Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 204: Healing Exelia

The magical dust began to settle. The shadows had dispersed, and the demonic energy in the air had been swept away by Ahri’s presence—still shrouded in a silver aura with blue-gold highlights, her nine tails swaying gently in the wind. But Kael paid little attention to her now.

His eyes were fixed on Exalia.

She lay at the foot of a broken tree, her body sprawled among twisted roots and broken branches. Her armor was in pieces, her chest stained with blood, and her left arm hung as if it had been torn off and hastily reattached. There was a deep gash on her forehead, and her face, though still beautiful, bore the weight of profound pain.

Kael ran to her.

"Exelia!" His voice came out hoarse, a mixture of despair and guilt.

She opened her eyes slowly, too weak to smile, but still with that determined gleam that never left her.

"Still... alive," she murmured. "But... not for long, if you keep looking at me with that widow’s face."

Kael let out a weak, almost imperceptible laugh and knelt beside her. He lightly touched her forehead, then her neck, searching for pulses, signs, anything. Life was there—weak, but resilient. As always.

"I can heal this," he said, almost to himself.

He placed his hand on her chest and closed his eyes.

Ahri, who had been watching from afar with her arms crossed and a serene expression, approached. But she did not intervene. She knew what Kael was about to do.

[Basic Healing]

The energy of the forest responded like a silent echo. The trees trembled slightly, the leaves rustled as if a sacred breeze had passed through them, and the ground beneath Kael glowed with a pale green. A circle of ancient runes formed around him and Exalia, drawn with light and time.

"Blessing of the World Tree..." he continued, and the voice was no longer his alone. It was a chant shared with nature itself, as if the soul of the forest spoke through him.

A warm, green wave enveloped Exalia’s body.

She gasped, her chest rising sharply as the energy flowed through her like a current of life. Her bones aligned, her muscles reconstituted, her bruises disappeared like dust blown away by the wind. The deep wound on her arm closed with an emerald glow, and the traces of pain began to give way to relief.

Kael trembled, his eyes still closed, focused. Using the blessing was not easy. It was a pact—a sacrifice of part of his own life energy in exchange for healing. But for him, there was no hesitation.

Exalia opened her eyes completely, now clear, and tried to move.

"No!" Kael gently restrained her. "Not yet. Let... let the tree finish what it started."

She took a deep breath, and this time, she smiled genuinely.

"You really are an idiot..." she said softly. "But a useful idiot."

"And you’re a reckless knight with a martyr complex."

"That’s what makes me irresistible," she joked, her voice returning to its firm tone, albeit low.

The glow of the blessing began to fade, and Kael, now pale, fell backward, sitting in the mud. He was sweating cold, but relieved.

Ahri approached and looked at the two of them. There was something almost maternal in her gaze as she watched Kael panting and Exalia composing herself.

"She’ll be fine," Ahri said calmly. "The blessing never fails. But you..." She raised an eyebrow. "You’re starting to worry me. You’re going to end up killing yourself over these stubborn mortals."

Kael gave her an exhausted look. "And I thought goddesses were kinder."

Ahri smiled mischievously and crouched down beside him.

"Ah, my dear..." she said, lightly running her fingernail along the side of Kael’s face, "you will discover that being kind is not always the most merciful. And not always the most effective."

Kael laughed weakly and lay down for a moment. The sky above the forest seemed clear now. For a few seconds, all was silence and soft light. But he knew. This was only the interlude.

He turned his face to Exalia, who was already sitting up with effort, staring at the broken sword in the distance.

"She ran away," Kael said at last.

"But with scars that will never fade," Exalia replied seriously. ’You saw her condition. The fox almost disintegrated that bitch.’

Ahri stood up, fixing her hair as if she had just stepped out of a bath of pure energy.

"Almost," she repeated, gazing at the horizon with half-closed eyes. ’But ’almost’ is never enough with creatures of that level. She’ll probably kill to acquire essence to heal herself completely, and now she must be very nervous."

Kael looked at the forest, at the bodies, the ice, the shards.

"Next time... it won’t be almost." Ahri turned slightly, a different expression in her eyes. ’I’m going to kill her.’

