that shouldn’t burn, reducing the bone creature to nothing. "Mom..." Mynes floated beside her, maintaining the levitation spell with practiced ease. Her daughter’s face was distraught, and Stella knew the reason all too well. It had been two months since the red sky had receded, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. The Old Saintess had received a vision from the goddess shortly after, revealing the truth... Azel was the one that had risked his life to go to the Underworld and fight the god there. But where was he now? They had scoured across all the Empires, searching every city and village. Even the Elves had helped them look, utilizing their network of scouts and their connection to nature to search the forests and wild places. It was all to no avail. Stella gritted her teeth, frustration and worry warring inside her chest. ’I don’t want to believe that he died down there.’ The thought made her chest tight. ’We still had a lot to do...’ She still had so many things to test and discover with him. She also had to properly thank him for giving her so much joy on her and her daughter’s joint birthday celebration, for treating them both with such care and respect but it seemed that chance might never come. Just then, the sky above the Sky Mountain became red. The color spread like spilled wine across blue fabric. It looked like blood mixing with water, patterns forming and dissolving in the sky. An immense amount of mana erupted outward from the phenomenon, washing over everything below in waves. Stella’s hair was thrown violently backward in the sudden wind. The mana itself carried traces of destruction magic. A barrier erected around her body automatically, the protective enchantment that had come with the hairpin that he had given her... it was responding to the threat. The shield spread outward to encompass Mynes who was right beside her. The barrier protected them from the violent wind and the harsh mana that would have torn at their flesh. ’Even when he isn’t here... he’s still saving my life.’ Stella thought, touching the invisible barrier with gratitude and pain. She watched as a beam fell from the swirling red sky, a column of crimson light that shot downward like divine judgment. It collided with the ground atop the Sky Mountain with tremendous impact. There was an explosion of force and light, dirt and rock thrown into the air. Then the red sky vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Everything else disappeared with it... the mana pressure, the wind, and the sense of otherworldly presence. There was a huge amount of smoke rising from the top of the mountain where the beam had struck. Stella raised her hand without hesitation. Several wind runes formed in the air around her palm, glowing bright blue. She activated them and they blew the smoke away in a controlled gust, clearing the area. The beam wasn’t an attack, she realized immediately. It had delivered people here. There were three different craters gouged into the mountain top, each one showing signs of impact from a falling body. Mynes’s eyes widened as she processed what she was seeing. "Is that Mira...?" She shot toward the nearest crash site without waiting for confirmation. Mynes landed beside the crater and looked down at Mira’s unconscious form. The woman was knocked out cold, her skin unnaturally pale against the dark earth. But upon closer inspection, she seemed fine with no major injuries visible or blood wounds. All she would need was rest and some healing magic to recover from whatever had happened. There was another woman with long black hair among the fallen. Mynes didn’t recognize her at all. The stranger was also unconscious, breathing shallowly. "Master..." The voice was barely a whisper. Irielle’s eyes snapped open suddenly. In a blur of motion, she back-flipped to her feet with inhuman grace, landing in a combat stance. Her lance materialized in her hand as she stared at both Mynes and Stella with suspicion and confusion. "Who are the both of you...?" Her voice carried an edge of desperation then her eyes swept past the immediate wreckage, searching frantically. "Where’s Master...? Where’s Rene...?" Stella followed Irielle’s gaze and felt her heart sink. Rene was nowhere to be found among the fallen. As for Azel, he lay in the furthest crater but he was barely visible. Irielle immediately let go of her lance, the weapon falling from nerveless fingers. It disappeared before making contact with the ground, vanishing back into whatever space she summoned it from and then she ran over to Azel’s prone form with unsteady footsteps. His skin was pale, stretched tight over bones that were too prominent. One could see his skeletal structure clearly through translucent flesh. His chest barely rose and fell with shallow breaths. Irielle pulled his head onto her lap as tears began running down her face uncontrollably. "Master..." She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, her voice breaking. Mynes and Stella were clearly surprised by the scene, but they came running over as well, concern overriding their questions about who this woman was and what had happened. ... Azel was in the plane. He sat on the ground with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes looked completely dead, empty of the warmth and determination they usually held. Gwendolyn’s head rested on his lap as he ran one hand through her ghostly hair absently. "You’re not... angry at me?" Gwendolyn’s voice was small and hesitant, after all, she had prevented him from saving Rene. His face was devoid of the anger she expected and the rage she deserved. There was no sorrow visible either, no grief or pain. Any emotion that she expected him to display was absent from his expression. He just looked empty and hollow. "Not at all. You saved me." Azel’s voice was flat. The divinity saturating this internal space was regenerating his physical body rapidly. In less than a minute of existing here, he had completely healed from the damage caused by using Reversal to fight against an Authority of Death. "It was a hard choice but it’s only because of your hard choice that I can live right now. So thank you." Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes despite the blank expression. They fell onto Gwendolyn’s face and she looked up at him sharply and saw the emotions finally appearing, cracking through the facade. She immediately sat up and pulled his face toward her chest, pressing him against her. After that, Azel began crying in earnest. The sobs wracked his body, shoulders shaking. The goddesses appeared around them, manifesting in response to his pain. Nyala appeared first, her usual cheerful expression replaced with deep sorrow. Kyone materialized next and her eyes were glistening. Elarielle followed last with a concerned face as well. They looked at him with apologetic eyes, sharing his grief. "Hubby..." Nyala fell to her knees and joined the embrace, hugging him from the side and pressing her warmth against him. Kyone managed to squeeze herself into the growing pile of bodies, finding space despite the crowd. "Esteemed Husband..." Her voice was thick with sadness. She embraced him as hard as she could while being mindful of his still-recovering body. Lastly, Elarielle squeezed herself into position until she was on his lap, pressed against his chest with her arms wrapped around him. "My love..." They stayed like that in silence until Azel’s crying gradually subsided and his breathing evened out. As he pulled his face back slightly to catch his breath, Elarielle suddenly reached out and grabbed a handful of Gwendolyn’s breasts, making the ghost yelp in surprise. "There’s no difference between you and a cow with these breasts... they have to be fake." Elarielle’s voice was petulant and her cheeks were puffed out in an expression that would be comical under different circumstances. Azel placed a hand on her head gently. She looked up at his tear-stained smile and felt an ache deep in her heart. ’I’ll never forgive Bael’zaroth for this.’ The thought burned through her with absolute conviction. ’I’ll spite him until the end of the world.’ The other goddesses silently echoed the sentiment, holding Azel tighter. ... In the official Capital Hospital, there was a crowd packed into Azel’s room. Calling it a crowd barely defined the sheer number of people that had come to see him, though somehow he knew all of them personally. Edna stood near the window with her arms crossed and expression worried. Medusa paced near the foot of the bed, unable to stay still. Veyra sat in a chair close to the bedside, her hands were clasped tightly and Feng leaned against the wall, watching silently. Lillia was also present, holding baby Isolde in her arms while keeping an eye on her other two siblings who stood nearby. ’I wish Papa could have seen them grow properly...’ Lillia’s thought was tinged with sadness. Despite being only two months old, the children were already almost as big as Lillia herself. They could talk now in simple sentences, it seemed their development accelerated by their unique heritage. They remembered seeing Azel when they were first born but ever since the red skies had vanished two months ago, they had asked non-stop for him. Where was Papa? When was Papa coming back? Was Papa okay? Medusa herself wasn’t doing well at all, the stress of not knowing eating at her. "Is Papa okay...?" Raphael asked while looking at the bed worriedly, his small face scrunched with concern. Sitting directly next to the bed in the closest chair was Irielle, the woman they hadn’t seen before. She had confirmed that she had defended Azel in the Underworld and was clearly too attached to him to leave his side even now. Just then, a burst of holy mana erupted around Azel’s body without warning. The energy was brilliant and warm, flooding the room with light. Azel had been connected to an IV drip because of his severely malnourished state. However, the holy mana that surrounded his body forced the needle out of his arm. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺 Skin returned to his bones rapidly, filling out. Muscles reformed and strengthened. Color flooded back into his face. He transformed from skeletal to healthy in the blink of an eye, the change so rapid it seemed like magic... which it was. Irielle grasped one of his palms immediately, holding it between both of her hands. His hands had been cold before like that of a corpse. Now they were warm with blood flowing properly again. Tears of joy ran down her face as she felt the life returning to him then Azel sat up slowly, looking around at everyone gathered in the room. His gaze swept across familiar faces. His expression was calm but Veyra could see through it instantly after all their time together. It was all a facade. He was trying to keep himself strong for everyone else’s sake. Veyra stood and walked to him first. She sat down on the bed directly next to him and he turned to look at her. She could see his eyes getting moist with tears threatening to spill. "Rene was..." His voice cracked slightly. "Don’t tell me." Veyra interrupted gently but firmly. She had been attached to that child from the moment she’d met him. It was clear from Azel’s expression and the boy’s absence that Rene was dead. However, if she heard the specific details of how he died, then she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself. The guilt would consume her. "He... he..." Azel’s jaw clenched, muscles working. "I was too weak to protect him... he let himself get eaten to save us." The words came out in a rush, like a confession torn from his soul. Veyra’s eyes widened in horror. Eaten? Like eaten alive? The image that conjured was nightmarish. Tears began dropping from her own eyes immediately, hot trails down her cheeks. What would she tell Aria during her prayers? How could she explain this to the woman who had entrusted her son to their care? "Not only Rene... but Aria too." Azel continued, voice hollow. "The King of the Underworld had already captured her. He ate her right in front of us, piece by piece." There was complete silence in the room following that revelation. Even the children went quiet, sensing the gravity of what was being discussed. Veyra turned to look at Irielle and saw that the woman was on the verge of tears as well, her face twisted with barely suppressed grief. She turned back to Azel who had tears steadily dripping from his eyes now, no longer trying to hold them back. Veyra inched her face closer to his, making a decision. "Close your eyes," Lillia immediately told Raphael and Lysandra in a stage whisper. The children obediently covered their eyes with their hands. Lillia closed Isolde’s eyes with one gentle hand and then covered her own eyes with the other. Veyra kissed Azel deeply. The salt of their tears mixed together where their lips met as she pushed his face back slightly with the force of her kiss. It was a full french kiss, intimate and desperate, trying to convey everything she felt through the contact. When she finally pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily. "As your wife... and as his mother... it’s my job to grieve alongside you." Her voice was steady despite the pain she felt. "You can’t do everything by yourself, and you won’t be able to. I hope you’ll be able to grant me at least this much." She held his face between her palms with a smile that she could barely manage despite all of the pain and sorrow churning in her chest. "I love you."