Above Cloudhaven City, the demonic aura finally cleared completely. Sunlight, gone for far too long, broke through the clouds and spilled down over the ruined city. But that light did nothing for the wreckage below. It touched the city, and still the bleakness stayed where it was.
More than half of the city walls had collapsed. Blackened scorch marks covered everything, and cracks split through the ground so deep the eye couldn’t find the bottom. Broken stone and shattered tiles were piled up like hills. The streets that had once been packed and lively were nothing now but ruins, and the air was thick with the sharp reek of blood and burning.
The cultivators hidden throughout the city staggered out from wherever they had managed to survive. They looked at the wasteland in front of them, and in every pair of eyes there was the dazed relief of still being alive, pressed right up against grief too heavy to hide.
This battle had gutted Cloudhaven City. Countless cultivators had died. Countless families had been torn apart. This great city, which had stood for years, had been all but flattened.
Roland stood on the ruins of the city wall, covered in blood. His wounds were still seeping, but he had no time to deal with any of them. He drew in a deep breath. Then he forced his exhausted body upright and shouted his orders.
“Everyone in the Sky Dragon Clan, listen up. Start clearing the battlefield now. Treat the wounded. Gather the bodies of the brothers who fell in battle!” His voice had gone rough, but there was still no room in it for anyone to question him.
The surviving Sky Dragon Clan warriors answered at once. Dragging their battered bodies with them, they started clearing through the rubble and searching for anyone still alive. Roland turned and looked toward the cultivators in the city, who still hadn’t fully steadied themselves. His voice dropped as he said, “The Demon Dragon has retreated, but the city has suffered terrible losses. I ask all of you to lend a hand. Help treat the wounded, and help rebuild Cloudhaven City.”
The cultivators all nodded. Holding themselves together by force, they threw themselves into rescue work and the clearing of the ruins. For a while, the sky over Cloudhaven City filled with cries, sobbing, and people shouting for one another—layered together, it sounded like a grim song for the dead after the battle. Roland looked over it all, his gaze heavy. They had won this battle. But the price of that victory had been far too brutal.
He turned and looked toward the city lord mansion. A trace of worry flashed through his eyes. Jared… you have to pull through…
Deep inside the city lord mansion, in a hidden chamber that had somehow remained mostly intact, Jared lay still on the bed. His face was white as paper, and his breathing was so faint it was almost impossible to catch. Bandages wrapped his whole body.
Blood kept seeping through them underneath, stark enough to make the sight hard to bear. The wounds left by the hellfire were scorched black. Even though Lydia had already used ghostly miasma to drive out most of the demonic poison, the wounds still looked savage, deep enough to show bone.
Vivian sat by the bed, gripping Jared’s hand tight. Her eyes had gone red, and tears slipped down without a sound. She stayed there like that, not moving at all, as if she meant to keep watch this way forever. After who knew how long, one of Jared’s fingers gave the slightest twitch.
Vivian jerked her head up, light breaking across her face.
“Jared! Jared!” She called to him softly, her voice shaking. Jared’s lashes trembled, and then he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Vivian’s face, streaked with tears, and the hard brightness in her eyes that gave away everything she had been holding back.
“Vivian…” Jared’s voice came out hoarse and thin, like he had to force it through his throat one scrap at a time.
“You’re awake! You’re finally awake!” Vivian’s fingers locked around his hand. “Do you have any idea? I… I almost thought you were never going to wake up…”
Jared looked at her and managed to pull a faint smile onto his lips. “I made you worry…”
Vivian shook her head and wiped at her tears. “Lie still. Don’t move around. Lydia Wraithmoor said your injuries were too severe. You’ll need at least a month of quiet rest before you recover.”
Jared gave a slight nod, but his gaze still drifted toward the window, toward that empty stretch of sky outside. Vivian watched the look in his eyes, and something tangled and heavy rose in her chest. She stayed quiet for a moment before she finally asked in a low voice, “Jared, that woman… who was she?”
Jared’s body stiffened just a little. Vivian went on, her voice soft. “The woman in purple. The one who used that flaming sword and wounded you. What… is she to you?”
Jared stayed quiet for a long time. A flicker passed through his eyes: pain, longing, guilt, and something deeper that never left when her name came up. When he finally spoke, his voice came out rough and worn thin. “Her name is Josephine… Josephine Sullivan… she’s my beloved…”
Hearing the answer, Vivian’s fingers tightened slightly around his hand. Beloved… of course she knew what that word meant. That was how people in the mundane world said it. It meant she was the woman he loved most.
“She…” Vivian chose her next words with care. “Why did she hurt you? She looked like she really didn’t know you at all…”
Jared closed his eyes. He drew in a deep breath, then slowly opened them again. “She lost her memory…” His voice carried a raw bitterness. “We came all the way from the mundane world together. We went through too much together. But later, she disappeared, and I searched for her for a long time. When I saw her again, she’d already been controlled, and her memories had been sealed away too…”
He paused. His eyes stayed fixed ahead, but every word sank heavier than the last. “She doesn’t remember me anymore. She doesn’t remember anything between us. But I don’t blame her. I only blame myself… I was the one who lost her; I was the one who failed to protect her.”
Vivian listened in silence. Something rose in her chest, tangled and impossible to put cleanly into words. What rose in Vivian’s chest had a sharp, bitter edge to it. There was envy in it too. And buried under both, there was one more thing she wouldn’t even admit to herself: jealousy.
She looked at Jared as he spoke about Josephine. The tenderness in his eyes was impossible to miss. So was the way he still ached for her, even after she had wounded him so badly he was barely holding together. Not a trace of blame came from him, and that left a taste in Vivian’s mouth she couldn’t push down.
For one moment, she wanted something painfully simple. Someday, she wanted someone who would look at her that way too. But the one man in front of her had already given that place in his heart to someone else. Vivian lowered her head and stayed quiet for a moment. Then she looked up again and forced a faint smile onto her face. “She… she must be very lucky…”
Jared looked at her, and something dimmed across his face. “Vivian, I’m sorry… I…”
Vivian shook her head and cut him off. “You don’t need to apologize. A man like you having a few lady companions is the most normal thing in the world… I just hope you take care of your injuries and get better soon. As for Miss Sullivan… I believe that one day, she’ll remember you…”
Jared looked at her, and gratitude filled his eyes. “Vivian… thank you…”
Vivian smiled and said nothing else. She only sat there quietly by the bed, staying with him and keeping watch over him. Even if Jared already carried someone else in his heart, she was still willing to stay by his side like this and keep watch over him. That was enough.
