Chapter 90: Back to Dunestia

Once they were in the air, the group turned toward Dunestia and began flying in that direction. Their flying beasts stayed close to one another as everyone carefully watched their surroundings, making sure nobody was following them.

"Chris, what happened back there? Did you call them here?" Aelia finally decided to ask.

"Yes." Chris smiled. "As soon as I saw Mannel for the first time, I sensed that he was either a Fallen or an Acolyte. I contacted Aldric while we were on our way to his estate and told him to come, but I didn’t expect him to bring so many people."

Aelia nodded. "That was very smart."

"Are you upset that I didn’t tell you?" Chris asked with a wry smile. "I’m sorry, but I suspected that Mannel might be paying attention to us, so I didn’t want to alert him."

"No, it’s fine." Aelia smiled. "I understand."

Chris nodded before turning his attention back toward the horizon.

However, it didn’t take long before he sensed something approaching them.

"Aldric! We have company! From behind!" he suddenly yelled.

"Hm?" Aldric raised his eyebrows and turned around, but at first, he couldn’t see anything. Just as he was about to ask Chris if he was sure, his expression changed when he finally noticed the approaching figures.

"Shit... That’s a lot!" he cursed.

The others also turned around, only to see what could almost be described as an entire army of flying beasts chasing after them.

"Can you guys fly faster than this!?" Chris yelled.

"This is as fast as we can go!" Aldric shook his head. "Our beasts aren’t as strong as your Azreon!"

"Then why didn’t you bring stronger beasts?"

"There’s no use! The strongest flying beasts we had were sent on a secret expedition, so we didn’t have a choice!"

Chris looked behind them again, noticing that their pursuers were getting closer at an alarming speed. He could also sense dozens of Fallen and Acolytes among them, making his expression turn serious.

’Shit... It seems that guy wasn’t lying. This country really does seem to be lost already.’ He shook his head.

"Can we fight them?" Chris yelled.

"If we have no other choice, we must! But there are simply too many of them!" Aldric shouted back.

Chris watched the approaching army for a moment before making his decision.

"Azreon, full size!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon’s body began growing rapidly, doubling in size within seconds as his enormous wings spread wide.

"Everyone, get on Azreon! We need to escape!" Chris yelled.

Aldric was momentarily startled by Azreon’s sudden growth, but he quickly recovered and began issuing commands to the others.

Soon, all the flying beasts gathered around Azreon, allowing everyone to jump onto his back.

"Hold tight!" Chris shouted as the last few people landed. "Azreon, full speed!"

*ROOOAR!*

Azreon flapped his enormous wings.

*WOOOOOSH!*

Their speed increased dramatically, and within moments, the buildings below them had turned into a blur.

"Holy shit! He’s fast!" Aldric was instantly stunned by the sudden acceleration.

Turning around to look at their pursuers, he burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha! There’s no way they’re catching up with us now!"

Chris shook his head with a wry smile. "Don’t you worry about your flying beasts at all?"

Aldric simply waved his hand. "Meh... They were some of the weaker ones anyway. Who cares?"

Chris shook his head without saying anything else before turning toward the middle-aged man holding Mannel in his hand.

The man was easily the biggest person Chris had ever seen, standing at nearly twice his height. Looking up at him, Chris smiled.

"So you’re that famous general of Ihvell. I’ve heard some great stories about you."

"Hahahahaha! I’m flattered, young man. I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Aldric over there as well. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Chris smiled. "The pleasure is all mine."

Aldric then turned toward Richard, his expression becoming serious. "Now you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Do you believe me?"

Richard looked down at Mannel, who was still restrained in his hand, before nodding seriously. "I really didn’t want to believe it, but now I have no choice. What you said was indeed true."

Aldric nodded. "We must get more people to join us. We need to fight and eradicate this filth from our countries. Look at what happened to Beldoria. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. It seems they’ve already taken control of the entire country."

Richard nodded before turning his attention toward Chris. "And this young man was the first to discover all of this?"

Aldric nodded again.

Richard looked at Chris for a moment before speaking. "I must inform His Majesty as soon as possible. However, before that, we should try to extract some information from this man."

He looked down at Mannel, who was still struggling against the chains.

"You’ll need my help with that," Chris suddenly said, making the others turn toward him. "These Fallen and Acolytes have twisted minds. They won’t easily give you any information, even if their lives are at risk. But... I have a way."

Richard nodded. "Then we’ll leave this to you."

"Where are we going now?" Chris asked, looking between the three generals.

"To Dunestia. I’ve already contacted my subordinates, and they’ve prepared an interrogation room for our new guest, as well as rooms for you to rest," Aldric explained.

Chris nodded before looking toward the twins.

They were still in the same state as before, while Aelia was doing her best to talk to them without getting any response.

Sighing, Chris approached them and sat down beside them before lightly tapping their necks.

In the next moment, both girls fell unconscious.

"Why did you do that?" Aelia tilted her head.

"They won’t be able to recover like this. They need some rest to let their minds recover." Chris shook his head.

Aelia nodded before carefully adjusting their positions and making sure they were comfortable.

"Hey, old man, how did you manage to get here so quickly after I called you?" Chris suddenly asked Aldric.

"Oh, that..." Aldric chuckled. "I can only say that you’re quite lucky, as always. All of us were already near the border of Beldoria when you contacted me."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why were you there?"

"I received reports from my subordinates about some strange things happening in Beldoria, so I had them investigate. We set up a camp near the border and were secretly gathering information, trying not to alert anyone. When you contacted me, we rushed in immediately," Aldric explained before looking toward Mannel. "And it seems we finally got what we wanted."

