Chapter 146: Time to Leave

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Time to Leave

"We couldn’t find it."

The man’s voice became strained.

"We don’t even know if we’re searching in the right place anymore."

Silence filled the hall.

Cornelius looked at them.

These weren’t weak people.

They were representatives from powerful families.

People who had probably spent their entire lives being respected.

Yet they looked exhausted.

Desperate.

And now they were asking him for help.

The oldest representative slowly stood.

Cornelius frowned.

"What are you doing?"

The man didn’t answer.

Instead, he bowed.

The others followed.

Cornelius’s eyes widened.

"Please."

The man’s voice trembled.

"Help us."

Another representative bowed even deeper.

"If you know something we don’t, please tell us."

"We’re not asking for Winterbourne’s resources."

"We aren’t asking you to solve everything for us."

"We just..."

The man’s voice broke.

He took a breath before continuing.

"Give us something."

"Information."

"Advice."

"Anything."

Another representative spoke.

"If you have someone capable of helping us, lend them to us."

Their pride had clearly been pushed aside.

They had come to the point where pride no longer mattered.

They wanted their homes back.

They wanted their people to stop dying.

They wanted their cities to survive.

Cornelius felt something tighten in his chest.

He understood them.

More than they probably realized.

But there was a problem.

He couldn’t help them.

Not directly.

Cornelius slowly stood.

"I understand your situation."

The representatives looked up.

"But I need to be honest with you."

He paused.

"I can’t give you the answer you’re looking for."

Their expressions changed.

The hope in their eyes faded almost immediately.

One of them lowered his head.

Another clenched his fist.

They had come here believing Winterbourne had discovered something.

That maybe Cornelius knew how to solve the problem.

And now...

Nothing.

The oldest representative closed his eyes.

"So even Winterbourne..."

His voice was quiet.

Cornelius felt terrible.

Not because he didn’t want to help.

He did.

But he couldn’t pretend to know something he didn’t.

"You came to the wrong person."

The words were painful to say.

The representatives slowly began gathering themselves.

They looked defeated.

Like people who had just lost one of their last chances.

Then Cornelius continued.

"However..."

Everyone stopped.

Cornelius looked at them.

"I can show you someone who might be able to help."

Their heads lifted.

Hope returned almost immediately.

Cornelius almost smiled.

He knew exactly who they were waiting for.

"Damon."

The representatives exchanged looks as they recognized a familiar name.

Cornelius continued.

"I won’t promise that he’ll help you."

Their expressions became tense again.

"That decision belongs to him."

Cornelius leaned back.

"And considering what you’ve told me..."

He glanced toward the door.

"You might be his people."

The representatives didn’t fully understand what he meant.

But they didn’t ask.

Not yet.

If Cornelius Winterbourne was confident enough to place their hope in someone else, then that person had to be worth waiting for.

Meanwhile, Damon stood quietly in the middle of the cavern.

For a moment, he didn’t say anything.

He simply looked around.

The difference was almost hard to believe.

When they first found this place, most of the channels running through the cavern had been dark and corrupted.

Only a few carried stable Ice Elemental Aether.

Now, things were completely different.

Pure Ice Elemental Aether flowed through the channels like clear streams.

The frozen roots had regained their glow, and even the air inside the cavern felt different.

It was calm.

Stable.

Alive.

Damon smiled.

They had actually done it.

When they first came here, neither he nor Caelia had been sure they could fix the problem.

They had only hoped to find a way.

Somehow, that hope had turned into reality.

And the amount of purified Aether filling the cavern was more than enough to help both Shiro and Snow evolve.

Damon looked toward the two spirits.

Shiro was standing quietly nearby, while Snow was enjoying the surroundings with Caelia.

They had both changed during their time here.

Damon had too.

He looked back at the Zone Heart.

"There really isn’t anything left for me to do here."

Caelia looked at him.

"You sound disappointed."

"Not really."

Damon smiled.

"We came here looking for the cause of the problem. We found it, fixed what we could, and got stronger along the way."

He shrugged.

"That’s a pretty good result."

Caelia smiled.

"It is."

She looked around the cavern again.

They had spent days here.

Long days of cultivating, experimenting and trying to understand the Zone Heart.

It had slowly become familiar.

Almost comfortable.

And there was another reason the place felt special to her.

Her cheeks became slightly warm.

She remembered the kiss.

Well...

A kiss on the cheek.

That still counted, didn’t it?

Caelia smiled to herself.

"What are you thinking about?"

She didn’t answer.

Damon looked at her.

"Caelia?"

She blinked.

"Hm?"

"You’ve been staring at the same place for a while."

"I was just looking around."

"Sure."

Caelia glanced at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Damon smiled.

She was definitely hiding something.

But he didn’t push.

Instead, he stood up.

"We should head back."

Caelia nodded.

"Yeah."

It was time.

They had accomplished what they came here to do.

There were still problems waiting for them, especially Tempest Hollow, but Frostveil was no longer in immediate danger.

They could deal with the rest later.

Caelia secretly liked the idea of leaving too.

Not because she disliked the cavern.

Quite the opposite.

She simply wanted more time with Damon somewhere else.

There would be plenty of opportunities.

At least, she hoped so.

Damon turned around.

"Let’s get everyone ready."

Before he could take another step, Caelia moved closer.

Damon stopped.

She leaned toward him.

"Good job."

Her voice was quiet.

Then she kissed his other cheek.

Damon froze.

Again.

Caelia pulled away with a small smile.

Then she walked ahead.

After a few steps, she turned around.

"Let’s go."

Damon stood there for a moment.

"..."

He finally blinked.

"She really did that again."

Caelia smiled.

Damon shook his head and laughed quietly.

"She’s getting bold."

He touched his cheek for a second before lowering his hand.

Then he looked toward the spirits.

"Come on. We’re leaving."