Chapter 226: Time to Leave. Lily is being Clingy
Right in front of them, a small portal appeared. Out of it came a small, golden brown orb, radiating an intense aura.
"What-!" Forta exclaimed in shock at the appearance of the orb.
"An earth elemental essence..." Hakim muttered in shock. "How?!"
"Don’t ask too many questions. That is my gift to you for taking care of the Young Master," X’Uric said as the orb floated towards Hakim.
"Are you a prince of a kingdom?" Forta asked Bahamut in confusion, only for him to shrug.
"He’s more than a prince of some kingdom. Anyway, take the gift," X’Uric said as a blue light covered him. He jumped high and landed on the wall while shrinking. In seconds, he’d shrunk to the size of a normal dog.
"What the-!" Bahamut instantly used his system to view X’Uric’s information.
...
System Identification!
Name: X’Uric
Race: Half Chimera
Class: Tier 3 (Projected. Actual Tier is unknown)
Rank: Null
???
...
"You know... You can just ask," X’Uric said as he jumped into Bahamut’s arms.
"You’re already being cozy..." Bahamut said in a dry tone.
"We gotta bond."
...
Bahamut, Hakim, and Forta descended the wall to meet the warriors prepared for battle. Exildra, Lily, Alana, Sel, Ren, and Gabi were all down there waiting for them.
Before anyone could speak, Bahamut smiled and beckoned to the beast in his arms.
"Ladies and gentlemen. This is X’Uric." All eyes turned to the beast in confusion, only to suddenly widen in shock when they felt his aura.
"Don’t tell me that’s the Tier 3 beast!" Ren exclaimed and transformed into his humanoid form.
"You know it’s useless against me..." X’Uric said in a bored tone.
"Chill, people. He’s harmless," Bahamut said as he walked past them. "Let’s go rest now. We will leave tomorrow. Hope you took care of the rest, Sel?"
"All done. Got 30 blue orbs," Sel answered and dropped in beside him while the girls rushed after them.
"When did you do that?!" Gabi asked in confusion, and the rest shared the same confusion. They couldn’t understand what was going on.
"I have three elements... Earth, plants, and space," Sel answered.
"That doesn’t answer anything!" Ren barked.
"Are you sure?"
"..."
...
Bahamut woke up with a human-sized fox lying on him... possessively. The fox’s two tails were wrapped tightly around his legs.
"L-Lily..."
"Mm mm." Lily made a sound while shaking her large fox head. Well, she wasn’t getting up.
"Exi... Alana..." Bahamut called out to the other girls.
"I don’t know how she’s doing it, but she weighs more than a freaking mountain!" Exildra said with a cold tone.
"Lily is so cute!" Alana said with a giddy laugh.
"That’s not helping, Alana," Bahamut complained.
"I won’t leave you!" Lily muttered, tightening her grip on his body. Bahamut, despite all his strength, couldn’t push Lily off him. It could be a psychological thing or...
"I don’t want to hurt you. Get off already!"
"Mate with me!"
"Lily!" Exildra and Alana exclaimed with red faces.
"You had your time. Lemme have mine! Shoo!" Lily barked while transforming into her human form.
"This idiot!" Exildra cursed.
"Bleh!"
...
Bahamut and his team sat inside the meeting hall of the town’s chief. Hakim sat with a deadpanned face, watching Lily play with Bahamut’s hair while she sat on his lap.
The rest acted as if they couldn’t see what was going on, but for how long? No one knew. Not with Exildra’s eyes twitching.
"Cough! It seems your time here is over. Unfortunately, there’s nothing valuable we can give you after what X’Uric gave us. The most we can do is to give you a good farewell. You will also be allowed to use the teleportation circle, but it will only take you as far as the region close to the sect. There’s a small town there with a teleportation circle you can use for free once you show evidence of being Shadow Fang sect disciples."
"We appreciate it, and as for a gift, we don’t want any. We already completed all our objectives, and I even made three new companions. This is more than enough of a gift for us," Bahamut said with a smile.
Hakim stared at Bahamut silently for a few seconds before sighing deeply.
"You really are strange kids."
"That’s rude," Ren muttered while chewing on something nobody knew the origin of.
"It’s true, though," Gabi added honestly.
"Traitor," Ren hissed. Hakim ignored them and slowly stood up from his seat. The old chief looked more tired than before, but there was relief in his eyes now. Relief that Senkeht still stood. He stepped forward and placed a hand over his chest.
"On behalf of Senkeht..." his voice echoed calmly through the hall.
"Thank you." The room became quiet.
"You all arrived here as strangers." Hakim’s gaze swept across Bahamut’s team one after another. "Yet when disaster came, you fought for this town as if it were your own."
