Adam gasped as he awoke, his entire body slick with sweat. He reached up to his heart, all the while the chill continued to seep deep within him. He was bundled within his blanket, without his armour or nightval bear leather. The Half Elf’s eyes remained staring at the dark sky for a moment before he tried to sit up.

“Adam,” Vonda called, placing a hand on his forehead, feeling how cold it was. “You have awoken.”

“What?” Adam said, staring at her. “What…” He shook his head, which pulsed as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered being hot, and then… “Lucy? Lucy!” Adam struggled to stand.

“She’s alright, Adam,” Vonda said, wondering if she should try to force him back down. “You should sleep.”

There were within one of the traveller camps, surrounded by the half walls, though there were none of the familiar towers they had come to expect thanks to Adam.

Adam climbed onto his feet, grabbing onto a half wall for support, his eyes quickly scanning the area, before he stumbled towards Lucy. The Demon was sitting up, a blanket wrapped around her, covering everything but her face. Her eyes snapped to Adam, who dropped down beside her, panting for air.

Adam’s heart pounded hard, causing his head to hurt too. He stared up ahead of them towards the fire, which crackled rhythmically. The others threw him a look, but left the pair alone.

Lucy continued to rub along her neck, where her skin itched, rubbing her fingertips along it. Her eyes were glued to the fire, seeing the last moments of her life.

Adam eventually calmed, sighing. He had no idea what had happened, but considering the mood in the air, he could only assume. Vonda brought them bowls of soup, but left them be, allowing them their time to process what had happened.

The Half Elf wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to apologise, and he wanted to state he empathised, but he couldn’t speak. Was it appropriate?

Adam remained still for a while, thinking about what had happened. They had been walking around and then, just like that, some random guy they encountered almost killed them all.

Lucy sipped her soup slowly as the minutes passed, still staring into the fire. The fire had overwhelmed her. She, who was the Demon Lord, overwhelmed by fire? It was a ridiculous statement to make.

“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Lucy whispered.

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “It is.”

“Were you afraid when you died?”

“Not the first time,” Adam admitted. “It just happened, and the next thing I knew, I was talking to a God.”

Lucy slowly nodded her head. “The second time?”

“Yeah,” Adam admitted, recalling how he had died. “I was scared. I let him kill me because… because I had hope that everyone would have been okay after I died.”

“If…” Lucy swallowed, unsure if she should ask. She felt her throat close up, before she fought away the anxiety. “If I die, will you save Mara?”

“Firstly,” Adam began, leaning towards Lucy, pressing his shoulder against hers, “I won’t let you die. Secondly, of course.”

“Thanks.” Lucy placed her head against his shoulder. If it were anyone else, she wasn’t sure if she would have believed it, but having adventured with Adam all this time, and after what happened earlier in the day, she believed him.

“Any time.” Adam placed his head against hers.

The pair sat together for a long while, silent, thinking of their deaths. Their deaths had been different, but there were few others who had died and returned. The rest of the group, including the two Mithril Rank Iyrmen, went about dealing with the matters of the camp.

Quest Complete: Surviving Certain Death

XP Gained: +2000

XP: 10 200 -> 12 200

‘Yeah. You better give me that much XP after all that.’

Lucy eventually pulled her head away, wrapping the blanket around her completely. She was too cold, and needed the time alone to sort out her thoughts.

Adam eventually withdrew from Lucy, donning his breastplate. The heavy weight against his shoulders and back felt so soothing. He sat down beside Sir Vonda, and placed a diamond in her hand.

“Thanks,” Adam said. Though Dunes and Vonda both had the ability to bring Lucy back, there was no doubt it was Vonda who had revived the Demon Lord.

Vonda wrapped her fingers around the diamond, bowing her head. She wasn’t sure what to say to Adam, or to Lucy, not without it sounding preachy. The entire party had been lucky that the old man hadn’t decided to kill any more of them. They only had a finite amount of diamonds, not enough for all of them.

