Chapter 249: At Last, My Love


    The sharp rocks beneath his knees scraped his skin as he crawled towards the edge of the bridge. Moulin panted hard. When his finger curled around the rocky edge, he leaned over slightly, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Kind earth giant. However, his eyes only saw nothing butplete darkness.


    His heart thundered, and he lowered his head with gritted teeth. Despair swallowed him whole, and his shoulders trembled. Nhetecra was gone.


    "Moulin..." Varion called hoarsely. His despair was more significant, but he knew it wasn''t the time to lose themselves in sorrow. Currently, they were at the dangerous side of the rift, opposite to where Phuna was. Nhetecra had done the best of his ability so they couldn''t be dragged down to the abyss with him. They were grateful for that. But now, they must face hundreds of starving malibreeds, gaping their mouths at them. Roars, slithers, shrieks. These noises almost made their ears pop and bleed.


    Unarmed and exhausted, Moulin and Varion stepped closer to each other while warily eyeing the malibreeds surrounding them. The bridge was gone, and they were trapped. Perhaps, this was their end.


    "Pa! Moulin!" Phuna desperately called. Her eyes turned bloodshot. Her heart pounded wildly inside her chest. A dreadful foreboding filled her soul as she watched her precious people helplessly cornered near the edge of the rift. This wasn''t happening...


    "Phuna!" Varion turned his head and yelled. "Go and look for help!"


    Phuna stopped. As she bit her lips, she nodded, turned around, and ran as fast as she could. She could do nothing for them, but at least someone might be able to. She only hoped that they would endure when she returns.


    Watching Phuna''s back growing smaller, Moulin nced at Varion. "You actually didn''t want to let her see you die, right?"


    Varion slightly lowered his gaze, "I hope she''ll understand. It''s only a pity that I won''t be able to see her grow up."


    Moulin pressed his lips together and nodded. "You won''t die here. Don''t lose faith."


    "Mn..." Varion clenched his fists as he swept his eyes around them. A malibreed with a wide circr mouth and long slithering tongue approach him with a frightful shriek. As Varion took a step back, an idea emerged in his mind. He spoke hastily, "I can break your mana''s suppression."


    Moulin turned to him with a questionable face. "What?"


    Before he could exin, Varion ced a hand on his back and whispered, "This will hurt. Please... Don''t lose yourself..."


    Varion abruptly thrust his palm on Moulin''s slender back. The youth widened his eyes as he jerked backwards. It was as though a powerful surge of energy abruptly plunged inside him without warning! Somehow, something exploded inside him. It was excruciatingly painful that he couldn''t even utter a single word. His mouth gaped as though he was being choked. Moulin fell to the ground, writhing in pain. His fingers scratched his chest desperately.


    It hurts... It hurts... It hurts!!!


    Varion, although worried, stepped a few steps backwards, bracing himself.


    The malibreeds howled delightfully at the scent of energy. It was addicting, rousing their hunger even more!


    In the next second, a sheet of pure white frost spreads out from the ck ground beneath the youth who had gone still. The ice gleamed brightly as it rapidlyyered the ground. It froze the malibreeds'' legs and further expanded to the dark foggy forests. It was endless and unstoppable. The temperature dropped terribly, causing an unexpected freeze.


    Suddenly, the youth slowly rose from the ground. The aura around him was mysterious and frighteningly ominous. As Moulin stood, he opened his eyes. A daring glow shined. Even the whites of his eyes could no longer be identified. A foggy breath escaped his pale lips.


    The horrifying monsters that surrounded them broke through the ice and howled angrily. Their ck saliva sputtered on the pure-white ground, and their steel-like ws scraped loudly against the solid floor.


    Varion, who had climbed the remains of the wooden bridge, watched as Moulin only stood still fearlessly. Truthfully, this was the first time someone was too calm while under his amplifier spell. It looked as if a heavenly aura surrounded Moulin. Varion feared that he had awoken something terrible inside the youth''s soul.


