Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 119: Onward

The scene at the city wasn’t pretty.

Jie had managed to get the majority of people away in time, but it was an impossible task to get all of them. Chance distributed the rest of his healing pills amongst everyone and they all set out, rushing through the crumbling buildings to find and help everyone they could.

Unfortunately, that number wasn’t anywhere near as high as Chance had hoped. The immediate area around where the dragon had erupted was decimated. The wall and its surrounding buildings had been largely demolished, shattered into waves of projectiles that had ravaged the rest of the area.

Rubble covered the streets and buildings had crumbled, landing in dust-filled piles. It was like a bomb had gone off at the edge of town. In a way, Chance supposed, one had.

Chance found almost countless people – or rather, parts of people – with no strands of Karma connected to them. Even though he wasn’t able to locate the rest of their bodies in the rubble, he didn’t need to.

Anybody without Karma was gone. Even still, Chance didn’t let that stop him. He raced through the streets, running from building to building in search of anyone that he could actually help.

His efforts weren’t wasted. He stumbled across a group of servants that had taken cover behind a thick stone wall and had suffered several broken limbs and some serious cuts, but nothing that had been immediately fatal.

Chance distributed healing pills and raced off, letting his Essence guide his steps. Hours raced by like minutes as he worked his way through the worst parts of the city. As bad as the damage had been, he didn’t stumble across as many wounded as he’d expected.

That could either have been attributed to Jie’s work or to his failure to give Jie enough time to get everyone out of the area. But, one way or another, there were soon no more people left for Chance to aid. They were either treated or dead.

Nobody tried to stop him, but not many thanked him either. Most probably had no idea who he was. And, if anyone did, they didn’t mention it. Chance didn’t blame them. The majority of those he found were servants, and after having been enslaved, he imagined they had more important things to worry about than his identity.

Chance turned a corner, circling back on an area he’d already worked through in case he’d managed to miss someone. In the process, he nearly ran face first into Bella. They both skidded to a stop. Quinn and Jade stood behind Bella, with Jie just behind them, his arm wrapped in a bandage.

“I’ve got this area,” Chance said. “You can check–”

“We already did,” Bella said, putting a hand on Chance’s shoulder. “We’ve already done what we can, Chance.”

“There might be more people trapped in the rubble. We need to keep checking,” Chance insisted.

“Don’t you think your Essence would have found them already if there were?” Bella asked gently. “We aren’t omnipotent, Chance. I know better than anyone else. You can’t bring back the dead.”

“But… what if someone’s still there?”

“They aren’t,” Jade said, her face weary. “It’s done. Bella’s right, Chance. We’ve done everything we can.”

Chance’s hands clenched at his sides for a moment. Then he let his shoulders slump and sighed, nodding his understanding. “Yeah. I guess we have. How – how many were you able to save?”

“Used up all your pills,” Jade said, holding up an empty vial. Bella and Quinn nodded.

“We’re out as well,” Quinn said. “You’ve genuinely done just about everything I think you could have. Far more than anyone else would have, I’ll say that. Healing pills aren’t cheap when you’re away from the scholar cities or large sects. You spent a lot of money.”

“Money hardly matters in the face of life,” Chance said with a shake of his head. “At least it was useful, but I wish we didn’t have to do it at all. I should have lured the cultivators farther from the city. I didn’t realize–”

“And, if you’d tried that, they might have killed us before we got a chance for Ocie’s efforts to pay off,” Bella said sharply, cutting Chance off before he could continue. She sent him a look. It wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t hard either. It was simply a look of understanding. “Life doesn’t bend to our whims.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Jie murmured, walking up to join them. The bandages on his arm were bloodied, but it didn’t look like the wound had been serious, so Chance suspected they’d left it untreated to save the pills for someone that needed them more. “We’re free.”

Quinn touched him on the shoulder, turning her face away from the rest of them to hide her expression. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, settling for an unsteady nod.

“I can’t believe it got this bad in the first place,” Jade said, her eyes crinkling in anger. “The Scholar Cities are meant to prevent this. That’s what the Shikari are for. This sect never should have been allowed to exist.”

“The Shikari aren’t anywhere as noble as you think they are,” Jie said with a short laugh. “They’re just cultivators like anyone else. Some are good. Some are not. They work for a paycheck. If someone had enough money, I’m sure Gleam or one of the other Scholar Cities would have sent someone to help us.”

“But they didn’t,” Quinn finished. She turned back toward them, locking eyes with Jade. “You did. I can’t put words to match the gravity of what you’ve done for us. I never would have expected a group of random cultivators – Shikari or not – to put their lives on the line to help complete strangers with no real reward.”

Jie and Quinn both lowered into a deep bow for several seconds.

I just wish I could have done more. I killed people. I’m glad the cultivators are dead, but it’s still my fault. It’s not like I would change anything from what I’ve done, though. This needed to happen. I just wish I was strong enough to have both killed them and kept everyone innocent safe.

Once again, I find myself needing to get stronger. I wonder if there’s ever a point where that ends.

