109 Chapter 109

"You..." Aron and Esmeralda said in unison as their gazes met. Aron looked at the condition she was in and quickly understood the predicament before turning his attention to the creature below him. 'The smaller beasts have already began to escape... so then where are you?'

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Aron crouched down and looked at the creature up close and even checked it's dental formula without paying mind to Esmeralda near him. 'It's similar to the forest prowlers of Limbo but it's definitely not the same. It's shape and nature is the same but its size and dental formula are vastly different.' Aron confirmed before standing back up with a look of disappointment on his face.

The only reason he had chosen to come back inside was because his theory was that these beasts had been coming from Limbo and into Pesia through a Limbo crack but were trapped in this ruin.

'I still can't be certain unless I check for sure. That scream earlier definitely belonged to a Screech... though it seemed weak....' Aron began to plan his moves right there in silence while Esmeralda looked at him cautiously without uttering a word.

He had already proven once that he wasn't scared of killing them as he had little to lose. A man with nothing to lose is a dangerous enemy so she could only keep quiet and hope her sister returned with help.

*bang!*

*bang!*

The pair's attention was soon caught by the large gate which began to tremble once more as more and more bangs began to resound along with dents appearing on its surface.

"This place will be flooded any moment from now..." Aron muttered and turned towards the wall before placing his palm there.

[ Horned Basilisk Aspect: Earth Manipulation]

Unlike the others who depended on the environments mana, he as a beast monger had his own extremely vast reserves. With a little bit of concentration he had began to alter the shape of the wall until a small cave was made.

Esmeralda saw that he was about to leave and her expression turned worrisome. "Please take me with you... I'll pay you whatever amount you wish once I'm out safely. I promise." She asked in a desperate tone with her usual stubbornness nowhere to be seen.

Aron glanced at her for a moment before lifting her up. "Your promises mean nothing to me, I'll have you swear an oath later. Mind you I'm only bringing you along and not providing protection." Aron said before an even louder dent resounded from behind causing him to quickly rush into the five meter long and wide cave he made.

Once inside he dropped Esmeralda to the ground uncaringly and quickly sealed the entrance.

*Bang!*

The wall trembled as a the sound of something large banging against it could be heard. Esmeralda's heart began to race as she worried her life would soon come to an end but Aron remained calm.

"If it was capable of breaking through these walls it would have escaped long ago. This place has been intact for this long and was built into a raging volcano, I doubt it can breach it." Aron explained and ignored the loud banging before taking a seat while leaning against the wall opposite of Esmeralda.

"Then... how did you make this..." She asked fearfully causing Aron to look at her as if puzzled by the question. "I didn't make this, I simply altered the structure. Nothing was destroyed, only displaced. If you where to look at this wall from the outside you'd see a certain part of it protruding out. You're not as smart as you look are you?" Aron mocked before extending his hand to her.

"The oath..." Esmeralda remembered with solemn expression, never had she thought of all things she'd be paying Aron to keep her safe. But alas she had no choice and an oath between the two was made.

"What now?" She asked as she was unsure how long they had to wait in this makeshift cave. Aron sighed and closed his eyes before giving her an answer. "The creature must leave first, in the meantime I need to think." Aron said calmly but this answer made Esmeralda worry.

"But what if it waits as well? And how can you come here without a plan?" She asked with utter surprise but Aron ignored her and sank into his thoughts.

.....

Meanwhile outside the passage, both airships had began to take off and were currently many meters above the ground. Everyone was present on the deck of either one, observing the scene below.

Hundreds of creatures began to rush and fly out of the passage at an alarming speed and were spreading outward. Those that were airborne even attempted to attack to the Galos Academy airships but luckily their power was not enough.

On the deck of Juliet's airship which had suffered the least losses, everyone just looked down with horror when they imagined that would have been them if they delayed.

"Just what is he planning...." Juliet thought as she looked down at the chaos. Aron had not said much when he rushed back into the passage, he had only reminded Evanora to remember his instructions which left everyone perplexed.

"Whatever it is... it's probably big." Scarlett added before turning her attention to the ship opposite of them.

Anastasia had been put on there to be with her brother when she awoke but instead she was comforting Emilia on the loss of her sister.

Surprisingly a little after her and Henry made it back, a bloody Inquisitor Passil arrived as well with Brutas who was in the worst condition of everyone still alive.

Part of his right leg was gone, a few of his ribs crushed along with his entire left arm and part of his face as well. Hence the only true major loss they felt was that of Esmeralda.

"A lot of people died, yet they're only mourning for one. Can that even be called mourning?" Sharla voiced her thoughts back on Juliet's airship but received no comment from Mirai.

"We should leave now, it's only going to get worse." Lady Rose warned before heading into the airship.

A moment after she said this another loud screeching erupted from the passage and killed every beast that was in the path of the sound wave.

"What is that thing..."

....

"It's left." Aron finally opened his eyes and muttered before turning his gaze to Esmeralda who had been trembling while holding onto her legs.

Although not much aside from bruises could be seen she was still internally injured and could not heal herself so the pain she felt at the moment was great. 'She's gone unconscious...'

.....

"Hmm?" A drowsy Esmeralda opened her eyes slowly and gazed around only to find they were still in the cave. 'My legs... I can feel them.' Esmeralda looked at her leg and raised it slightly and for sure she could move them again despite her body still aching all over.

"Good you're awake. Most of the creatures have already escaped from here so it's about time we left. Get up." Aron didn't explain anything as he simply instructed her to do this before opening the cave.

Night had now fallen and much of the hall was now in darkness. For Aron this was no issue, while Esmeralda who could barely see could only make sure she stayed close to Aron.

He easily made his way to the large now damaged metallic gate, making sure to avoid much of the rubble that filled the hall before coming to a stop.

His gaze quickly examined the dents and claw marks on the gate before he looked forward at what laid past it.

"What's wrong?" Esmeralda had grown uncomfortable with Aron's silence and felt there was a problem.

"Nothing, just watch your step and stay close... for your own sake." Aron warned before proceeding forward past the gate.

Although Esmeralda could not tell, they were currently crossing a large damaged bridge that looked ready to crumble at any minute.

Numerous growls of pain and hisses could be heard from deep below coming from the creatures unfortunate enough to have fallen off. Aron ignored them completely while Esmeralda's anxiety began to rise the further they walked.

"Why did you come back?" Esmeralda decided to shift her thoughts from the situation by asking Aron's purpose in returning. "It should be obvious that I returned to explore deeper. With many of the creatures out it's the perfect opportunity is it not?" Aron responded nonchalantly causing Esmeralda to frown from being treated like a bother.

However she held in the grievances she felt against him as she wasn't in any condition to even handle a simple confrontation. As much as she hated it, Aron was her only hope of making it out alive.

"Do you have any defensive artifacts on you?" After crossing the bridge, Aron had come to a stop and suddenly asked this of Esmeralda who shook her head in response. "No, it got badly damaged from when that strange cry echoed through the hall... why?" She answered before asking her own question in a tone of concern.

"The mana keeps getting denser so I feel we may encounter some... problems. Whose to say I'll react fast enough to save you if the situation calls for it." Aron shook his head before continuing forward without saying more, Esmeralda could only follow even more closely now while staying extremely alert.

"You will at-leastr try won't you?" She asked but received no answer from Aron.