Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!

Chapter 251: Chapter 251 - Aftermath

Letting out a deep sigh, Theo collapsed back on Feng’s back.

For a moment, he just stared up at the dark sky.

’We’re still nowhere near strong enough,’ he thought. ’I can’t even imagine what an actual A-rank would look like...’

There was one thing he was now painfully aware of, though.

The gap in strength between creatures of the same rank was insane, far higher than he’d expected.

’Every single one of that worm’s attacks was at least twice as powerful as the Ice Serpent’s frost breath...’

Closing his eyes for several long seconds, Theo gradually calmed himself down.

Despite his aching core, he pushed himself up once more.

In front of him, Lyra, Jim, and Iris all sat around Owen.

Iris held up her hands near him, a faint red mana flowing into his eyes.

’’How is he?’’ Theo asked quietly.

’’Just unconscious,’’ Jim said, glancing up. ’’But that’s as far as we know.’’

Theo nodded once.

None of them were medical professionals or had the healing element.

While Iris could use her blood element for healing, she was far too new to her affinity to perform any deep inspections.

’We’ll really have to get out of here as soon as possible,’ he thought, clenching Feng’s fur. ’I have no idea what kind of injuries he suffered from his outburst.’

His gaze lingered on Owen for several long seconds.

The blackened fingertips and dark mana were burned into his mind.

He’d never seen something like that before, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

’Just what happened to you...’ he thought.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Theo slowly lifted his head, his gaze drifting to the endless desert ahead.

’’Feng,’’ he called out quietly. ’’How much longer can you keep this up?’’

The Galehorn Unicorn remained silent for a brief moment before answering.

’’About twenty more minutes,’’ it said slowly. ’’But after that, I’ll have to return to the Summoning Space to recover.’’

Theo’s expression tightened.

’’How long will you need?’’ he asked.

’’Several hours,’’ Feng replied instantly. ’’I’ve been using purely my own stored mana to escape, which has now been completely exhausted.’’

A heavy silence fell between the two.

Theo’s expression grew far darker as he stared out over the desert once more.

’Twenty minutes to put some distance between us and that thing,’ he thought slowly. ’Let’s hope it’s enough.’

But that wasn’t all he was worried about.

Without Feng, they’d be stranded and completely unable to sense groups of creatures ahead of them.

And if that wasn’t already bad enough, both he and Owen would likely be unable to fight for a while.

Theo slowly rubbed his temples.

’Our situation isn’t looking good...’ he thought.

Even the others behind him had fallen silent, having heard slivers of their conversation.

Minute after minute passed by in silence.

Yet, the desert ground below never changed.

...

’’Contractor?’’ Feng called out lightly.

Theo slowly opened his eyes, having rested for a few minutes.

’’This is as far as I can take you,’’ it continued.

For a moment, Theo remained silent.

Then he slowly nodded.

’’I understand.’’

The Galehorn Unicorn gradually began to descend.

Its eyes swept across the surrounding desert, remaining alert as it scanned the area one final time.

’’There seem to be nearly no threatening creatures nearby,’’ it said, touching down on the ground. ’’I highly suggest resting here... no matter how dangerous it seems.’’

’’Don’t worry,’’ Theo said as he jumped off Feng’s back. ’’I was planning to rest here regardless.’’

The unicorn nodded once.

Before all of them had even climbed off, Feng rapidly started shrinking.

Within seconds, its entire body was swallowed by a swirling emerald mass.

’’Shit,’’ Jim cursed, pushing himself off the ground. ’’Couldn’t it have waited for one second longer?!’’

He brushed the sand off his body while shaking his head.

Yet, no one paid any attention to him.

Lyra and Iris were already wrapping the unconscious Owen inside another sleeping bag, while Theo had started setting up a much smaller camp.

After Owen had been wrapped up inside the sleeping bag, Iris glanced up at Theo.

’’How long are we planning to stay here?’’ she asked lightly.

’’At least until I recover,’’ Theo answered while unfurling a sleeping bag for himself. ’’But it’d be better if all of you also recovered.’’

Lyra slowly nodded.

Despite Owen’s unknown situation, she understood that traveling right now was more dangerous than anything else.

’’Push all our sleeping bags as closely together as possible,’’ she said, her voice hoarse. ’’I’ll muster up something so low-rank beasts can’t touch us.’’

Theo and the others stared at her for a moment.

Even so, they decided to listen to her anyway.

Only a moment after they’d pushed their bags together, thick vines rose from the ground all around them.

’’Since when can you do that?’’ Theo muttered, raising an eyebrow.

’’It’s my second affinity,’’ Lyra answered hoarsely. ’’I barely have any spells for it, though.’’

Theo fell silent for a moment.

Only then did he realize that he hadn’t ever actually asked her what her second affinity was.

But Lyra wasn’t done talking yet.

Her gaze shifted over to Iris, her fist clenched tightly.

’’Once we make it out of here,’’ she said slowly. ’’I’d like to take up your previous offer.’’

Iris blinked once.

For a brief moment, she simply stared at Lyra.

Then a warm smile slowly appeared on her face.

’’That’s good,’’ she said softly. ’’I’ll make sure to get you the best spells we can find.’’

Lyra nodded firmly.

Silence fell over the camp once more.

After everything they had been through that day, nobody had the energy left for another conversation.

Even Theo immediately lowered himself into his sleeping bag.

It wasn’t just his core that was aching. His entire body felt utterly exhausted from the escape.

As he lay down, he couldn’t help but stare up at the green vine ceiling above him.

’Spells, huh,’ he thought. ’Now that I think about it...’

’What the hell happened with my Chaos spell?’