    Moulin raised a slender hand. And a blinding sh of light glowed beneath his palm. When it receded, his delicate fingers clenched around steel-like ice. Pure-white, glistening like an opal. The moment his grip tightened around the giant bow of ice, a stream of pure untainted energy streamed inside him, into the nerves of his fingers to the tips of his silvery hair. His eyes glowed brightly like a heavenly deity brought forth to punish those who sinned.


    Thunder roared in the skies. Golden lightning shed. However, Moulin ignored it.


    Roars came from all sides around him. And before the youth knew it, Malibreeds began to charge towards him.


    His movements were a blur as he pulled the shing string of his bow. His feet levitated an inch above the ground. His hair, growing and flowing as if he was underwater., A breath escaped his lips, and in the next instant, a blinding arrow shot the ground beneath him.


    BOOOOMMMMM!!!


    High-pitched screeches enveloped the air. Bright light beamed from the icy ground and pierced through every single creatures'' form. Their blood evaporated before they could even reach the ground. A freezing mist expanded from Moulin''s position. It surged through the dead forest and the opposite side of the rift, enveloping them with a frightful cold.


    kes of ice crystals formed in the air, fluttering like elegant petals. And a terrible growth of solid ice urred from the ground.


    The creatures scurried to retreat, but when their feet touched the ice, their limb would freeze and shatter. In the end, they split and broke like a fallen mirror. Their bones, flesh, blood, wasn''t spared.


    Although hundreds have perished under one single shot, the youth once again pulled the string of his bow.


    It wasn''t enough.


    The filth should be cleansed thoroughly. Not a speck should be ignored.


    Witnessing his movements, Varion''s eyes widened. The youth was going to lose himself to his mana. "Moulin! Stop!"


    Slightly ceasing his movements, Moulin lifted his head. He didn''t turn not did he respond to Varion''s call. As though he was nothing but an empty shell, a vessel for power.


    Before Varion called him again, the man stopped when ice grew at his feet. Confused and shocked, Varion slipped and lost his bnce. The abyss weed his eyes.


    Thud!


    However, in the next instant, his vision was concealed by a thickyer of pure, wless white. The frigid air it emitted caressed his cheek. And Varion kneeled on the ice as he witnessed a massive bridge materializing in front of him. It sessfully reached the opposite side of the rift.


    His eyes grew wide.


    Such power left him speechless.


    Turning his head, Moulin remained coldly unmoving. He wasn''t even looking at his own creation.


    With a soft sigh, the youth swiftly raised his weapon and aimed it downwards.


    "!!!"


    Varion quickly bit his finger and chanted a brief spell. His face paled once he finished his words.


    Snap!


    It felt as though his strings snapped. Moulin opened his eyes after a single blink. Gone was the terrifying glow in his eyes. Suddenly, he felt his feet touched the ground and the weight in his hand disappearing. The bow dispersed into a soft flurry of white snow, swept by the frigid wind.


    "?..." Moulin looked at his hand questionably. Unexpectedly, ck symbols marked both of his wrists like a tattoed bracelet.


    "What happened?" Moulin asked.


    The fog receded, and the scenery was revealed to his silver eyesMoulin frozen on the spot. His breath ceased, and it felt as though his muscles have gone stiff.


    A shimmering forest of glistening ice reced the once withered forest. The thorny naked branches wore numerous ice crystals like hanging jewels. The ground appeared like a glossy mirror, pure and untainted except for the countless fragments of ck that littered the ground like sand.


    ...


    Moulin heard a twinkle, and he flinched as he looked below his side.


    A single five-petaled crystal flower bloomed exquisitely beside his feet. Its petals sparkled even without sunlight.


    Moulin nked. His mind became static.


    What the hell happened here?


    He was unaware of the silent growling originating from beneath the edge of the cliff behind him. With an angered gurgle, a surviving malibreed jumped out towards the oblivious young man.


