Chapter 381: LILA AWAKENS
The chamber was dim, its walls faintly glowing with runes that pulsed in rhythm with the mana veins of Eldoria. Soft light from a suspended crystal lantern spilled over the bed where Lila lay, her pale skin almost translucent against the sheets. Her eyelashes fluttered before her eyes slowly opened—dull at first, then sharpening with awareness.
Her breathing quickened. The first thing she felt was the unfamiliar weight of stillness. No battle. No screams. No rush of hybrid claws tearing through the air. Only silence, punctuated by the faint hum of mana.
Lila tried to sit upright but pain lanced through her chest, forcing her back down. A groan slipped past her lips.
A gentle hand pressed to her shoulder.
"Don’t push yourself." Neana’s voice carried calm authority, though her face bore visible fatigue. Her arm was still bound in layers of healing cloth, the injury from her clash with the with the Celestials and the hybrids leaving her pale, yet her eyes gleamed with composed steadiness.
Lila blinked, lips trembling as words finally burst out.
"W–where... where am I? How did I get here?." Her voice was strained, hoarse, but behind it was urgency. "What happened? The hybrids—those creatures—the Celestials... they were chasing me. Did they... did they get through?!"
Charlotte, who had been standing stiffly at the bedside, immediately leaned in. Her eyes glistened with tears she had been forcing back. "Lila..." she whispered, brushing a strand of hair from the girl’s forehead. "You’re safe. You’re in Eldoria now. You’ve been unconscious for days."
But Lila shook her head violently, ignoring the dizziness. "Safe? No... no, I remember—the sky tearing apart, the very laws in the land being rewritten—those monsters! What happened to them? What happened to the Celestials hunting us?!"
Neana’s voice broke through, steady and patient. She placed her hand over Lila’s trembling one.
"Calm yourself, child. You are not dreaming. You were saved. The hybrids are now extinct due to my men’s and the Elves doing. And as for the Celestials, they retreated for an unknown reason as soon as we got into the Eldoria territory."
Lila froze, her lips parting as if to protest, but no words came. Her mind raced, replaying fragments of memory she couldn’t piece together.
Her eyes darted frantically, searching for the one answer that mattered most.
"And Kaelen?" she breathed, her voice cracking. "Where is he? i haven’t seen him for a long time now, I thought you were with him? Hope he is still alive?"
The question hung like a blade over the room.
Neana exhaled slowly, her expression tightening. Her silence lasted just long enough to make Lila’s heart sink, but then she spoke with grave sincerity.
"Kaelen lives. But at this moment, I don’t have a clue about his whereabouts and his wellbeing. All I know is that he left my homeland and set out with the others to the Aether of Crucible."
Charlotte’s throat tightened at Neana’s words, but she forced herself to nod, gripping Lila’s hand. "He’s alive, Lila. That’s what matters."
Tears welled in Lila’s eyes, a mix of relief and fear. Alive. But changed. The words gnawed at her chest.
It was then that the door creaked open. Drake entered with slow, deliberate steps, his presence heavy with exhaustion yet still sharp. Bandages wrapped his forearm, and his usually pristine military attire was replaced by simple robes of recovery. His gaze softened when it fell on Lila awake at last.
"You’ve returned to us," he said, his voice low but carrying. "You had us all worried."
"Who are you?" Lila hurriedly asked as her gaze landed on Drake as he entered the room. "He is currently the Commander of the human forces left, and also the head of the Grey family" Charlotte answered almost immediately. "But the one you might feel comfortable with is that he is Morris elder brother"
After hearing Charlotte out, Lila quickly turned her head back to him, her lips trembling. "Morris elder brother... please. Tell me it’s true. Tell me Kaelen is truly alive."
Drake’s jaw tightened. His silence stretched, but his eyes betrayed the weight of what he had seen.
"...He is alive," he finally said, firm and unyielding. "But at the moment, we don’t know about his wellbeing along with the people that are with him"
Lila closed her eyes, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks, her hand tightening around Charlotte’s as if clinging to the only certainty left in her world.
