The Heritor of Illipia

Chapter 21

Almost there! Just thirteen or more chapters left to go. Time to pick up the pace a bit...
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        He was too late. (Y/n) hadn't forgotten that his power was limited. He hadn't even considered it when he'd acted on impulse. He felt the feeling of dread sink in even further as Elsword managed to stand firm after the first shot. Even then, neither of them had expected the blonde to shoot him again. Elsword was unarmed afterall. (Y/n) hadn't counted on being so slow without his power. Zhu had mainly strengthened his mental process back when he was still his most trusted ally, so the only thing hindering his speed was his earlier injury.
  
        The color red didn't suit Elsword when it was in this form. The blonde girl held no remorse for shooting a supposed ally, and she aimed her weapon at (y/n) next. He didn't care. He knew that if he moved, Ara was in risk of being hit even though Zhu had stepped in front of her to shield her from any harm. He ignored the pain, thinking of the shot as nothing more than a bee sting. Those were of far less concern than most things he'd been through.

        His ability to ignore the bullet entirely startled the gun user. She suddenly felt in danger and jumped back from him before (y/n) could reach her. She hadn't realized that (y/n) was not even focused on getting to her. Instead, he pulled Elsword and an unconcious Ykuei out of harms way while the blonde retreated. When she realized this, she shot at him again. (Y/n) took the two bullets right to his arm. Those hurt worse than bee stings and it was only then that (y/n) remembered that his healing ability still wasn't at its best.

        He hadn't needed to worry about the bullets anymore though. Zhu passed him so quickly that (y/n) hadn't noticed until after the fact. "Don't kill her. We need her alive," (y/n) quickly called after the fox. He heard the blonde call out the name of her yellow robot helper, but (y/n) knew that Zhu would easily overpower them both even in such an enclosed space. He focused on Elsword who hadn't moved an inch since being shot. Ara was by his side just as he called out Elsword's name, shaking the boy's shoulder.

        His blood spread across his open wounds, both around the center of his chest. He was dead. His eyes were closed and he was certainly dead. Ara began to cry but (y/n) was unsure how to feel. He was enraged, depressed, and regretful all at once. "Worry not. I have granted him my blessing," the familar voice of Illipia called out to him. He'd nearly forgotten about his connection to the goddess, and a spark of relief showed up in his cloud of emotions.

        A crest belonging to the goddess Illipia appeared above Elsword. It glowed and radiated the warmth of life. Ara stopped crying and stared at the crest likely surprised by it's appearance. Elsword began to heal at a rapid pace beating out (y/n)'s healing power with ease. His wounds disappeared and Ara checked his pulse the moment the crest disappeared. "He's alive," she said with great relief.

        When she said this, Elsword shot up from the ground as if waking up from a bad dream. He was panicking and was likely still experiencing the shock of death. (Y/n) caught hold of his arm to bring him back to his senses and found that Elsword was shaking. "Hey, calm down. You're fine now. Ykuei is still safe, and you are okay," (y/n) said. Just as he said this, Zhu returned to their side with the blonde intruder being held by one of his tails.

        She was unconscious and her yellow robot companion was out of commission for the time being. "She killed me..." Elsword stated. He put a hand to his chest to feel the beating of his heart. "I just died. My life was over before I knew it," he continued. (Y/n) didn't let him go. Elsword wasn't stable enough to be allowed to go about things on his own. He needed someone to keep him grounded for the time being.

        "That doesn't matter anymore. You're not dead. Let's go downstairs before the innkeeper gets too scared. We've been causing a lot of trouble here lately," Ara said but Elsword was not ready to leave from his spot yet. (Y/n) knew what it was like to die, but he had only recently cared whether or not he died. For Elsword, dying wasn't something he could just bounce back from.

        "Ara, could you give him a moment? He needs to think for a bit," (y/n) said but Ara frowned at him. "You're still bleeding. You need to be healed and we can't stay up here. We don't know if there's anyone else here to try kidnapping Ykuei or even attack us. This hallway isn't safe," Ara reasoned. She was correct yet (y/n) didn't think it was such a good idea to move Elsword to a new location without him having gotten over his initial shock. Regardless, their options were limited.

        "It's okay. I'll be okay. I'm not dead, right? Ara is right," Elsword muttered. He was calmer but the shaking had not stopped. The death experience had certainly taken a tole on his morale. "Okay, then let's go. Hopefully, the others will be back soon. In the meantime, we need to gather in one place and make sure everyone stays safe until the others return,"(y/n) said. He let Elsword go and offered him a hand to help him stand.

        Ara took on the task to guide him downstairs while (y/n) carried Ykuei. Zhu had already gone ahead of them once again. Strangely enough, (y/n) could trust the fox just as much as he used to despite the major betrayal he'd experienced. He was their ally for the time being, but also their enemy and yet even he hadn't gone so far as to kill any of them. Thinking of this reminded (y/n) of his gunshot wounds which were quite bothersome since they weren't rapidly healing like he was used to.

        "I'll go make us all some tea and we'll wait for everyone else to get back. It'll be close to nightfall when they return, so who's on kitchen duty? I've got to check up on Rena, Eve, Lu, and Ciel. There isn't much I can do for Eve until Add returns, but someone has to keep watch over them," Ara said as they arrived innthe main lobby. The innkeeper had practically told them that the inn was theirs to use however they wanted to. The poor woman was terrified by everything that had happened and likely just wanted them to leave.

        "You say that like there's an option," (y/n) muttered. "I can cook pretty well, thank you," Elsword muttered although his dull emotionless expression remained the same. "Since when? Not once have I seen you cook anything. You're always with the group of the team that gets skipped for the cooking rotation," (y/n) said referring to their many nights camping in Sander and Lanox's outskirts.

        "In any case, I can't do it, so you two figure something out after we make sure that gun lady is tied up somewhere," Ara said before heading to the kitchen to prepare the tea she promised. Zhu stood innthe corner contemplating whether or not he should kill the intruder anyway. "Let me handle this. I told you we need her alive," (y/n) thought in frustration. He left Elsword in one of the lobby couches to deal with the intruder before. Whoever she was, the blonde had information that they didn't, and had made it all the more clear that Ykuei was the key to stopping Scar's plans.
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My account is currently being "rebooted" so I'll have to finish this book soon anyway. Until next time you incredible readers!