A long exhale.
It was over.
His body felt unsteady, as if it had been hollowed out. He couldn't tell if it was due to his magic power dropping too much or because the Eye of Destruction had also been consuming his mental energy.
"It's over," he said, smiling at Freya.
But Freya, who had always been known as the big sister, the Red Dragon Witch, actually flinched and stepped back in fear.
She was still tied up with rope, her eyes fixed on Sean.
It wasn't the first time they had locked eyes. From a certain angle, she was indeed very beautiful—her deep eyeshadow made her striking eyes stand out even more. After living together for a while, Sean realized that what people called aesthetics could change, including how one appreciated another person.
Spend enough time together, even if not constantly thinking of each other, and over the days, you'd start to see them in a better light. Gradually, their temper would become a recognizable trait in your eyes.
Freya was exactly that kind of person who made Sean feel his sense of beauty was shifting.
At first, his impression of her was purely "sexy"—the visual impact was strong.
But as time went on, the way he appreciated her changed. He never thought the word "cute" could fit her so perfectly, yet it did.
"The situation is a bit complicated, but if you want to hear it, I can explain slowly," Sean said, forcing a smile.
He had to give himself an explanation, or else he'd become the next target labeled as a heretic. The passive protection skill wrapped around him didn't exactly look righteous.
If it were something like holy light descending or justice from above, he wouldn't have so much trouble.
Freya was silent for a moment, then lowered her head. Finally, she didn't refuse when Sean stepped closer to her.
"I'll listen."
The moment he untied the rope, Sean was surprised when Freya took the initiative to hug him.
It was indeed unexpected.
Sean didn't even have time to react, but he tried to stay calm.
"It's okay. It's all over."
She must have been terrified.
Looking around, she was the only one brought here. Even without asking for details, he could guess she'd been through quite a shock.
He thought Freya would cry, but this girl seemed to have a lot of restraint. She just held him without speaking or crying, which actually made Sean feel uneasy.
So this was what it felt like to hold Freya.
To say he felt nothing would be a lie—he was still a normal man after all.
His hands unconsciously wandered softly over her back, the warmth in his arms already a bit of a cheap thrill. He didn't dare go further.
Fortunately, Freya didn't seem to mind and stayed silent.
Maybe later, when his town was prosperous, he'd take Danti and the others to the city for some fun, do what a noble baron should do. Otherwise, holding it in was too uncomfortable.
After all, he was a noble. A little indulgence was no problem.
"Sean."
"Hmm?"
"It looks like the sun is coming out."
Ah.
Since he was facing away from her, Sean couldn't see the sun. But with the octopus men and Deep Ones dealt with, and the giant tentacles gone, it was time for the sun to rise again.
"Yeah, it's out."
The remaining troops of the Black Feather Knights, still in chaos, woke up that afternoon. All they remembered of the last battle was facing the octopus men before Takoma City.
But now, everything was suddenly resolved, which was baffling.
Everyone turned to Freya for answers. The final explanation was that internal strife among the cultists had stalled the summoning ritual, and after discussing with Sean, the suddenly appeared cultist was named a follower of Ghroth.
The reason was that this name was heard in the words of the Star of Destruction. To it, names didn't matter—these titles came from nowhere.
As for Sean's explanation to Freya, he said that while studying the Cain Tablet, he heard the call of the Chaos Eye, the Star of Destruction Ghroth. It was displeased with being summoned, so it had him act on its behalf to deal with the Deep Ones.
Of course, Freya didn't believe it all.
But maybe she couldn't find a reason to refute it, or perhaps their affinity had reached the level of worship.
Freya actually believed his story and even said the secrets of the Cain Tablet were too eerie, not wanting anyone else to know the truth. So they fabricated a tale of a Ghroth follower appearing and fighting the enemy.
Since no one had seen the scene Freya described, but couldn't understand how the matter was suddenly resolved, they had no choice but to believe.
Many wizards still had doubts, but they couldn't find grounds to argue, and there were many things to deal with, especially the aftermath in Takoma City.
Everyone woke up.
It was like waking from a dream. They had no memory of what happened over the past half month. Many couldn't even recall what they had done, as if it were just normal life. How did it suddenly feel like they were in a dream?
But even so, those who woke up normally were lucky. Many had exhausted their bodies in madness and never got up again. Even more were sacrificed to the Deep Ones.
No full statistics had been made yet, but Black Feather Knight Commander Marcus estimated that perhaps seventy to eighty percent of Takoma City's population had died.
Seventy to eighty percent of a city dead in a month—even during the country's civil wars, nothing this severe had happened. It wouldn't be long before news of this spread from Takoma City to surrounding towns, across the entire Basharan Empire, and even to other countries in the Zambutar region or farther.
Panic and blame were inevitable. More importantly, the consequences of this incident were not something those present could bear or decide alone. Even a prince or grand duke would struggle to make a decision. So Freya, Eshu, and Black Feather Knight Commander Marcus jointly decided to seek answers from the Imperial Royal Wizards.
They would write down everything that happened and hand it over.
Without a doubt, in the time to come.
Or perhaps in future history.
The names of the Old Gods, the summoning, and this suddenly appearing Ghroth would spread across the entire continent in the days ahead.