Chapter 192: The Elven Sacred Ground—Elfo Sagrado (5)
Arkemis approached Ketal carefully, her voice tinged with hesitation as she asked him the question that had been weighing on her mind. “Do you think your tribe could ever make it out into the world outside?”
Ketal opened his mouth to deny it, but then paused, uncertainty flickering across his features. “I... don’t really know.”
It was true that the barriers between realms were breaking. The beings of the Demon Realm were already appearing in the outside world. While the chaos hadn’t fully consumed the world yet—suggesting that some restrictions still existed—it was clear that monsters could, and would, find a way out. Whitie from the White Snowfield had already crossed over, so there was no reason other creatures, or even the ashen-haired barbarians, could not follow.
“I hope they don’t come out,” Ketal muttered at last.
Arkemis was taken aback. “Really? I thought you’d want to see them again. I assumed you must be close to your tribe, after all that time together.”
Ketal gave a small, ironic laugh. “If I had to pick, I’d say I like them more than I dislike them. But that doesn’t mean I want to see them again.”
The truth was, Ketal’s feelings toward his tribe were complicated—a tangle of loyalty, frustration, and reluctant affection. He had spent countless years with those barbarians, leading them through hellish hardship, but their stubbornness had made everything harder than it needed to be. If only they had listened to him, Ketal could have left the Snowfield twice as fast.
His memories of the ashen-haired barbarians were more bittersweet than nostalgic.
Would they really try to come out? Ketal wondered.
Unlike Ketal, the other barbarians saw the White Snowfield as their true home. They felt no yearning for the world outside; so, even if the restrictions vanished, most probably wouldn’t leave. Yet, he remembered how some of them had clung to him, weeping and begging not to be left behind when he finally escaped. A few had even packed their belongings, determined to follow. Ketal had been forced to beat them away to stop them. However, he couldn’t shake the thought that a handful might still find a way after him.
He frowned, rubbing his temples at the mere thought of running into those idiots again out here.
“I don’t know,” he said, sighing. “If it happens, we’ll find out soon enough. But if those fools do make it out, I can guarantee they’ll cause trouble—and I’ll be the one who has to deal with it.”