Chapter 280 The Sun Blessed Saviors

"Lee Seng!" Halys shouted. Lee Seng turned. He was still deep within the bubble and Halys had seemingly entered without struggle. "What's with the altered gravity?" He was walking over to him like he wasn't struggling. It was something he didn't realize anybody else could willingly do. He pointed up at the golem.

"It's gonna fall if I release it." Lee Seng told him.

"I'll get a bunch of other earth-users out here and we'll deal with it." Halys told him. He was smiling. He noticed the sun marks all over Lee Seng's body. "What's with all the marks?" He pointed at Lee Seng.

"Oh these?" Lee Seng lifted his arm up. He revealed the sun marks. "I think Keng devoured a lot of curse energy. It was transmitted to me because it was so much."

"That's why I felt that strange energy." Halys nodded. "Is it gonna harm you if you leave it alone like that?"

"I dunno." Lee Seng shrugged. He didn't feel all the burning he felt earlier. "I think I should be fine with this leftover amount."

"Leftover amount?" Halys raised an eyebrow.

"General!" A voice called out. Halyus turned and looked at a group of Foxes standing at the edge of the gravity bubble. Some other Foxes had wandered in, but it looked like they were struggling to continue forward.

"What's… with this pressure?" Another Fox asked.

"C'mon, it ain't so bad!" Vedi chuckled. Ysa and Victoria were following after him. A small group of Foxes seemed to easily move past it while others struggled to even take another step.

"Can you reduce it?" Halys asked.

"I can try."Lee Seng imagined the bubble surrounding the Golem. He watched as the gravity bubble pulled inwards. The pressure released from the few Foxes that managed to get in. They let out a sigh of relief as they straightened themselves out. Vedi, Ysa, and Victoria continued their way over. The bubble wrapped around the Golem, Vedi tackling Lee SEng with an arm around him and pulling him in.

"I can't believe you did it!" Vedi chuckled. "To think I had my doubts about you!"

"Lee Seng, are you okay?!?" Ysa and Victoria ran over. Ysa began to check him. "You didn't fully heal, yet. You might've–"

"What're these sun marks all over your body?" Victoria asked.

"I feel fine. It's excess energy from Keng." Lee Seng answered. "And stop headlocking me!" He tried to pull away from Vedi, but found it incredibly hard to move from Vedi's grip.

? 'Nobody's ever had more strength than me. Is Vedi stronger than me?' Lee Seng wondered as he tried to yank himself out of Vedi's hold. Vedi chuckled and continued to toy with him as Halys accessed the situation.

"I need Earth-users and control users over here." Halys waved. "Let's deal with the golem!" Vedi released Lee SEng, who defensively backed away from Vedi. Vedi chuckled as he turned his attention to Halys.

"You need me to throw some boulders?" Vedi asked.

"I need you to carefully carry the boulders to a safe place." Halys told him.

"Roger, roger!" Vedi lifted up into the sky and flew straight towards the falling boulder.

"Alright, let's get out of the way." Ysa motioned for Victoria and Lee Seng to move. "Let's let them do their work. I need to make sure you're fine." She waited for Lee Seng to move, but when he didn't do anything, she grabbed him and led him away. Halys began to instruct Foxes on what to do. They would work with the gravity bubble on it for safety reasons.

Keng pulled the leftover curse energy into him, converting it into purified energy as it poured out all around him. The light blinded him for a long time. He had shut his eyes and listened to the noises. It could hear the humming of nature as the cursed forest peeled away and revealed its true nature. At some point, he heard another distinct energy in the distance.

'I guess he found the other one?' Keng thought. The light died down after he heard the other distinct energy. The two energies had connected and more wooshing was heard. The light faded and revealed the rest of his allies were all slowly opening their eyes. Keng stood in the remains of the ent. It had collapsed in the chaos and was motionless.

Cheers erupted as the group started to celebrate. Keng glanced down at his body, noticing the sun marks on his body and in the air.

"What're these?" Keng whispered. He touched a mark in the sky. It faded, creating a mark on his hand. He touched the marks on his arm. His focus on nature around him moved to the marks.

"Keng, what happened to you?" Lady Vix'i asked. Keng looked up, turning to see Lady Vix'i and Commander Chimera coming towards him. He lifted his arm and shrugged.

