CHAPTER 70: PRICE OF SURVIVAL

As the battle raged on, the forest burned.

Mountains flattened under monstrous weight. Riverbeds boiled into steam. Towering trees- once ancient guardians of Runewood- were either cleaved in half or turned to ash. Wherever the two beasts passed, they left behind nothing but scorched ruin and trembling silence.

Runewood was no longer a beautiful sacred forest. It was a battlefield of two titans.And it was slowly turning into a living hell.

Far to the south, Robert leapt down from the Velzar tree, landing with urgency in his stride and fear etched into every line of his face.

He barely noticed the burns on his shoulder or the pain in his ribs. His mind was spinning.

"It’s pointless," he muttered, eyes scanning the distance. "Chasing after Marissa now is suicide especially with that man with her."

His hands tightened into fists, and without wasting another second, he activated both his [OBSERVATION] and [GHOSTSTEP] techniques.

"What I need to do is save what’s left of my family..."

Mana pulsed faintly in his legs and eyes, heightening his senses and speeding up his movement. The earth beneath his boots barely crunched as he darted forward like a wraith.

But his mind wasn’t on the battle anymore.

It was on one boy.

"Where are you...?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "Where are you, kid...?"

Just as he turned toward the northern side of the forest, a gentle yet commanding voice stopped him cold.

"Robert."

He froze. His eyes widened. That voice- gentle and calm as wind but impossible to ignore. It was unmistakable.

"M-Mother... I mean, Queen Mother?"

He turned slowly toward the sound. There was no one there. But he recognized her voice anywhere.

It was the voice known to every creature of Runewood. The voice of Queen Elarya, the elven sovereign. Revered. Feared. Echoed in songs and stories.

But unlike others who only heard her voice in dreams or during rituals, Robert heard it directly-clear and close. Because despite the secrecy, she had once chosen to speak to him alone.

"I am talking to you through the Velzar trees...," her voice continued softly coming from the closest Velzar tree near him.

"Listen to me. If you’re searching for Auren... follow the blue bird."

As if summoned, a soft glow emerged from the bark of the Velzar tree. A blue hummingbird, its feathers lined with shimmering elven patterns, fluttered out and hovered before him. Despite the chaos around them, it radiated calmness and purpose.

Robert blinked. "That’s... one nice-looking bird."

He tilted his head, then asked aloud, "Are you saying this thing knows where Auren is?"

The bird answered not with words, but action- it zipped once around his head, then shot forward in a blur of color, weaving expertly between branches.

"Hurry," Elarya’s voice urged. "You don’t have much time before the entire forest is devoured in flames..."

Hearing that, Robert didn’t ask anymore questions.

There was no time—not with two king-level beasts tearing the world to pieces in the distance.

"Auren, you cheeky little runt," Robert muttered under his breath, legs already in motion. "You better still be breathing."

He darted through the warped forest, ducking low as a flaming branch crashed nearby. Fireballs screamed overhead, while tendrils of dark magic carved through the air like blades, searing trees in their path.

The world around him was unraveling, but Robert’s focus never wavered.

His eyes stayed locked on the hummingbird- the glowing green speck weaving like a phantom between branches, speeding ahead with impossible speed.

Robert gritted his teeth and funneled every last drop of mana into his legs, heart, and senses. He leapt over twisted roots, vaulted fallen trunks, and slid beneath collapsing boughs with inhuman precision. Wind howled past him. Sweat streamed down his brow. But he didn’t stop.

He couldn’t.

Because every second mattered.

Every heartbeat could be the last.

Then, at last, the bird dipped low and vanished behind a wall of smoke. Robert skidded to a halt, his boots grinding against blackened dirt.

His breath caught in his throat.

"Oh no..."

Before him lay a crater, vast and violent, as if the gods had smitten the earth.

The pit stretched wider than three houses, its edges smoldering and cracked, the soil glassed by heat. Smoke curled lazily upward in ghostly fingers, dancing with red embers in the dim light.

And at its center-

A young familiar boy.

Small, still, and unconscious.

"A-auren...?" Robert whispered, voice breaking.

His legs refused to move.

His heart nearly stopped.

Because there- burnt, broken, and barely alive- was his son.

Robert gritted his teeth.

"AUREN!"

He roared, snapping out of his bad thoughts before leaping into the crater without anymore delay. The hummingbird paused at the edge of the boy’s body, as if confirming its duty was fulfilled, then vanished in a blink- flying off into the treetops.

"Thank you! Thank you, Queen Mother... and thank you, little bird," Robert murmured breathlessly as he closed the distance within seconds.