Exalia took a deep breath, absorbing every last drop of the blessing’s restorative warmth. Her body, now completely regenerated, no longer felt pain. The bleeding had stopped, her bones were aligned, and even the visible scars seemed softened. She raised her head, staring at the clear sky through the treetops. For a moment, there was peace.

But she knew—that was only the surface. Beneath that calm, there was still darkness.

She rose slowly, still feeling the weight of past events, but with determination in her eyes. The leaves that clung to her broken armor slid off lightly, carried by a magical breath that seemed to come from within her.

Kael watched her, somewhat surprised at how quickly she was recovering. But he said nothing.

Exalia closed her eyes, took a deep breath... and then extended one hand forward. Her fingers began to glow, tracing a circle of pure energy in the air. Ancient symbols, delicate and complex, appeared around her palm. It was an advanced spell, arcane and rare—something that required more than power. It required wisdom. Connection with the very essence of the world.

"Lux Umbrae... Purge."

Her voice cut through the silence like a sacred blade.

The magic leapt from her hand, and a translucent wave spread like an expanding dome. In an instant, the thick fog that still hung over the forest was swept away like smoke before a divine gale. Sunlight touched the damp ground clearly for the first time in hours. Bodies could now be seen clearly—allies and enemies, fallen under trees or covered in moss. There was no more concealment. Everything was exposed.

"Better this way," she said, in a low, almost intimate tone.

Kael struggled to his feet and walked over to her. The contrast between her appearance—steady, restored, almost radiant—and the exhaustion evident on his face was striking.

"The mist was hers, wasn’t it?" he asked.

"Yes. A hellish veil. It fed her presence... and hid her rot." Exalia turned to face him. "Now she has no such shelter. And if she tries to return here, the forest will react."

Ahri approached from behind, her nine tails still slowly moving, as if sensing the taste of power circulating in the air.

"You two make a good pair," she commented, smiling lightly.

Kael snorted but did not respond. Instead, he surveyed his surroundings. The clarity brought by Exalia revealed the devastation. Trees lay fallen, animals petrified or charred by the chaotic energy of the previous confrontation. And at the center of it all, a burned hole in the ground, still black and pulsing—the spot where Ahri had struck the demon with her final blow.

"She was dragged back into her abyss," Kael said thoughtfully. ’But not destroyed. That’s the problem with ancient demons. They take root. And when they don’t die... they get stronger.’

Ahri nodded. Her gaze was now distant, as if she could see beyond the forest’s limits.

"EXELIA!! KAEL!!!"

The voice cut through the clearing like a luminous arrow, laden with urgency, emotion, and a hint of desperation. It came from far away, but not far enough to be ignored.

Kael and Exalia turned their bodies almost simultaneously, their eyes turning toward the source of the call.

Ahri, who until then had been watching the horizon with half-closed eyes and her tails slightly agitated, frowned slightly.

"Hmph." She sighed, as if she had just realized that her presence was more than enough to destabilize any mortal with eyes and a beating heart. "Time to disappear..."

With a slight movement of her hands, the goddess’s tails wrapped around her body like a spiral of living mist. And with a faint glow and an almost inaudible crack, Ahri simply... disappeared. She dissolved into the air, returning to the spirit realm as if she had never been there. A final ethereal scent, sweet and powerful, lingered in the air for a second before dissipating completely.

Kael muttered, still staring at the spot where she had been:

"Always so dramatic..."

But before she could say more, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the newly established silence. Branches parting, leaves being trampled, and then—like a breath of fresh air—Liora emerged from among the trees.

The elf’s hair was disheveled, her breath was labored, and her eyes were wild. She looked around frantically until her eyes found the two of them.

"You’re okay... phew..." she said, letting out a sigh of relief so great that she almost fell to her knees.

She ran to Kael first, touching his face with her delicate fingers. Her eyes narrowed, analyzing the signs of exhaustion and superficial injuries.

"You’re pale. What happened?"

Kael tried to smile.

"Just a sacred blessing invoked with too much vital energy. Nothing a few hours of sleep won’t cure..." He gestured vaguely at the ground around them. "Exalia took the brunt of it. But... she’s fine now."

Liora turned to Exalia and her eyes widened. The knight was standing, her armor still in tatters, but her body clean of blood, steady as if she had just awakened from a restful sleep.

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