Chapter 482 - 482: Invasion [48]

Then, without warning, a figure suddenly appeared before them.

A bloodied Caius.

The group immediately tensed.

Dribb reacted first, raising his axe and pointing it directly at the newcomer. But on seeing who it was, he relaxed his caution, replaced with confusion.

"What the... where did you come from?!"

Caius didn't answer immediately.

He looked around.

His gaze moved across the strange surroundings, taking in the unfamiliar space and the faint blue-white lines stretching across the environment.

"You tell me."

He sounded just as confused as they were.

Sheera stepped forward cautiously, her eyes moving between Caius and the strange structure surrounding them.

"What is this, Caius? What is happening? What is this strange place?"

Caius continued studying his surroundings for another moment before finally answering.

"I don't know. But it looks like a domain."

"An enemy's?" Doro asked.

"Unlikely," Caius responded.

He glanced around once more, paying close attention to the atmosphere. Despite the enormous structure surrounding them, there was none of the oppressive pressure he would normally expect from an enemy domain. If an enemy had created this place, they would most likely already be on the ground fighting for their lives instead of standing here unharmed.

"It's the chief," Gobbo said.

His legs finally gave out, and he dropped to the ground in exhaustion. He had pushed himself far beyond his limits during the battle, and now that the immediate threat had vanished, his body was finally demanding the rest it had been denied.

"It has to be. Only he can pull this off."

Caius nodded.

He agreed, but that wasn't the only reason he did.

The strange structure around them felt less like a traditional domain and more like some sort of dimensional skill, something capable of separating portions of reality and placing them into isolated spaces.

And Eli was the only person Caius knew who possessed an ability remotely capable of accomplishing something on this scale.

The scale alone was proof.

The entire battlefield had been divided, yet they were still able to exist within their own isolated space without being physically transported anywhere. None of the enemies Caius had encountered possessed the kind of ability required to accomplish something like this.

At least, none that he had encountered.

There was another piece of evidence that made Caius even more certain.

He couldn't see Eli.

His foresight had always been unreliable when it came to the chief because of Eli's connection to the divine, making certain aspects of his future impossible for Caius to perceive.

But something this massive should have been impossible to miss.

The creation of such a vast dimensional structure, the sudden disappearance of the enemies, and the separation of the battlefield were events significant enough that his foresight should have picked up something.

Yet it hadn't.

That could only mean one thing.

This had been caused by someone his foresight couldn't see.

And one person Caius knew who fit that description was Eli.

Caius could only hope that was the case, because if an enemy was responsible for everything happening around them, then they were in serious trouble. Whatever had created this place possessed an ability far beyond anything he had expected from the invading forces, and Caius wasn't confident that even he could deal with it.

Thankfully, his concern was misplaced.

A figure suddenly appeared within the layer, carrying someone in his arms.

Eli.

And in his arms was Zarah.

"Chief!" Dribb yelled the moment he recognized him.

Everyone turned toward the newcomer, and the tension that had been weighing on them almost immediately began to disappear.

Their leader had returned.

Eli stood there carrying Zarah carefully, his expression far more serious than usual as he assessed the condition of the battlefield around him. The sight alone was enough to reassure them, because if the chief had returned, then the enemies that had pushed them this far no longer seemed nearly as frightening.

Even Caius felt a measure of relief.

The situation had already gone far beyond what any of them had expected. They had lost countless goblins, several of their strongest fighters had been pushed to their limits, and the undead orcs had seemed practically impossible to stop while their master remained alive.

But now Eli was here.

And with him standing among them, the balance of the battle had changed completely.

The enemies had no idea what they had just gotten themselves into.

*

"Chief!"

"Chief!"

"Chief, you made it?"

The voices came from all around me as everyone rushed toward me, but the troll was the quickest to move, hurrying straight in my direction. From the way it immediately focused on Zarah, it was obvious that it cared more about her condition than anything else happening around us.

"Sheera!" I called out to the healer as I carefully lowered Zarah onto the ground.

Sheera immediately hurried over and knelt beside her, placing her hands over Zarah's battered body before activating her ability.

A soft energy began to spread from Sheera's hands, flowing through Zarah's body and gradually repairing the damage she had suffered. Zarah winced slightly when the healing energy first touched her, her battered body clearly reacting to the sudden sensation, but the pain quickly gave way to relief as her wounds began closing.

I let out a quiet sigh.

If I had returned even a few seconds later, Zarah could have been in serious danger.

I knew we had the graveyard.

I knew death wasn't necessarily permanent for my people anymore.

But that didn't make death any less unpleasant.

The graveyard could bring one of us back to life; that much was certain, but resurrection wasn't the same as walking away from death without consequences.

Anyone who returned came back weakened and disoriented for a while, and their memories didn't immediately return in full. Fragments would slowly piece themselves together only after several hours of rest, meaning resurrection wasn't something I could simply rely on during a battle and expect everyone to return to normal immediately.

And there was still the graveyard itself.

Just because it could resurrect the dead didn't mean it was untouchable.

We had changed its location and put a mechanism in place that constantly altered the direction of its entrance, making it extremely difficult to locate, but that didn't mean it was completely safe. If an enemy somehow found it, then everything could go horribly wrong.

I needed to get rid of the enemies quickly.

I was about to stand when Zarah suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand.