235 235: A surprise indeed [pt2]
“Hurry up and head this way. I will do my best to distract the guards. Do you think they are stu[id enough to fall for a doll that looks like you?”
Karan asked the question but he did what he wanted to anyway. Soon enough, Aurora had a water doll that looked exactly like her roaming around.
It turned around and went in the opposite direction from her. Anyone would have thought that doll to be her at the first glance.
“I tried to make it as life-like as possible but it’s tough to work with female proportions now. I hope I was still able to do you justice.”
Aurora would have been more creeped out if she had not known Karan to be a female before his rebirth. The doll not only looked familiar but felt familiar as well.
‘Let’s not think about it any more than I have to right now. What was I thinking about? Ah, yes. The storage room.’
As soon as Aurora remembered what she wanted to talk about, she turned toward Karan with a serious face. Even the god looked taken aback at seeing Aurora this serious.
“Is something wrong? You look rather pale and uncomfortable.”
“Karan, we cannot leave this place yet. We need to find Mei’s core and retrieve it first. I don’t want to leave it in these people’s hands since they don’t deserve to have it.”
Aurora complained, knowing full well what kind of position she was putting Karan in. He could not outright refuse the girl but she could tell that he did not want to put himself through it either.
But Aurora was not one to back down. She felt strongly enough for this thing to happen so she would do it herself.
“T-That is a little difficult to do. I think your mother is the one who is holding on to the core and she’s a little….difficult to deal with.”
Karan was not wrong when he expressed his discomfort. Even Aurora knew that her mother was the problem here.
But still, she wanted to hold Seraphina out since she could not help but feel like Mei’s death was her fault. The only way to redeem herself would be to bring her core back.
Maybe Karan saw that in her gaze and realized it because he just sighed in resignation and accepted his fate.
“Alright fine. I will help you out but only this time. Don’t expect me to listen to any of your other absurd requests anytime soon.”
Karan looked like he was in pain when he said that but Aurora did not care much. She knew Karan would help but things came down to it. He might look rough around the edges but he was a good guy in the end.
“Thanks a lot. So, do you have any idea where the core could be kept? I’m afraid to say that I don’t have a great recollection of this place in my memories. So I have no idea where to even start looking for the core.”
Karan let out another heavy sigh as he turned around to face Aurora. His eyes held unspoken words but someone managed to swallow them all as he faced her.
“Aurora, you know you are such a big pain in my neck? I have no idea what to do with you.”
That was likely not a compliment but a complaint against Aurora. But Aurora did not take it to her heart.
Karan was just looking out for her in his way.
“Anyway, I did manage to snag a map of this fortress so it might help us out. Take a look at it and point out the direction we should be heading toward. You have better instincts than me and I trust your judgment.”
Karan was a little too laid-back when he said that but Aurora could tell that he had given it some thought at least.
She did not mind taking a look at the map of this fortress either and it brought back too many memories when she did. She used to look at this map with her brother all the time when he had not died.
Even now, the feelings of those hazy times threatened to choke Aurora. But she shook it all off as she turned toward Karan while pointing toward a blank spot on the map.
“I am sure mother’s room used to be somewhere around here. I think it would be good for us to head toward that side as well. If nothing else, it has an emergency exit that we can use.”
Aurora had a lot of residual memories of this place she wished she did not have. But she was going to make good use of the ones she could not get rid of.
“Alright, if that’s what you think is right. We should start heading out now.”
“Or, you both should surrender. Don’t cause any more trouble than you already have.”
Aurora was tired of being caught off-gaurd and Zoe’s presence was not welcomed in her company. The overlooker had a sullen look on her face as she blocked the way.
“I have no idea how you managed to get out of your room but this foolishness ends here. I cannot allow you to cause any more trouble for us.”
Zoe held her staff at ready, her eyes shining with sparks of electricity. She was the worst match for someone like Karan who had a water affinity but Karan did not back down from the challenge.
He somehow managed to block the attack heading for him and turned to face Aurora in a single moment. His eyes looked feral as he blocked the attack meant for Aurora and it hurt his hand badly.
But it did not even seem to have registered in his mind what had happened. He was so concentrated on blocking the attack that nothing else mattered.
His throat was letting out a low threatening growl which was so unlike himself and his eyes had gone into slit mode as well. He was a dangerous person right now and he even gave Aurora the chills.
“Aurora, get out of here if you don’t want to get caught up in this situation. I am not sure if you will be caught up in my rampage or not.”
That was a warning meant for Aurora’s good but she could not help but glance toward Karan’s tense body.
He looked to be on edge and not happy with his circumstances of having to face down someone who had the opposite affinity to him.
But he was trying to keep Aurora out of this mess which she was both grateful and angry about. What gave him the right to decide what was good for Aurora and what was not good for her?
Also, did he think that Aurora could not help out when he needed it the most? Was he trying to insult her without actually saying anything?
Zoe’s next attack came at them all of a sudden and Aurora found herself raising the ground unconsciously to combat the electricity.
And it worked wonders since the earth managed to digest all the shocks that were heading their way.
Karan looked stunned but not any more than Zoe whose jaws had dropped right to the ground.
“Oops! Looks like I am a bad match for you this time around. Karan, I think I will stick around to help you out to solve this mess.”
Karan did not say anything at the start but he did look thankful and calculative when Aurora turned toward him. He still looked like he would rather not have Aurora’s help but he ended up folding to her request in the end.
“If you are so hell-bent on helping then I might as well let you do that. Let’s show this overlooker who the real boss is here.”
Karan moved to raise his hand and a bolt of water rushed toward Zoe which she dodged. The ground where the water landed was charred and broke off from the pressure.
Surprisingly enough, even water could be an offensive weapon when one had enough magic to wield it properly.
And Karan was anything but shabby in his execution. His power almost looked like a dance happening in front of Aurora’s eyes.
He attacked, Zoe dodged, and then attacked back.
However, Zoe’s attacks never landed their hit since Aurora managed to block them in time. It was a never-ending cycle at this point and Aurora was beginning to enjoy it a little.
That was until Zoe realized that nothing was going to come out of this arrangement and began leading them slowly toward where she wanted to take them.
By the time Aurora realized what was happening, they had already fallen into the trap and ended up in an unfamiliar place.
On top of that, Aurora had also somehow ended up separating from Karan in this short amount of time.
But the feeling surrounding her was familiar and Aurora did not need to be a genius to know that it was from the abyss.