With the Administrator now gone, Marcus stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and held out his hand. Within less than a second, he made the connection to what remained of his scythe and summoned it to him.
'The blade is still in good condition, but the handle is unsalvageable. I'll have to make a new one.' This chapter was originally shared via N0vel--Biin.
Holding the blade in his hand, Marcus could feel that the fragment of his soul residing in it was still stable and that the enchantments had not degraded. It would take a bit of work to forge another handle, but as long as he used the scythe would be as good as new.
After retrieving his weapon and having it hide back inside his form, Marcus turned to where Mrazivý was and quickly flew towards her.
When he arrived, he found her still in the glass coffin, sound asleep and showing no signs of waking up.
Normally such an effect would not work on her thanks to her Draconic Resistance race ability, but clearly the Administrator had powers that were far stronger.
Once he had opened the coffin, Marcus attempted to use his Ultimate Refresh Supreme Skill to erase the Eternal Slumber status effect that Mrazivý currently had, but the silver ball was sucked up by some sort of rift in space before it could reach its intended target.
'Guess I am going to have to go along with the Administrator's whims.' Marcus thought while rolling his eyes.
Knowing that there was nothing else he could do if he wanted Mrazivý to wake up, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips.
The moment he did, he could swear he heard a soft chuckling coming from all around him. Ignoring what he hoped was just a sound in his head, Marcus continued to kiss his wife for nearly ten seconds before her eyes finally fluttered awake.
Immediately she felt the sensation of lips pressed against her own. At first, she prepared to strike down whoever was assaulting her, but before she did, she noticed that the man kissing her was the one individual she would allow to be so intimate with her.
Mrazivý returned the kiss Marcus was giving her and wrapped her arms around him. Having gone through quite the ordeal, she was more than happy to be in the embrace of her lover and take in the comfort it brought her.
Eventually the two of them pulled apart, and Mrazivý took in a deep breath. Looking down at her, Marcus could see that her cheeks were tinged pink, and her breath was a bit ragged. It was an incredibly alluring sight, and if not for their current location and the fact they had just survived a tragedy, he might have continued.
"What happened? The last thing I remember was being hit incredibly hard before passing out." Mrazivý said as she looked around with a puzzled expression on her face. From what she could see, the devastated landscape had been restored and it was almost like the fierce battles they had fought had never occurred.
There was also the fact that she was lying in an ornate glass coffin and her clothing had changed. All of these inconsistencies with what she remembered left her utterly befuddled.
Without any hesitation she took off the lovely dress she was wearing and began to put her adventuring gear back on.
Marcus stood stunned for just an instant and could not take his eyes off Mrazivý's bare body.
In a fluster he turned around, but this reaction only got a snicker out of his wife.
"You've already seen me naked plenty of times. What's with acting embarrassed all of a sudden." Mrazivý said in an amused tone.
Sighing, Marcus realized that his reaction probably was a bit excessive. Still, he felt that if he had not averted his eyes swiftly, he might have been entranced by his wife's flawless body. While other women would have little effect on him, the one person he had entrusted his heart and soul to, could certainly rile up his emotions.
Once Mrazivý had finished putting on her gear, the two of them headed towards the long land bridge that would connect them back to the rest of the island. Though before they left the central area, Marcus stopped by the rows of natural treasures and filled up his item box nearly to the brim.
"How fast should we go? If we throw caution to the wind, we might be able to catch up with the others." Mrazivý asked.
"There are still plenty of threatening beasts and monsters on this island. I think that we should move as quickly as we can while not having to sacrifice any of our attentiveness." Marcus responded.
Now that they had beaten the Tower of Heaven's guardian, the restrictions of Haze Island no longer had any hold on them. However, while the thick fog may not have been magically limiting their senses any longer, it still served as a natural impediment for their line of sight. After all they had been through, Marcus felt it would be unwise to discount the dangers of this place.
"Okay. I'll let you set the pace." Mrazivý said.
Nodding his head, Marcus broke into a run and sped across the land bridge that would take them back to the main part of the island.
Just as before, the stretch of land that stretched on for over seven hundred kilometers was devoid of any life. Within a little under three hours, they cleared this distance and reached the shore of the massive lake.
"Looks like the others made it this far. From their tracks, it appears they decided to run in a straight line and head directly for the shore." Mrazivý said, analyzing the ground to get a sense of where the rest of the expedition squad had headed.
Wanting to catch up with their compatriots, the two of them followed the tracks until they reached the shore of the island. Unfortunately, they were never able to catch up thanks to the expedition squad having a head start on them.
At the very least, judging by the footprints in the sand it was clear that everyone had gotten off the island, and Marcus and Mrazivý did the same. They were without their ride this time, but it would be easy enough for the two of them to fly back to the mainland and meet up with he others at the adventurers guild.