Matter-of-factly, Northern had expected her to turn down his offer to go back home. Based on the steady pattern of her fierce reactions since the first day of their troubled meeting, he suspected she would do the opposite-defiance had become her nature.
He could have scolded her for her brute, unreasonable behavior. But exhaustion weighed on his body, and he found no reason to waste the effort. Even after witnessing the bitter acerbity of battle, she remained stubborn.
What little effect would his words have now?
Instead, he focused his remaining energy on carving a path forward.
With Gareon gone, the battered caravan had lost its leader, yet they still had direction. That man, Jezter-he had been close to the stern Gareon.
He would know the way forward.
The immediate concern, however, was the fractured land ahead. The mountainscape had been reshaped, raw and unrecognizable. They had to survive it first.
The girl visibly paled as she trudged forward, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her mouth quivered, eyes stretching wider with each agonizing step over the warped land.
"No... this is logically impossible. Are you a Paragon?! Did you lie to us?!"
Northern exhaled a slow, weary sigh.
"Why would I lie to you? What would I gain from it?"
She froze. Her wide, trembling eyes glistened with stunned apprehension.
"But... but... how is this possible?! It makes no sense! Absolutely none!!"
Northern ignored her and continued to carefully navigate the ruined and reborn mountain.
With Gareon's death, finding the way forward before the mountain's rebirth would have been difficult. But now, with the land violently torn apart, revealing a dreadful, molten path searing with red-hot flames, that task had grown into something far worse.
Traversing was already dangerous. Now, they also had to watch for sudden bursts of steam erupting from the scorched earth-without warning, without mercy.
She remained silent as they walked, Northern leading the way.
But the disbelief in her eyes refused to fade. From time to time, she cast him wary glances, as if trying to process the impossibility of his existence.
He simply trudged forward, dissecting a way through the disaster.
The girl's breath had grown heavy, pearls of sweat rolling down her face. Her alabaster skin, once untouched, now looked pale-almost drained.
Northern was just as tired. But he showed no signs of it.
Just how far had the caravan gone?
The battle had not lasted more than two hours. Granted, he had spent more time dealing with the lesser mobs than the Rift Guardian itself.
And yet, they had spent twice that time searching-and still, there was no sign of the caravan.
At least now, they were crossing a snowy expanse once again. Another mountain. Or was it the same one?
Northern wasn't sure. But they were moving forward.
The girl stumbled. Then, with a quiet groan, she slumped to the ground, leaning on her hands, her breath heavy.
"Is it really supposed to take this long...?"
Midday had peaked. The Day Star's radiance had softened-merciful now, though at times, it had been ruthless. But the biting cold had claimed dominance, the frozen terrain of the mountain once again victorious.
Such strange anomalies were not uncommon in the Central Plains.
The Star of Winter, after all, was said to brawl with the Day Star. It was friendlier with the moons than with the sun, and their battle played out in strange shifts-heat and cold warring throughout the day, even in winter.
Here, in the mountains, that war was most pronounced.
Northern stared into the distance, unsure of what to say.
For the first time, a whisper of doubt crept into his confidence.
'Maybe I'd get a better aerial view... use Chaos Eyes to scan the land from above.'
It was the most reasonable option.
Yet something held him back.
He had no idea what kind of creatures lurked in the skies, hidden in the clouds. And leaving
the girl here alone-it wasn't ideal.
But there was no way forward.
And so, he made his decision. He would risk exposure.
Glancing at her, he spoke evenly.
"Be careful. I'm going up to get a better view-see how far we are from them."
He didn't wait for her response.
With a deafening blast, he shot into the skies.
The girl barely had time to react-her eyes widening, hands instinctively clutching her skirt before her expression twisted into a small frown.
Then, her eyes widened again.
"...That's right. He can fly."
She had almost forgotten, the disastrous fall of Gareon pushing the memory to the back of her mind. But now, it came rushing back-how he had abruptly grabbed her, soaring over a vast distance in mere seconds.
The thought alone summoned a faint, polished pink flush to her cheeks.
She slapped her face, turning it an irritated red.
"Stop that nonsense, Roma!"
With a small huff, she looked up, squinting at the sky in an attempt to see him.
But he was already too far.
Northern, meanwhile, glanced downward, watching as she craned her neck, her expression a
mix of frustration and curiosity.
He clicked his tongue.
'What a weird thing.'
Shaking his head, he averted his gaze and focused on the task at hand. Four splintered eyes flared, effortlessly zooming in on the landscape like a natural pair of binoculars.
From this height, the destruction was far more appalling.
A side of the mountain looked as if a colossal infernal hand had shredded it from summit to
base, leaving nothing but scorched ruin.
Northern narrowed his eyes, retracing their path so far.
Then, the corner of his mouth twitched.
An ugly realization dawned on him.
Shame pelted his face like harsh droplets of rain.
All this time, he had been leading them in circles.
He scratched his head sheepishly.
'I had no idea... I thought it was straightforward.'
But before he could dwell on his mistake, something else caught his eye. Something far more
The slight look of shame on his face disappeared completely.
His expression darkened.