NOVEL WEB Chapter 42 – Vernara Village (8)
Khael's breath caught in his throat.
(Bad news. All of them.)
He took a small step forward.
It was enough.
Raiquen's gaze met his.
And then—
He smiled.
Smooth. Calm. Confident.
"You all from Veyl Academy?" Raiquen asked.
Khael blinked, then nodded.
"Yeah. I'm Khael… and these are Ceyla and Juno."
"THIS ISN'T A SCHOOL MEET-AND-GREET, YOU IDIOT," Ceyla snapped, still rising to her feet.
Khael shrugged awkwardly.
"W-Well… I figured maybe he'd like to know? Heheh…"
"(Well I have a reasons about this… I need him… to think we are neutral)"
Juno sighed.
"Not the time, Khael."
Raiquen chuckled.
"Well then, Khael… I'll kindly ask you to stay out of our way. This matter doesn't concern outsiders."
Khael's smile dropped.
"Sorry. This is our mission."
Sil's glyphs paused in midair.
Kirell tensed.
Braggen's muscles flexed like coiled trunks.
Raiquen's voice lowered, calm but absolute.
"Then I have no choice but to hurt you."
A new voice cut in.
Cool. Steady. Clear.
"I won't let you harm the elders."
Eliryn stepped forward, scythe in hand. The weapon's silver veins pulsed softly. Her robe fluttered in the wind, thorns catching the pink twilight.
Her stormy eyes met Raiquen's.
No hate.
No fear.
Only resolve.
Raiquen's smile faded, the firelight dimming in his eyes.
"Eliryn…" he said, his voice no longer playful— "still bound by their shackles?"
Eliryn didn't flinch.
Her grip tightened around the black-veined scythe, and for a fleeting second, the pulsing flower near the hilt opened slightly—reacting to her swirling Shinrei. The weight of memories, of duty, of sacrifices not forgotten, stirred in her eyes.
She thought,
(I'm sorry… but for the sake of the village, I must defeat you, Raiquen. Even if it means breaking my own heart again.)
Raiquen's expression turned somber.
He raised his hand.
A coil of crimson fire wrapped slowly around his wrist like a serpent waking from slumber—calm, dangerous, alive. The bloom affinity in his chest responded in kind, vines twitching beneath his sleeves, thorns waiting to be unleashed.
The very ground beneath them trembled.
"Then I'll free you myself," Raiquen whispered.
A wind howled through the trees, sudden and sharp.
The leaves hissed.
The sky burned a faint maroon—touched by twilight and tension.
And the forest... held its breath.
From the canopy above, birds fled in frenzied silence.
Below, the soil shivered with ancestral Shinrei.
The Ritual hadn't even begun—
Juno stepped forward instinctively, eyes darting between the rebels and Eliryn. Khael held out a cautious arm, stopping him.
"Not yet," Khael muttered. "They're speaking through steel and memory now. This is deeper than us."
Ceyla, already on edge, readied her storm dagger again, eyes never leaving Kirell.
But Eliryn made the first move.
She stepped forward, the petals beneath her feet parting like waves as her Shinrei pulsed. Her voice was quiet, but it cut like a blade:
"You once told me you'd burn down the world to set me free, Raiquen."
She raised her scythe.
"But I chose to protect it instead."
Raiquen's eyes burned with both pride and fury.
"Then I'll tear it apart anyway—just to show you what freedom really looks like."
Eliryn moved first.
Her scythe danced a black crescent sweeping through the dusk, trailing pale-green afterimages of her Shinrei. Raiquen twisted his wrist, calling forth thorned vines coiled in flames, catching her strike mid-air.
Steel met root.
Shinrei met flame.
The ground cracked beneath their feet as the clash sent shockwaves rippling through the field.
Their battle had no hesitation.
No wasted words.
Only conviction.
Khael watched with clenched fists, sweat forming on his brow despite the cool forest air.
His eyes darted from Eliryn's swift, precise movements to Raiquen's wild yet eerily graceful counters.
Each strike told a story.
Each dodge carried history.
Khael gritted his teeth, thinking:
(Damnit… What's really the history between these two? That look in Raiquen's eyes—it's not just rebellion. It's personal. Deeply personal. What are the elders hiding? And Eliryn… She fights like she's torn between duty and regret…)
But before he could ponder further—
—he felt it.
Eyes on him.
Not just from the duel.
But from the shadows.
Across the field, a group of cloaked rebels stood still, ready their fighting stance but not attacking yet. Watching.
Measuring.
Waiting.
(Before anything else… this group... they're looking at us…)
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
That's when it broke.
"GUARDS!! THEY ARE HERE!!" Elder Lao's voice roared behind them like a warhorn.
From the temple path, Verdyn Elite Guards rushed in sleek armor trimmed with white vine motifs, Shinrei flowing like banners from their backs. There were dozens.
But the rebels didn't flinch.
They didn't even move.
One of them, a tall woman with crimson sleeves and a burn scar down her jaw, whispered sharply:
"Remember our training."
The others nodded.
No panic.
No retreat.
Only resolve.
Khael saw it in their posture, they weren't surprised by the arrival of the guards. They had planned for this.
(This isn't a raid. This is a coordinated assault.)
Juno stepped closer beside him, fingers twitching over his blade.
Ceyla's voice was low, nearly a growl:
"They're going to fight the elites and take Lin? Who are these guys?"
Ahead, Raiquen spun, his foot skimming across a fallen petal as he redirected Eliryn's scythe with the back of his burning vine-wrapped hand.
He laughed, not mocking but sorrowful.
"You're holding back, Eliryn."
She didn't respond—but her next attack cut deeper, faster.
The flower on her scythe finally bloomed fully.
And the forest began to warp.
Ceyla stepped forward, lightning crackling around her dagger, eyes fixed on Kirell.
"Round two, woman," she said, twirling the blade.
Kirell didn't blink.
Didn't smirk.
Didn't breathe.
Until—
"Come, you shrimp. Let's finish what we started."
The moment snapped.
Ceyla vanished in a blur of stormlight.
Kirell darted forward, dagger meeting dagger in a flash of sparks.
Steel and Shinrei sang through the air.
(We're outnumbered… outmatched… I need to think..) Khael thought.
To be continue
Author Note: Author's here Thank you for reading my novel... I love u guyzz