Chapter 120: Confrontation

Kaelen’s hand tightened around her shoulder as his gaze cut through her like daggers.

Yelena froze on the spot and didn’t say another word for a long moment before her lips finally parted.

"This isn’t the best place to talk—"

"I don’t care," Kaelen replied almost immediately, his voice hostile.

"G-Guys, what’s going on?" Lindsey asked cautiously as she noticed the hostility between the two.

Neither of them said a word, and for a moment, the tension shimmered to a boiling point. But before it felt like it would explode and something would happen, Yelena spoke up first.

"Lindsey, can you give us a moment?" She said and turned to look at the woman. Something in her eyes made Lindsey swallow her words and step away.

But she didn’t move too far away from them, like she was scared of something appearing from the shadows and dragging her further away from them.

Yelena then placed her hand over Kaelen’s, which was gripping her shoulder, but didn’t attempt to shake him off. "You don’t care, but I do. I have a life outside this... or at least I did. But Lindsey is like a sister to me, and as much as she can be a thorn in my flesh, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Not while she’s in my care."

"I called you Kaelen because I know who you are... the infamous Kaelen Cross. To be honest, I was exhilarated when I first realized it was you," Yelena said as she reminisced about their first encounter.

"Why’s that?" Kaelen asked flatly, his voice deeper than usual. "To finally get a chance to fight me?"

Yelena chuckled softly, her cheerful voice a sharp contrast to the looming danger all around them.

"Don’t be silly. I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve stayed up long nights watching a slime decimate a cavalry. It’s like meeting a celebrity... and an old friend. You inspired me to stop dwelling in the past and embrace it. I even dyed my hair back to blonde..." she said as she subconsciously stroked her hair.

"You’re not fooling anyone with that," Kaelen cut in bluntly.

She smiled faintly. "That’s on you then."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Kaelen’s grip tightened around her shoulder.

"We don’t have the time to sit down and discuss my life. Your mother’s life is on the line here, or have you forgotten?"

The reminder cut through Kaelen’s hostility like a hot knife through butter.

"Your mother should be our first priority... the rest can come after that. I won’t go anywhere," she said as she slid his stiff hand from her shoulder and turned to face him, looking him straight in the eye.

"I promise."

Kaelen stared at her for a long moment. She had a point, and he didn’t have a choice.

His mother should come first, and as long as it didn’t seem like she had ulterior motives regarding his mother, then her reveal could definitely wait until after that.

This didn’t mean Kaelen trusted her, though. He didn’t, not one bit.

If she had Perfect Replication as a Talent like she’d claimed, there was no telling if she had a teleportation skill in her arsenal and could use that to disappear at any point in time.

Kaelen grabbed her soft hands in his. "This is the only condition under which I’ll let you off this time. If you try to break free or use a teleportation skill, I won’t hesitate to kill you where you stand."

Yelena’s eyes widened slightly as she stared at their locked hands. She raised her head to look at him.

"You enjoy touching me, don’t you? I understand."

Kaelen’s lips twitched.

’Does she understand my clear instructions, or is she saying she understands that I’m a pervert? Which one was it?’

Throwing her into his dungeon would be best suited here, but for the sake of leading him to the ruins of Akkad, Kaelen was willing to improvise and compromise, even if it meant being seen in the wrong light.

Tch.

"Let’s go."

He dragged her along as he began moving towards the canyon entrance, and Lindsey took this as a cue to regroup with them.

She paused when she saw the two of them holding hands and exchanged glances between them.

"What are the both of you doing?" She asked scrutinously.

Kaelen spared her a glance before ignoring her entirely as he stared into the dark canyon.

Yelena raised their locked hands. "Kael here is scared of losing me, so he’s going to hold my hand for the rest of the journey."

’That’s not what it is, but she’s not wrong either,’ Kaelen mused to himself.

"S-Seriously, guys, you’re doing this here? Like, right now?" Lindsey asked in disbelief.

"Keep moving," Kaelen said as he stepped into the canyon and began moving forward with Yelena in tow. Lindsey quickly hurried to catch up with them and stay close while looking over her shoulder.

"What’s the plan?" Yelena asked.

Her question triggered something in Kaelen’s mind, and his brows furrowed softly.

For a fact, Kaelen was certain he could interact with the constellation points because they were simply node points set up by his mother with items that belonged to their family.

He was also aware that the location of his mother—the ruins of Akkad—could only be discovered by following the constellations. This left him thinking: how did the Stronghold 3 forces find the ruins?

To be more direct, how did the mercenaries even know where they were going?

So far, they hadn’t interacted with any constellations. Even though Kaelen spent most of the time cultivating, he’d know when he saw one.

Unless these groups weren’t taking the conventional method of cracking the constellations to discover the location, but had simply mapped out their positioning, which would involve a scout party moving across the wasteland or using the beasts for navigation at nightfall.

Kaelen believed every constellation provided protection to the beasts who took refuge in it, but what if he was wrong?

Each constellation should hold a different challenge for intruders who tried to steal from them, and the one thing Kaelen was certain about with each and every one of these constellations was the fact... that they were the property of the House of Cross.

The writing outside the canyon suddenly flashed through Kaelen’s mind, and at that moment, Kaelen not only understood what it meant but also why the mercenary team had been looking for a guide to take them to the Grand Canyon.

"The plan? What plan?"

"...We’re simply going to walk all the way to the other side."