I am the Only Son of Nyx

Chapter 174: Actually Meaning It

Kai rested alone with his back against the boulder.

He stared at the night sky to calm his nerves, watching the night winking at him with its stars.

Recalling his relationship with the night, he thought it was still furious at him after everything that happened with Layra and Matilda. But surprisingly, he could feel its comfort again from simply looking at it.

Seems like calling the night to help him earlier had mended their relationship.

Just that he now knew the night doesn’t want his attention on somebody else.

It didn’t take long before Dorian and Bryan returned.

And only then could Kai feel a little bit more secure—as being in an open area where anyone could suddenly appear isn’t exactly a fun experience. Had it not been for the night, he would probably be paranoidly looking around all the time.

But now that he got company, he could finally truly relax.

"Where’s Bree?" Dorian asked as he sat down. "Thought we were going to leave."

"We were about to—but she suddenly decided to hunt for me," Kai replied weakly. "You don’t need to wait for her and me. Go back to what you were doing. I can smell blood on you. You were feeding, no?"

Dorian wiped his reddish lips and nodded, "Found an Awakened Monster with blood. But I already finished feeding, and it’s hard to find another one, so I’ll pass. I’m exhausted, too, so Imma stay and take a nap.

"Bryan," He shifted his gaze to Bryan. "Keep a lookout, will you?"

"Fuck, why should I do it? I want to nap, too," Bryan complained exasperatedly.

"Kai is in no condition to keep a lookout, you fool."

"Then what about you?"

"Seniority, remember?" Dorian smirked teasingly. "You keep a lookout first, new guy."

"Fuck my whole family and me," Bryan rolled his eyes. "Don’t sleep too soundly, or you won’t hear me sneak up on you and shove my middle finger into your ass."

Hours passed.

It was going to be past midnight soon, and Bryan was still sitting a distance away, keeping his eyes peeled open despite wanting nothing more than to sleep. And with each second that passed, he was hoping that Bree would come to view.

He was more confident in Bree returning than waking Dorian up.

Even if he somehow managed to wake Dorian, there’s a big chance—that Dorian would come up with another bullshit and avoid having to get his ass up. So, Bryan kept his eyes alert for a silhouette in the distance.

"I’m too sleepy," Bryan stood up—and stretched. "Where is Bree? I thought she’s the support type since her Patron God mostly has supporting powers. What even went through her mind to go and hunt for Kai?"

Bree is a High Angel, yes, but her Patron God is not the fighting type.

She’s strong in defensive ability, which was made obvious through the encounter earlier with the Star Beast—but she has little to no ability to deal the killing blow. Hunting for her should be really hard.

And yet she went out to venture alone anyway.

Bryan shook his head, about to head back to counting rocks again and watch ants march in a straight line to a hole a few feet away, but he stopped and looked to the side again. It might be an illusion from the sleepiness, but he saw movement in the distance.

A slow, dragging shape barely visible against the deeper darkness of the Dead Range.

He pivoted on his heel to face the shape and then narrowed his eyes.

Once he realized that he wasn’t dreaming, he crossed over to where Dorian and Kai sat against the boulder with big strides. He didn’t care that the two were resting as his foot found Dorian’s boot and kicked it hard.

"Hey, wake the fuck up and take a look at this."

"Eugh... It has only been five minutes, and you’re already complaining?"

"It’s been hours, you piece of shit. Get up!"

Groggily, Dorian stretched his arms with a grunt and then rubbed his eyes. He smacked his lips a couple of times and scratched his arm, feeling itchy from sleeping on the stone, and only then raised his gaze.

He saw Bryan was pointing into the black.

"What?"

"Something is moving right there! Go and take a look at it; you have a better vision here."

"You wake me up for this? You’re probably hallucinating."

"Just take a look at it first; then you can curse me all you want if it’s really my imagination."

"Alright, alright," Dorian rose to his feet once he made sure that Bryan was being serious. He looked at where Bryan was pointing—and squinted. He had the bloodline of an Empusa, a creature of the underworld, so his eyes could easily see through the darkness.

Slowly, his eyes focused on the distant shape.

His expression shifted from irritation to shock, and his eyes went wide.

"It’s Bree!" He exclaimed.

"Bree?" Kai snapped out of his resting stupor and turned to look. "She finally came back?"

"Yeah, and you’re not going to fucking believe what she was dragging..." Dorian smirked.

Curious, Kai grabbed hold of the boulder with both hands and used his arm strength to help his legs support his body. He poked his head from the boulder and fixed on Bree—who was approaching them slowly.

Her silhouette grew more defined with each laboured step.

Even from where Kai was, he could see the sweat-plastered strands of her hair clung to her face.

