Chapter 66

Guardians of Humanity

Sylas’ rigorous work on his body paid off—he was actually capable of keeping up with Tenner and Derrek. Well, kind of. The two still routinely took breaks specifically for him, but he wasn’t dragging them down too much, at least. They were covering huge chunks of the road, likely in tens of miles a day by Sylas’ rough estimates. That kind of speed… was terrifying, at least to the little earthling baby that still lived in his soul.

And yet, outside of his lungs burning occasionally and his legs crying for rest, he was doing quite alright all things considered. With this pace, they should get back to the castle with at least three-four days to spare. Though it doesn’t seem like much, it was double what Sylas initially thought. That was, then, twice as many hours they had to prepare.

In fact, he’d begun thinking that this would likely be the optimal route each and every loop—send an advance force to start preparations while the rest of the army hurries. By the time they arrive, even if they are late, at least the castle wouldn’t have completely fallen to the enemy.

Three and a half days—that’s how long it took them to cover ten days’ worth of distance. Staring at the walls, Sylas couldn’t quite believe it. They made it… so much earlier than he anticipated. Evening out everything, they had four days, at least, before the attack.

"Fuckin' hell, we fast," he mumbled. "Alright, let's split. You two go and hoard whatever few men we have, even take servants if need be. There's also Tebek in the dungeons—drag him with you. He'll fight, or he'll die as bait. I'll go and see Ryne."

“Alright.”

“We’ll meet up later tonight, then,” Derrek proposed. “To go over the initial plans.”

“It’s set,” Sylas nodded as the three men split as soon as they went through the gates. Sylas rushed toward the far end of the castle and the tiny doors leading downstairs into the laboratory of likely the smartest person here.

As per his usual self, he walked through the doors without even knocking, causing quite a bit of noise. A scream and a yelp later, he heard hurried and raging breathing as a silhouette emerged from the shadow-cast edge of the room. There was black soot covering Ryne’s features, so much so that if the picture of her like this leaked out back on Earth, it wouldn’t be pretty. Rage was evident in her eyes, and even seeing that it was Sylas didn’t alleviate it by much.

“WHAT THE HELL?!! EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING TO JUST BARGE IN, AT LEAST DO IT SILENTLY!! YOU WRECKED TWO DAYS’ WORTH OF WORK!!” she screamed at him without reserve, causing Sylas to actually wince. Ryne had never gotten this angry with him before.

“… uh… I’m, I’m really sorry,” he apologized. “Go ahead, smack my head.”

“I… ugh, I don’t want to smack your head,” Ryne sighed, letting go of her anger. She knew it was pointless to get angry at the man. He’d take it all in stride and learn nothing from it. “Come on in, I guess. Wait—why are you back so soon? Did something happen?!”

“No, no, we won splendidly,” Sylas said. “Mostly thanks to me, actually.”

"Oh, yeah, right," she blew through her nose and rolled her eyes. "I'm betting that the Prince and the Captains are truly grateful that you accompanied them. You and your lame jokes.”

“…”

“Did I say anything that wasn’t true?”

“… but still. Damn,” Sylas chuckled lightly. “Looks like I really pissed you off.”

“You really did. Oh well. As long as everything’s fine. Why’d you come back?”

“Ah, yes, that part’s not fine, though,” he added. “There’ll be another Ghoulish invasion in four days.”

“… see, now I feel bad that I yelled at you since you had such a good excuse for barging in!!! God, I hate you so much!! Luckily, you all came back. If we had to fight with our current forces, I can’t even imagine what would happen.”

“…” Oh, wow, damn. This is awkward.

“… you… you did all come back, right?” Ryne repeated the question, feeling less assured than before. “Sylas, please tell me it’s not just you who rushed back!”

“Oh, no, it’s definitely not just me,” Sylas said.

“Oh, good. So, it’s everyone?”

“… define everyone.”

“GODDAMMIT, JUST TELL ME WHO CAME BACK?!!”

“Geez, calm down, calm down! It’s Tenner, Derrek, and I! The Guardians of Humanity!”

“… ah, we’re all doomed. We are all doomed.”

“Hey, hey, calm down, calm down,” Sylas hurried over and grabbed her shoulder sternly, shaking her from her stupor. “The Prince is already aware and is rushing here with all the people. Until then, it’s our job to keep this thing going, alright? Besides, we have four days! In butterfly years, that’s… that’s like an eternity!”

“… but it’s not an eternity. It’s just four days!”

