The Author's Viewpoint
Chapter 162 - Scars in the Sand

Chapter 162: Chapter 162 - Scars in the Sand

Tave’s eyes snapped open as his body slammed into the ground. Blinding light hit him like a wave, forcing him to shut his eyes tight. He stayed still for a moment, breathing, adjusting to the sudden brightness after hours trapped in the suffocating darkness of the portal.

When he finally opened his eyes again, Vanya was beside him. Breathing heavily, her eyes scanning the vast, sun-scorched desert around them.

They had made it out.

They had escaped the rift.

Even if the way they escaped wasn’t normal. Tave remembered it too clearly, the endless void inside the demon portal. It had felt like hours of falling through nothing. It wasn’t how Rift Challengers were meant to return.

But still... they were alive.

They had survived.

Though that brought a new question: What had happened to the demons? To the monsters that escaped the rift alongside them?

Tave sat up slowly, his body sore and stiff. He turned his head, and there, not far from him, sat Lina. Her face was pale, her expression hollow. Tears ran silently down her cheeks. Elowen knelt beside her, gently resting a hand on her shoulder.

But what truly caught Tave’s attention, what froze his breath, was Vellion. He stood still, unmoving, eyes locked in one direction with a look of dread carved into his face.

Something was wrong.

Tave turned to follow his gaze.

And then he saw it, far off in the distance, where Deadbay should have stood.

The nightmare he had tried to push from his mind... was unfolding right before his eyes.

Tave slowly rose to his feet as the desert wind picked up, sweeping grains of sand into the air and cloaking the landscape in a haze of dust. Still, even through the shifting veil, he could see it. Stretching out far into the distance.

The place where Deadbay City should have stood.

He stepped forward, slow, cautious at first. Then broke into a run. His feet pounded across the sand until he came to a sudden stop.

There, sprawled across the desert floor, were monsters, dozens of them. Their carcasses lay in twisted heaps, partially buried beneath windblown sand, torn apart in brutal, violent ends.

But that wasn’t what made Tave’s chest tighten.

Among them... were humans.

His heart sank.

Footsteps followed behind him. The others caught up, and Lina’s quiet sobs still echoed through the wind.

"The monsters... they attacked the city?" Vellion said softly.

Tave replied, his voice low. "But I don’t hear any fighting now."

He stared toward where Deadbay should have been, but the storm had thickened. The air was full of swirling sand, obscuring any view of what lay ahead.

Without another word, Tave began walking, faster with every step, until it turned into a full sprint. The others followed close behind.

How bad had the attack been? What was left of Deadbay?

As they ran, the devastation stretched in every direction. Monsters and humans, fallen together. Though the human bodies were fewer, scattered. Many had likely been recovered or buried already... or perhaps delayed by the relentless sandstorm.

But the message was clear. Deadbay had been hit. And the aftermath was nothing short of catastrophic.

Tave had lost all sense of time.

He didn’t know how long they had been trapped in that void between dimensions, drifting in the emptiness during their escape from the rift. Hours, maybe more.

But while they were lost in that in-between, the monsters had emerged... and attacked the city.

And supposedly, the threat had been dealt with.

Elincia was stationed in Deadbay, wasn’t she?

What about Lily?

Their father was still in the capital. He couldn’t have made it here in time. Not when the journey took time even under the best conditions. Reinforcements from the capital couldn’t have arrived fast enough to stop an invasion of this scale.

Worse still, Deadbay didn’t have the numbers. Not enough knights to hold the city against a full-scale monster surge.

And yet... Tave hoped. Hoped something, anything, had survived.

The monster carcasses were scattered far from the city’s perimeter. That gave him a sliver of comfort. Maybe the creatures hadn’t fully reached the city. Maybe they were intercepted, pushed back before they could breach the walls.

Until—Tave suddenly stopped, raising an arm to shield his eyes as a violent gust of sand swept across the air. The storm howled louder now, the desert wind fierce, but it wasn’t the wind that had frozen him in place.

They stood before an enormous mound. So massive it looked like a mountain had risen from the earth itself.

