I woke up with the morning light slowly coming in through the window of my room in the mansion.
Unlike the guild hall, there the silence was complete. There were no hurried footsteps, distant voices, or the smell of medicinal herbs in the air. Only the soft sound of the wind passing through the trees outside.
My body was still heavy, but not like before. The pain had lessened. What remained was a deep exhaustion, the kind that doesn't go away with a single night of sleep.
I spent a few seconds staring at the ceiling, remembering how I had gotten there.
After the mages cleared me to leave, the girls practically decided for me that I wouldn't be walking back. Rai'kanna and Lyannis brought me supported between them, while Elara and Vespera cleared the way. Liriel walked beside us in silence, watching every step I took as if I might collapse at any moment.
I didn't complain.
Deep down, I knew that if I tried to push myself, my body simply wouldn't respond.
I slowly turned my head and saw the chair beside the bed. Elara was sitting there, leaning against the wall, sleeping upright. Her arms crossed, her breathing steady.
Further inside the room, Vespera was leaning against the window, also asleep, yet still in the posture of someone standing guard.
They had stayed there.
I ran a hand over my face and took a deep breath.
I was alive.
And the Fifth General was not.
The door opened slowly and Liriel walked in, carrying a small tray with water and something to eat. When she saw me awake, a discreet smile appeared.
"Good morning."
"Good morning," I replied, my voice still weak.
The sound woke Elara, who opened her eyes too quickly, as if she had been caught off guard.
"You're awake. Are you better?"
"A little."
Vespera also stirred, approaching the bed.
"Today you already look less pale."
Liriel placed the tray beside me.
"You need to eat."
I obeyed without arguing. My body truly needed it.
As I ate slowly, I heard footsteps in the hallway and soon Rai'kanna and Lyannis appeared at the door.
"Well, look at that, the hero decided to wake up," Rai'kanna said with a half smile.
Lyannis leaned against the wall.
"They were already spreading that you'd stay unconscious for a week."
I shook my head.
"These people exaggerate too much."
Elara let out a soft sigh.
"They won't stop anytime soon."
I paused for a moment.
"The rumors are still strong?"
Vespera answered.
"More than before."
Liriel added,
"Messengers arrived yesterday confirming that other kingdoms already know what happened."
I leaned back against the headboard.
"That's not good."
Rai'kanna frowned.
"Why?"
"Because it's not only ordinary people who hear rumors."
Silence fell over the room.
They all understood.
The Demon King would hear as well.
Lyannis crossed her arms.
"Then it's better that he knows."
"That the human he's trying to eliminate is still standing."
I looked at her.
"For now."
Elara stepped closer.
"You're already thinking about the next battle, aren't you?"
I didn't need to answer.
She already knew.
I clearly remembered the feeling during the fight. The limit. The lack of strength. The need to focus everything into a single strike because I wouldn't have a second chance.
If that had been against something even stronger…
I closed my eyes for a second.
"I need to get stronger."
Liriel spoke calmly.
"You always say that after every battle."
"Because it's always true."
Vespera rested her shoulder against the wall.
"But this time, you almost didn't come back."
I looked at my bandaged hands.
"Exactly."
The room fell silent again, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was a silence of understanding.
They knew.
I knew.
That hadn't been the end.
It was just another step.
After some time talking, they let me rest. They left the room quietly, closing the door slowly.
I was alone.
I looked around the room, at the furniture, at the window, at the light coming in.
It was strange how everything seemed far too normal after something so immense.
The mansion was at peace.
The kingdom was breathing in relief.
The villages had stopped being attacked.
The monsters had disappeared.
And yet, inside me, the feeling was that something was still approaching.
I turned my face toward the window.
The sky was clear.
But I knew.
The Demon King would not remain idle after losing another General.
The eighth.
The seventh.
The sixth.
And now the fifth.
I let the air out slowly.
"He will act."
I said it in a low voice, only to myself.
And when that happened, I needed to be ready.
Not only for me.
But for them.
For everyone who was living their peaceful lives out there, without imagining what was forming on the horizon.
I lay back down on the bed, feeling the weight of my body demanding rest.
For the first time in many days, there was no urgency.
There were no distant screams.
There were no monsters appearing.
Only silence.
And within that silence, one clear certainty.
The battle against the Fifth General had ended.
The arc of that war had been closed.
But the war itself was still far from over.
I slowly closed my eyes.
I needed to recover.
I needed to train.
I needed to grow stronger.
Because next time, a single strike might not be enough.