Dirt streaked her arms, smeared across her clothing—and marred even her beautiful face. Yet there was no limp. No visible wound. At least, nothing Kai could see that would explain this strange, agonizing pace of her approach.

It took a moment until Kai realized why she was moving so slowly.

He gasped in shock at the sight.

Behind Bree was a translucent white membrane, which should be her imprint that could even block Kai’s attack. But this time—she wasn’t using it as a protective shield. She was treating the membrane as a sack instead.

She placed all four edges together and wrapped them around her arm and dragged it from over her shoulder.

It scraped across the stone as she pulled, and it was filled to the brim with shapes that pressed against the material visibly. Horns. Claws. Bones. The membrane strained at its seams, but it held, and Bree kept walking.

Her shoulders bowed forward, and her grip was white-knuckled around the membrane.

From the mana coming out of this membrane, Kai could already tell what she was bringing.

Even Dorian and Bryan knew.

Just earlier, when she’d implied she would push herself to hunt as many Awakened Monsters as possible, close to the five hundred mark that was requested, Kai hadn’t thought much of it. She’s only saying those words, he’d assumed.

No chance she was going to actually try.

He wouldn’t be able to amass that much, and he has many offensive capabilities.

For someone like Bree, it should simply be impossible.

So, to see her bringing this much was, quite frankly, shattering his view about her.

I know that she was hiding something—but I thought she was going to keep it up. I thought she wouldn’t use her secret to do something as measly as helping me hunt. That membrane must’ve contained a few hundred carcasses. Is she signaling to me that she’s ready to tell me the truth?

Kai quickly shook his head at the thought.

As much as he wanted that to be true, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being hasty.

Right now, he was exhausted and happy to see the haul, so his mind is not working properly.

It was best for him not to say anything, at least until he got a good rest and recovered.

Bree dropped the membrane and almost instantly, the contents spilled out freely. And it was exactly as the others expected, proof that she had gone hunting while they were lazing around under the soothing night sky.

"I’m seeing stars..." She muttered silently, and her body wobbled.

Everyone could tell that she wasn’t playing around when the scimitar slipped from her hand.

Just before she fell, Kai pushed himself to move and caught her by her waist.

Like a prince saving a princess from tripping.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Kai asked, looking into her iridescent eyes directly.

"N-No..." Bree’s cherry lips curled into a small smile—as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Just tired."

Assuming that she had been hunting and fighting Awakened Monsters the moment she left— which was hours ago—it wasn’t a surprise to find her exhausted like this. In fact, it was even a miracle that she could bring back her hunting trophies before passing out.

"Get some rest... I’ll keep you safe while you sleep."

"Okay..."

Seeing the sight of Kai holding Bree by the waist and murmuring softly to her made Dorian’s eye twitch. He stared, unwilling to accept the evidence before him. "You absolute bastard. You could barely stand minutes ago, and now you’ve got the strength to catch her before we even moved?!"

"Eugh... I’m going to throw up," Bryan clutched his stomach nauseously. "Seeing a couple in good terms, lovey-dovey, is making me sick."

Hearing their complaints snapped Kai out of his daze, forcing him to blink back to himself.

He realized what he was doing and quickly cleared his throat and gently guided Bree to rest against the boulder, on the spot where he was seconds ago. She was slick with sweat from top to bottom, and the night air was already cooling.

A bit worried that she might be feeling cold, Kai took off his blazer and draped it over her.

Using it like a blanket.

It’s the only thing he can do since they were in the Dead Range right now.

Nothing but stone can be found here.

"Alright, Leander. We get it. Above being a cold-blooded assassin with a hallucination issue, you’re also a romance. We get it." Dorian crossed his arms and sneered. "Are you going to kiss her goodnight now? In fact, kiss each of her eyes to make it more romantic."

"Shut up," Kai rebutted as he stood back up again. "You’re just jealous."

"I’m not jealous that you’re now closer with her!"

"I meant you’re jealous that you don’t have someone! I’m not implying that you are jealous over me."

"O-Oh... Right, my bad."

"Wait a minute," Bryan looked at Dorian—with actual curiosity in his eyes. "Are you actually gay? I thought it was some kind of inside joke."

"I’m not gay!" Dorian refuted and walked away, embarrassed about the situation.

Particularly at what he said to Kai.

"Okay, we’re getting fucking side-tracked," Bryan clapped his hands and then looked at Kai. "How are we going to get back at this rate? You’re going to melt those things to darkness, but we’ll still be stuck here, and we got classes tomorrow."

"Huh?" Kai tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? I meant our driver is exhausted! She’s the only one who can ride that large beast."

"Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that."