Storing the newly-dried meat inside one of his spatial amulets – the one he had designated for rations – Percy was finally done reorganizing his inventory. He didn’t know when he’d next get a chance to settle down or hunt again, so he figured it was worth the time to restock on their food. It was also nice to know which of the artifacts everything was in, for quicker access while on the run.

“I can’t believe we’re actually leaving.” he muttered, throwing another glance at the dim ceiling of azure looming above his head.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to miss this shithole.” Micky replied.

The crow had spent even longer than him inside Kronos’s Decree, and he’d been captive to a psychopath for most of that time, so Percy didn’t exactly blame him.

And honestly, this wasn’t the most welcoming place to begin with. Between the toxic globules constantly floating around, the onslaught of powerful beasts always trying to grab a bite, and the weird days and nights that stretched for entire weeks, he wasn’t looking forward to coming back either.

The Valley’s value had greatly diminished in his eyes too. Even if he returned, the beasts would no longer be worth fighting. Sacrificing the best parts about his bloodline and not even being able to practice alchemy didn’t help the case either. Not to mention how hard it would be to sneak back here and spend several more years – which he would need at that point, as his next promotion was over a century away.

He shrugged.

‘Well… Never say never. I suppose it’s nice to have the option. Maybe I’ll run into another situation in the future that forces me to sprint ahead…’

After triple-checking that they hadn’t left anything behind that might betray their presence, Percy and Micky then headed toward the northern boundary of the Valley. Obviously, the Divine Root wouldn’t take long to realize what had happened here, but that didn’t mean they had to make things easy for them.

In any case, Percy was planning to leave the Decree the same way he’d entered. He had no idea what the schedule of the patrol units was like, so it was entirely possible they’d run into the guards. But it was fine. Even if they got into a fight, they could easily handle a bunch of Greens, and they would be long gone by the time the rest of the guards learned about their missing colleagues.

“What about Nesha and Elaine?” Micky suddenly asked. “Did they make it out without issue?”

Percy nodded.

“They must have.”

Had the girls run into trouble, they would have certainly warned them to leave early. Since that hadn’t happened, it meant everything was okay. Percy had been tempted to contact them during the past couple of weeks, but he understood it had barely been a day from their perspective, so there wasn’t much of a point in subjecting themselves to the clunky communication.

‘I do wonder how Sol and the others are doing though…’

Now that he’d internalized the blessing, he could technically return the ring to Melodia at any point. Sadly, he wouldn’t be able to find his way back until he received the girl’s signal. That clearly hadn’t happened yet, or his external clones would have told him about it.

It wasn’t that strange either. For him, it had been over a year since they parted ways, but for the Melodians, it hadn’t even been a full month. They were probably still practicing near the Mirror Lake.

In any case, this wasn’t that big of a problem. As long as they made it home, Sol’s empowered signal was almost guaranteed to reach Percy. The fact that he’d be sending out his clones so frequently would also raise the odds of him picking up on it.

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At some point, he and Micky reached the wall of bubbles and foam, the breathtaking sight breaking him out of his thoughts. The tumultuous screen of blue and white looked quite pretty from up close, though he hadn’t really had a chance to appreciate it before. Back when he first entered the Valley, he’d had other, more pressing things in his mind. Since then, he’d mostly stayed clear of the Decree’s boundaries, as he hadn’t had any reason to risk getting seen by the guards.

“Ready to say goodbye to this place?” he asked, turning to his familiar.

“Been ready forever,” the crow shrugged.

Micky then lowered his head, letting Percy climb onto his back. Sitting on the bird’s neck, Percy exhaled in relief upon noticing how comfortable the crow’s plumage felt. This was quite important, as he expected to spend a lot of time airborne in the days to come.

“Turn Circulation off for a couple minutes.”

“What for?”

“Just a precaution.”

Micky did as he was told, deactivating his boosting art for the first time in decades. Flapping his powerful wings, he then took off. Like an arrow let loose from a giant’s bow, he pierced through the magical barrier, exiting the dome in a splash of enchanted water.

The change in time flow didn’t feel any different, but Percy did take a moment to revel in the bright rays of sunlight licking his body. Admittedly, he couldn’t help but squint a little at first, but it didn’t take him long to adjust. Remior’s sun really felt much homier than the hellish star hanging over Melodia – just warm and bright enough to breathe life into the world, without tormenting its inhabitants.

‘Percy… We aren’t alone.’ Micky suddenly said.

‘Yeah.’

As immersed as he had been in the sudden change of environment, Percy had maintained enough awareness of his surroundings to spot the group of Greens staring at them in awe. There were four of them, dressed in the Root’s colours. They were standing a couple hundred metres away – a trivial distance for mages at such a high grade. The guards didn’t waste much time, however, rushing after him a moment later.

‘I guess it’s safe to say they don’t know about Acton yet.’ he noted, getting a nod back.

Had they learned about the Holy Child’s death, they wouldn’t have been as eager to jump to their own.

‘What do you want to do?’ Micky asked.

Percy’s gaze lingered on the approaching Greens for the briefest of instants, a wave of killing intent rippling through his soul for just as long. But he sighed the next moment, turning away.

‘Let’s spare them.’

‘You sure?’

‘Just go.’

Percy had killed many people before, and he would do it again if it meant protecting himself or his loved ones. But he didn’t see a reason to resort to violence in this case. Whether the guards died or not, the result would be the same. The Root would know something strange had happened here by nightfall, and they’d learn about the missing Green-borns by tomorrow.

Granted, if he killed them now, he might buy himself a few hours, but that was a small prize to justify murdering four people. By the time the guards reported him to their superiors, he and Micky would have flown quite far anyway.

The crow took off again, soon flying over the deep chasm separating the Valley from the outside world, leaving the guards behind. Though he did question Percy’s decision a moment later, not entirely convinced this had been the right move.

‘Couldn’t we have knocked them out? Broken their legs or something, to slow them down?’

Percy shook his head.

‘We would have had to reveal at least some of our spells. They would have spread the information, and all the groups coming after us in the future would have been trickier to deal with. This way, we can keep some of our trump cards hidden as long as we don’t leave any of the Blues alive.’

This was the reason he had asked Micky to deactivate his boosting art. Of course, the rest of Remior wouldn’t be entirely oblivious to their strength. It was obvious he and Micky were strong enough to fight Blues, and everyone would have plenty of clues about their magic too. Micky’s second core and his ice affinity weren’t a secret, and people had seen the glowing lines on his plumage before. Still, Percy didn’t know how well their enemies understood the function of the spell, so it wouldn’t hurt to try and keep it under wraps.

Percy’s information was also readily available – at least the bits and pieces he had shared with the Guild during his registration. But a lot of it was vastly outdated, and the rest was brand-new.

‘Either way, we should probably assume it’s all leaked, just to be safe. If we end up catching them by surprise, it’ll be a welcome bonus…’

On the flipside, Percy didn’t know anything about his prospective pursuers either, so it wasn’t like he’d have an advantage over them. He was keenly aware that every battle from here on out would be dangerous.

Yet, he couldn’t help but feel some excitement along with the fear. His heart thrummed wildly, as his lips curled up.

“Bring it on, then. Let’s see what all that training truly amounts to…”