My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 196: Exodus

The designated five days passed quicker than Kace would have liked. Unfortunately, his scouts had failed to come up with any results. If Sonja had managed to escape, then it was almost as if she had vanished into thin air. Which just made it seem more likely to Kace that she had been captured or her body had been disposed of.

His arse began to feel numb from sitting on the rigid throne for so long. He was waiting for everyone finishing their preparations to leave. 'I wonder what Sophia will choose to do?' He had been pretty negligent of her these past few days. He had been too busy catching up with Vaskra so that he would not get caught by surprise when they returned. 

At the same time, he wanted to give Sophia some space from him. This was so that she could make her own decision without being influenced by him in any way. He hoped that she would come with his group. Otherwise, she might end up trapped here until they could return at a later time to look for her. Either way, she was now an important part of their group in her role as a pillar.

Beyond that, Kace had come to view her as someone he cared about recently. Rather than just the nuisance, he had previously perceived her to be. He was so focused on his thoughts that he had not even realised that everyone had finished gathering and were standing before him. Waiting for him to give the order to move out.

"My Lord? It's time." Shadow whispered in Kace's ear to get his attention.

Kace was startled to discover that time had completely run out on him. He had hoped for a last-minute miracle so he could at least give Sophia some good news. However, it was not meant to be. Kace grimaced at the thought of how this would affect the vampire princess. He raised his eyes to scan the crowd for her face.

His heart sank as he realised that neither Sophia nor Dao were in the crowd. 'Guess she already made up her mind then.' He was a little bitter that she did not even bother to say goodbye. At the same time, he could understand why. Goodbyes were never easy, even more so when you had no idea when you would see the other person again.

The crowd became restless as Kace stood up from his throne and looked around the cavern one last time. It had been a cosy little home for the short time he had been here. 'Caves really be starting to grow on me. If I get the chance to retire after all of this, maybe I'll find myself a huge and secluded one.' Kace chuckled at the thought.

"Ok, let's go." Kace finally said with a heavy voice.

There was no fanfare or excitement. Everyone was on edge. They knew that this would be when they were most vulnerable. The heroes were still out there somewhere, and there was plenty of time for shit to hit the fan. It was not like they could really be stealthy when Yul would join their group either. They had to expect to be ambushed at any minute. 

Kace took the leading position of the miniature army. Grugda was on one side while Vaskra was on the other. Shadow had taken position just behind them so that he could react at any minute. The dull thuds of their feet on the rock sounded especially loud to their ears. As if their home was complaining that they were leaving. Some of the tribe became emotional, but they knew this was for their own good.

The shadow barrier was dissolved, leaving the place to become just another absolutely normal cave in a barren world. As Kace led them out of the mouth of the cave, a familiar voice suddenly called out to him.

"What took you so long? Can we finally leave now?" Sophia called to him in a teasing voice as she lay on top of a nearby rock.

"Sophia? I thought you had left already?" Kace exclaimed with enough excitement to earn him a sour look from Vaskra.

"Hm, to be honest, I wanted to. But, I realised I could spend a lifetime looking and not find her. It's better that I go with you. We have a world to save, right?" 

"Yeah," Kace nodded as he noticed the sadness in her eyes. "We can always look for her together in the future."

"That'd be great." Sophia smiled in response. When Kace looked away towards the direction of the gate, she shot a smug look at Vaskra. 'Top that, bitch!'

Vaskra attempted to cut her head off with a wind blade, but Grugda stopped her before she could even gather her mana. He had already resigned himself to keeping these two in control so that their antics would not bother Kace. If they wanted to claim him, then they would have to capture his heart. Grugda did not care what methods they used as long as they did not resort to murdering the competition.

Vaskra cursed under her breath as she shot a look full of daggers at the princess. 'Imagine using your own lost mother in your schemes for his affection! Damn! That was a good move!' Vaskra hated that she did not have a similar card to play. Since she was basically the mother to all goblins in Stonefall now, being the eldest female and the tribe shaman.

'Maybe I can make a few of the younger ones disappear for a while when we get back? Then I could ask Kace to help me find them! If I lead him away from where they are hidden, then we could get lost for days! Alone! And then' Vaskra cackled in her mind as she thought about how easy it would be to make the third night happen under those circumstances. 

Kace felt a chill run down his spine. With a horrifying feeling, his instincts told him that Vaskra was the culprit. He glanced over his shoulder to find the shamaness rocking back and forth in her chair, rubbing her hands together. An ecstatic look was plastered on her face. 'For some reason, I want to find a deep, dark hole at the edge of the world and hide inside of it'