By the time Noah opened his eyes, the sun was already high in the sky. The gray clouds had dispersed, revealing a beautiful, clear day, though still quite chilly.

'Gahhh...' Noah tried to sit up straight, but slumped right back down after a sharp pain pierced his stomach.

'Looks like I suffered some internal damage from that giant brain monster.'

The terror... Noah suddenly recalled everything that had happened before he lost consciousness.

"Silas?"

There was no response, so Noah closed his eyes and focused on his chest. He could see his essence core; the shimmering orb had grown somewhat larger and brighter after absorbing significant quantities of essence during the battle against the enthralled horde. Yet, Silas' core was no longer there.

'He's really gone? After turning my life into hell and trying to take over my body, he just up and said, 'Have a nice trip back home!' – and went and sacrificed himself?!'

Noah didn't know what to make of it, nor could he sort out his feelings. He also didn't really understand what Silas had done, turning his core into a sort of essence-extinguishing bomb. Whenever a living thing dies, it releases its essence into the atmosphere, while Noah's ability allows him to intercept and absorb the essence if he's close enough. Yet, there was nothing left of the essence of Silas or the terror - it was just... gone.

Trying to get his bearings, Noah looked around. It seemed his surviving minions had carried him further along the cliff wall, away from the battlefield grounds, and set up camp.

They were all in rough shape, with cracked and missing bones glowing green. Claws appeared to be the worst off. When the terror whipped its tentacle, it must have shattered the undead reptile's spine, and now Claws lay next to Noah, its empty eye sockets glaring at him, seemingly waiting to be fixed.

"Oh, man. Sorry, Claws, you always end up all smashed up... I promise I'll patch you up once I'm able to move around." The haughty lizard continued glaring.

Hearing his voice, the rest of the minions noticed that Noah was awake. Steve, standing guard, vigilant as ever, fixed his gaze on Noah for a short moment before resuming his watch. His ancient plate armor was missing entire chunks and could barely be considered armor at this point. The undead warrior was also missing the bones of his right arm up to the elbow, the skeletal stump shimmering green.

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Dozer, the remaining cave dweller, and the trio of four-armed devils did not react in any particular manner, though all bore the marks of the battle. Even the armored giant had suffered damage when he was tossed around by the terror's shriek.

Harold was busy stoking the campfire when it noticed Noah. With an excited limp, the skeletal ape approached, then paused as if struck by a sudden recollection. It hobbled back to the campfire and plucked a piece of meat skewered on a sharpened branch from the fire. With a silent gesture, Harold motioned for Noah to take the roasted meat.

"No, I'm not hungry right now, Harold. Thanks."

Yet, the undead ape continued motioning for Noah to take the meat.

"No, Harold!"

The undead ape jerked its head backwards, as though utterly shocked by Noah's behavior.

'You're worse than grandma...'

The truth was that Noah could only assume the meat came from the slain enthralled monsters, and none of them looked especially enticing. Not to mention they were infested by those disgusting worms. So, despite being quite hungry, Noah was holding off until he mustered the courage to consume the rancid flesh.

For now, Noah intended to rest while recuperating, allowing his enhanced regeneration as a powerful Touched to do its work, and gather his thoughts.

Regardless of whatever ended up going through Silas' mind in his final moments, Noah had always viewed him as his biggest obstacle, ahead of his odds of making it back alive to The Arc, and even more so than Voidstrider and the rest of The Vanguard – simply because Noah didn't know if he'd survive Silas long enough to encounter them again.

Now, Silas was gone, and Noah was relatively close to Arcturus City. He had to figure out specifics on issues like how to get from one side of the city walls to the other without being automatically obliterated by its defenses, which might identify him as a monster. Or, how to deal with The Vanguard. Yes, they had hunted him to get to Silas, who was now dead – but there was clearly something shady going on, and Voidstrider and her ilk might still opt to silence Noah.

Despite it all, a sliver of hope, which once seemed so utterly impossible, a real chance of making it back home and regaining his old life, now began to take shape within Noah.

And so, Noah spent the next two days on the mend, gradually regaining his strength and infusing essence into his battle-worn minions. And yes, eventually, he caved in and, quite reluctantly, ate the monster meat under the watchful eye... socket of Harold, all while longing for the over-bitey fish he had caught back in the Hollowed Depths.

Occasionally, monsters would reach the camp, drawn to the area by the scent of the corpses from the enthralled horde rotting in the nearby battlefield. However, Dozer, Steve, and Claws made short work of them.

At the dawn of the third day, Noah and his minions had packed up the camp, now that he felt well enough to travel again. Noah's already ragged clothes were torn to shreds and stained red, revealing swaths of his scarred and still-healing body. His messy hair and unkempt beard were also caked with dry blood. And yet, as Noah and his undead companions began descending the lower slopes of the mountain range to make their way north, in the direction of Schuler's Pyramid, he could not help but feel a renewed sense of vigor, a spring in his step.

Because this was the final stretch of Noah's journey back home.