Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush
Chapter 46: Devoted Servant Unlocked

Chapter 46: Devoted Servant Unlocked

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Alyhana dropped to her knees beside him before the ash had even settled. Her breath hitched, and her hands were already glowing faintly with magic as she hovered over his chest.

"You—you came..." she whispered, voice cracking. "I thought—I thought you were—"

She blinked fast, trying to wipe her eyes with the back of her sleeve while still healing him. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Xander, I shouldn’t have... I didn’t know it wasn’t really her, I should’ve stayed—"

Xander winced, flinching slightly when her magic brushed over a bruised rib.

"Alyhana—"

"I messed everything up," she kept going, panic bubbling up. "I left you and Iris and then the monster, Maia...whatever it was, it...if you hadn’t shown up—"

He grabbed her wrist gently and her magic flickered out instantly.

"Hey," he said, not unkindly. "Breathe."

She swallowed hard and blinked at him, wide-eyed and shaking. "But, your arm...it’s—"

"I’m fine," he muttered. "I’m healing weirdly faster than usual."

His shirt was still soaked in blood, but the deeper wounds had already begun to close.

Alyhana’s brows furrowed. "Is it normal? O–only certain monsters can regenerate."

"Nothing about my life recently has been normal." He gave a tired exhale and sat up straighter with a grunt. "Still, you shouldn’t waste energy. We don’t know what else this ghost is planning."

She nodded quickly, biting her lip. "Right... right. Sorry."

A long pause hung between them. She stared at her hands for a second before speaking again, quieter this time.

"...Thank you. For saving me, Xander."

Xander looked at her, then away awkwardly. "You don’t have to thank me."

"I do," she said, barely audible. "I could have died...I owe my life to you."

There was another pause as Xander blinked dumbly, "...okay, uh...let’s not get too hasty."

"I was already devoted to you since you were the Kaelhi but, now...my life is yours...I am your humble servant!" Alyhana went on earnestly.

"Yeah... Being devoted to me is probably not the best idea." Then Xander shifted slightly, glancing around the broken room making his eyes narrow. "...Where are we?"

Alyhana blinked and looked around too, the illusion of her bedroom had dropped, and now they were just in a random bedroom in the manor.

Alyhana stood slowly, wiping her palms against her skirt. Xander was up too now, leaning slightly on his sword, his face tight with pain...but steady.

"...Wait." She blinked. "This... this isn’t my room anymore. I hate this house," she mumbled under her breath.

"Same," Xander said, "Come on, let’s go find Iris."

Xander and Alyhana went down one of the maze like hallways as Xander wondered how the hell where the dead owners of the building could navigate through their own house without getting lost as he was pulling at a toppled shelf that looked like it had been dropped from the ceiling Alyhana ducked under a broken beam, voice trembling.

"Iris?" she called. "Iris, are you here?"

But there was no response and the soft creak of wood shifting overhead.

"Iris!" she tried again, louder this time, her voice bouncing off the stone walls. "Please say something!"

Xander grunted as he shoved a broken desk aside, dust kicking up around him. "Check that room."

Alyhana scrambled over to the door, heart pounding. Her hands slipped on the edge as she tried to pull it open.

Her throat tightened. "She’s not here," she whispered. "She’s not, what if she’s—"

Xander glanced at her sharply. "She’s not dead"

The idea of Iris being dead filled him with way more dread than he’d ever admit.

"You don’t know that," Alyhana said, her voice pitching higher. "What if–"

"Alyhana." Xander interrupted and raised his wrist pulling back his sleeve to show her his mark. "I...think, I’d know if she was."

He said her name softly but firmly, she went silent and nodded, her hands shaking as she hugged them to her chest.

Xander stepped over the broken floorboards toward her, his gaze serious. "We’ll find her."

And then...

BOOM!

The ground lurched suddenly beneath them. Alyhana let out a yelp and stumbled into Xander, who grabbed her waist instinctively.

"W...what the fuck was that?" he breathed, eyes wide.

The sound had come from deeper in the manor and Alyhana turned to him "That was magic! I can sense it!"

A low rumble echoed through the walls, followed by a brief silence before the floor vibrated again.

Alyhana turned her head toward the hallway. "I think hat’s where she is..."

Without another word, Xander took off toward the sound, and Alyhana followed right behind him.

A sharp crack rang through the manor—followed by what sounded like a scream. Or maybe it was magic tearing through something but Alyhana couldn’t tell. All she knew was it came from somewhere close.

Xander just grabbed his sword tighter, shifted his weight, and sprinted toward the sound like it didn’t even register that he was still bleeding.

"W-Wait—!" Alyhana called after him, but her feet were already chasing him down the hall. "Don’t run off like that! What if it’s—what if that wasn’t Iris?!"

"It was her," Xander said over his shoulder, voice low. "It has to be."

Because if Iris died in this world, what hope would he have to ever return back to his?

"But what if it wasn’t...what if it’s another trap?"

"It better not be!" He replied.

He hoped to God it wasn’t.

The hallway stretched long and narrow, the floorboards creaking under their steps. The further they ran, the colder the air got, like they were heading straight into the eye of something very wrong.

Alyhana’s chest tightened. Her hands were glowing again, but she wasn’t even sure she had enough power left to fight. Not like this.

Still, she kept running.

"We’re not too late," she whispered under her breath. "Oh gods, please don’t let us be too late..."

Xander didn’t even slow down at the thought of it being another one of the ghosts tricks and his grip on the sword stayed firm, and his eyes were locked ahead.