Chapter 156
“Monsters everywhere.”
Too preoccupied with surviving, neither Koden, Rita or the rest of the heroes said anything about the strange appearance of Kalysto, whose sclera looked more gray than white with faint black lines extending from her dark irises.
Much darker than either the tank or the fire mage had seen during their stay inside the tower.
And although they were both concerned about their friend’s new appearance, they both decided not to ask, believing that it was a side effect of using her powers since she had a broken system and that this change in her appearance was the real reason Kalysto had been hiding everything she was really capable of so far.
So they decided to wait and let it go for now.
For his part, Oscar just watched and kept his thoughts to himself, as he always did. Unwilling to risk another fight with Rita when they had already made the passes and started talking about having a future together as soon as this was all over. In fact, they were both thinking about the possibility of settling down in this world and separating from the rest of the heroes if they couldn’t find a way home.
Therefore, after giving her a subtle glance, the dark-haired skillful man verified that despite the new look of the other mage of the group, the way Kalysto treated Rita was the same as always. So he decided not to say anything about it. Instead, he planned to hurry to find a way to escape from there and talk to his woman separately. There was no need to wait for them to find the blessed spell to find a place to live together, settle down, and start a family, something he wanted more than anything. A dream that the blonde was more than willing to help him fulfill.
And if that meant having to learn to get along and tolerate the weirdness of his future wife’s best friend, so be it.
Oscar looked at the fire mage as they both continued to launch one attack after another against the massive troll they had chosen to attack. The woman who, despite her youth, had not backed down after hearing about his dark past. And without realizing it, a small smile broke out on his face.
“What’s wrong? Why are you smiling?” asked his girlfriend after throwing a fireball at the troll’s face.
“...” Oscar didn’t know what to answer. He hadn’t even realized that he had been smiling at the thought of having a future together. But before he could answer, Kalysto interrupted them.
“Rita, get it!” Just as she was about to throw something, she hesitated and her gaze strayed to the brown man. “Oscar, please catch it! Rita, you know what to do with it. The transparent one is only in case of an emergency! Give me back the ones you don’t use along with the bag as soon as you can! You know I like to collect them!” Kalysto shouted from atop the troll’s head before leaping gracefully and burying her two daggers in one of the enemy’s eyes.
“I’ll certainly do that! Thank you!” The blonde was thrilled, and Oscar could see the relief on her face, even though she still hadn’t seen what was inside the leather pouch. So he decided to examine the inside before handing it over. Only to find four bottles of mana potions, three of healing, and one of a transparent liquid similar to water.
And despite the blind confidence that shone on the face of the future mother of his children, Oscar did not hesitate to inspect them.
He was in for a huge surprise when the window of his system indicated a bottle filled with holy water.
A liquid that, according to what he had heard, was not only hard to come by, but of invaluable value.
And yet she had lent it to him as if it were nothing.
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It was at that moment that Oscar decided to put aside his distrust towards the ice mage.
Maybe Rita was right to trust her so much.
Meanwhile, just a few meters behind them, the other heroes were too preoccupied about dying to worry about anything other than the horde of monsters impeding their escape.
Still, from time to time, Koden would cast glances full of concern and caution toward the fairy champion. For though he was grateful for all that Kalysto had done for them, he was not as trusting as Rita was.
And though he didn’t want to admit it, a small part of him worried what would become of them if Kalysto turned against them.
Besides, Koden didn’t know if it was because of her broken system or because of the contract with that mysterious being, but since they had come to this world, there was something that had changed about Kalysto, and it wasn’t just her appearance.
And he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with her.
“Is no one going to say anything about the change in the color of Kalysto’s eyes or that suddenly the ice she can conjure began to darken at the base?” Emanuel growled, annoyed by the lack of reaction from the others to something that could obviously come to harm them all. “Does no one remember the people contaminated by the black plague we saw in that town? Does no one else care that she has been infected and that she could infect us all?” Seeing that Gabriel didn’t say anything and Edward, who had also gotten off the ice wall but stayed close to them, remained silent, only increased his frustration. “We should stay away from her! Whatever she’s infected with could make us sick too, and I’m not going to die because of her!” He burst out, hugging a stolen shield instead of using it.
“She will never expose us to danger!” Gabriel immediately defended her, shooting arrows at the eyes of the nearby orcs, imitating what he had seen Kalysto do before.
“Just because you want to get in her pants doesn’t mean the rest of us are willing to take the risk!” Emanuel scolded him.
“I didn’t...I never said that...” Gabriel’s face flushed red as he tried to defend himself.
Edward watched them silently with his sword held high, but his hands still trembling at the prospect of having to fight one of those monsters alone. Unwillingly, his gaze strayed to the ice block, noting the dark blue of the base.
And he swallowed saliva.
“...Normally, Kalysto is a very reasonable person. Let’s wait for her to get out of her bad mood and ask her about it” he tried to defend her, but he had noticed that since they came to Elinor her behavior towards him had changed.
And now, he didn’t know what to think about it.
“You’re right, as her fellow travelers, we have the right to know what’s going on! She has an obligation to inform us!” Emanuel calmed down. But Edward doubted she was going to share anything with them. Then his gaze strayed to Koden, who now seemed to be more Kalysto’s friend than his. And something unpleasant stirred inside him at the thought of how easily he had been replaced.
“Edward, look out!” Gabriel shouted, launching an arrow at the skull of the skeleton that had evaded the defense the other heroes had created and made its way to them.
Edward barely had time to dodge the edge of the enemy sword, but he still received a small cut on his shoulder. And despite the pain, he raised his sword and fought the skeleton, unwilling to die.
Several meters away, Kalysto caught up to hear Gabriel’s shout and drew her bow and an arrow from her inventory.
“Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” the fairy champion muttered and the golden glow of her skills bathed the arrow, which she launched towards the head of the skeleton that was attacking Edward. Grateful that she was far enough away from them that Dispel didn’t fade the wall of ice on which Emanuel and Gabriel were standing.
[You have gained 800 experience points!]
[You have gained 700 experience points!] x10
[You have gained 1000 experience points!] x5
[You have gained 800 experience points!] x3
After watching as another pack of undead wolves disintegrated, she looked at the boys, making sure they were safe.
“Multiple targets! Ice blades! Ice arrows! Ice stakes!” She snapped, launching her attacks at the troll’s eyes and neck, blinding him completely and causing the giant to start swinging his mace back and forth, unintentionally attacking his own allies, instead of her.
Giving her a few seconds to observe the kind of monsters that were attacking the castle, noticing that none of the ones she had seen when the elves were attacked were there.
Too bad, I wouldn’t mind getting a new pair of cores! She was disappointed. But that also opened up another possibility for her. That means that the portal summoner is different... It was then that she remembered the orc with that big crystal ball and a smile came to her face.
Excited at the prospect of meeting him again and settling the score.
“We’ll see who bites the ground this time.”