Chapter 340: From the Ravine

He looked down below him, where soldiers worked through the aftermath. A few cast glances his way now and then, some with awe, others with unease. He couldn’t blame them.

They had all seen the way the larger demon’s spell had been split in two, the way Kurogoroshi had cleaved through bodies as if they were wet paper, the way the lesser demons had recoiled from the blade before they even understood why they were afraid.

If he had been standing in their place, with their pitiful levels, watching someone else do all that, he probably would have been uneasy too.

"You’re not sleeping?"

Elion didn’t turn immediately. He already knew who it was from the footsteps, and now he could sense a particular presence with his perception as long as he spent enough time around said person.

Ambient mana held the same pure signature, but once it entered a person’s body, it would conform to their signature, becoming tainted by their presence in a way, and he had only recently noticed that his passive perception was now deep enough to feel such things.

"Neither are you," he finally said.

Perhaps Alexander had been the busiest person after the battle concluded, while Elion had been the most laid back. He didn’t help with the cleanup, and of course, no one dared to question why.

Alexander climbed up onto the wall beside him with far more effort than he would have liked to admit, then sat down a short distance away, letting out a quiet breath once he was settled.

His silver armour had been cleaned in the most basic sense, but dried blood still stained part of one sleeve, and his expression looked heavier than it had before the attack.

"I have reports to review," Alexander said. "And messages to send."

"Sounds boring."

"It is."

"Then why are you here?"

Alexander looked out toward the dark forest. "Because if I stare at one more casualty list tonight, I might throw the table out of the tent."

Elion gave a faint smile. "That would be very kingly of you."

"My father would do it."

"Exactly."

Alexander went quiet for a moment, then clicked his tongue. "That is not as comforting as you think."

Elion chuckled softly, but the humour faded quickly as his gaze lowered toward the demon corpses outside the wall. "How many?"

Alexander knew what he meant. "Twelve dead. Thirty-one injured. Four critically. Most of the civilians are safe, but one of the outer tents collapsed during the blast. A few people were hurt."

Elion nodded slowly.

"That would have been much worse without you," Alexander added after a moment.

"Maybe."

"No maybe," Alexander said firmly. "It would have been. That caster would have broken the second pillar, the wall would have failed, and once that larger demon got inside..." He didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t need to.

Elion’s fingers tapped lightly against Kurogoroshi’s scabbard. "They still got what they wanted."

Alexander looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"They tested your response, they saw the checkpoint strength, the wall formation, the command structure, and maybe even how fast messages go out. They also confirmed something else."

"What?"

Elion finally turned his head slightly. "That I’m here."

Alexander’s expression tightened.

"The moment that big one came out, it called me a hero," Elion continued. "Not human or anything like that, bero. That means someone told it, or it already knew what to look for."

Alexander was silent.

Elion smiled without much humour. "So much for secrecy."

"It doesn’t necessarily mean they know the operation," Alexander said, though his tone made it clear he was trying to convince himself as much as Elion. "The existence of the heroes is not secret. Your actions on the Northern and Eastern Fronts were already being talked about. A demon commander hearing about you is not impossible."

"True."

"But you don’t believe that."

"I believe demons aren’t stupid," Elion said simply. "And I believe this attack happened too conveniently."

Alexander rubbed a hand over his face, fatigue finally bleeding through his composed mask. "I was thinking the same thing."

"That’s rare coming from you."

Alexander gave him a side glare. "Do not start."

Elion raised both hands slightly. "I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

"I was."

Alexander sighed, but this time there was no real heat in it. For a while, the two simply sat there under the night sky while the camp slowly moved around them.

The stars were faint behind drifting clouds, and the second moon from the festival was gone now, leaving only the familiar single moon hanging quietly above the dark world.

After a long silence, Alexander spoke again.

"Elion."

"Hm?"

"You said earlier that when plans go wrong, people either adapt or die."

"I did."

"Do you really think it will go wrong?"

Elion looked toward the forest. "Yes."

Alexander’s jaw tightened slightly, but he did not look surprised.

"I don’t know how," Elion continued. "I don’t know when. But it will. Plans that involve this many powerful people, this much movement, and this much at stake always go wrong somewhere. Maybe a small part, maybe the whole thing, but something will happen, hopefully whatever happens ends up going in our favour."

"So you don’t know, and yet you’re still going."

"Of course."

Alexander looked at him deeply. "Why?"

Elion frowned faintly, as if the question itself was strange. "Because I have to."

"That’s not an answer."

"It is."

"No, it’s not."

Elion looked down at the sword on his lap. "If I run away because something might go wrong, then what’s the point of getting stronger? What’s the point of having all this power if I only use it when the odds look convenient?"

Alexander studied him silently.

Elion shrugged lightly. "Besides, it’s not like I’m doing this out of pure virtue. I want my rewards. I want to get out of this trial. I want to go home. And if finishing this operation gets me closer to that, then I’ll do what I have to do."

There it was again.

That strange word.

Trial.

Alexander had heard Elion use it a few times now, but it always carried a different weight than expected. He didn’t say Haven, or the battlefield, and home certainly did not mean the world around them.

Somewhere else. Somewhere the prince could not see. Alexander wanted to ask about it, but something in Elion’s expression told him not to.

So he simply nodded.

"Then I suppose we adapt," Alexander said quietly.

Elion smiled faintly. "Look at you. Learning already."

Alexander’s eyes narrowed. "Do not ruin the moment."

"I would never."

"You always do."

Before Elion could respond, footsteps approached from below, hurried but not panicked. Darin climbed up the ladder onto the wall and saluted Alexander quickly.

"Your Highness."

Alexander straightened slightly. "Report."

Darin’s face was grave. "The scouts returned. They found traces beyond the northern ridge. The demons came through a hidden route in the lower ravine. It looks like they avoided the main road entirely."

Alexander’s brows drew together. "How far does the ravine stretch?"