Chapter 331: Chapter 331: The Final Phase[5]
And after Jax was done staring at the sword and the boots that had appeared in his hands he spotted Claude, Astrid’s father, walking toward him through the dungeon gate chamber.
He turned to the girls quickly and said. "Listen, don’t tell anyone about the dungeon and the mission for now as our deeds out there can throw us in a lot of trouble if they find out we were the ones responsible for centuries of wars and bloodshed. So just say the dungeon malfunctioned and threw us into a high-tier mission for now before we come up with a proper story."
Only Lavinia nodded among them and before Jax could say anything to the rest Claude had already reached them. So he turned and said. "I am sorry, Sir Aleris, for dragging you into our mess. I am aware that our disappearance would have caused some headaches from the academy to you as you own this place. But the thing is we were forced by some unknown factors or a glitch within the dungeon that made—"
Claude scanned his ruined body and completely ignored his explanation as he turned to his butler with visible worry on his face. "Call the healers fast. Also don’t inform the academy or others about their return for now."
Seeing Claude in such a worried and unguarded state made the girls confused because he was acting completely strange from the cold calculating business tycoon they had heard about.
Claude caught their confused stares and calmed himself before speaking. "Save your excuses, Professor. I do not care about the dungeon’s malfunctions. I do not care about whatever rewards you found in there. And I certainly do not give a damn about the academy’s response."
His voice carried something much heavier than his usual authority as he said. "I am here because of my foolish daughter."
He gestured toward a corner of the chamber where Astrid was sleeping on the cold stone floor with nothing beneath her. Then he leaned close and spoke in a voice low enough that only Jax could hear.
"She hasn’t touched a single bite of food nor has she moved from this spot since the moment she realized you hadn’t returned. I had no choice but to stay here to watch over her, barring the doors and completely ignoring the academy’s demands to enter."
He added with pain hidden behind every word. "You have no idea what she—"
Before he could complete that Astrid’s eyes opened slowly and the moment her gaze caught sight of Jax she first rubbed her eyes with innocence as if confirming that this wasn’t just another dream she would wake up crying from.
And when the image didn’t disappear she walked trembling toward him with a joy that lit up her entire face for a few seconds before the bloody and ruined condition of his body registered in her mind and rewired everything.
She hugged Jax tightly while he did his best to stand on his feet and show no sign of the weakness that was eating him from inside. She cried on his chest in front of everyone without caring about who was watching or what they were thinking.
Jax tried to calm her down by showing the boots in his hand. "Hey Astrid, look what I got for you. It’s some SSS item that will allow you to float in the air or walk on anything. Isn’t it great?"
She didn’t look at the boots. She looked straight into his eyes and glared at him with an anger that said those boots could go straight to hell.
He tried once more. "I know it doesn’t look cool but—"
Astrid interrupted with a voice still wet from crying but already burning with fury. "Don’t even try to change the subject."
Jax sighed and cleared her teary face with his hands. "It was nothing really. The dungeon just malfunctioned and dragged us into a dangerous world. It was a tough mission but we handled it."
Astrid’s anger didn’t move an inch from her face as she said. "Then why are you the only one injured? Wasn’t this supposed to be a test for them?"
She gave a deadly stare to the girls standing behind him and every one of them was stunned at the scene happening in front of their eyes.
First it was Claude acting like a worried father towards Jax which opened the bridge to confusion and questions and now it was Astrid who was going way too far to mess with their minds.
Astrid added while pointing directly at Lavinia. "And why is this one not having a single speck of dust on her clothes?"
Before Jax could even open his mouth to form an explanation Astrid shouted with a volume that made every person in the chamber flinch. "ALBERT!"
And as she said that name the commander of her army walked toward them with the posture of a soldier who had learned the hard way that questioning Astrid’s orders was a career choice with a very short lifespan.
She said while keeping her eyes locked on Lavinia. "Albert, bring me her head."
All Albert could do was give a panicked nod and say. "As you wish, milady."
And with that he started walking toward Lavinia while throwing desperate side-eye glances at Claude silently begging him to do something about this situation before it turned into an international incident for them as well as for himself.
As Albert knew Lavinia belonged to a terrifyingly powerful family, with a sister who was a Head Professor literally known as "The Maniac."
He was at a total dead end. If he actually killed the girl, he was a dead man. If he refused the order... well, he was still a dead man, just few moments sooner.
Albert had been used as a killing genie for Astrid for quite some time now and even just yesterday he had to physically knock out several academy faculty members and guards who were refusing to obey her commands and packed them back to academy.
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[ A/N: Golden tickets rolling in from Ordici_T, Outsxder, Albas_Avlord3647, redwolf86, Littleboy18794, S0aplag00n and Nick207, thank you all 🙏🔥
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