I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 218: Trust, All That’s Left

"Thea!" Arthur shouts.

"Thea!" Julian and Liam are shouting too, both at the top of their lungs.

But it’s useless.

The gate has become nothing more than a regular stone arch.

"No!" Arthur looks like he’s lost his mind.

He starts hitting the stone on one side of the gate, then moves to the other, as if sheer force might activate it again.

"Come on! Open!" he yells, slamming his fist against the cold surface.

Julian pulls out his gadgets, hands shaking as he scans the arch from every possible angle, trying to find a way to force it open, override it, anything.

Liam just stands there.

He doesn’t know what to do.

He looks completely lost.

Maeve and Captain Chambers arrive at the gate at almost the same time.

"What happened?" Maeve asks, her voice hoarse, raw from exhaustion and fear.

Liam turns to her. There’s fear in his eyes. And helplessness.

"Thea..." His voice cracks.

"She threw us out."

------------------------------

Theo’s heart sinks.

He can feel it.

Something massive. Something powerful. Something hungry is moving toward him.

His mana is almost depleted. He can’t maintain five Mind Shields, purify the green mist, and fight the haelion at the same time.

It’s simply impossible.

He has to choose.

The decision is made in a split second.

"Stop purifying and protecting," he barks. "Start taking them out of the dungeon! Now! Hurry!"

He turns toward the deeper mist, jaw clenched, spine straightening.

"I’ll hold it off!"

He braces himself for protests, arguments, refusal.

But none come.

All four of them move immediately, following his orders without hesitation.

Theo exhales, a short, shaky breath of relief.

He pushes himself harder, forcing his mana to stretch beyond what it should, just to hold on a little longer. Just long enough to protect them until they’re out.

Whatever is coming suddenly slows.

Theo feels it instantly.

The air shifts. The green mist moves, thins, recoils.

He knows it’s not his doing.

It has to be the Dungeon King.

But he takes the opening anyway.

He adjusts his mana distribution, tightening control, optimizing every last thread he has left.

His gaze flicks across the evacuation.

Maeve, Julian, and Liam are dragging bodies as fast as their exhausted bodies allow. Arthur’s fire flares again, the whitish flames burning low and controlled, helping carve a path through the mist.

Arthur glances at him and offers a faint, determined smile.

Theo exhales softly.

That’s Arthur.

He turns his focus back to the haelion’s movement.

They’re lucky there’s only one this time.

Theo doesn’t even want to imagine a repeat of Mt. Helene.

For a few precious minutes, things go smoothly.

Evacuation continues.

Purification holds.

Arthur’s fire does its job.

Theo knows better than to relax.

But despite himself, he exhales again.

Just for a moment.

From the corner of his eye, Theo notices that Maeve is no longer coming back into the dungeon.

He nods faintly, acknowledging it.

She needs rest.

All of them do.

Soon.

Theo notices something else.

The green mist around him is thinning even more. His surroundings become clearer, shapes sharpening, distances easier to judge.

It makes it easier for Julian and Liam to move faster, less resistance tugging at their limbs. Arthur’s movements lighten too, his fire flowing more freely.

Theo frowns.

Why?

The King is making it easier for us.

Why?

Haelions are not known for kindness.

They don’t show mercy.

They don’t help.

They have no intelligence.

Wrong.

His mind snaps back to Mt. Helene.

The talking haelion.

The first talking haelion.

The one that watched. That waited. That planned.

Theo’s jaw tightens.

He is still processing that realization when the air shifts again.

It sharpens.

The pressure changes, turning dense, hostile. The green mist that had been thinning suddenly gathers, pulling inward like a tide reversing direction.

Theo’s breath catches.

The mist is not dispersing.

It’s condensing.

No.

The King is preparing an attack. Using the green mist itself.

Theo braces instinctively.

He has a small window, only a few measly minutes of relief, but the mana in the air is still fresh. Still usable.

He anchors himself, grounding his stance, readying his core.

Then the mist moves.

It twists. Elongates.

Thousands of shapes form at once.

Arrows.

Theo’s eyes widen.

They launch.

He reacts without thought.

A barrier snaps into existence around his teammates, layered and reinforced in a fraction of a second.

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM!

The arrows slam into the barrier and explode on impact.

The sound is deafening. Violent.

Arthur, Julian, and Liam whip their heads toward the noise.

"Get out!" Theo shouts. "NOW!"

The mist reforms.

This time, there are more arrows. Twice as many.

Theo knows it instantly.

He won’t last.

Not if he keeps five Mind Shields active.

Not if he keeps purifying.

Not if he tries to fight the King head-on.

Again, he makes a decision in a heartbeat.

He gathers his remaining teammates and the unconscious officers he can gather in one sweeping motion, pulling them together with everything he has left.

Then he throws them.

A single, massive push.

The gate flares.

And Theo locks it.

Sealing it shut.

Preventing anyone from coming back.

Preventing anyone from interfering.

Leaving himself alone with the King.

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"What?" Maeve goes even paler, all the color draining from her face in an instant.

"She’s still inside?" she whispers, as if saying them louder might make them real.

Liam swallows hard. "She threw us out," he says in one breath. "The King was attacking. It’s powerful. Really powerful. We don’t know what it is, only that it’s not like anything we’ve faced before."

Arthur whips his head toward Julian so fast it almost hurts.

"Please," he says, voice breaking despite himself. "Tell me you have something. Anything, Jules."

Julian doesn’t answer.

He only shakes his head, slowly, silently, eyes wide and filled with fear as he looks at his older brother. Not confusion. Not hesitation. Just helplessness.

Arthur closes his eyes.

Silence falls.

Heavy. Oppressive. Suffocating.

Even the sounds of the site seem distant now, muted, like the world itself is holding its breath.

"Arthur," Maeve finally speaks.

Her voice is quiet, but steady.

"We have to trust her." She takes a step closer. "She’s not stupid. She’s not reckless. And she’s not suicidal. You know that. She’s smart. She’s powerful. And she made a choice."

Arthur opens his eyes and looks at her, struggling, fighting the fear clawing at his chest.

"We must trust her," Maeve repeats gently.

She meets his gaze, unwavering.

"Do you trust her?"

Arthur doesn’t hesitate.

"With my life," he answers.

Maeve nods.

"Then we wait."

She looks toward the sealed gate.

"We rest. We recover our stamina. We restore our mana as fast as we can."

Her jaw tightens.

"We have to be ready."

She looks back at Arthur, Julian, and Liam.

"Because when Thea calls us back... we cannot fail her."