"Is this...?" Vellion murmured, his voice barely audible through the wind.

Tave stared at the colossal formation ahead. He didn’t need to get closer. Somehow, instinctively, he knew exactly what he was looking at.

"This is the carcass of Skarathor," Tave said quietly.

"You’re kidding," Vellion replied, his eyes wide.

Even beneath the layers of sand and dust, parts of the massive creature were unmistakable.

"This gigantic creature... is actually down?" Vellion whispered again, almost to himself.

"Can I assume..." Elowen began, hesitating before finishing her thought.

But Tave turned, a flicker of fire returning to his eyes.

"There’s only one person who could’ve taken this monster down," he said.

And that was all it took. The group fell silent, then nodded in quiet agreement.

Yes, only one person in Deadbay could have done this.

Elincia.

One of the Imperial Knights of the Vensalor Kingdom. She had been here when the battle began. And she had slain a monster that could’ve brought an entire kingdom to ruin.

Without another word, they turned and sprinted toward the city. Urgency driving every step.

Even with the storm swirling around them, running through this desert was easier than anything they’d endured inside the rift. No monsters, no tornados. Just sand and wind.

It was massive. Unbelievably massive.

The idea that a tier 8 monster could just be lying here, lifeless, in the middle of the desert was almost surreal.

A creature like this... its body alone could provide materials of incredible value. In theory.

But then—Tave froze again, lifting one hand in a silent signal for the others to halt.

Someone was approaching.

Not from the ground... from above.

He tilted his head skyward, eyes narrowing through the blinding sandstorm. A shadow cut through the sky—swift, purposeful, descending rapidly toward them.

And then the figure came into view, breaking through the swirling dust and crashing into the ground before them with practiced force.

A woman with pink hair and obsidian-black armor.

Elincia.

Her expression was unreadable, cold, calm, as always. But the moment her feet touched the ground, she dropped to one knee.

And then... she bowed.

Right before Vanya.

"My deepest apologies, Your Highness," Elincia said. "I have failed in my duty. I was not competent enough to prevent you from being trapped in an Emergency Rift. I accept whatever punishment is due."

Vellion and Elowen instinctively straightened, raising their hands in formal salute to the Imperial Knight.

Vanya stepped forward, calm but gentle, placing a hand firmly on Elincia’s shoulder.

"You don’t need to apologize," Vanya said gently. "You were here... protecting this city. And from the looks of it, you did exactly what you were meant to do."

She offered a faint but sincere smile. "And... I’m grateful."

After a moment, she added softly, "Now, please... rise, Elincia."

Elincia stood, composed as ever, her face a calm, unreadable mask. Her eyes swept over the group, scanning each of them beyond Vanya.

"What truly happened there, Your Highness?" she asked, her voice low, but filled with restrained urgency. "The rift collapsed... and I thought..." She trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

"I’ll explain everything later," Vanya replied, her tone measured but firm. "But first, I need to know. What happened to the city?"

Elincia gave a short, respectful bow. "Once we received word that the rift had escalated into an Emergency-level threat, I remained stationed here with a few others. I immediately notified the capital."

"So... Father knows?" Vanya asked quickly.

"Yes, Your Highness. Reinforcements were dispatched. They should be arriving soon," Elincia confirmed, then paused before continuing. "When the rift collapsed... I assumed the worst. And soon after, the monsters launched a full assault on the city. I arrived as it began. But I was able to reach the front in time. Just before that massive bird appeared. I killed it."

Tave clenched his jaw, holding back a sharp breath. Then he stepped forward. "What about the citizens? Did they survive?"

Elincia turned to him, her gaze narrowing slightly. Her senses picked up the energy flare surrounding Tave... the subtle pulse of power tied to a pact.

The one he had made with Vanya.

She didn’t question it.

Instead, she nodded. "Why don’t we return to the city, and you can see for yourself?"

Tave exhaled slowly and gave a quiet nod.

They moved quickly, wind still whipping across the dunes, the storm not yet finished.

But as they ran toward the horizon... one question pulsed louder than the rest:

The city is still standing... right?