Chapter 40

"What the hell just happened?" Agathe and Naz asked simultaneously.

Amazed because of what happened to the beast, they both quickly looked at the sky, trying to find the source of the lightning that had killed their enemy, and when they did, they found some black clouds that were already dispersing, as if that lightning was their only purpose in existence and they had to disappear after completing their mission.

"That lightning was the intervention of Heaven's Will. There is no other explanation, "said one of the Esvert cultivators, who knelt on the ground and began to pray and thank the heavens for the lightning.

As if the man's words made them realize the reason why they were alive, almost every cultivator in both groups capable of kneeling began to imitate the man and started to pray.

"This may have been Heaven's intervention, but there are still a lot of people wounded and at risk of dying, so we should aid them before starting to pry to thank them." Said Naz seriously as he raised his arm to show his wounds.

After hearing Naz's words, everyone stood up again and began to help the wounded and treat their injuries. As for those that had died in battle, they dug up a few graves for them and made a little ceremony to say goodbye to them while they thanked Heaven for its help.

When the ceremony was over, the group began to plan their return to the village.

"We should bring back the mantis' corpse," Agathe said.

"Why is it? If you want to tear it apart, we can do it here, and then we would only need to carry the most valuable materials. " Naz replied.

"I don't want to tear it apart. What I want is to study the corpse and learn why it was so powerful and what that strange energy was. This beast is special, and having the whole corpse will help me the most in learning the reason why even if it's partially burnt by the lightning. " Agathe replied, determinedly.

"Well, we can carry it between a few people, but I have a condition before anything," Naz replied seriously.

"What is it?" Agathe asked while arching an eyebrow.

"When you are done investigating the corpse, I want my share of the loot." He said

"Well, we can negotiate who gets what when I'm done with the corpse, don't you worry." She said as she tried to reassure him.

"No, I want to make the repartition now," Naz responded, looking directly into Agathe's eyes.

"And I suppose that you already know which part you want, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, fine. You can choose anything that you want, except the arms. " Agathe finally said.

"I don't want its arms, I want its heart," Naz replied.

"Its heart? Do you want to eat it or something? Are you that savage? " Agathe said, half surprised, half laughing.

"It's not of your incumbency what I do with my share of the loot."

"Ok, ok. You can take the heart when I finish my investigations. I will do my best to preserve it in the best conditions possible until that moment arrives. " Agathe finally said.

Naz said, less seriously, "Then let's take the corpse to the village as fast as possible. We don't have much time before it starts getting darker."

After that, the group began their journey to return to the village. As the corpse was pretty big, four Guburg cultivators carried it, and when they felt like they were starting to get tired, they would change their position with another cultivator that was still rested.

Like that, they managed to reach the village just a little after dusk. They carried the corpse to one of the few stone buildings in the town, and then they let the people in the village know the news of their travels.

A few ceremonies were held in the memory of those that lost their lives on the journey, and then a party started to celebrate their victory over the magical beast and that the village was now safe.

The only one that didn't participate in any of these events was Agathe, who began to investigate the beast's corpse immediately after they returned to the town.

Near midnight, Naz knocked on Agathe's door, and because she didn't reply, he took the liberty of opening the door and entering. When he did this, he found the corpse of the beast dismantled on a table, while Agathe held one of its arms in her hands. From time to time, strange green energy would cover the arm for a few seconds before dissipating into the air.

"How is everything going?" Naz asked as he noticed that she hadn't realized his presence.

As he started talking, she jumped on her chair, confirming that she hadn't realized that he had entered the room.

"In your village, you don't learn to knock on the door before entering a room?" Agathe scolded Naz angrily before her face turned into one of happiness."Well, that doesn't matter. You aren't going to believe what I have discovered."