"I will never tell you anything." Mannel smiled wickedly. "All of your struggles are for nothing. Soon, we will control the entire world."

"Just shut up. You’ll have your chance to speak later."

Richard punched him in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious.

...

A few hours later, they finally reached the capital of Dunestia, thanks to Azreon’s full speed.

"Land over there." Aldric pointed toward an enormous courtyard.

Once they landed, everyone jumped off Azreon’s back before Chris returned him to the Beast Pouch.

"Take some rest. I’m sure you need it. Tomorrow, we’ll call you before we begin the interrogation." Aldric patted Chris’s shoulder before ordering the servants to take them to their guest rooms.

They soon arrived at their room and closed the door behind them.

Chris approached the bed and carefully placed the twins on it before turning toward Aelia. "Let’s get some rest."

Aelia nodded before summoning another bed beside theirs, and the two of them lay down.

This time, knowing they were safe, they slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

In the middle of the night, Chris slowly opened his eyes.

He could hear someone crying quietly nearby, and it didn’t take a genius to understand what was happening.

’Sigh...’

Getting up from his bed, he approached the twins’ bed and slowly sat down on its edge. Both girls had curled up in each other’s arms while crying, their faces still wet with tears.

For a moment, Chris simply watched them, unsure of what to say.

He knew that what they were going through was awful, and he understood how it felt to be betrayed by someone you trusted. However, just because he knew what it was like didn’t mean he knew how to comfort someone else.

"I-Is... *sniff* Is everything true?" Stella suddenly asked in a weak voice. "Was everything he said true?"

"Yes." Chris nodded.

Both girls began sobbing even harder, while Chris simply remained seated beside them.

A few times, he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself, thinking that he might only make the situation worse.

Several minutes passed before Astra finally spoke.

"Why? *sniff* Why did our father want to sacrifice us? *sniff* What happened to him?"

"It’s... complicated." Chris sighed, unsure of where to even begin.

"Please... *sniff* Tell us." Stella suddenly sat up and took his hand, looking directly into his eyes.

"Yes... Please tell us." Astra held his other hand.

Chris sighed again before beginning to explain. Keeping things as simple as possible, he told them about the demons and how they wanted to take control of the world. He also explained that some humans became their servants, gradually losing their minds as they were corrupted by demonic energy.

"So... So our father was controlled by someone?" Stella asked, looking at him.

Chris shook his head. "I don’t know, but his mind was completely corrupted. His only goal in life is probably to serve the demons, and nothing else."

The girls remained silent for a moment before Astra finally asked, "Can... Can we cure him somehow? Can he be saved?"

"I don’t think so." Chris shook his head. "What happened to that man didn’t happen recently. He was probably corrupted long before you even met him. He even said himself that..."

Chris stopped speaking, realizing that continuing would only hurt them more.

"We heard him." The twins nodded. "He said he adopted us just to sacrifice us."

By now, they seemed to have run out of tears, and their cheeks were only left with the marks of their crying.

Chris pulled out a water bottle and a tissue from his storage ring before dampening it with some water.

"You know, not everything in this world is as it appears to be." He slowly began wiping their faces. "Sometimes, we learn the hard way that things aren’t what we thought they were. Sometimes, the people closest to us betray us, while our enemies can become our friends."

Stella looked up at him. "Then... How do we know?"

Chris shook his head. "You don’t. That’s the cruelty of life. Sometimes, you’ll never find out what others are keeping in their hearts, and sometimes, you’ll discover the truth in the worst possible way. Just like what happened to you two."

The twins remained silent for a moment before Astra suddenly asked, "Did something like this happen to you before?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Because you’re speaking as if you know what it’s like."

"Something similar happened to me." Chris nodded. "I was betrayed, yes."

"Then... Does that mean we can never really trust anyone?" Stella asked.

Chris thought for a moment before smiling. "At least you two won’t have that problem."

"What do you mean?" both girls asked.

"You have each other, and that’s enough." He smiled. "You can always trust one another, at least."

The twins looked into each other’s eyes for a moment before slowly nodding.

Then, turning back toward Chris, they asked, "What should we do now?"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You’re asking me? How should I know?"

"We don’t have a family or a home anymore..." Their heads dropped as they spoke.

Chris thought for a moment before a teasing smile appeared on his face. "Want me to give you a home? If you call me daddy, I’ll take you in."

"You! Big bad man! I will never call you that!" Astra shook her head repeatedly.

Stella immediately copied her. "You can never be our father!"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He had only been teasing them, but seeing their strong reactions made him curious.

"Because..." Astra looked at him awkwardly before shaking her head. "No, no, impossible!"

Stella nodded in agreement.

Chris could sense that there was something behind their awkward expressions, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

"Fine... Fine... Don’t think about it anymore tonight. Just go to sleep and rest. Tomorrow, we’ll see what to do. I promise I’ll find you a place to stay."

With that, he slowly stood up, intending to return to his own bed.

"No!" Astra suddenly grabbed his hand.

Stella grabbed his other hand without saying anything.

"What now?" Chris asked, confused.

Without answering, the two girls quickly pulled him toward them.

Caught off guard by their sudden movements, Chris lost his balance and fell onto the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to get up, but both girls immediately climbed onto him and rested their heads against his chest.

"Just sleep here tonight," Astra said.

Chris was about to refuse, but before he could say anything, Stella quietly whispered, "Please."

Looking at their teary eyes, Chris could only release another sigh.

"Fine..."