The room sank into a fragile stillness. Outside, the heartbeat of Eldoria continued, yet within that chamber, everything narrowed to one truth: Kaelen was alive—but changed forever
The sound of Lila’s breathing was still slightly uneven, though her face had regained a measure of color. Neana and Charlotte had thought the girl might need more time to rest, but the spark of restlessness in her eyes told a different story.
"I can’t just lie here any longer," Lila muttered suddenly, swinging her legs off the side of the bed. "Kaelen is still out there, and if you think I’m going to wait while he faces everything alone, you’re wrong."
Charlotte’s eyes widened. "Lila, you only just woke up. Your body hasn’t even fully—"
"I don’t care about my body," Lila cut in sharply, her voice trembling with emotion. "If Kaelen is in danger, then I need to be there with him. I have to be."
Neana, seated at her side, reached forward and placed a steadying hand on her arm. "Child, listen to yourself. You’ve barely recovered. If you force yourself now, you’ll only become a burden. You must trust in him and in your comrades."
But Lila shook her head stubbornly, her silvery eyes glinting with fierce resolve. "No. You don’t understand. He’s more than just a comrade. If anything were to happen to him because I wasn’t there—" She clenched her fists tightly, her voice breaking. "I won’t let that happen. I’d rather die at his side than hide here waiting."
Charlotte and Neana exchanged a worried glance. For all their protests, they could see it—Lila was utterly set on this path. Drake, who had entered moments earlier and leaned silently against the doorframe, let out a slow sigh.
"You really are his shadow, just as the Pacesetters Pillars said" he murmured, half-admiring, half-exasperated. "But even shadows need strength before they chase the light."
Lila opened her mouth to argue again—but suddenly, her body froze.
A sharp gasp tore from her lips as she doubled over, clutching her chest, her entire frame trembling violently. It was as if something invisible and merciless had reached into her very bones. Her seer’s bloodline reacted violently, sending shockwaves of pain deep into her marrow.
"Lila!" Charlotte rushed to hold her shoulders.
Her eyes flared with silver light, almost too bright to look at, as sweat poured down her pale skin. "Something’s... coming," she managed through clenched teeth, her voice almost not her own. "A divine... power... it’s—"
The room’s air grew heavy, pressing against their lungs as if even the world itself feared what drew near.
Neana’s expression darkened, her fingers tightening on her staff. "So soon...? We haven’t even got enough rest yet."
Drake’s jaw clenched, his usual composure breaking with a flicker of unease. "If her bloodline is reacting like this, then we may be dealing with something far beyond Celestials or Hybrids."
Even Charlotte, who was always quick to act, felt her confidence waver for the first time. What kind of enemy could stir a divine resonance in a Seer’s bloodline?
But before the dread could sink its claws any deeper into them, the door to the chamber burst open.
A soldier stood there, panting as though he had sprinted the whole way—but his face was glowing with excitement rather than fear.
"Lord Drake! Lady Charlotte! Lady Neana!" the young man exclaimed breathlessly. "They’ve returned! Sir Kaelen and the others—they’ve made it back!"
The heavy silence in the chamber shattered like glass.
Charlotte’s lips parted in shock. Neana’s grim eyes softened. And as for Lila—her tears, born from both pain and relief, spilled freely down her cheeks.
"How sure are you of this?" Drake quickly asked just to make sure he might not be mistaken.
"Am sure if it my Lord, I saw them from the watchtower as they were coming here with full speed along with three unfamiliar people behind them."
"Three unfamiliar people?" Drake asked with a confused look on his face. "Yes, a first saw a girl that strangely looks like Lady Neana here with a dark presence closely following her from behind. Then are saw two people that there mere presence was making the air around them to tremble"
"The girl he just described must be my granddaughter with her pet Voidcloak that I told you about. I told her she should follow them in their endeavors from here on out. Since she is here, then that means the group now coming must be Kaelen and the others"
"Then what about the people that he said their mere presence makes the air tremble?" Charlotte quickly asked with a curious look on her face. "That.... I don’t know who they are" Neana answered honestly as she shook her head.
"Well then, the only way to confirm who they are is by meeting them" Drake suddenly said as he prepared to leave the room to go meet them.