CHAPTER 323: THE AFTERMATH: FROM ABYSS TO LIGHT

"...I see."

Zephyr muttered as I finished explaining what exactly happened in the ossuary chamber and who Ossian actually was.

"...You are amazing." He looked at me with a serious expression that somehow felt like he was in awe. "...I was mistaken, so I apologize. I failed to assess the situation correctly and ended up falling for his deception."

"No, no," I quickly waved my hand, trying to lighten the oppressive weight of his guilt. "It’s fine. You didn’t know about the situation. Besides, he was a master manipulator who’s been at it for who knows how long. I was just lucky my guess ended up being correct."

Not to mention how believable the architect’s performance was.

"Mm." But Zephyr shook his head firmly, his jaw set with that stubborn determination I’d come to recognize. "Don’t humble yourself. You kept suspecting him till the end, and even saved our lives. That is really amazing." He paused, a faint, wry smile touching his lips. "You even scamm-... I mean, negotiated with him to get powerful ’gifts’."

...Did he just say scammed?

I chuckled inwardly while noticing him clenching his fists.

"It seems like I need to work on my skills more, especially my mind. I was too trusting."

I just gave an encouraging smile, my expression saying ’you can do it’.

"Yeah, sure you do~" Virion’s voice piped up from my shoulder, his tone laced with playful sarcasm.

"A good place to start would be reading storybooks. Especially the ones where a princess and her knight have deep, unspoken feelings for each other but can’t seem to express them properly. Their constant misunderstandings and emotional constipation inevitably lead to them being easily taken advantage of by the villain. Very educational for recognizing... certain patterns."

"Cough-!" I barely managed to stop myself from laughing out loud.

"Jie~ Jie~"

I caught the glint in Virion’s emerald eyes and understood the hidden jab perfectly.

Master is truly a master of pointed, subtle teasing.

But, ever the oblivious knight, Zephyr simply nodded, his expression thoughtful and completely missing the subtext. "Storybooks...? Hmm, an unorthodox suggestion, but I will look into it. Perhaps that’s why Dono keeps recommending those kinds of books, too."

I shook my head in defeat. It seems like, aside from Virion, there was another person who was concerned about our oblivious knight’s life.

Zephy then turned back to me and gave a formal, short bow. "I will take my leave now. Thank you again, Aman."

"Anytime," I said, waving as he turned and strode away, disappearing into another part of Virion’s vast domain.

...Probably where the princess is.

"So it’s just you and me now, little disciple~" Virion chirped, his small form floating off my shoulder. With a casual flick of his tail, two plush chairs and a small table laden with two glasses of shimmering, golden juice materialized in the serene space of his domain.

I took a seat, the familiar comfort a stark contrast to the bone chamber we’d just left. "Indeed," I replied, the word heavy with the weight of recent events.

My mind drifted back to the aftermath.

After the Architect had been sucked back into his shadowy prison, Virion, true to his magpie-like habits, had given the entire ossuary a thorough... inspection.

Every strange crystal, every oddly shaped bone fragment, anything that wasn’t bolted down (and a few things that were) had been unceremoniously teleported into his personal pocket dimension.

He’d declared it "evidence" and "cleaning up a hazardous site" with a completely straight face.

...Yeah, like I would fall for that.

Then, we’d teleported to Zephyr’s location, finding him surrounded by a pack of bonehounds. I lent him a hand, and we took care of them pretty quickly.

One more spatial jump, and we were back here, in the safety of Virion’s playground. After a brief period of rest to collect ourselves, I recounted the entire tale to both of them.

Even now, the surreal nature of it all lingered. I had faced down an ancient entity from the Abyss and lived to tell the tale.

"What’s on your mind?" Virion asked, sipping his juice through a tiny, conjured straw.

I shook my head slightly, pulling myself from my thoughts. "Oh, it’s nothing. Just... thinking that we were incredibly lucky to survive all that."

Virion nodded, his playful demeanor softening into something more mentoring. "Lucky, indeed. But as your painfully earnest senior brother said, don’t devalue yourself. You did well stalling for time and even beat him at his own game. Manipulating a master manipulator... that’s no small feat, my boy."

I offered a small, grateful smile and just nodded, accepting the praise without further argument.

"Ooh, that’s right!" Virion exclaimed, his enthusiasm returning in a flash. "I heard you achieved another serious feat back at your home. Something about a rather dramatic family reunion? Zephyr gave me the cliff notes, but it was all very ’the target was neutralized’ and ’the objective was secured.’ Dreadfully boring. I want to hear it from you. What really happened?"

I took a sip of the sweet, energizing juice and began to tell the story. I spoke of the first meeting, the storm, the desperate fights, and the shocking revelation of the Lament Shroud’s true identity.

Virion listened intently, his emerald eyes wide with fascination, oohing and aahing at all the right moments.

"...like that, we became friends," I finished.

"Fascinating! A bond formed under extreme duress! Summon him, summon him! I must see this new member of the family!" Virion demanded, zipping around in excited circles.

I chuckled and closed my eyes, reaching inward through my bond. A moment later, a soft light coalesced in the air before us, resolving into the small, winged wisp form of Seren. He looked around, his large, luminous eyes wide with a mixture of fright and overwhelming curiosity at the powerful presence before him.

"This is the friend I just talked about," I said gently to Virion. "His name is Sereniel. You can just call him Seren."

"Ooh~" Virion’s eyes lit up like twin emerald stars as he ceased his zipping and began to slowly, carefully circle my spectral bond.

Seren held his ground, though a tiny shiver ran through his misty fur.

"A mythical pure aura beast! And a spectral type to boot! My, my, you really struck gold with this one, my boy~"

"Yeah, and isn’t he cute too?"

"Jie~ Jie~ Cute indeed~"

{Friend!}