The Villain Wants to Quit

Retreat

When they reached the previous night's camp, Giselle used sprites to arrange the snow into a shelter around them. It wasn't much, but at least it would block the bitter wind.

She, Carrot, and Scourge huddled together to keep Theo's body temperature up. It was a less-than-ideal camp, but it was survivable.

Much of their supplies had been lost in the skirmish. Carrot still had one pack with a single blanket and a few pieces of dried meat.

They would have to rely on hunting to make it down the mountain.

Despite her exhaustion, Giselle took turns with Carrot to keep watch, insisting that Theo needed sleep the most.

About a day and a half passed when the others stumbled into the makeshift camp.

They were all sporting wounds and were down to two of the group's original four horses.

Theo felt guilty when he saw them wounded. Giselle had wasted most of the group's potions on him. There was a minimal amount left to heal the others with.

"We lost him pretty quickly," Marc said. "But it would probably be a good idea for Giselle to erase our tracks as we travel."

"Consider it done," Giselle quickly asked the sprites to erase the tracks Marc, Vin, and Marie had made for as far as possible. "I took care of your old tracks, but we should keep moving in case Dullahan is already on your trail."

"I don't think Dullahan himself can chase us right now," Marc said. "His body was in terrible condition."

[Dullahan coveted more than he was capable of managing,] Stabby spoke. [A human's body is not ordinarily capable of containing so much mana.]

"Does that mean Theo's mana is poisoning him?" Vin asked.

"Is he going to die?" Marie's voice filled with hope.

Everyone became focused on Stabby.

[I would not say that it is impossible for him to die,] Stabby said. [However, someone capable of the ritual Dullahan nearly completed would know to have contingencies.]

"So he's going to be fine?" Marie said with a grimace.

The groups disappointment was palpable.

[I would also not say that he is fine,] Stabby answered.

[The evil man seems to have underestimated the power of the illustrious Numen's mana. The purity and strength of the mana she left behind for her children is sublime.]

[I imagine the only reason Theo's body is capable of containing so much mana is that her children's bodies slowly grew stronger to accommodate more mana as their clan's numbers dwindled.]

[To try to steal the totality of the mana Numen bestowed her children in one ritual was absurd. It would have to happen slowly over numerous gener-]

"This is fascinating," Theo said dryly, "But what does this mean for Dullahan?"

[His body is currently breaking from his greed and the intensity of the mana that rightfully belongs to you,] Stabby said.

[It seems he did strengthen his body somewhat, or he would be dead, but based on what I saw during the fight, it will take at least a few years for his body to heal and adapt to the mana he stole.]

[It could take more; as much as a decade would be a more realistic time frame.]

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

It would be foolish to count on an entire decade, but if they had a couple of years before Dullahan could fully absorb and use the mana he had stolen, there was still some hope.

"As much of a relief that information is," Marc said, "We need to get more distance between us and the castle. Dullahan could have men around even if he can't personally fight us."

The group began to travel out of the Quartz Mountains, but their speed was slow between their wounds and sharing horses.

Fortunately, though, the potions had proved effective, and Theo found it getting easier and easier to move as he adapted to his missing mana.

His mana core and his ribs were still incredibly sore, but he was far better than he had been.

Once he had overcome the blood loss, he would be one of the least injured members of the group.

He felt a stab of guilt once more as he thought of all the potions Giselle had used on him.

"Let me take the first watch," Theo said when they made camp the following night. "The rest of you need to sleep more."

Nobody had enough energy to make anything other than a half-mumbled protest, so Giselle quickly set to making a snow cave for them while Vin laid out what few furs they had left.

Theo focused on casting a fire spell to keep everyone warm.

It felt strange initially; it was hard to estimate how much, but Dullahan had stolen a chunk of Theo's mana.

However, it actually reduced the burden it took on Theo to maintain his magic when he didn't have as overwhelming of a mana source.

"Hey, Stabby," Theo pulled the divine dagger out of its sheath once the others were asleep, "can you estimate how much of my mana I have left?"

[Yes, though, you will have to give me some of your blood,] The divine dagger replied.

Theo pricked his fingertip with the divine dagger.

[I would say he took about forty percent,] Stabby said.

[You have the slight majority, but it is dangerous; he's a much more practiced mana user than you. You will be in danger if he fully heals before you can defeat him.]

"The thing is, it's much easier to control spells now," Theo said.

[Then in the morning, ask the others to teach you. You will need every advantage to retrieve Numen's stolen mana.]