Alec unconsciously hid the back of his hand with his sleeve and clenched his fist with a tense expression. He wanted to laugh it off, but then Kyle raised his hand... This gesture almost made Alec's soul leave his body, but to his surprise, Kyle's hand softly landed on his back and patted it a few times.
"Why are you getting so tense? It's probably because you have fought with the enemy for a long time. I can sense similar scents from almost everyone, but yours is a little too strong. So, just take a good bath to get rid of it..."
Kyle paused and wanted to sniff the air around Alec one more time because the scent around Alec was a little too strong, different from what one would get by interacting or fighting with others.
However, at that moment, Nine arrived in the sky. He announced his arrival in a loud voice, which made Kyle turn around to look at the man with a faint smile. After finding out that Nine had arrived with his people, Kyle contacted Nine and asked him to come here because Yon needed people with divine energy.
Nine landed on the ground and swept his eyes over the familiar people sitting cross-legged above the array. He had left the people he brought with him in the city near the border and then went to find Elli, his lovely partner.
It took him a while, but he found her in the elven Kingdom, and he was very happy to see her perfectly fine. She had changed a lot with all she went through in his absence, but it doesn't matter.
Now that he's here, he'll make sure to protect her with everything. But because of that, it took him a lot of time to get to the place Kyle asked him to.
"Just tell me what I need to do and where I need to sit?"
He looked at Kyle, who asked him to sit anywhere above the array. Nine smirked at the many eyes that had been quietly looking at him for a while. Carcel examined him from head to toe and nodded.
"It's good that all your body parts are intact."
Nine's eyebrow twitched a little. It's true that he disappeared suddenly, but it wasn't his fault! He was unconscious when he was taken back, and then he was trapped by the Queen! Alec hummed at him with a smile.
"So, how have you been? It's been a while."
At that moment, Jian wiped his forehead. He wanted to stand up, but they weren't allowed to after sitting down above the array. So, he just checked out Nine from where he was sitting.
"You should have at least contacted us, but you just had to disappear out of nowhere. And now I hear that you're the prince of the Sea Continent? Tsk, tsk, I want to beat you up a little for all the worry you gave us. But well, I'll settle for a hug. Come here, sit with me."
He patted the spot beside him with a grin, but Nine shook his head.
"Nope, no hug. You're too sweaty. And do you really want to beat me? Don't forget, I brought a whole army with me. Hehe."
Nine looked at Jian and heard the latter click his tongue. He chuckled and then glanced at Yon and the woman floating next to the dwarf before stepping onto the array and moving closer to Kyle, finally sitting beside him.
"That dwarf and that woman with red hair. They are the tower's guardians, right? I haven't seen them before, but I can tell they are the guardians because they are excluding a refined and calm aura."
Kyle nodded, he had also sensed that the aura around the guardians was calm, likely because they had lived for a long time. He quickly told Nine that once they were seated on the array, they couldn't get up until the array had consumed enough divine energy. Nine understood and closed his eyes to focus on his divine energy before supplying it to the array beneath him.
Soon, Mia, Sinon, and Regius also arrived and joined them. The demi-human proudly showed off his beautiful wings to everyone he encountered on his way, which is why it took them so long. Sinon plopped down beside Nine and patted his shoulder with a smirk.
"Bro, check out my wings. They look amazing, right? And my skin has become smoother and more vibrant..."
He paused when he noticed Nine opening his eyes and looking at him. Sinon blinked, he was astonished to see that Nine's features were even more handsome than his own. Deep golden eyes flickering as if they had stars in them. Not to mention, Nine's skin has become radiant with a healthy complexion.
"No way, this isn't fair! I know you reached the pseudo-divine rank before me, but why did you become even more handsome than me?"
Sinon protested with a frustrated expression, causing everyone around to burst into laughter. Nine bent down and patted Sinon's hand on his shoulder with a look of understanding.
"Now you know not to brag before seeing what your opponent is capable of..."
Nine lowered his voice into a whisper, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.
"Also, who are we to say we are handsome in the presence of so many otherworldly individuals sitting next to us...."
Sinon's expression fell as his eyes roamed around, taking in the faces of everyone present. He looked from Regius to Jian, then Carcel, Mia, Lara, Alec, and finally, his gaze paused on Kyle. And then, Nine's words hit Sinon like a lightning bolt. It was painful for him to admit, but he felt average in the midst of all of them.
Nine patted Sinon's shoulder, offering comfort. However, at that moment, one of the guardians who was sitting nearby cleared his throat to let them know that everyone around them could hear their conversation loud and clear. That's why the duo stopped talking and quickly closed their eyes.
In the distance, Yon gazed at the young ones with a soft expression. He knew that each and every person in front of him had been through a lot at such a young age. He only hoped that they would all remain as pure as they are now to each other, always ready to support and help each other whenever one of them encountered a problem.