Chance caught Bella watching him, and he could tell by the look in her eyes that she might as well have read his thoughts.

“Will everyone be fine now that the cultivators at the top are gone?” Chance asked. “What about the people that worked under them? Are they going to try to take advantage of the situation or something?”

Quinn shook her head, straightening back out. “No. There are enough of us that are cultivators on our side now that the bindings have been removed. We’ll be safe – or as safe as you can be when you aren’t inside a scholar city.”

“I think I need to report this to Gleam,” Jade said, chewing her lower lip. “I know you feel poorly about the Shikari, Jie. I can’t blame you – but that doesn’t change the fact that we failed in our duty. Someone – either Gleam or in the nearest Scholar City – failed in their duties, and people need to know.”

“The strong don’t take kindly to anybody that challenges them,” Jie warned. “It will not go well for you.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jade said, setting her features. “My Essence wouldn’t let me do anything else. I would hurt my own path.”

“You’re leaving, then?” Chance asked. “Bella and I obviously can’t return to Gleam yet. It’ll be a while until the bounty on our heads gets lifted.”

“Supposedly,” Jade said, her mouth tilting up slightly in a flicker of a smile. “And, yes. I will be. I would have liked to tail you and Bella for longer to see more, but I think I’ve seen everything I need to. Whoever put the hit on your heads was lying. You aren’t who they say you are.”

“What will you do when they ask about us?” Bella asked. “You might be reprimanded for failing to capture us.”

“As if I could capture either of you,” Jade said, shaking her head. “Even if I thought I could defeat both of you, do you really think Quinn is going to let me capture you after what you did for the real people of her sect?”

“Not just Quinn,” Jie said, pressing his lips together. “You were right – I don’t trust the Shikari. They didn’t help us, and even though I can’t do anything to you as a normal human, there are a lot of cultivators who were just freed today. None of them would sit around quietly.”

“See?” Jade asked with a wry smile, raising her hands into the air and giving them a small shrug. “Nothing I could have done. There’s absolutely no way I could bring you two in. It the mission is going to just end in my own death with no chance of victory, then it would be a waste of Gleam’s resources.”

“Are you sure anyone will buy that?” Chance rubbed one of his arms. “You’ve been traveling with us for more than just a day or two. Someone’s going to point out that you’ve had other opportunities.”

“Let me deal with it. I can take care of myself. You need to be more concerned about your own wellbeing,” Jade said.

“Don’t bother,” Bella said with a sigh. “You won’t get through to him.”

All of them laughed. It was a laugh born more of relief than anything else, but there was a hint of freedom in it.

“Make sure you don’t get yourselves killed or captured,” Jade said. “I’m going to track you down once you get back to Gleam, okay?”

“Will do,” Bella said, holding her hand out. Jade grabbed it and they shook once. “While you’re at it, could you look into how Yeo is doing? He’s a goofy idiot, but he was also being chased by the Shikari.”

Jade inclined her head. “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m still just a Knight. There are pretty serious limits to what I can do. But, if there’s anything, then I’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” Chance said. He took one last look around the rubble surrounding them, then pressed his lips together. “I think we should leave as well. If there’s nothing else we can do for these people, then I don’t want to mistakenly bring down the Shikari on top of them if they figure out Bella and I are here.”

“We can get you some supplies for the road,” Jie volunteered. “There should be more than enough to spare for just two people.”

“That would help a lot. Thank you.”

Jie shook his head. “I don’t think it’s anywhere near enough to repay any of you, but it’s the least we can do.”

Jade raised a hand in farewell. “Safe travels, all of you. We’ll meet again.”

“Same to you,” Chance said, raising his own hand. He and Bella followed after Jie and Quinn as Jade headed in the other direction, making for the exit of the city.

Jie took them back to Drayan’s manor. It had been undamaged by the explosion, and Jie clearly knew the locations of just about everything. It took him just a few minutes to put together two travel bags and shove them into Chance and Bella’s hands.

He and Quinn then accompanied them to the back edge of the city, walking them all the way up to the gate. They paused there for a moment, Chance and Bella just beyond the gate and Jie and Quinn within it.

“And to think this is all because of Nimea,” Quinn said with a shake of her head. “It’s hard to believe how recent that was. It feels like weeks.”

“Karma works in weird ways, I guess,” Chance said.

“I find it slightly amusing that, after I realized you weren’t a terrible person and you spared my life, I was trying to think of ways that I could manipulate you to help me,” Quinn said sheepishly. “And then you ended up doing more than I ever even wanted to ask for. Thank you again.”

Chance rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. One thing he hadn’t been prepared for was a proper goodbye, especially since every time they’d left somewhere in recent memory, it had been in a panicked rush.

Jie and Quinn both bowed to them again.

“We have much to do,” Jie said. “If there’s ever a way we can repay you, please let us know.”

Together with Quinn, he headed back into the city.

Bella exchanged a look with Chance. Then they turned, heading out into the grassy plains and leaving the Brackern Sect behind.