Chapter 79: A Well Deserved Rest

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: A Well Deserved Rest

Want to try that one again?

Damon grinned.

"I was thinking the same thing."

He lowered his stance.

Lightning wrapped around his arm before flowing into the spear.

Wind gathered beneath his feet.

His muscles tightened.

Then...

He threw.

BOOOOM!!

The spear vanished.

Not just flew. it vanished.

It became a streak of silver lightning that tore across the battlefield faster than anyone’s eyes could follow.

"Lightning Art... Heavenly Thunderfall!"

The spear landed in the exact center of the charging horde.

Silence.

Then...

KRAAAAAAAK!!!

A pillar of lightning erupted into the sky.

The spear became the center of a violent storm.

Countless bolts exploded outward in every direction.

Boom!

Boom!

BOOOOM!!

Every beast within dozens of meters was struck at the same time.

Some were blown apart instantly.

Others froze where they stood before collapsing one after another.

The snow melted.

The ground cracked.

Even the air smelled of lightning.

When the light finally faded...

Nothing remained standing.

Sylphie blinked.

"...Cri?"

She looked around.

There wasn’t a single survivor left for her to finish.

She puffed her cheeks and looked at Damon with clear disappointment.

You took them all...

Damon scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"...Sorry."

"I got carried away."

The spear suddenly shot back toward him.

WHOOOSH!

He caught it effortlessly without even looking.

Freya giggled proudly through their bond.

That was amazing!

"It really was."

He nodded honestly.

"That’s definitely one to keep."

Only then did Damon notice something.

Everyone...

Absolutely everyone was staring at him.

The guards.

The elders.

The young geniuses.

Even Caelia.

Not one person spoke.

"..."

"...Did I overdo it?"

Freya remained quiet.

Sylphie slowly looked away.

Neither of them intended to answer that question.

Damon sighed.

"Traitors."

He walked toward Caelia with an awkward smile, pretending not to notice the dozens of stunned eyes following him.

Stopping in front of her, he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So..."

He glanced behind her at the reinforcement team.

"...You’re back with reinforcement."

His eyes drifted across the silent battlefield before returning to her.

"I guess..."

"...they weren’t really needed anymore."

Caelia was still staring at Damon.

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

He had said it so casually.

You’re back with reinforcement.

As if he hadn’t just cleared most of the battlefield by himself.

Behind her, the Winterbourne geniuses were having an even harder time accepting what had happened.

For the first time in their lives, they had arrived at a battlefield and felt completely unnecessary.

One of them quietly lowered his weapon.

"I don’t think he needed us."

Another glanced at the mountain of corpses.

"I know."

"...That’s the problem."

Damon noticed the strange silence.

He looked between them before deciding not to make things worse.

"So..."

He turned back to Caelia.

"How are things on the other sides?"

Caelia finally snapped out of it.

"Oh."

She quickly composed herself.

"They’re under control."

She glanced at the battlefield.

"And that’s mostly because of you."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Me?"

"You relieved almost all the pressure here."

She paused.

"The others can handle what’s left now."

Damon nodded.

"Good."

He wasn’t interested in receiving praise for it.

What mattered was that the situation had stabilized.

Caelia seemed to notice that too.

She looked toward the others, then back at Damon.

There was something else in her expression.

Concern.

Damon understood without needing to ask.

Too many people had already seen what he could do.

And the more people who knew, the harder it would be for her to keep his strength from spreading through the family.

He didn’t mind.

But there was no reason to make things harder for her either.

Caelia quickly spoke.

"You should rest."

"I can have a room prepared for you."

Damon looked at her for a moment before nodding.

"That sounds good."

He stretched his arms.

"I wasn’t planning on fighting another hundred beasts immediately anyway."

Caelia almost smiled.

"You say that like you didn’t just spend the last several minutes doing exactly that."

Damon shrugged.

"They came to me."

"...That’s your excuse?"

"It’s a pretty good one."

She couldn’t help but laugh quietly.

Damon smiled.

He was tired anyway.

The time between each wave had already increased, and the number of beasts coming out had dropped considerably.

The assault was probably coming to an end.

At least for now.

Until they discovered what was actually causing it.

That was the important part.

Damon didn’t want to waste his strength before then.

Keeping a few trump cards hidden was always better than showing everything.

"Alright."

He looked at Caelia.

"I’ll take the rest."

"Good."

She called for head of the servants.

"Prepare a guest room for him."

"Yes, Miss."

Damon followed the servant as she led him away.

Before leaving, he looked back.

"Good luck."

Caelia nodded.

"You too."

Damon smiled.

"I’ll be sleeping."

She stared at him.

"...Right."

He waved before leaving.

As he walked away, he glanced back one more time.

Caelia had already taken command.

Another group of beasts had arrived, but the situation was nothing like before.

The Winterbourne family had it handled.

So Damon relaxed.

Good. Now he could finally rest.

*****

Far away from the Winterbourne Mansion...

Several figures stood inside a dark room.

A scout had just finished his report.

"The Winterbourne family survived."

Silence.

Then a fist slammed against the table.

"Again?"

The scout lowered his head.

"Yes."

"They managed to stabilize the attack."

A bitter expression appeared on one man’s face.

"We were certain this would be the breaking point."

Another man leaned against the wall.

"It should have been."

The plan had been simple.

The beasts would overwhelm the Winterbourne family.

Their resources would be exhausted.

Their strongest fighters would be injured or killed.

And eventually, the family would have no choice but to retreat.

But once again... they had survived.

And there was another problem.

"Their daughter returned."

The room became quiet before someone finally spoke.

"Caelia?"

"Yes."

"She disappeared for days."

"And now she’s back."

The scout hesitated.

"She also brought someone with her."