"Hmm, is something the matter, Lazuli? You keep looking back?" Asked Alexander in slight confusion as he stopped and looked behind him, even going so far as to use [Heroes Gaze], only to end up empty-handed.
Lazuli didn't respond and just continued walking, causing me to tilt my head, but I just shrugged my arms afterward; if she wasn't telling me, it probably wasn't that important anyway, though it was weird why she kept looking backward.
Disregarding whatever Lazuli kept looking at, I quickly caught up to her and silently walked behind her, using this chance to appreciate the beauty of the forest, along with my lover's graceful body, that I so dearly wished to make love with. However, while ogling, I mean appreciating, the swaying of Lazuli's hips, my mind slowly drifted back to Vanye and Vanimo, causing me to involuntarily release a sigh of defeat.
It hasn't been long since then, only three days, and while I wasn't as depressed as before, I still felt like shit whenever I thought of her; I honestly just wanted to help her, yet in the end, I only made things harder for her, which was a terrible feeling.
'Haa, maybe she wasn't the reason why my heartbeat rapidly increased? Maybe we weren't actually meant for each other, and it was merely wishful thinking on my part.' Thought Alexander lightly, shaking his head while looking at the ground in defeat.
When it came to Yuki and Lazuli, I was nearly one hundred percent confident that my heartbeat had led me to them, so I figured it would be the same with Vanye. However, after what happened, I seemed to be mistaken.
'Heh, I hope my heart wasn't leading me to Vanimo.' Mused Alexander softly with a faint chuckle as he shook his head, only to bump into Lazuli, who had stopped.
"Sorry about that, Lazuli; though what's the prob-" Said Alexander apologetically as he patted Lazuli while glancing at her before turning around, looking in the same direction as her only to be interrupted.
"Vanimo is dying." Said Lazuli blandly as she glanced at Alexander, whose expression froze before his eyes widened in shock.
"W-What!?" Exclaimed Alexander as he eyed Lazuli before turning around and dashing back the way they had come from, his figure speeding through the forest at breakneck speeds.
I didn't know how Lazuli knew Vanimo was dying, and while I would question her, I'd save that for later since saving him was a far more pressing matter. However, what truly worried me was that, given how much Vanye cared and loved Vanimo, the only way he would die was if something terrible had happened to her.
'Fuck, please don't tell me it's my fault!' Thought Alexander with an ugly expression as he bit his lip while dashing through the forest, smashing right through a tree like an unstoppable juggernaut.
"You won't make it in time, Alex. We're too far away." Said Lazuli lightly as she ran beside Alex, barely able to keep up at his top speed despite her casual expression that would suggest otherwise.
"What the hell do you mean we're too far away!?" Asked Alexander in irritation as he pushed himself harder, slightly increasing his speed, though it was marginal at best.
"It will take you approximately two and a half hours to return to the cabin; Vanimo will only be alive for another 18 minutes at best." Replied Lazuli as she glanced at Alexander, while following right behind him, drafting off of him to keep up with him.
Gritting my teeth at her words, I reached behind me and yanked Lazuli onto my back as I filled my muscles to the brim with mana, doing so in mostly my legs to conserve mana, though I also utilized [Speed Augument] and [Strength Augumument] to further increase my speed. With those three things combined, my speed doubled as I broke the sound barrier with relative ease, yet even so, with the increase in speed, I had only cut my time in half at best, which would still be far too long.
'Dammit!' Thought Alexander as sparks of lightning danced across him while a bluish aura surrounded him as he used [Lightning Cloak].
With the use of [Lightning Cloak], my speed massively increased once more, though to get the full use of it, I also utilized my wind mana to create a pocket void of air right in front of me, which prevented draft from slowing me down, noticeably increasing my speed once more.
"At this speed, you will make it there in 31 minutes." Said Lazuli as her head seemingly sprouted off Alexander's shoulder since the rest of her body was within his own.