His eyes landed briefly on Bahamut.
"You saved lives." Then on Ren.
"You protected our walls." Then Sel.
"You protected our skies." Then the girls.
"And all of you carried burdens that adults much older than yourselves would fail to bear."
Even X’Uric stopped chewing whatever meat he’d stolen earlier and looked at Hakim quietly.
Forta crossed his arms and grunted.
"I still think most of you are monsters."
"Hey!" Alana protested.
"I said most."
"That doesn’t make it better!" Ren barked. A faint smile appeared on Forta’s usually stern face.
"But..." his golden eyes softened slightly.
"You are monsters worth respecting." That alone stunned several warriors nearby.
Praise from Forta, that was rarer than rain in the desert. Risa stepped forward next, her green robes flowing gently. Unlike the others, her smile carried warmth.
"When you first arrived, I worried you would bring trouble." She looked toward Bahamut knowingly.
"You did."
"Wow. Thanks," Bahamut deadpanned.
"But..." Risa continued with a soft laugh.
"You also brought hope." Her eyes drifted toward the distant town outside the meeting hall.
"The children smile again. The people laugh again. Even after all that destruction... they are hopeful." Her gaze landed on X’Uric briefly.
"And perhaps... this desert has gained a future it lacked before."
X’Uric looked away awkwardly.
"You old people get emotional too fast."
"You are literally a giant puppy," Ren replied instantly.
"I will eat you."
"You can try, dog."
"Rabbit."
"Wolf."
"Bunny."
"Mutt."
"Fluffball."
"Enough!" Hakim barked while massaging his forehead.
Meanwhile, Exildra slowly stood from her seat beside Bahamut. Her golden eyes scanned the room calmly.
"Thank you for accepting us despite the trouble we caused."
Several warriors instantly looked guilty, remembering the earlier incidents involving Tunik.
Exildra noticed and smiled slightly.
"We understand fear." Her words caused Forta’s expression to shift subtly. "Hatred, too."
Alana suddenly raised her hand enthusiastically.
"I had fun!" Everyone turned toward her. The cow-girl grinned brightly.
"I fought strong beasts, ate amazing food, met new people, and smashed a lot of things."
"That last one explains too much," Sel muttered.
"I’ll definitely come back someday!"
Several people unexpectedly smiled at that, even Hakim. Lily stood next, or rather, she remained sitting possessively on Bahamut’s lap while speaking.
"I liked the heat."
"That’s because you are a walking furnace," Ren replied.
Lily nodded proudly.
"And your fruits were nice."
Risa blinked. "Thank you?"
Sel finally stepped forward with his usual calm expression.
"We caused quite a bit of chaos here." His eyes flickered toward Bahamut and Ren meaningfully.
"A bit?" Gabi repeated.
Sel ignored him expertly.
"But despite everything... thank you for trusting us."
Then he smiled faintly.
"And thank you for not questioning too many things."
Forta snorted loudly.
"We learned quickly that asking questions around your group only leads to headaches."
"That’s wisdom right there," Ren nodded sagely.
...
A while later, the western side of Senkeht had become crowded. Word of their departure had spread quickly throughout the town. Men, women, and children gathered around the massive teleportation platform built into the stone outside the walls. Many carried gifts: food, water, clothes, and small handmade charms. Even though Bahamut’s team refused most of them, the people still tried forcing things into their hands.
"You protected us!"
"Take it!"
"At least accept this!"
"Come back someday!"
The atmosphere felt unexpectedly emotional. Bahamut stood near the teleportation circle quietly while staring at the town. The desert winds blew gently around him. Beside him stood his people, Sel, Ren, Gabi, Exildra, Alana, Lily, and now... X’Uric.
The draconic wolf sat lazily beside Bahamut while chewing on an entire roasted beast leg.
"You people are dramatic," he muttered.
"You literally threatened to cry earlier," Ren exposed instantly.
"I WAS SWEATING!"
"In your eyes?"
"Shut up."
Hakim stepped forward one last time.
"You will always be welcomed in Senkeht." Bahamut smiled slightly.
"We’ll definitely return."
"Hopefully without another war," Forta added dryly.
"No promises," Ren replied immediately.
"REN!"
The teleportation circle finally activated. Golden symbols lit across the stone platform while space itself began warping faintly around them, and the wind intensified. Several children waved excitedly.
"BYE BIG BUNNY!" Ren blinked. "I kinda like this place."
"That’s because they fed you nonstop," Sel said.
"That too."
Bahamut looked at the town one final time and smiled faintly beneath the blindfold.
"Let’s go back."
FWOOOOOOOSH!
Light swallowed them instantly, and moments later, the heroes of Senkeht vanished.