“I’m glad to see you’re all well,” Adam said, nodding his head to the Mithril Rank Iyrmen.

“We were fortunate he did not kill us,” Okvar said. He sat calm and collected, with bandages around his cuts.

“We were denied a good death.” Rasam wiped her shield, thinking about the fight which had passed.

“We have our tasks,” Okvar stated, exchanging a look with Rasam. No matter what they truly wanted, the Iyr had sent them out on a particular mission. “Nirot spoke the tale.”

“Yeah?”

“A being like he must know Lord Strom,” Okvar said. The Iyrman decided against mentioning Lucy’s death. He knew a little about Adam, and understood that Adam was probably thinking about the matter deeply.

“I’m thinking the same.” Adam nodded his head, recalling what he could from their meeting. Whoever he was, he was probably one of the strongest figures he had met thus far, save for perhaps the Eldritch monstrosity in his previous life. “Strom doesn’t seem too powerful right now, but…”

“He gave up his Spark,” Jurot continued, join in to the conversation. “This figure may be someone who did not.” There were other beings in the world who did not hold Sparks, or held something similar to a Spark, but called something else.

“Yeah.” Adam swallowed. “Whatever he was, I’m sure we did enough to basically kill any Iyrman.” It was that which worried him the most. There were very few figures in this world that could face an entire group like theirs so casually. Adam had thought the old man was arrogant, allowing them to prepare to face him, but…

Jurot nodded. He was certain that even his grandfather would have fallen after facing both Rasam and Okvar, and yet this figure had managed to defeat the pair handily, and then casually defeated them. He recalled how the old man had cut Lucy’s throat right in front of him, and his hands and arms tensed up.

“We need to keep watch to make sure he doesn’t come back, just in case he realises Lucy is alive.” Adam had the sneaking suspicion that the man knew Lucy was still alive. “We’ll stick with the same watch order, and Hades and Zeus will be able to support us well enough.”

“You should sleep,” Jurot said, keeping an eye on Adam.

“I’m fine,” Adam replied. “I’ll take first watch.”

Jurot said no more. Adam was his own man, and if he didn’t want to rest, then that was his own choice. Jurot hoped, whatever happened earlier in the day, would not affect Adam’s heart. His own heart had been overwhelmed with darkness, but he could not allow it to overwhelm him.

Jaygak stared at the stars, readying to sleep. Stormdrake lay against her side, the hilt of the blade over her shoulder. Her arm coiled around the blade, not allowing it to escape from her grasp. Somehow, she had not died, and yet, that had not been the most terrifying thing that day.

Kitool remained at the side of the camp. She replayed the fight within her mind repeatedly, remembering every sensation she had felt. She had fallen almost right away, which was surprising, but not unexpected. She was the most nimble, but even she would find it difficult to deal with such a great ability like the flames of the great being they had faced.

The amount of great figures she had come across, from Lord Strom and Crowseer, to whoever this being was, it was strange to her. Strange, but, she understood the difference between herself and such figures. She wondered if her grandaunt would have been able to deal with such a figure. Thinking back to how easily the figure had killed Lucy right in front of both Jurot and her, while Jurot was trying to cut the figure’s finger off, she was certain even her grandaunt, alone, would not have been able to handle the great being.

Before everyone went to sleep, Adam walked around and asked if everyone was alright, gaining looks of confusion.

“What of you, Adam?” Vonda asked.

Adam nodded. “I’m good. You, uh, you sure you’re good?”

“I was not the one who almost died,” Vonda said.

“Sure, but…” Adam wasn’t sure how to approach the topic. “I mean. You know. The fire and everything.”

Vonda bowed her head slowly in response. “I am fine, Adam. Thank you.”

“Sure.” Adam smiled, before leaving them all to sleep. Though he was on lookout, his mind wandered. The stars twinkled in the night sky, but they had never been so dim.

‘Paragon isn’t enough.’