Jyu returned with his body covered in blood. Not his blood, but the blood of the mystical creatures he had slaughtered. All the cave's inhabitants panicked, especially Elveryn who immediately ordered Cobra and Mamba to check Jyu's condition.
"What happened to you? Where have you been?"
"Master Cobra! Mamba! Please treat Jyu!"
In truth, Jyu wasn't injured, he was just exhausted. Perhaps he only needed a bath and meditation to restore his stamina.
"Don't worry Elveryn, I'm not hurt at all. Last night I was just training by slaughtering the mystical creatures I encountered. Relax!"
Amid the panic of seeing Jyu return covered in bloodstains, everyone in the cave suddenly fell silent when Taffie woke up from his critical state. His eyes were still weak, but Taffie was already able to move and speak.
Cobra immediately approached him, checking whether he had truly begun to recover. But Taffie chose to stay alert, as Cobra drew near he instantly grabbed his clothes and issued a threat.
"Who are you? Where am I?"
It was only natural for Taffie to behave like that. Since yesterday he had lost consciousness. He knew nothing about Cobra and Mamba, nor about the prison that resembled hell.
Jyu and Elveryn immediately realized what they had to do. Both of them quickly approached Taffie to calm him down.
"We're safe, they're Elveryn's allies," said Jyu.
"How are you feeling now?"
Taffie was now fairly calm, but suddenly he stared blankly at the cave ceiling. What Taffie felt at that moment was truly heartbreaking. Right now he must be angry, confused, hopeless, or perhaps even wishing for death. One of his arms and one of his legs were gone. For a DV Army soldier, this was certainly a disgrace. His power would truly be degraded if his physical body was no longer complete.
Jyu looked worried, whether he liked it or not all of this was caused by him. If only he had been calmer, perhaps the enemy wouldn't have noticed their presence. The battle could have been avoided and everyone could have survived.
But everything had already happened, there could be no regret. Now, all responsibility seemed to rest on Jyu's shoulders. Like it or not, he had to complete this mission without relying on Sizhi or Taffie. From the look in his senior's eyes alone, it was clear he was in depression.
"Leave me alone for now," said Taffie, which everyone immediately obeyed.
Jyu could only sit beneath Taffie's bed, hoping his senior would recover. After going through adventures in the Darkent realm, it felt unbearable to see his senior injured like this. Jyu just wanted to stay close, making sure everything was safe for him.
Now the cave atmosphere was completely silent, and only the sound of breathing echoed in one another. Everyone could only remain quiet, occasionally whispering as if gossiping about something.
This silence lasted quite a while until finally Taffie did something that shocked everyone. Suddenly he drew his sword, gripped it tightly, and raised his hand high.
"We don't have time anymore, we must go to the demon palace immediately," Taffie said to Jyu.
Jyu nodded. But was this the right time to move, while Taffie had just survived his critical state? Jyu chose to delay the attack, but patience was not in Taffie. He immediately tried to stand and urged Jyu to leave now.
Holding back the pain, Taffie forced his body to move. Not only the pain, but he also struggled because one arm and one leg were gone. Even maintaining balance must have been difficult. Jyu tried to help, but Taffie immediately brushed his hand away.
"Don't force your body, if you insist there is only death waiting for you. It's better to rest, recover your body properly first," said Cobra, trying to stop Taffie from acting recklessly.
"Do you think I can stay calm? If my mission isn't completed soon, many people will be victims in the human world. Their safety rests on my shoulders."
"I understand, but you must rest today. As for the assault, we share the same enemy. We can form an alliance and attack together. So calm down first!"
Elveryn stepped forward.
"He's right, Master Cobra is right. All of us here are rebels who want to overthrow Alber's throne."
Jyu also tried to speak, hoping his senior would understand. "They're right, we'll gain a great advantage if we attack the demon palace together."
Taffie began to understand, and a second later, his sword disappeared back to its place.
"When do we attack?"
"Tomorrow night!" Mamba answered confidently.
---
After everything calmed down, Taffie returned to resting his body. However, as a squad leader in the DV Army, he immediately became curious about Sizhi. Since waking up, he hadn't seen his junior at all.
Jyu carefully explained Sizhi's whereabouts and the truth about his grandfather, Alber. This fact shocked and angered Taffie. To him, this was betrayal. It was possible that Sizhi leaked their location.
"It seems nobles like him don't deserve to be in the DV Army. I'll make sure he dies after this."
Jyu could only shudder upon hearing Taffie's anger. There was no hesitation in his threat. That meant Sizhi would truly die when facing him.
"I will repay what Sizhi and Alber have done," said Taffie while holding the arm he had lost.
"Did you meet a strong enemy to be injured this badly?" Jyu asked, curious about who could bring his senior to the brink of death.
Taffie immediately looked at Jyu.
"Yes!"
"I fought three Arabai. If it were just the three of them, I could still handle it. I'm sure I would have won and maybe only suffered minor injuries. But in the middle of the battle, suddenly a man appeared, I believe he was Alber."
"He's incredibly strong, I couldn't match him. His power is terrifying, he can disappear and suddenly appear behind me. He defeated me easily."
"Is that his only ability?" Jyu asked.
"No! It's better to call Elveryn, Cobra, and Mamba. The information I have must be known by them as well."
Jyu immediately went to call them. It didn't take long before the three of them were already beside Taffie.
"Sorry for calling you here. But I have important information you must know."
Before speaking, Taffie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"I ended up like this because of Alber. I don't think any of us can defeat him without knowing his weakness first. Alber can disappear, suddenly appear behind you, and stab you to death."
"And one more thing, he has very fast regeneration. I think we can defeat him with a single powerful attack that destroys his body."
Jyu and the others could only stand frozen, listening to Taffie's words. Alber's power was clearly troublesome—how could they win against someone who could vanish like that?
How could any attack hit him? Should they launch blind attacks and hope for luck?