“Up you go, kiddo,” Slade said, pulling a young boy up a steep hill.

Unlike Aella and her group, who were lucky enough to be placed in a rather flat area of the mountain range, Slade and Anastasia weren’t so lucky. The terrain was treacherous, its path winding and steep, shrouded in an ever-present mist. Not to mention how much larger their group of 15 was.

Ane certainly made it easier, but his relatively small size made it difficult to transport more than 1 or 2 people at a time, allowing those who suffered from fatigue to take turns. The journey had been arduous, but their spirits remained… High enough to not give up.

Not even an hour prior, they were blessed with a notification saying Aella managed to defeat a miniboss. Although they could only question how she accomplished this, it confirmed she was alive!

As they navigated a particularly narrow ledge, two hooded figures emerged from the shadows, their presence sinister and foreboding. Accompanying them were two dragons, smaller than Ane but exuding an aura of malevolence.

Within an instant, Ane set down the two he was carrying before hissing viciously at the eerie aura that came from these two, alerting the rest to their presence. As the two figures grew ever so closer, both the eyes of Slade and Anastasia widened. They recognized the design of those hoods.

Primarily black with two red suns on the chests.

“The [Children of the Lost Sun!?]” Slade exclaimed in surprise. “Why are they here?!”

Stepping back toward the Mother and Child, Lora and Cid were their names respective, Slade’s face grew ugly as it contorted with a mix of rage and irritation.

“They’re after your child, Ma’am.” He stated blankly, eying the cultists who seemed to finally realize their existence was noticed.

“Anna.”

“Right.” Anastasia nodded before vanishing from the soon-to-be battlefield, dropping down a small ledge.

Without further warning, the cultists commanded their dragons to attack. The dragons lunged forward, their eyes ablaze with fury. Ane met them head-on, his larger size and strength an advantage in the close quarters of the mountain path.

Slade, his focus split between protecting the group and commanding Ane, moved with practiced precision as he revealed a concealed firearm. He had to conserve energy, knowing that the group could be attacked by any of the many monsters from the [Abyss Nest] at any moment.

Anastasia, meanwhile, engaged the cultists in a sneak attack, knocking one down immediately with a ferocity that belied her calm demeanor. Her agility far surpasses what a normal human of her build should be able to reach.

“Z-zander! Shit! Who are y-” Before he could finish, Anastasia’s fist silenced his, sending him flying several meters back.

Readjusting the gloves that she had put on in her short time away from everyone’s prying eyes, they began to glow with an energy similar to the aura of a Dragon Master.

The first cultist, whom she had knocked down, quickly got up, firing a gun of his own at Anastasia’s head, only for the bullet to stop right before touching her hair.

“T-that’s! Why does a random woman have military-grade Magitech!?” The cultists named Zander shouted in terror.

With murderous intent in her eyes, Anastasia flicked her wrist, causing a gun to appear in her hand.

“When you make your own toys, it’s natural that you get to keep a few.” She stated blankly, the gentle and outgoing demeanor that she had for years gone in an instant.

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The battle raged on, the sounds of clashing dragons, gunfire, and shouted commands echoing off the mountain walls. Anastasia did her best to keep both the cultists at bay, but it quickly became apparent that they were heavily trained in interpersonal combat and not just dragon combat.

These two were in a wholly different league than those shmucks that Aella had run into!

If that wasn’t bad enough, as the fight intensified, one of the cultist’s dragons managed to break away from Ane, its eyes fixed on Cid. Lora, seeing the danger, acted with hesitation to save her son. She stepped in front of Cid, shielding him with her own body just as the dragon struck.

The impact sent her tumbling to the ground, Cid’s cry of terror piercing the chaos. Slade, witnessing the sacrifice, felt his anger rise uncontrollably.

“Ane, forget taking them alive! Kill them!” He commanded with a fierce vigor to his voice, his gun, which had intentionally aimed for the large parts of the dragons, suddenly aiming only for their heads.

||

Ane, hearing the urgency in his partner’s voice, let out a demonic roar. He managed to overpower one of the dragons in an instant, tearing one of its legs off in a single movement before turning its attention to the other.

Slade didn’t want to kill them because of the numerous civilians present, but he was also worried about them getting caught in the crossfire. Now, however, that was clearly irrelevant. He didn’t think that they’d be insane enough to try to kill a Naturalis without even trying to capture them.

‘They're more aggressive than 25 years ago! Don’t tell me… This Abyss Nest was also their doing…’ Slade’s mind wandered at a mile-a-minute as he ran over to the injured Lora.

Cid, her child, kept pushing at her body “Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!” He cried.

The scene only made him lament… Everything happened too fast. Within the span of a few seconds, he didn’t have nearly enough time to react… No human could. After all, unlike the Naturalis, humans had limits.

“I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…” Was all he could say to the child. It was unfortunate, but he wasn’t a prophet. He couldn’t see the future. Not to mention that mentally he wasn’t in the right state of mind because of how worried he was about Aella.

Slade wasn’t one to make excuses. Even if the correct answer was realistically impossible for him to see at that moment, it was still him who made such a mistake. He’d have to own up to it.

Meanwhile, in a remarkable display of marksmanship, took down one of the cultists. The second, realizing the tide of the battle was never in their favor, attempted to flee, but Anastasia was relentless. She pursued, her equipment enhancing her speed, and with a final, precise shot, brought the cultist down.

With Ane easily tearing the second dragon apart, the battle had ended, but the victory was bittersweet. Quickly returning to the scene of the tragedy, Anastasia couldn’t help but embrace the child, shielding his eyes from any further torment.

Lora lay motionless, her sacrifice a stark reminder of the stakes they were all facing. Cid, tears streaming down his face could only kneel as his mind continued to process what just happened.

The group, though shaken, gathered around Lora, paying their respects. Cid, though young, only a year younger than Aella, understood the gravity of his mother’s sacrifice rather quickly. That was simply the nature of this world full of Dragons. Death was common… Far too common… Even children were used to it.

He looked up at Slade and Anastasia, his eyes filled with grief.

Biting his lip, Slade stood up, looking around to make sure no one else was injured.

“We need to keep moving.” He said after a moment, his voice steady but still heated as he failed to properly calm down. “We can’t let her sacrifice be in vain.”

Anastasia nodded, her magitech gear retracting with a series of mechanical whirs. She helped the young boy to his feet, offering him a reassuring smile. “We’ll protect you. Just like your mother did… Nothing will hurt you, we promise.”

As quickly as they could, the group began their journey once again, the mood somber but oddly resolute. Ane slithered on the ground next to Slade, her presence a comforting constant. Anastasia, her eyes scanning the horizon, remained vigilant, her equipment always at the ready.

If nothing else was good from this situation. At least the couple knew that having a child of their own hadn’t left them rusty like they thought. Well, as rusty as they thought they’d be. Slade was sure that the him of the past would’ve made it through that situation without a single casualty.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get to rest as a system notification popped up.

||

“Not now of all times!” Slade raged, preparing for another battle.

At the very least, this time, he was sure. There wouldn’t be a single casualty…