Doomsday Pillars

Seeing her finally wake up, Alex was delighted and relieved. But seeing Aria's face that looked full of confusion, he pondered the reason why for a while and suddenly realized that the woman in front of him might be embarrassed because she wasn't dressed behind the thick cloth.

He could only scratch his chin and said awkwardly. "Uhm… Do you have any clothes in your storage ring?"

Aria bobbed her head up and down like a woodpecker when she heard this. "That's good." he said with an awkward smile. Receiving no response from her, Alex could only turn his body and walk over to the fireplace, starting to prepare something. Aria who saw him turn around quickly took out her clothes from her storage ring and with the speed of light put them on..

"So when was the last time you had a full meal?" Alex asked suddenly.

Startled by his inquiry, she could only remain silent.

"I know that stalking someone is not an easy thing to do, let alone go undetected. You probably don't get much rest either, do you? "

"I... "

Alex turned his head and smiled slightly at her. "Good job to be able to follow me without being detected by me. Still, I am disappointed that you are breaking my orders."

He then took out things from his storage ring, a full set of cooking utensils appeared in front of the fireplace. Jerry has prepared quite complete cooking utensils for his journey. There's everything from pots to seasonings and sauces. Alex could also find instant noodles in it, which made him happy. Therefore, he took this opportunity to make warm noodle soup for them.

Alex then took out a chunk of mutated monster meat to use as a topping. This was the meat of the rank 3 mutated red goshawk that he defeated a few days ago. He sliced the meat thinly and started searing it on the pan after seasoning it with salt and pepper. The smell of cooked meat began to fill the cave, making those who smell it feel their stomachs growl.

"Do you like spicy food?" he asked as he continued to stare at the meat being cooked, not letting any of them burn.

"Not really." replied Aria.

"... Me neither." 

In fact, Alex much prefers spicy food but hearing Aria's straightforward answer almost made him burst out laugh. She didn't even try to think what was behind the question! 'Under these conditions, wouldn't it be the right response to follow whatever the chef prepared?' He shook his head and chuckled to himself.

Alex is currently multitasking, boiling noodles, preparing noodle broth and setting the necessary cutlery. He already cooked all the sliced meat and set them aside for later. Within a few minutes, the noodles are done and ready to be served. He then quickly put the noodles into a bowl, placed the cooked meat on top and finally poured the broth into it. He approached Aria with two bowls in his hands while telling her that the food was ready.

"Here." he said, giving her a bowl of noodles.

"Instant noodle?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Think of it as ramen. I can't do anything fancy but nothing will go wrong with instant noodles. So… yeah, enjoy." he said with a smile.

"Thank you. I will eat it deliciously." she said as she accepted the bowl from him.

"You're welcome. Eat well."

Alex sits on the ground beside her before he starts eating his noodles. He then noticed that Aria was having trouble eating because the wound on her hand had not yet healed.

"Do you need help, Aria?"

"N-n-no need." she replied, stuttering as she tried her best to lift the noodles to her mouth. Alex who saw this could only shake his head. He put down his bowl and reached for her bowl.

"Let me help you then. Open your mouth." he said, lifting and blowing the noodles before pointing them to her mouth.

"???" Confusion filled her face as chaos ensued in her mind. Aria thought she was dreaming right now. There's no way this would actually happen. She was in deep thought when the noodles entered her mouth and shocked her. 'Did he just blew and fed me the food? WHAT?!'

'Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? What is happening right now?'

Various thoughts flashed through in her mind as she tried to understand her current situation, causing her facial expression to become absent-minded in the process. Alex saw Aria was in daze.

"Aria... Are you okay?" He said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Uh? Oh!? I'm okay. It's nothing." she replied, smiling awkwardly.

"You sure?"

Aria is sure that the current event will always remain in her heart and mind. She thought back about what he did for her before and wasn't sure how she could repay him in the future. Alex noticed that she was still in a daze and said.

"So will you tell me now why you disobeyed my order and followed me?"

"I…" Aria fell silent, guilt filled her heart.

"I really don't know what to say to you, Aria. You grew up in the military, why are you so reckless?"

Aria abruptly exclaimed. "Reckless? I'm reckless?! You're the one who's reckless! How can getting into the abyss abyss alone can be called a plan?!"

Alex was quite shocked by her sudden outburst. The woman known as the ice queen had lost her cool in front of him. He sighed and decided not to ask any further. But when he turned around, she suddenly pulled his hand.

"I-I... I'm sorry." Aria said while turning her eyes away from him. "Usually I'm not like this."

This time she looked him in the eyes as she said "The reason I'm following you is because… I'm worried about you. I can't accept the fact that you might be in danger." He only stared at her as he heard those words. She saw that and decided to tell him. "Alex, I like you."

Alex fell silent when he heard her sudden confession. He slowly grabbed Aria's hand and sighed, not saying anything.

"P-p-please say something. Anything! Say that you don't feel the same way! Tell me that I'm crazy!"

"Aria… I-I don't know what to say."

"Please!" she said, almost screaming.

"Aria... I'm happy to receive such affection from such a beautiful woman. You are an amazing woman. Any man will be lucky to receive your love but not me, Aria. Not me. I cannot accept it."

"It's because you are married, isn't it. Yes, I know I'm crazy, I…" 

"Yes... but not only that. Aria, will you listen to me?"

"... Okay."

Aria couldn't look into Alex's face as he began to slowly explain his reason. He explained that since going through the last 10 years of apocalypse, he has changed. He had seen too much suffering and the death of his loved ones, causing him to shut himself off from all these feelings. Even since he returned, he still has a hard time connecting with his wife again or his daughters. He can smile and be happy with them but somehow something inside of him is gone. Right now all he has in mind was changing the future, turning despair into hope.

When she finished hearing his reason, Aria calmed down. "Alex, I understand. I decided to follow you until you reach your goals and will always stand by your side. After all, I am your personal bodyguard." She said as she patted her chest pretentiously.

Aria's answer made Alex a little confused. He thought for awhile what the women in front of him meant to him. Why does he care about her, was it really because she is one of his strongest fighters or is it because he had promised the Regent to take care of her. Alex seems to think even beside those two reasons Alex will still care for her.

Aniway he need to make this no more awkward than it already is

"What a big word for someone who almost died just now." said Alex teasingly.

"It was...yes.. I will not let that happen again!" said Aria.

Now Aria has returned to her usual self, Alex feels glad.

While still slowly eating the noodle, Alex suddenly said "Aria, you have to get well soon so we can escape from this place."

"Huh?! What's the matter? Where are we now, Alex? I just realized, how did the location suddenly turn into an icy cold place?" she asked, confused, just realizing where they were.

Sighing, he said "We are now in the main chamber of the abyss, I guess unless the two of us have increased our realm, we shouldn't leave this cave."

"What kind of monsters are we dealing with here?"

"Something too difficult with our current strength. Luckily we have found this cave. If we stay outside any longer, they'll find us now."

Alex had not finished his words when a sound was heard from outside the cave and a notification popped out in his arm.

[Defensive Formation - Rank 2 Artifact]

[Energy Shield 932/1000]

From the mouth of the cave came the sound of something trying to break in.

"They're here."