On one side, he wanted to save those special fruits, while on the other, he wanted to use them on Lia and Raphael to see if there was something they could gain from it. It was a hard choice.
Lost in thoughts, he wondered what he should do. However, he was soon distracted when he noticed Raphael making a movement. Raphael was starting to wake up.
Raphael slowly opened his eyes, observing his peaceful surroundings. He noticed Lia sitting near him and Azekiel standing in the distance. The surroundings made him understand that he was in a forest.
"Where are we?" He asked, holding his aching head. "What happened to the battle?"
"What would happen to it? Since we're alive, of course, we won it. The Soul Demon is dead. Unfortunately, I couldn't kill that woman. She managed to run, though I believe I managed to hurt her a bit. She shouldn't trouble us for some time, but the day she returns, it'll be a real headache. Hopefully, we would've finished our mission by then."
The woman had warned Azekiel that she was going to kill him. And he was sure that she intended to keep her promise. However, he also knew that it was just limited to this floor. He didn't believe that she could follow him to other floors. All he needed was to finish his mission and then go to the next floor.
"So we survived... That's good." Raphael let out a sigh. "How long was I asleep?"
Even though he was still concerned about the memories that he saw, he didn't tell Azekiel, deciding to keep them to himself. He didn't want to trouble them, especially since it was about his past.
"We have five more days to finish achieving our goals," Azekiel answered.
"Five days, so not much time. In five days, not only do we need to get to our destination but also help that soul." Raphael frowned. "Our destination? How far is it from where we are?"
" According to the map, we are not too far now. From here, we should be within seven hours of walking distance."
Azekiel picked up a stick and started drawing the core of the map. He didn't want to open the book again just for the map since he wasn't sure if the curse was still there or not.
He used the stick and drew the map on the soil before them.
"This is the forest where we're at." He tapped the stick at the cross Mark. We are already inside the Empire."
He made a giant circle around the forest which marked the boundaries of the Empire.
At the northern edge of the Empire, he made another cross. "And this is our destination. The abandoned City of Abaddon."
"That city is our target. That's where we'll find what we're looking for. We should be there by tomorrow morning." Azekiel summarized, based on the distance, "That would give us four days to finish the blood oath."
"Seven hours of walking distance... If only we could fly, the distance would've been so much shorter. We could've saved some time," Raphael muttered, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
It was as if Raphael's words gave Azekiel an idea. His eyes lit up.
"Who says we can't fly?"
"You can?" Raphael inquired, surprised. It was the first time he was hearing about Azekiel being able to fly. "When did that happen? When I was asleep?"
"No. I'm not talking about me. I can't fly. Lia can't fly either, but you can. You can carry us there if you're not weak anymore."
"I can carry you there?" Raphael still didn't understand how that was possible. Even now, he didn't realize that Azekiel could touch them, and they could touch him. When Azekiel talked about him, he had been asleep.
Azekiel informed him about the strange phenomenon where he could touch them now even though they were in their spiritual form, explaining all his theories as to how it could be possible.
Raphael couldn't believe the words that easily, even if they came from Azekiel. He needed to test himself.
He tapped Azekiel's hands. It was only when he could feel Azekiel's hands that he realized that it was true. He could touch Azekiel now. That meant he could carry them with him through the air.
"That's perfect. Now I should be able to carry you."
He could already touch Lia in the past as they were both in their Spiritual Form, but now he could carry both of them.
"So, how are you feeling now? You passed out from being tired. Is that really what happened?"
Now that their journey plans were resolved, that saved a lot of their time. Still, there was one question that Azekiel wanted an answer to before starting their journey again.
He wanted to make sure that Raphael was actually fine. He didn't want Azekiel to overexert himself again, just to carry them.
"I am fine. There is nothing to worry about." Raphael stood up and stretched his arms. "Yeah, everything seems normal. We can leave right now if you don't have any problem."
"I had another question. It's about that sword and that Armor of yours..."
"What sword and Armour?" Raphael gazed back in confusion.
"The one you used in the battle to destroy the Spirits?" Azekiel responded. "What other Armor and Sword would I ask about?"
"Armor and Sword that I used?" Raphael still appeared confused, as if he didn't understand a single thing. "Destroyed the Spirits? What are you talking about? I thought you destroyed the Spirits."
"If I did, I'm sure I wouldn't be asking you." Azekiel smiled wryly. However, he was still curious how Raphael didn't know about it. Raphael certainly wasn't going to lie to him, that he was sure of. Did that mean he really didn't remember?
"What is the last thing you remember before you lose consciousness?" he asked.
"Last thing I remember?" Raphael grimaced. Since Azekiel was talking so confidently about his Armor and Sword, he couldn't help but wonder if there really was one. But if there was, then how? How did he not remember about it?
He didn't use an Armour or a Sword. He could use them, but he didn't have any of his own. He was a close-range fighter who used his hands more. So having a Sword was really strange.
"I remember being surrounded by those screeching spirits. Then there was a terrible headache… And I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was here. I thought you saved me there and brought me here."
