Chapter 68: Chapter 68 – Unexpected...
The golem took a step forward, and the ground trembled beneath its weight. Adam tried to move, tried to do something, anything that could give the group a few more seconds of time.
But as soon as his body tried to respond, he felt something change inside him.
The adrenaline that had kept him standing until now vanished all at once.
It was as if someone had opened a gate and let all the remaining energy escape from his body.
His vision clouded instantly, his sight turned blurry, and an intense dizziness hit him so hard that his legs simply stopped supporting him.
He fell to the ground without being able to stop it, his cheek striking the cold stone as the world spun around him.
’No... not now...’
Nox was working too fast on his leg, channeling all his energy into the healing, and the process was draining the last reserves Adam had left.
It was a cruel irony: the very magic that was healing him was also leaving him completely defenseless.
He heard hurried footsteps approaching, and then felt someone grab him under the arms.
The movement sent a wave of pain through his injured leg, but he didn’t have the strength to complain.
He could only let himself be dragged while whoever had picked him up ran back toward where the rest of the group was.
"I’ve got him!" Fernis’s voice reached his ears, distorted by the ringing that filled his head. "He’s bad, really bad!"
Adam felt his back hit something solid, probably the cave wall, and then the movement stopped.
He blinked several times trying to focus his sight, but everything remained a blur of shapes and shadows.
The only thing he could distinguish clearly were the voices of his companions, which sounded more desperate with every passing second.
"What do we do now?" Gareth asked with a clear tremor in his tone. "That thing is going to kill all of us if we don’t—"
"I know!" Sophia interrupted, and for the first time since he had known her, Adam could hear real panic in her voice. "But we have almost no mana, we have no weapons, and he’s... he’s..."
"Unconscious," Fernis finished bitterly. "Or almost. And Lihua too."
Adam wanted to tell them that he was still awake, that he could hear them, but his mouth refused to form words.
The only thing he could do was fight against the darkness threatening to drag him under, clinging to consciousness with every ounce of will he had left.
’Nox, stop,’ he tried to communicate with his companion. ’I need to stay awake...’
But the little dragon didn’t stop. He kept working on his leg with the same intensity as before, as if he knew the wound was far too serious to leave half-finished.
Meanwhile, Adam listened to his companions’ conversation as if it were coming from very far away.
They talked about escape options, possible routes, whether they could carry two unconscious people while fleeing.
But every idea was discarded as quickly as it appeared, because they all required something they didn’t have: time.
’If I were in better condition...’ Adam thought with bitter irony. ’I could distract that thing while they escape.’
The idea almost seemed funny in his current state. Him, playing the role of the sacrificial hero, giving his life so a group of people he barely knew could survive.
It wasn’t his style, of course, but at least he would have gained something from it. Favors, debts, useful connections for the future—of course, if he didn’t die in the process.
You always had to take advantage of every situation, even the most desperate ones.
But now that he could barely keep his eyes open, that option didn’t even exist.
’How pathetic,’ he mocked himself. ’I can’t even die in a useful way.’
The trembling of the ground told him the golem was still advancing. Each step of the beast made the stones beneath his body vibrate, and even though he couldn’t see it, he knew exactly what was happening.
The creature was approaching slowly, savoring the moment, preparing its final attack against prey that could no longer defend itself.
"It’s coming this way," Sophia murmured with a broken voice. "It’s... it’s aiming something..."
"Everyone together!" Fernis shouted as he stepped in front of the group. "If we’re going to die, at least—!"
But he didn’t finish the sentence.
Because at that instant, something crossed the chamber at an impossible speed to follow. Adam barely managed to perceive a dark blur crossing his field of vision before hearing the impact.
A dull, brutal blow, followed by the golem’s roar of pain and the thunderous crash of its body slamming against the far wall.
The shockwave raised a cloud of dust that covered the entire room, and Adam had to close his eyes to protect himself.
The wind generated by the impact whistled in his ears for several seconds, and when everything calmed down, an absolute silence had replaced the previous chaos.
"What...?" Gareth’s voice sounded completely lost. "What the hell was that?"
Adam tried to open his eyes again, but his vision was still a disaster.
He could only hear his companions murmuring among themselves, just as confused as he was about what had just happened.
And then he heard footsteps.
They came from the cave entrance, slow and steady, with a cadence that conveyed absolute confidence.
Each step echoed off the stone walls, drawing closer and closer to the group with a calm that felt almost insulting given the situation.
"It’s..." Sophia murmured, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence. "Is that...?"
"It can’t be," Fernis added in disbelief. "What is he doing here?"
"Thank the gods," Gareth murmured, relief in his tone. "We’re saved... we’re really saved..."
Adam frowned as he tried to understand who had arrived. Judging by his companions’ reactions, it had to be someone important. Someone powerful.
Someone who could make three exhausted and terrified nobles suddenly feel safe.
The figure stopped a few meters from the group, and although Adam couldn’t see him clearly, he could make out his silhouette against the light coming from the entrance.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, with something floating around him that seemed to be... a staff?
Then the figure spoke, his voice echoing through the entire chamber with a tone that mixed amusement and irony.
"So this is what you do when you’re left alone?" The words reached Adam’s ears clearly. "Honestly, I expected more from you. Though I suppose getting into trouble is a tradition among the students of this academy."
The figure began walking again, approaching the group at a slow pace. The staff floating around him spun lazily, emanating a faint glow that illuminated the newcomer’s face.
And even though Adam’s vision was still blurry, even though he could barely keep his eyes open, he recognized that voice instantly.
He had heard it several times, after all. It was the voice that had scolded him when he was a child—or rather, the original Adam.
’Dorian.’
His older brother was here.
And as the darkness threatened to drag him into unconsciousness, Adam couldn’t help but feel a strange mixture of relief and irritation.
Because he knew that when all of this was over, Dorian was not going to let him forget that he had needed to be rescued.
He never let him forget anything.
