Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Before his foot could crush my throat, a sudden impact landed on his side, sending him staggering away from us.

I slowly got up and looked to see what had hit him as my injuries healed.

It was Ruru.

She was trying to hold him with her antlers, but he was slowly pushing her back.

He clenched his fist and hurled a brutal punch at her face.

Ruru roared in response, her voice echoing through the forest.

She stared into his eyes as she howled intensely.

The way she was staring at him wasn't because she was trying to scare or dominate him.

Her starry eyes were shimmering.

She was... she was crying.

I knew this expression very well. I had seen it before.

My mother used to make the same expression when she missed my father.

It was the expression of longing.

Jambavan looked back at her and stopped his attack.

His body began trembling, and he clutched his head, wincing in agony. The purple veins that covered his entire upper body gradually began to recede back into the leech on his chest, and the color started returning to his eyes.

He barely opened his trembling mouth and muttered in an old, cracked voice,

"Rrrr... rrrrr... Runnnn... Ru... Ru... Aaaaghhhhh!"

And then began screaming, taking a few steps backward as the veins started to spread again on his body.

Ruru instantly turned, her eyes brimmed with tears as she ran towards us.

I knew what I had to do.

I immediately lifted Nymeria in my arms, grabbed her sword, and climbed onto Ruru.

She turned her face, glancing one last time at Jambavan, who was bawling in agony, and then she launched into the sky, towards the direction we came from.

For the entire journey, I didn't utter a single word. I was too ashamed and disappointed in myself.

"Ruru's blessing has cured all of my injuries, yet why-why does it still hurt here?" I thought, clutching my chest tightly.

Tears kept rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably as my eyes fell on Nymeria's face, covered with my blood.

She had numerous claw marks on her slender forearms, a wound on her head, and blood dripped from the tattered skin of her hands—hands that had held the sword which protected me.

About an hour later, we reached the Neutral Zone. I gently lifted Nymeria down from Ruru's back and walked toward the Amrita water.

I lowered her body into the pond and sat down beside a rock, staring at the night sky while holding my knees tightly.

Ruru sat beside me and licked my tears, trying to comfort me.

I parted my lips and whispered in a low voice, "Why are you trying to soothe me when you're more hurt than I am? Please don't do that. I—I would feel even more pathetic."

Gradually, I loosened my grip on my knees, and she placed her face on my thighs and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

As for Nymeria, she was already unconscious this time, so she didn't suffer the pain of healing in the pond.

After a few minutes, I tenderly rested Ruru's face on the ground and moved to the pond to take Nymeria out.

She was floating in the water, completely healed.

I was about to grab her, but she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"You should have run away. Now we both have reached the afterlife," she whispered, lightly touching my cheek.

"We're both alive, pretty lady," I replied softly, grabbing the hand that was touching my cheek.

"That's—that's impossible. You look like a ghost right now. I thought a handsome soul reaper came to take me to the Soul Society," she murmured, chuckling lightly.

"Allow me to take you out, pretty lady," I said slowly bending towards her.

"With pleasure," she replied, wrapping her arms around my neck.

After taking her out of the Amrita water, we sat down beside the pond, and I explained what had happened after she fell unconscious—how Ruru arrived just in time and saved our lives.

"Hmmm, Ruru's blessing is really incredible. I also want her blessings. Guess I'll have to start praying too," she said nonchalantly, placing her fist under her chin.

"I can ask her if she can bless you as well," I replied with a little smile.

"By the way, did you cry?" she asked, leaning forward, staring into my eyes from a hand's length away.

She was too close. I could feel her breath on my face and see my reflection in her creamy eyes.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked, looking downward.

"Why should I be mad at you?" she asked, her voice carrying a curious tone.

"Because I was the one who stubbornly took both of us to the location of the beasts, even after you warned me.

And I was the one who constantly held you back when Jambavan attacked. You would have easily escaped with your skills if I weren't there.

Not only did I overconfidently take us there, I couldn't even protect myself—let alone you," I blurted.

My voice began to crack as I spoke further, "You—you should have just left m—"

A light slap landed on my cheek before I could say anything more.

"Don't say another word," she said in a cold, light tone and with a harsh tone she spoke further,

"Don't delude yourself with unnecessary thoughts. I was only returning the debt by saving your life, or else I would have left you there that instant. So it wasn't me who protected you—it was the goodwill you showed to others that came around for you.

And instead of blaming yourself for your weakness, shouldn't you be thinking about how to become stronger so you never become a liability to others?"

"Nngh… aah—haa… nghhh!" I began sobbing heavily, my eyes erupting in a sudden downpour like a cloudburst in the sky.

"Huh-huh, did I scold you that harshly?" she asked, her voice carrying genuine concern.

But I just cried heavily, unstoppable. All the fear, anger, and frustration I had bottled up inside me from the moment I arrived here erupted in that instant.

She sighed and hugged me, placing her hands into the hair at the back of my head, gently rubbing as she spoke softly, "There, there. It's alright now. Let it all out."