    Varion yelled, "Moulin! Behind you-"


    Whizz!!


    A golden sh shot past Varion''s cheek, and the man stiffened in shock.


    Moulin turned around with a thundering heart. Silver eyes weed the sight of an enormous malibreed with four lengthy limbs spreading out to engulf him. The wed arm a few inches away from his face.


    "Ah-"


    Suddenly, a long de pierced through the creature''s chest. A double-edged spear is glowing with ruthless murderous intent. ck wisps of energy sparked around the de as it electrocuted the beast. Moulin fell backwards, his hands scraping the ice as he stared in shock.


    The familiarity of the mana struck him to the core. This golden warmth that he had wielded long ago was all too familiar.


    Moulin''s heart pounded.


    With a screech, the creature fell forward with a thud before Moulin''s feet.


    Golden mana...


    Thriving with pure heavenly energy, it was both powerful and beautiful.


    Moulin stopped. A thought emerged in his mind, and every cell inside his body seemed to be vibrating with anticipation. Could it be?


    ''I''m here..''


    Moulin lifted his trembling gaze. He breathes rapidly and almost stumbles over the charred corpse before him while he rises.


    His eyes widened.


    Standing over the middle of the ice bridge that he had no recollection of creating was a tall figure. A man of prominent stature. Stunning golden hair like wisps of sunlight. Sharpened features, broader and more defined. The heightened aura of dominance and sovereignty. A sheathed sword hanging on his belt and his ck cape made him appear overpowering.


    There was a mature foreign air surrounding him. However, Moulin was overwhelmed by the familiarity of that face, that body, that soul.


    Lord Hadrian Hercullio stood in the middle of the frost bridge. And before he realized it, he was walking. In every step, there was hesitation. What if this wasn''t real? If this were another dream, he would once again wallow in the depths of despair like a worthless soul. He feared that if he were to touch the youth before him, he would disappear, and his fingers would feel nothing. Nothing was more terrifying than this...


    "Hadrian..." Moulin forced out. His voice is trembling. But unlike Hadrian, he was running.


    The distance between them shortened significantly in each second that passed.


    Atst, when they were finally a step before each other, Moulin stopped. He wanted nothing more than to pull the man to him. To feel his skin, to feel his breath, to hear his heartbeat. Moulin longed for it so much that it was painful. But he stopped.


    "Hadrian?" Moulin spoke. His voice made the lord''s hand tremble.


    Hadrian parted his lips. His hand raised. However, before his fingers touched Moulin''s face, he paused. Hesitationyered his eyes.


    "Are you..." He forced out.


    A faint smile graced Moulin''s lips. It seems his lover was confusing him for an illusion. Moulin abruptly held Hadrian''s hand. Their touch seemed to send sparks into their nerves. A familiar warmth flooded their hearts, and this time, Hadrian knew all of this... Was real.


    A mix of sorrow, anger, longing, and warmth filled those once ruthless golden eyes. Hadrian''s breathing stuttered. "You''re here... "


    "Mn, I''m back..." Moulin smiled, his eyes growing tearful. I''m sorry for those painful years, for the heartache I''ve caused in my absence, for your sorrows. Now I will never leave you again. I will ease your pain. Slowly, I will mend your broken heart.


    Without hesitation, Hadrian pulled the young man closer to him. His lips immediately pressed against Moulin''s sweet delectable ones. At first, it was slow. He was savoring to feel the warmth, to convince himself that none of this was a dream anymore. That Moulin was here, and he was kissing him, breathing his scent, feeling his skin. Then it turned forceful, more daring as if to devour the youth''s whole being. All his emotions, he vented it to this one punishing kiss.


    Lips parted. Moans spilled openly. Hadrian''s tongue drilling and exploring, and Moulin epted every stroke willingly. His longer wasn''t less than that of his beloved.


    Atst, I have found you...