"Dunno. This happened while I was devouring energy, I guess." Keng shrugged.

"Mark of the Sun. It's silver, too. Vox'su's mark is all over you." Lady Vix'i studied it closer. "Maybe it holds excess energy?"

"We should gather with the others. I felt another immense energy over at Group 3's area." Chimera calmly told them.

"Mmm, we should go if we're done here, right?" Keng quickly agreed. He finally turned his attention onto the forest. The colorful leaves caught his attention. "Was this place always this pretty?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen this place in all of its beauty." Lady Vix'i commented. "How long do you think, Chimera? 200 years? 300 years?"

"It's been half a millenia. The Saviors took this place about two hundred years ago, after the curse plagued the forest." Chimera gave context. Keng was amazed Lady Vix'i and Commander Chimera casually talked about time like it wasn't a big deal.

"It'll be nice to see what comes from purifying the curse. All the things we could do with the Saviors' base being near here, too." Lady Vix'i began to think about possibilities as Chimera turned to look at the large group surrounding Lily.

"A halfling did all of that?" The group mumbled. The adolescent girl looked at the crowd. Her music magic had disappeared and she was now covering her mouth. She was a bit overloaded with the group.

"I thought they didn't have that much power." Another Fox whispered.

"Is she Blessed?" Another Fox asked. Keng noticed the situation quickly and sighed. He started to jog over, Ritsuka turning to look at him as he passed.

"Keng?" Ritsuka called his name out. Keng ignored him and moved into the crowd.

"'Scuse me. Pardon me." Keng popped out into the middle of the crowd. He noticed a pink haired girl with a long traditional outfit that had long sleeves. She was, maybe, only a teenager. She was definitely smaller and looked nervous. Keng's appearance drew the attention off of her and onto him. They began to talk about him as the conversation about the 'halfling' girl died down. Keng popped out and caught her attention. She noticed the sun marks on him and her eyes instantly lit up.

"Chosen one!" She pointed. She quickly went from nervous to happy. She inched forward towards Keng. "You're a Savior, right?"

"Yeah. And you are?" Keng asked.

"Oh, I'm Lily. I've come to play in the forest!" Lily told him.

"Play?" Keng studied her. He could hear soft music coming off her. Something about her drew him towards her.

"Mmmhm!" Lily nodded. "I had a dream a couple days ago. Rox-su told me I could play in the forest with some special people just like me! He said I would have fun with these people. He said they would look like twins just like Rox'su and Vox'su! Both would be Sun Blessed! One by Rox'su and one by Vox'su. I guess I found the one blessed by Vox'su first!"

"Did she really have a dream like that?" A skeptical Fox asked.

"You were told this in a dream by Rox'su?" Keng asked.

"Mmmhm!" Lily's bright smile made her eyes squint. She was definitely of Asian descent and a cute girl. Keng nodded as he looked to his left. Commander Chimera, Lady Vix'i and Ritsuka popped into the crowd.

"Ah, Commander!" Lily turned to face him. She ran straight up to him and hugged him. People began to mutter about it as Chimera hugged her back.

"You did well, Lily." Chimera squatted to become face to face with her. "You've definitely grown in a short amount of time."

"Rox'su said I would meet some special people if I came here and I did! I wonder where the other one is though… But if I could play music worthy of your ears, Commander, I'm happy!" Lily beamed. Chimera patted her head and smiled.

"I think we all enjoyed it."

"You think Lady Tear'a would be proud of my music?" Lily asked, tilting her head.

"Goddess Tear'a would definitely be pleased to hear your music." Chimera nodded.

"Goddess Tear'a? She's Blessed by the music goddess?" A Fox whispered. Keng looked around as Ritsuka wandered over to him.

"But she had a dream with Rox'su in it. What does the dream mean?" Another asked.

"It means she's Blessed by both gods, Lord Rox'su and Lady Tear'a." Chimera answered, standing. He patted Lily one more time and then turned his attention onto the crowd. They all grew quiet, staring in disbelief. "No more questioning Lily's potential. She made sure all of you were safe and taken care of and assisted Keng with ease. Enough chit-chat. Let's meet up with the group."