Chapter 1279 - 1280: A New Life

Eventually, Damon became too scared to look. He didn’t want to search anymore. What if... what if he found the body of someone he knew, someone he cared about?

He was losing his mind, and right now, he knew the only thing keeping him sane was Ric. He was forcing himself to keep moving and remain hopeful because he had a dependent who needed him. Damon had to be someone Ric could depend upon, and so he kept going.

He moved across the different landmasses scattered throughout this ruined landscape. There were many ways to die here, but most people had been killed by the world itself. Another portion had been killed simply by entering this world.

This world was cold, and it was dead. It desired to kill any living thing that entered it. It was chaotic, without order or safety.

Even spreading his Shadow Perception here was dangerous and hurt his mind, thanks to the strange forces at play. Occasionally, pieces of Aetherus’s world fell down here, and each one was a calamity that brought destruction...

Days passed, and Damon continued onward. Then he heard the sounds of battle. His eyes perked up, and even with the risk to himself and Ric, he spread his wings and flew into the sky, or something resembling it in this world.

On another broken landmass, he found people fighting. Damon saw one of the first Outsider corpses, along with the bodies of many others in the Seventh Class. A woman was fighting a swarm of butterflies the size of houses. She had just slain the last one and was now on her knees, struggling to catch her breath.

Damon landed and rushed toward her the moment he saw her.

His sudden approach must have made her guard go up, because she unleashed a red torrent of magic at him. Damon immediately turned his back to protect Ric, his back getting scorched by the destruction magic.

He bounced a few times on the ground and slid toward the edge with a groan.

"Ric, are you okay, buddy?"

Ric nodded, looking around. At this point, the boy had seen his fair share of horrors.

"I’m fine. You should worry more about yourself, Master."

"Yeah, you’re right."

Damon stood up, brushing himself off as he looked at the woman. Her face was sharper than he remembered, and she was much colder, but the moment she saw his face, her expression changed.

"Damon," she whispered before jumping into his arms.

"You’re alive. You’re alive," she whispered again and again, holding him tightly as if she were afraid he might disappear if she let go.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Damon was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he could barely speak. Only his hands kept trembling as he held her.

This woman was, naturally, Abellona. She eventually loosened her embrace, realizing they had nearly crushed Ric between them.

She looked at him, then placed her hand on his head.

"Oh, it’s little Godric. I’m glad you’re okay too."

"It’s Ric," he said calmly. "You can call me Ric."

She nodded, taking a deep, heavy breath. Damon’s eyes widened as he finally took a proper look at her.

"You... what... how? You... you’re big."

Abellona tilted her head, then glanced down at her stomach, where there was a large bulge.

"Yes, that happens when you’re pregnant."

Damon was so shocked and confused that he could barely process her words. Then he realized something.

"Wait, how long have you been in this world?"

She touched her stomach and frowned.

"Several months. It’s the time difference. Time doesn’t make sense here. Actually, not many things do."

Abellona took a deep breath. Her hair was wet, with bloodstains clinging to it. She placed her hand on her stomach and looked at him.

"I was worried you were dead."

She fell quiet for a moment, her fingers gently stroking the curve of her belly.

"I was worried we would both be."

Then she smiled at Damon.

"Look, our baby has grown so big. I can’t even wear armor anymore... Do you want to feel?"

She gestured toward her stomach. Damon lowered his head, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from him. Slowly, he reached out his hand and touched her stomach, feeling the warm life force of the baby inside. Then a soft kick pressed against his palm.

"We have quite a playful one. Always kicking. I wonder where he gets that from. Or maybe it’s a she. We’ll just have to wait and see," she whispered.

Damon was quiet, his head lowered and his hand still resting on her stomach.

Abellona had expected a Damon-like reply, but he said nothing, only biting his lip.

"You know, I expected you to say something along the lines of, ’Why would I want to touch the creepy little parasite growing in your belly?’ Then I would say our baby isn’t a parasite, and then you would go into a nonsensical argument about how babies are parasites that leech off their mothers for nine months and are born really ugly until they reach their cuteness phase or something along those lines."

Damon could tell she was trying very hard to comfort him.

"Right. I would say that... You really know me well."

He pulled her into his arms.

Few things were left for him, and he was scared to lose them.

Was this child his own? Ranar would have a little brother or sister. Damon couldn’t hold it in anymore, and tears fell from his eyes.

His Ranar had been taken by Unknown. The Unknown God had said the only purpose of her birth was to serve as a vessel for him. Damon’s daughter was just a tool in his schemes, and Damon couldn’t even protect her.

Holding Abellona in his arms, he felt more helpless than he had ever felt before, yet more hopeful than ever. He wanted to laugh, and he wanted to cry.

And so he needed to end this, for himself and for those he cared about.

Damon had started with nothing. He had gained everything. Now he had to fight to protect it.