A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6223

Above Cloudhaven City, the demonic aura finally cleared completely.

Sunlight, gone for far too long, broke through the clouds and spilled down over the ruined city.

But that light did nothing for the wreckage below.

It touched the city, and still the bleakness stayed where it was.

More than half of the city walls had collapsed.

Blackened scorch marks covered everything, and cracks split through the ground so deep the eye couldn't find the bottom.

Broken stone and shattered tiles were piled up like hills.

The streets that had once been packed and lively were nothing now but ruins, and the air was thick with the sharp reek of blood and burning.

The cultivators hidden throughout the city staggered out from wherever they had managed to survive.

They looked at the wasteland in front of them, and in every pair of eyes there was the dazed relief of still being alive, pressed right up against grief too heavy to hide.

This battle had gutted Cloudhaven City.

Countless cultivators had died.

Countless families had been torn apart.

This great city, which had stood for years, had been all but flattened.

Roland stood on the ruins of the city wall, covered in blood.

His wounds were still seeping, but he had no time to deal with any of them.

He drew in a deep breath.

Then he forced his exhausted body upright and shouted his orders.

"Everyone in the Sky Dragon Clan, listen up. Start clearing the battlefield now. Treat the wounded. Gather the bodies of the brothers who fell in battle."

His voice had gone rough, but there was still no room in it for anyone to question him.

The surviving Sky Dragon Clan warriors answered at once.

Dragging their battered bodies with them, they started clearing through the rubble and searching for anyone still alive.

Roland turned and looked toward the cultivators in the city, who still hadn't fully steadied themselves.

His voice dropped as he said, "The Demon Dragon has retreated, but the city has suffered terrible losses. I ask all of you to lend a hand. Help treat the wounded, and help rebuild Cloudhaven City."

The cultivators all nodded.

Holding themselves together by force, they threw themselves into rescue work and the clearing of the ruins.

For a while, the sky over Cloudhaven City filled with cries, sobbing, and people shouting for one another. Layered together, it sounded like a grim song for the dead after the battle.

Roland looked over it all, his gaze heavy.

They had won this battle.

But the price of that victory had been far too brutal.

He turned and looked toward the city lord mansion.

A trace of worry flashed through his eyes.

Jared...

"You have to pull through."

Deep inside the city lord mansion, in a hidden chamber that had somehow remained mostly intact.

Jared lay still on the bed.

His face was white as paper, and his breathing was so faint it was almost impossible to catch.

Bandages wrapped his whole body.

Blood kept seeping through them underneath, stark enough to make the sight hard to bear.

The wounds left by the hellfire were scorched black.

Even though Lydia Wraithmoor had already used ghostly miasma to drive out most of the demonic poison, the wounds still looked savage, deep enough to show bone.

Vivian sat by the bed, gripping Jared's hand tight.

Her eyes had gone red, and tears slipped down without a sound.

She stayed there like that, not moving at all, as if she meant to keep watch this way forever.

After who knew how long, one of Jared's fingers gave the slightest twitch.

Vivian jerked her head up, light breaking across her face.

"Jared! Jared!"

She called to him softly, her voice shaking.

Jared's lashes trembled, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Vivian's face, streaked with tears, and the hard brightness in her eyes that gave away everything she had been holding back.

"Vivian..."

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