Hearing her words felt like a nail hitting me in the head; I was using everything I had at my disposal to return, yet I would still be too slow, and it wasn't even close. I wanted to curse wildly into the air right now, but I just focused on running as fast as possible, hopefully shaving off seconds, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to return in time.
'Master, just use [Teleport] or [Mass Teleport] since you're not alone.' Said Trina lightly as she tilted her head in confusion, staring at the sky while sitting on Zartha's lap.
Hearing Trina's words was like an explosion as I felt my eyes nearly pop out from my head, though because that sudden revelation, which was dangerous when moving this fast, even with [Heroes Gaze], helped me react much faster, I tripped on something, causing me to slam into the ground as I violently skid across it. Protecting Lazuli's head while I skipped across the ground like a rock, I smashed through multiple trees before finally slowing down enough to where I was able to stop myself.
"A-Are you fine?" "... Yes." Said Alexander and Lazuli, respectively, as he glanced at her, only for her to spit out a few leaves before nodding.
Now that we were stopped, Lazuli separated herself from my body, causing me to subconsciously shiver at the weird sensation. Once it was over, I quickly grabbed her hand and closed my eyes as I focused on the Cabin where Vanye and Vanimo lived.
After a few moments, ensuring I had a clear picture of the cabin in my mind, I used [Mass Teleport] as I commanded the space mana within me, causing Lazuli and I to be sucked through a hole, only to appear within the air above the cabin,
'Welp, not exactly what I had envisioned, but I'm not mad.' Thought Alexander as he fell through the sky while staring at the ground, only for him to notice the black smoke being released into the sky.
Landing on the ground, I outstretched my hands and caught Lazuli while staring at the burning cabin; using my eyes, I searched through it, and to my surprise, I found Vanimo chained to a chair in the middle of the cabin where the fire had yet to reach him. Though he was in terrible condition, his nose was bleeding and broken, one of his eyes was missing, his limbs were broken in several different places, and he was also missing a tongue.
Whoever did this had clearly tortured him, and although I so dearly didn't wish to admit it, a small part of me knew this was all my fault; he ended up like that all because of me.
"Oi, who the hell are you two?" "Scram before we put a few arrows through your body." Stated two Elves dressed in black and blue, a man and woman respectively, as they slowly approached Alexander, who didn't bother to respond.
Setting Lazuli down, I intended to let her deal with them as I took a deep breath before dashing into the burning cabin, burning parts of my skin in the process, but it hardly mattered since it would be healed before I even left the cabin.
Approaching Vanimo, I carefully picked him up, though just as I did so, my heartbeat rapidly increased, followed by a faint click; quickly turning around, protecting him, I used [Blink] to distance myself from what I could only assume was a booby trap. With a mighty explosion, the cabin was reduced to rubble as it collapsed on itself; thankfully, I had managed to protect Vanimo from any more harm; my armor also helped protect me, though I was still decently wounded from the explosion.
Summoning Zartha from my body, I used [Shrink] and shrunk her down to the size of a dagger as I cut the chains that bound Vanimo before gently laying him on the ground. Doing a quick scan of my surroundings, ensuring it was only Lazuli and the two Elves, who she'd already defeated, I cut off my hand in a swift motion.
Gritting my teeth as I endured the pain, I let my golden blood pour into Vanimo's mouth like a fountain, though that wasn't all as I also poured onto his body, specifically around his injuries, and although slow compared to my healing capabilities, he was indeed healing, hell, even his tongue and eye were regrowing.
After a few minutes of this, Vanimo had returned to as good as new; his eye and tongue had regrown, his limbs and fingers were fixed, and the other bruises that laced his body had been healed. Grabbing my hand, I attached it to my wrist and waited a few seconds before letting it go; it hadn't fully healed yet, but it had healed enough to the point it had reattached.
"Now, let's do some interrogating." Said Alexander solemnly with a stern expression as he narrowed his eyes at the two Elves, who struggled to escape the earth-bound prison.