Chapter 119: Exposed

If there’s one thing Kaelen had learnt in Evolution Online, it was that strength did not always win. The smartest person in battle had as much of an advantage as the strongest, and in Kaelen’s case, he had both.

The alpha wolf’s eyes widened in surprise before a malicious glint flashed across her eyes.

"T-This... is not the end." She sneered as her consciousness slipped.

This wasn’t the first time Kaelen had heard that dying line, and the last person who said it had been missing ever since. Kaelen wasn’t about to make the same mistake.

"Oh no, it isn’t." Kaelen said as he waved his hand over her body, and it disappeared, summoned into the World Authority Fragment and his dark castle.

"SKD?" He immediately called out.

"Yes, milord." The dragon landed by his side without transforming back into its humanoid form.

"You’ve fought well. Take the troops back. Tell Kenora to quickly heal the alpha wolf girl and lock her up in a dungeon."

"Understood." The Supreme Elder Dragon replied and let out a roar that immediately dispersed all the shadow summons before disappearing himself.

Kaelen was left alone, standing in the devastating aftermath of the battle as the kill notifications still pinged across his vision like an endless tide.

"K-Kael?" A voice suddenly called out behind him, and Kaelen turned to see Lindsey and Yelena standing at the mouth of the canyon.

Lindsey ran her eyes across the ashes and burned earth. "W-What happened here?"

Kaelen had already detected their presence long before they arrived and was certain they hadn’t witnessed anything that happened.

"Oh, you guys... how are you here? I thought you guys left me behind." Kaelen said as he began walking towards them.

"Left you behind? Weren’t you the one who ran off first? I thought you were dead." Lindsey said with an unpleasant expression.

"I didn’t run off. I simply hid in a crevice from the wolves when a lightning bolt struck here and scared the wolves away. I guess those guys weren’t so lucky." Kaelen said, gesturing to the scorched truck before shifting his focus to Yelena, who scanned the area before returning her gaze to him.

"Hey, Yelena. Don’t tell me you came back for me; we barely know each other. Why don’t I see the others?" Kaelen teased before his expression grew serious.

From Lindsey’s terrified expression, Kaelen could deduce that something had happened inside that split the group, just like he suspected.

What could possibly chase even Yelena back down the path they’d come? The fact that they weren’t looking over their shoulders now told him whatever it was had probably been too distracted feasting on the unfortunate mercenaries, buying them time to make a run for it.

"We ran into an even bigger problem ahead," Yelena explained. "We believed we’d gotten far enough after we didn’t see the wolves chasing after us, so we stopped inside the canyon to assess the situation and know how many made it and if it was worth risking going back for the others. That was when it attacked."

"What did?" Kaelen asked in a serious tone.

"I-It was dark..." Lindsey suddenly spoke up. "We couldn’t see what it was. All we heard were buzzing sounds, like a thousand insects flapping their wings at once, then we were swarmed by these things, and it instantly became chaos. We tried to escape into the trucks, but it had already..." She trailed off once more with a petrified gaze.

"I think they were man-eating bugs," Yelena replied, her flat tone a stark contrast to Lindsey’s.

"A man what?" Kaelen asked in confusion.

He’d never heard of those before.

"Before the attack, I discovered several bones. Humans and beasts alike. I couldn’t give out a warning in time before they attacked. I didn’t know how long the canyon went or how many of these things were ahead of us, so I quickly grabbed Lindsey and ran back this way in hopes of finding you."

"What, me? What do I have to do with this?" Kaelen’s brows shot up.

"You’re the guide, aren’t you?" She asked.

"Yeah, but your priority should’ve been the Commander, who knows the way forward."

"I do." She replied almost immediately, making Kaelen pause.

"You do... know the way to the ruins of Akkad?" He asked hopefully.

"Vaguely, yes..." Yelena said with a pause as she stared straight into Kaelen’s eyes. "...But I don’t think we ever mentioned where we were going."

Kaelen froze on the spot as he stared back at her. An unsettling silence dragged between them as they entered a deadlock.

’...Fuck.’

Kaelen had slipped up and mentioned the name of the ruins, which was never discussed with or mentioned to him.

Yelena was one person sharp enough to pick that up, and also brave enough to call him out for it.

There was no hiding it now. She’d just fully exposed his fake identity and didn’t even look surprised or threatened by this, like she’d already known and only chose now to challenge him about it.

Yelena didn’t react or make a sound for a moment before she slowly raised her hands at him. "I’m not fighting you. I already had a hunch about you and could’ve exposed you countless times already. If I meant you any harm, I wouldn’t have come back for you."

"What are you guys talking about?" Lindsey asked as she exchanged glances between the two. "What are we supposed to do now? Everyone’s... dead."

"No. The Commander can’t be dead, and he possibly escaped and made it out the other side with a few others. We have to find and catch up with them."

"W-What? No. I’m not going back in there. I say we return to the stronghold right now." Lindsey fiercely protested.

"If you want to return, then be my guest. But I’m making it to those ruins no matter what." Yelena said.

"I-I can’t go alone. You’re the one who dragged me into this. If I die here, my father won’t let any of you off the hook." Lindsey threatened.

Kaelen raised a brow in surprise.

’So she’s really not part of the mercenaries, it seems.’

Yelena stared at the lady for a moment, making her flinch.

"You won’t die if you stay close to me. We also know what is up ahead, so with me and Kaelen, we should be able to pull through and make it to the other side in one piece. Though I can’t guarantee not losing one or two of your limbs." Yelena said bluntly and ignored the woman’s terrified expression to peer into the canyon.

Then a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder, and she tilted her head to see Kaelen staring at her coldly.

"I told you my name was Kael... why did you just call me, Kaelen?"