Chapter 263: Every great hero has an inconvenient - .

Chapter 263: Every great hero has an inconvenient Chapter.

While Sabine was having everything taken away from her, Lucian and Naomi floated through the corridor.

It was... a strange sight.

Their bodies hovered above the ground, surrounded by dense violet energy, and there were about forty barriers around them.

This was the fortress Lucian had prepared to make sure no hidden enemy or mechanism attacked them. With the extent of his injuries, his bodily functions were at their all-time lowest, and he could not trust his senses.

Honestly, what he did would have looked impressive, fancy even, if...

If it weren’t for Lucian himself looking like he was thrown off a building, dragged behind a truck, and then thrown off another building for good measure.

Both his arms hung uselessly. His legs weren’t much better. There were large holes in them, blood covered most of his clothes, and while the lighter wounds had closed because his regeneration had kicked in, in the grand scheme of things, those wounds didn’t even matter.

Not compared to the more serious injuries.

Torn muscles, broken bones, dysfunctional joints, literal holes in his body—he was NOT in good condition. He would need hours, or even an entire day or two, for a complete recovery.

And as Lucian continued floating despite being in the state he was in, he turned towards Naomi and—

"What?"

He asked directly.

"Nothing."

"You’ve been staring at me for thirty seconds. That’s definitely not ’nothing’. I am not even at my most handsome right now."

"I am looking at your injuries."

Lucian looked at his own condition. He nodded with a serious look on his face.

"Battle scars."

"You’re covered in blood."

"Proof of heroism."

Naomi stared at him with a flat look on her face.

"Whattt? Every great hero has an inconvenient Chapter."

"So this is your inconvenient Chapter?"

She asked, her voice becoming a little hoarse.

"No."

Lucian shook his head.

"This is the Chapter where everyone realizes how incredibly brave, handsome, and self-sacrificing I am."

Naomi’s mouth twitched.

She herself wasn’t in any better state, of course. She wasn’t physically injured. Lucian did not let that happen. Other than the mark left on her mouth where Varek grabbed her, she was mostly fine.

Her eyes, however, were red from crying. There were dried tear marks on her face that she couldn’t clean no matter how many times she wiped them, and her emotional state was... a mess.

How could it not be?

The man she loved was covered in his own blood. Quite a few people would pass out at a sight like that.

And Lucian—

He knew that.

He knew what she was thinking. He knew what she was going through, so he had been talking nonsense almost continuously since they started moving again, be it boasting, complaining dramatically, or saying something—anything—stupid every time Naomi’s mind stopped to process what was happening.

He was trying to distract her.

And Naomi—

"You know I can walk, correct?"

She asked, not wanting to put more pressure on him than she already had.

"You should save your energy."

"I should...?"

Lucian blinked at that.

He then stared at the ridiculous amount of energy overflowing from him, and very quickly, Naomi realised it.

"...right."

Lucian just chuckled.

"Saving energy right now would be like standing underneath a waterfall and worrying about wasting a glass of water. Stop worrying about it."

He would have waved his hand if he could, but since he couldn’t, he just shook his head instead.

Naomi stared at him in silence, then she asked another question.

"How are you even still going?"

Lucian laughed at that.

"Me?"

He shook his head.

"This isn’t me."

Naomi frowned, and suddenly, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"It’s Evelyn.

She is still singing."

He spoke, staring at the overflowing energy around him. Naomi did the same. She could imagine Evelyn pushing herself on the stage, singing for hours without even a single break.

She...

She really was giving her all.

"I am worried about her.

She must be exhausted."

Lucian spoke with a light smile on his face. Naomi, however, could see through that smile. This was not amusing to him. Far from it, he was hating it.

"That woman does not know when to stop. I need to have a talk with her when I return."

He groaned.

Naomi kept staring at him in silence, then—

"She puts everything on the line when it comes to you, doesn’t she?"

She let out a small chuckle.

Lucian turned silent for a moment.

She really did.

His teacher had told him how she stood against her for his sake multiple times. Then there was that moment when he first used his True Form, passed out in the alley, and she stood in front of him, trying to protect him despite being scared to her core.

And even now, even though she had no idea what was happening, she was pushing herself to her limits for his sake.

"Yeah."

Lucian nodded, his voice becoming a little softer than normal.

"She does."

Naomi looked at him, then her eyes moved down, towards his arms, his legs, the wounds, the blood, and...

’You too.’

She spoke inwardly.

Lucian was no different.

He too pushed himself until his body completely broke down for her.

And as she continued staring at him, as she observed him still going forward in the condition he was in, she...

She could understand why Evelyn was doing what she was doing.

If it was for him then...

Perhaps even she would... risk her life as well.

"Thank you."

She spoke slowly.

Lucian looked at her and frowned.

"For what?"

"For being here."

That froze Lucian for a short moment, but when he came out of his reverie, he showed a light, very gentle smile.

"I’ll always be here."

Naomi smiled.

The two continued moving in silence, with Naomi guiding them through the corridors. Her senses still worked perfectly. Not once did they encounter any traps or enemies.

"Haah! This is so unfair."

Lucian actually groaned.

"What?"

"We have Aevrienne herself helping us.

How can we even lose?

I don’t think anyone is this deep into the maze right now."

"Will you stop raising flags? As a novel reader, you should know better."