SWNOVELXO Chapter 650: The Gang is Back
"You finally came out." A voice echoed from behind, and those dainty arms tightened their hold on Nox, hugging him tightly as if afraid to let go. "I didn't want to interrupt you because you seemed busy. How have you been, Nox?"
Nox didn't need to turn around to know who it was. From that sweet smell and that voice, it was very difficult for him to forget this person.
When he came to this world, they were one of the few who had accompanied him throughout his life.
At that moment, the anger he felt from before slowly faded away as he turned around, locking gazes with Serena's chocolate pair.
"Been a little stressed, but I'm good," he said with a smile on his face. "You've grown taller."
A blush crept onto Serena's face.
"And bolder," Nox added.
"Heok!" Serena suddenly gasped as she released her grasp from Nox and jumped back several steps like a scared cat.
Seeing her reaction, Nox couldn't help but laugh.
"Yup, that's the Serena I know."
It was at that moment that Nyx appeared on the scene. The two best friends had met prior, so there wasn't much of a reaction from them.
But bonding together again after so many months back in the town, there was a strange feeling between them.
They felt warmth, peace, and a strange sense of security.
"I knew I'd find the three of you here," said Wendy. She was now well-fed by her mother in just a couple of hours.
Her stomach appeared bigger, her face more radiant, and it seemed as if her skin was practically glowing.
"I guess the gang is finally back together."
Another voice echoed behind them, and everyone simultaneously turned around, their gazes settling on Jack, who had an easygoing smile plastered across his face.
"Right... how did you end up here again?" Wendy asked with a suspicious look on her face.
She remembered him being among the several factions that hunted the frost elemental beast back in Snowhelm.
She also remembered him rescuing the students when the red-skinned girl had attacked.
Nox was just as curious. All this while, he never really asked how Jack had ended up here and become a part of this mess—simply going with the flow.
[Don't tell them. What if they think you're a spy?]
[These humans are known to be vile, backstabbing creatures. There's a reason why we separated from them a long time ago.]
[Let's just leave here already.]
Sensing all three gazes on him, the voices in Jack's head began to speak up. They were all talking at once, which made him feel as if he was about to go mad.
"All of you shut up!" he reprimanded his alter egos. His loud outburst raised eyebrows from Nox and the others.
'I don't know why, but I have this feeling I can trust him,' Jack thought inwardly. 'I never expected to run into him, but for this to happen... I believe it's fate bringing us together.'
'I also have this feeling that he might be the one to really help me reclaim what rightfully belongs to me.'
After a moment of hesitation, Jack finally spoke. "Alright, I'll speak."
"Go ahead. We're all ears."
"So, after our encounter in Snowhelm, I needed somewhere to temporarily lay low because of some issues back at home."
"What issues?" Wendy asked, then waved it off, realizing she was being intrusive. "Never mind."
"Well, it would be suspicious if I was just a normal citizen, so I decided to blend in." As he said this, Jack snapped his fingers, and he was suddenly donned in golden armor from head to toe.
This was no magic trick, and pretty much everyone in Eos with access to spatial storage could do it.
"You wanted to lay low and instead stood out like a sore thumb?" Nyx raised a brow, recalling how the golden-armored warrior had dominated the academy. They were second only to her brother in all activities and rankings.
To her, that didn't seem like a person who was hiding from something or someone. Rather, it was more like someone who was out to stand out.
Jack scratched his head. "Well, I got taken away, and I wanted to know just how I'd fare against him."
By "him," everyone knew he was referring to Nox.
"So, now that you know all this about me... am I now a member of the gang?"
"Well..." A mischievous smile appeared on Nox's face. For a moment, he looked like that childish town bumpkin who would run around the town with nothing but his birthday suit.
"To be part of the gang, there are things you must do."
"What is he up to now?" was the thought of Wendy, Nyx, and Serena.
"You'll have to..." He whispered the rest in Jack's ear.
"I'll have to run naked at night? You mean to say that's what all of you did?"
"Huh?" The three girls looked at Nox with an expression that screamed What the fuck?
"Shush! You weren't meant to say that out loud."
"I never partook in something like that," Nyx said.
"Me either," Wendy stated as well. "In fact, I spent my entire life in the capital."
The only person left was Serena, who was twirling a broken arrow in her arms. Then, with red cheeks, she said in a quiet voice so low it could easily go unheard:
"Well... I wouldn't mind if it's with Nox."
"..."
"…"
"..."
"..."
"That's enough cringe for one day," Nox said and bid the others as he began to leave the scene. "Y'all enjoy the town. Any moment from now, it'll be wartime."
The night air was cool. There was fire lit up in every corner. Students sat around burning firewood, discussing amongst themselves while eating beef specially prepared by none other than Camila.
A few of them were touching the dragons that acted as guides.
"Tsk. How long is he going to keep us in this form?" Valkor frowned. "Hey, stupid human, don't touch me!"
"Why are they treating us like some kind of beast sometimes?" Celestis thought, finding the humans amusing.
"Technically, we are," Drake said.
Meanwhile, Nox soon arrived at a place he hadn't visited for a while now. Beside him was the towering figure of the Ant Queen.
His eyes flashed sharply as he stepped inside.