The Outergod's Avatar-Chapter 54: The Return Party

Sophia returned, her arms heavy with what looked like dead rabbits, their fur matted with dried blood. She dropped them beside the small clearing where Izikel and Lyzah sat, then knelt to start a fire. The flickering flames brought warmth and light, pushing back the creeping cold of the night. Her movements were efficient, practiced—skinning, gutting, and preparing the meat with a quiet resolve that spoke of someone used to survival in harsh environments.

She also brought back a flask filled with water. "It’s from the stream west of here," she said, handing it to Izikel. "I didn’t see anything nearby, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe."

"Thanks," he muttered, his voice hoarse as he took a swig, then passed it to Lyzah.

They ate in silence at first. The meat was tough, slightly gamey, but it filled their bellies and restored some strength to their exhausted bodies. The fire cracked and popped as the moonlight danced through the canopy overhead.

After they ate, Sophia leaned back against a tree trunk and closed her eyes. Lyzah lay curled beside her, fast asleep, her small frame barely rising and falling with each breath. Izikel sat up, staring at the fire.

It was during that lull that Izikel finally found the words to speak. "Sophia," he began, his voice low, "there’s something you need to know."

Her eyes opened slowly. "Tell me."

He recounted everything—the chaos that followed after the retreat, starting from Raynoel’s betrayal, his voice low and rough as he relived the moments.

Sophia didn’t interrupt him once. Her face grew darker with every word, eyes burning not just with anger but disappointment.

"That bastard," she muttered under her breath, voice like flint. "He’ll get what’s coming to him when we get back to the village."

Soon they were ready to move.

By now, the three moons had risen high, casting a silver glow over the clearing like watchful sentinels in the sky.

"We have to be as quiet as possible,"

Sophia said as she rose, eyes fixed on the forest’s edge. They stood at the border where light met shadow, where the dense foliage threatened to swallow them whole.

Crossing the forest with three hundred men had already been a terrifying ordeal. Now there were only three.

Izikel felt a weight settle in his chest. The idea of walking that same path with only two companions, especially when one was just a child felt like doom itself.

Suddenly, something emerged from the trees.

Izikel instinctively prepared to summon his weapon, his body freezing—but then recognition flickered in his eyes.

"I know this guy," he chuckled lightly, more out of relief than humor. "I met him before. He didn’t seem dangerous."

It was the wolf he had seen earlier.

Sophia’s gaze sharpened, but then her eyes widened slightly in realization.

"Lord Izikel, don’t tell me you forgot about Nyx too?"

"Nyx? Who’s that?"

"My soul companion," she replied softly.

The wolf padded up to her, its silver-white and black fur shimmering under the moonlight. It moved with the grace of a shadow, powerful yet silent. Nyx nuzzled against her, allowing her to run her fingers through his thick fur.

"He’s the blessing given to me by the Lunar Goddess," Sophia said, her voice touched with reverence. "But he’s shy, so he only comes out at night."

"Oh... so that’s why he wasn’t threatened by me," Izikel murmured. "He belongs to you."

She nodded. "Exactly. My blessing is Nyx. I can summon him when I need him. I can also share his strength and his senses, my hearing and sight are sharper when I do."

Izikel’s eyes widened slightly. No wonder she was the first to hear the Maw beast that time

"So your acquired attribute is like a tamer?"

Sophia shook her head. "Only Anchors acquire attributes directly from the Lunar Goddess. Saints like me—we only receive blessings. We receive them when we enter the second stage of Divinity. We can’t perform new miracles like Anchors can, only the blessings given to us by the goddess."

Izikel listened closely.

"So... Anchors get stronger the more miracles they perform," he said slowly. "But Saints... your blessings are limited?"

"In variety, yes. But not necessarily in power," she said. "When Saints advance to the next stage of Divinity, we receive a new blessing, and our soul energy increases significantly."

She glanced at him.

"Our Blessings are often more physically destructive than what Anchors can manage. But Anchors have versatility that’s why they are considered stronger"

Izikel nodded.

She turned toward the wolf.

"We can’t waste any more time. Morning isn’t far. Nyx will carry you and Lyzah, we’ll move faster and stay quiet that way,"

She helped Lyzah onto the wolf’s back, then offered Izikel a hand. The wolf stood steady, its sheer size making it easier than expected. Nyx was almost the size of a horse, his back broad enough to carry them both.

"Let’s go."

With that, Sophia took the lead, walking ahead with silent steps that barely disturbed the underbrush. Nyx followed, his paws gliding over the earth without a sound, as if he were born of the night itself.

The forest swallowed them whole.

Branches creaked gently overhead. Owls hooted in the distance. Somewhere far off, something growled. But nothing came close.

Time passed. The moons moved higher.

Eventually, they entered a clearing—and all three froze.

It was a camp, or at least, what was left of one. The signs were there—torn tents, broken weapon racks, makeshift fire pits—but everything had been twisted into a grotesque nightmare.

Bodies hung from the trees like grotesque decorations. Blood-soaked vines dangled like garlands. The earth was littered with limbs and torsos. Most of the dead were Heretics, but there were also fallen Lunar Saints scattered across the field.

The carnage was total.

Izikel could barely breathe.

Then, with a sickening squelch, something dropped from a tree above—a bisected corpse, its top half still attached to the lower half by dangling intestines. The sound was wet, final.

He covered his mouth, trying not to scream. Trying not to gag.

Beside him, Lyzah turned away and wept silently, her face pressed into Nyx’s fur.

"What... happened here?" Izikel asked, his voice barely audible.

Sophia stepped forward slowly, her expression cold and haunted.

"After I managed to escape the Horned Beast, it entered the battlefield," she whispered. "It killed everything in sight. Heretic or Saint. It didn’t care."

She paused.

"It only stopped when it was tired. Then it vanished back into the forest."

She looked away, voice trembling for the first time.

"Raynoel... he helped me search for you after. But eventually he left. Said it was time to regroup. I just couldn’t believe you were really gone."

She clenched her fists.

"I kept looking."

Izikel’s heart ached at the guilt etched into her voice. She blamed herself. Again.

"Sophia," he said, trying to meet her gaze, "this wasn’t your fault."

She didn’t respond.

Instead, she turned back to the forest. "We have to keep moving. The Horned Beast could still be nearby."

Without another word, they moved on. The night cloaked them once more. The silence that followed was not peace, but fear.

Whatever had done this was still out there.