"We had less to prepare with the first go-around," Sylas said. "And we survived. That's what we do, after all. We're survivors. Life may throw whatever it wants at us, but… we'll beat it all back and then some more. Right?"

“…”

“Right?”

“Right, right, right,” Ryne sighed, walking back into the deeper room and sitting next to the black-inked table, likely the result of Sylas startling her. “So, what did the three big-brains of the, khm, ‘Guardians of Humanity’ have in mind?”

“Kill them before they kill us.”

“Ah, yes, quite brilliant.”

"You know it," cracking a smile and realizing he'd managed to lighten the mood somewhat, he sat down next to her. "Jokes aside, they'll try and beat some of the men in shape. And you and I will be busy making as many talismans as possible. We don't need to win—we just need to last. A day, at most. Half a day, most likely. Perhaps even less than that. And we can do that. We have you, after all."

“… you have me?” Ryne smiled bitterly. “What can I do? Make talismans? Most of my talismans are weak. You’ve seen it. I’d perhaps be best used as a bait.”

“Ah, yes, quite brilliant,” Sylas said. “Let us use the only Exorcist for hundreds of miles as bait. Clearly, you are of superior intellect.”

“…”

"Ah, come on," Sylas grumbled. "Isn't this that classic teenage fantasy? Get tossed into a seemingly impossible situation, yet beat your way through and save the world!”

“Did you dream of saving the world when you were my age?” she asked.

“No, I mostly dreamed about girls and—khm, anyway, we’re not talking about me,” he quickly, and awkwardly, changed the topic when he saw Ryne give him a look of disgust. “We’re talking about you. And you and I need to start making talismans, and have some plan in place for the other two Guardians for when we have a meeting later tonight.”

“Fine. It’s not like I can just mull around and wait for my death,” she said. “But, I need to take a bath first. Clearly. And you—you need to clean this up. I want it speckle-free. Good it?”

“Aye, aye. Stain-free. Got it.”

“Good. Alright, I’ll be back quickly.”

“Take your time.”

Sylas started clearing up immediately, not wanting to waste time. As it was dull work, his mind drifted almost immediately. He was truly giving it his all—not just now, but ever since he came to this world. He hadn’t put this much effort into anything in his life back on Earth—not his education, not the jobs he held, not the relationships he had… he mostly floated through life, carried by changing circumstances more so than his decisions.

And yet, here, where circumstances continue to be existential and where his decisions seem to matter squat, he was still trying—trying to change the world for the better.

And though they’ve come through partly deceitful means, the relationships he’d developed with people here… mattered. They weren’t just names in the phone he’d call when he wanted to buy weed or get pissed. He cared for them, deeply—far more than they cared for him. It wasn’t strange—after all, he’d known them for years now, from his perspective. He knew them inside and out. And yet, there were still things he could learn.

“What’s your dream?” Ryne was caught unprepared for the question, nearly falling off her chair. She’d just returned from her bath and went on to check if Sylas cleaned properly when he asked.

“W-what? My dream? What are you talking about?” she glanced at him, asking.

“Exactly that,” he replied. “Your dream. What do you want to do with your life?”

“… uh, I… I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. Be an Exorcist, I imagine.”

“… and?”

“… and, uh, see the world? Explore. Yes, I’d like to explore,” she nodded. “I… I spent most of my life inside the walls,” she added, looking down. “It’d… it’d be nice to go about freely and see places. What… what about you?” she quizzed.

“Ah, I am far too old to have a dream,” Sylas chuckled.

“Oh, please. If there’s one person in the whole world who isn’t too old for anything, it’s you,” Ryne scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Come on, tell me. I told you mine, it’s only fair.”

“… my dream?” Sylas thought for a moment. What was his dream? In fairness, he didn’t have one particular dream—he had plenty of them. To put Valen on the throne, to become a master mage, to become a cool swordsman, to find a hot wife, to travel the world… Jesus, I might be more of a teenager than her… “My dream is that, one day in the future, when you are getting married, that you will allow this old man to walk you down the aisle.”

“…” Ryne’s cheeks immediately flushed red as she staggered, looking away in embarrassment. The duality of the teenager in front of him… was quite endearing. And nostalgic. “S-shut up.”

“What, you won’t let me? Aww, shucks. My dream got crushed, just like that.”

“F-fine! I’ll—I’ll let you, just shut up! Come on, we have work to do! Go fetch me the papers and start preparing them!” she fought through the embarrassment and started ordering him around, something she always did when they were fiddling around the talismans.

Sylas cracked a smile and ruffled her hair for a moment. For this, he mused, he might just even become a Guardian of Humanity.