The day went by quickly. Quicker than before.
Maybe it was because they were traveling faster now.
With four Awakened and only one small girl — who could be carried if needed — the group moved efficiently through the mountains. Obstacles that once would've taken hours to circumvent were now dealt with in minutes.
Whenever they encountered terrain too treacherous to cross, Vael would simply blink them across. That was also when he discovered his current limit: five people. No more.
They covered a lot of ground — nearly twice as much as on previous days.
By sundown, they reached it.
The outer edge of the Final Valley.
They set up camp on a narrow plateau overlooking the land below. From there, the group could clearly see the vast stretch they would have to cross in the coming days.
It was breathtaking, in a bleak and dangerous sort of way.
From above, the valley looked like a scar running through the mountains — jagged cliffs, patches of blackened forest, rivers that moved like veins. The deeper parts seemed unnaturally still, as if the land itself was holding its breath.
As the others finished pitching the tents, Ash wandered to the edge of the cliff and stared down in silence.
Vael joined her after a while, standing a few paces behind.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Fine," Ash replied quietly.
She turned to face him.
That's when she noticed something different.
The blood-soaked bandages covering his left eye were finally gone.
In their place was a jagged scar — running from his forehead, straight through his eye, down to his cheek. The eye itself was dull now, unmoving. Useless.
Permanently.
But what caught her off guard was his expression.
Vael didn't look bitter. Or sad. Or angry.
If anything… he looked calm. Almost content.
Ash stared for a moment longer, unsure of what to say.
Then, in a voice smaller than usual, she asked, "Are we really gonna be okay?"
Vael gave her a grin — lopsided, a little tired, but still a grin.
"Of course we are," he said. "A couple monsters can't stop us. Besides, we won't even be fighting most of the time, thanks to Drako's brain."
He added a mock tap to the side of his head, as if trying to appear smarter.
Ash didn't laugh. But she smiled.
And for now, that was enough.
The plan was simple.
Crossing the valley would take around two days at their current pace. After that, another two days of walking would bring them out of the mountains entirely.
During their descent into the valley, they'd follow a trail that ran through the territory of a single beast of reasonable strength.
Because of this, they only had one real threat to worry about — and even then, it was something they had a decent chance of defeating, should it ever come to a fight.
A Corrupted Legionnaire.
It was a parasite made of black and purple goo that took over the body of a deceased creature.
Typically, once corrupted, the host's strength would skyrocket — their muscles warped, instincts sharpened, endurance pushed beyond their limits.
In this case, the host had been a human. Just some bandit who'd died long ago.
So now, he was essentially just a very strong guy. No broken abilities, no affinities. Just raw physical power.
But if he'd managed to survive this long in the Final Valley — one of the most dangerous regions in the Alps — then he had to be more than just strong.