Chapter 92: The Paragon of the First Light

"Who are you...?" she blinked her eyes, clearly looking weak due to her long slumber.

"It’s me, Anise. It’s Robert." I said, my eyes almost filled with tears.

"Robert...?" she questioned as I clearly did not look what I used to be.

Anise stared at my green face. Her eyes took in the black arcane circuits on my neck and the heavy brass arm bolted to my shoulder. She was trembling.

"Yes, Anise," I said softly. I kept my voice steady and calm.

"I know I look a little different. I died in that cave on Everest. When I opened my eyes again, I was in this body. My name is Grik now."

She reached out with a shaking hand. Her pale fingers brushed against my dark olive cheek. She let out a breath that was half-sob, half-laugh.

"I thought I was losing my mind," she whispered. "When the mountain collapsed, everything went black. Then I woke up in a grand temple. They called me a Hero. It was terrifying and completely impossible. But if you are here... then I am not crazy."

"You aren’t crazy," I promised her.

I helped her sit up against the plush pillows of the bed. She looked at the rest of my pack. Rolf gave her a respectful nod. Kaelith and Lysandra watched her with quiet sympathy. Nyssa stood near the foot of the bed, her emerald eyes fixed intently on Anise’s armor.

"They told me you were locked in a cage," Lysandra said quietly. "Who did this to you?"

Anise closed her eyes. The pain of her past rushed back to her face.

"The people I saved," she answered bitterly.

She told us her story. She explained how the Voice of the World offered her my life in exchange for fighting a war. She told us how she leveled up to become the absolute manifestation of the Law of Retribution. She reclaimed the stolen lands of the Human Continent. But when the human rulers demanded she cross the ocean to commit genocide against the monsters, she refused.

"They used a goblin child as an example," Anise said, her voice cracking. "A little boy in a burning village. General Vance was going to execute him. I turned my magic against the human knights to save him. For that, the Pope and the High Priestess branded me a traitor. The people I spent ten years protecting threw stones at me in the streets. Then, they sealed me in this pod and dumped me in the dark."

Nyssa gasped. She took a step back, her hands flying to her mouth. She stared at Anise with absolute, unadulterated shock.

"It’s you," Nyssa breathed. Her voice was trembling. "The unnamed Hero. In our history books, they call you the Paragon of the First Light."

Anise looked at the scholar, confused. "History books?"

Nyssa nodded frantically. She pushed her silver-rimmed glasses up her nose. "Anise... that war you fought? That happened a century ago. You have been asleep in this Labyrinth for a hundred years."

The room went dead silent. A hundred years. The sheer weight of that time settled over us like a heavy blanket.

"After you disappeared," Nyssa continued, "the Human Continent did not launch their grand crusade. A severe plague broke out across their lands almost immediately. It devastated their armies and forced them to retreat completely. They believed it was divine punishment. They blamed themselves for framing the Hero who had saved them. They realized they had treated you like a disposable weapon, and the heavens made them pay for it."

Anise looked down at her hands. A complicated mix of sorrow and relief washed over her features.

"But that is not all," Nyssa said. The scholar stepped closer to the bed. Her glowing emerald eyes were filled with tears of profound gratitude. "The goblin child you saved from General Vance. The boy in the burning village... he survived. He grew up, and he told everyone the story of the merciful human Hero in white and gold armor."

Nyssa placed a hand over her heart. "That child was the first ancestor of my family, Anise. I am alive today because you showed mercy on that battlefield."

Anise stared at Nyssa. A beautiful, tearful smile broke across her face. The heavy burden of her betrayal finally seemed to lift from her shoulders. Her sacrifice had not been in vain.

"Monsters are no different from humans," Anise whispered. She looked around the room, taking in my pack. "Both contain vice and virtues. Both sin, and both repent. Both are greedy, and both are stupid beyond reason."

She wiped her eyes and let out a long, exhausted sigh. Then, she turned her hazel eyes toward me. She looked at the three incredibly beautiful, deadly women standing loyally by my side.

A playful, teasing smirk appeared on her lips.

"So, you are called Grik now, huh?" she noted. "Looking at your party, you sure are having a good time."

I rubbed the back of my neck with my organic hand. I suddenly felt very much like the awkward human I used to be. "I am."

An awkward silence settled between us. A hundred years of history, two different worlds, and an entirely new life stood between us.

"It is kind of awkward to talk after all this time," I admitted.

"It is," Anise agreed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Should we set a date for this awkward conversation then?"

"We should," I smiled.

Anise looked around the high-tech suite, her analytical mind finally taking in our surroundings.

"Okay, now that we are here, tell me the situation. If I am not wrong, this is the Great Iron Labyrinth. What were you guys doing down here?"

"We were hunting and searching for ancient treasure," I explained. "We got what we wanted, but we need to get stronger. We are not even in the Level 30s yet. It will take a great deal of time to reach Level 50 and touch the power of Law."

Anise nodded knowingly. "The monsters here are strong and rich in experience. Give it about two months of solid hunting, and you will all be in your 40s."

She paused, her expression turning serious. "But you need to be careful. There is a disaster sleeping at the very bottom of this place. You know that, right?"

"I do," I confirmed. "I received a quest from the Architect of this place to pull its plug out."

Anise shook her head firmly. "That is not enough to kill it, Grik. The quest might say to pull the plug, but the entity down there is beyond dangerous. You should wait until you get close to Level 100 before you even think about messing with that beast."

"If you say so," I agreed without hesitation. She had fought at the pinnacle of this world’s power system. I trusted her judgment completely.

"Trust me," she promised softly. "You will be thankful later."

Anise leaned back against the pillows. Her eyelids drooped slightly. The adrenaline of waking up was wearing off, leaving behind a profound exhaustion.

"Anyway, I am not really in a good condition right now," she sighed. "I will be needing a good amount of rest and actual food. How much time will you be needing to get us back to the city?"

"We can go to the capital right now," I said. I gestured toward the glowing teleportation matrix in the center of the floor. "I have the admin privileges for this floor. We can warp back to our estate whenever we want to."

Anise’s face lit up. "Wonderful!"

She pushed herself off the bed. Despite her weakness, she moved with the stubborn grace of an experienced adventurer. She walked over to the girls. Without any hesitation, she linked her arms through Nyssa’s and Kaelith’s, giving Lysandra a bright smile to join them.

"Well, girls, let’s have a girls’ talk when we get back," Anise declared cheerfully. "Let’s share a hot bath! I am quite exhausted. Let’s call it a day."

She pulled the three completely stunned monster women directly into the center of the glowing teleportation portal. Nyssa, Kaelith, and Lysandra just blinked in surprise, completely swept up by Anise’s overwhelming, friendly momentum.

Anise turned her head back and winked at me and Rolf.

"Come on, boys," she teased. "What are you waiting for?"

With a flash of brilliant blue light, the women vanished from the control room.

Rolf stood next to me. He scratched his silver fur and let out a booming chuckle. "I like her, Boss. She fits right in."

"She does," I agreed.

I stepped onto the glowing matrix beside my First Knight. The Labyrinth dive was officially over. Now, we had to return to a capital city ruled by humans and cyborgs. We had two months to prepare for the Zenith Academy’s arrival. And we were bringing a Level 100 human Hero home with us.

"Let’s go home, Rolf."

The blue light swallowed us whole, whisking us back to the Kingdom of Iron and Steam.