He dropped to his knees beside the boy.

"Auren! Auren, wake up, you cheeky boy!"

Robert’s hands trembled as he turned the boy over. And what he saw broke him.

Auren’s small body was charred, covered in soot, blood, and ash. His clothes were little more than rags—burnt, torn, and clinging to his skin like scraps of cloth. His breath was shallow, barely there. Blue veins pulsed visibly across his skin- symptoms of a critical-stage mana shock.

"Gods..." Robert choked. "What the hell did you go through kid...?"

The boy’s arms were the worst—his hands were swollen, bleeding, inflamed.

Dozens of small mana-burn holes dotted his palms like open wounds. His frame was littered with old scars and new ones, telling a silent tale of a child who had been through hell.

And he had survived.

Robert quickly dropped to his knees beside the boy, hands trembling as he reached out and pressed two fingers to Auren’s neck.

There was a beat. Although weak, at least steady.

He exhaled, a shuddering breath of fragile hope.

"You crazy little firecracker..."

Without wasting another second, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small vial- a High-Grade Healing Potion, its reddish contents swirling with faint light.

One of the last he had.

"I hope this works..." he whispered, carefully tilting Auren’s head back and uncorking the bottle. His fingers worked gently, reverently, as he poured the glowing liquid into the boy’s mouth.

"Come on... swallow..."

For a moment, nothing.

Then, as if by instinct, Auren’s throat moved slowly.

Relief punched the breath out of him. Robert let out a shaky laugh, choked by tears he hadn’t realized were coming.

"That’s it... good boy," he murmured, brushing the ash and dirt from his son’s face. "Drink up all of it... You need it."

He held Auren close as the last drop of potion slid down. The boy didn’t stir- but at least his breathing eased.

That was enough. For now.

Robert could do nothing but wait, hope the potion worked its magic, and pray that the worst had passed.

"You never cease to give me a heart attack, kid..." he muttered, voice thin with exhaustion and lingering fear.

His arms tightened around Auren.

His shoulders sagged.

And at last, the wall he’d been holding up crumbled.

Tears welled in his eyes, hot and silent. They slid down his cheeks, mixing with grime and blood as he cradled the boy’s limp form.

"I’m sorry, kid," he whispered, voice raw and trembling. "I think... I think I might’ve just lost your mother."

His fingers curled tighter around Auren’s body, holding him like he might vanish at any second.

"But I’m not losing you too."

He tried to sound firm and strong.

Like a father should be. But the pain struck deep. Too deep.

"It breaks my heart, but it is just us left... for now, kid."

But the words broke on his tongue. And his soul broke with them.

"Right now..." he whispered through the storm in his chest.

"...you’re the only family I have left."

He looked up at the burning forest beyond the crater and clenched his teeth.

"And I will fight until my last breath to protect you."

The titans still raged in the distance- Runewood trembled beneath their war cries. And here he was, a man who had once given up on life, clutching a broken boy who had somehow survived the impossible- multiple times now.

He remembered Windell- the quiet village nestled on the edges of Austerra. His so-called retirement, filled with empty days and lonelier nights. A place meant for silence, for fading away, for dying old and forgotten.

And then... he met her.

Marissa. Near the river on the boundary of Runewood.

She was a mysterious and beautiful woman who stirred life back into his dying soul. Then came Auren, thanks to his late friend Jorthon, who had made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the child.

And together, against all odds, they became the first human family in this sacred woodland.

Robert, Marissa and Auren... a child born of prophecy.

But he never imagined it would end like this.

The potion bottle was empty now. Auren stirred slightly but didn’t wake.

Robert wrapped him gently in his messy clothes and stood up, determined.

"Alright... let’s get you to safety."

He took off toward the nearest Velzar tree, navigating with practiced grace. His instincts told him there was one person left who could guide him now. Or to be more specific - an elf.

"Your Majesty... Queen Mother." Robert said with hopeful voice while facing the ancient tree.

"I have Auren. He’s safe in my hands."

He waited.

A few seconds passed, then her voice returned, faint and tired, which gave him hope.

"Good job. The elven people... are evacuating right now. Runewood is lost. And you must—"

THUD!

Something crashed far away and so did the communication broke.

Then... silence.

Robert stopped cold.

"...Hello? Queen Mother?"

No response.

"Queen Mother?"

Still nothing.

His blood turned cold.

And the forest... fell quiet.

Too quiet.

"...Queen Mother?" he asked again, his voice cracking.

But the tree didn’t answer.