Taking deep breaths to calm his Heart, while directing his Aspects to return back into their Aspect Wells, Alnea shifted his focus to his next target. Or at least tried to. Once the thought about his teammates came to his mind though, he could not stop himself from wondering how they were faring against the eight Wanderers—
Six Wanderers, Alnea corrected himself, as he saw Cecilia and Karl take down a Wanderer each. A Redbud and a Yellowbud. No, not six, but five, he corrected himself once again, as he saw Vestia and Yuri lead the men to surround and kill the last Wanderer from the Redbud family… What was happening? When did Cecilia restore enough of her Spirit Power to expend it so wantonly, using both, her Arcanas, and her Aspects? Was it back when she asked Vestia for ‘water’?
…Well, as long as she was fine. Thankfully, she did not let Forne use the power of Fortune, allowing it attack only physically. It reduced the cat’s combat effectiveness by quite a large margin, not to mention that Fortune Devouring Cat were never known for their fighting capabilities anyway. Still, the combination of the dumb cat’s physique and Cecilia’s Arcanas and Martial Styles was not something that an average Peak Stage Wanderer could survive. Especially not a Wanderer severely suppressed by a sandstorm.
What was happening with Karl though? When did he get so courageous as to take down a Peak Stage False Wanderer all by himself? That too, when he was exhausted—
So, that was it, Alnea thought. Ever since he saw the Lotus clan’s Wanderers, he had been thinking of all sorts of ways to save his teammates, so he had not paid much attention to Karl’s strange behaviour, attributing it to his anxiousness. As he thought about it once again though, he found that there were indeed many flaws in Karl’s actions. The overly dramatic reactions, the fake tears, and his energetic shouts…
Everything was just an act. From the very beginning, he had never intended to risk his life on just a promise. Or at least that was how things seemed to be. And Alnea could understand the reason behind Karl’s action. As someone who was so paranoid about his survival, how could he let someone else be in control of his life and death?
It was just that… Where did he get a recovery potion? And when did he take it? Back when Vestia and Cecilia took theirs? Or…
Forget it, Alnea said to himself. They were all Star Seekers. No matter what secrets Karl had, it was not his turn to inquire about them. As long as Karl did not betray them, there was no reason to doubt him. On the contrary, the more reliable Karl could be, the happier he would be. Rather than worrying about him, Alnea was more concerned about the Wanderers of the Lotus clan.
Last he remembered, the Wanderer from the Whitebud family had gathered everyone around himself, leading them to siege, and capture Vestia. How much time had passed since then? Probably not even a tenth of an hour. And yet, three of those eight Wanderers had already fallen, while the rest were all scattered, lost in the storm like ducklings without their mother. What happened in the time he was dealing with the two Wanderers?
“That’s another one down,” Vestia said, as Norren pulled out one of his short swords from the red robed man’s chest. His hands were shaking, as were his legs. Moving in a raging storm was not easy. Fighting was even harder. Killing someone… Especially when he was already tired beyond his limits… He had probably never been as exhausted as he was at the moment. Still, even as his exhaustion began to overpower his limbs, it could not subdue the light in his eyes.
“That was… exhilarating!”
“…And tiring,” Ralph said in between heavy breaths, lying next to the red robed man, with a brown spear lying next to him. “I do not think I can do this again.”
“…How many of them are left?” Aren asked, panting just as heavily a Ralph, while bleeding even more heavily from a nasty wound on his left arm just below his shoulder. From how charred the skin around the wound was, it looked like the wound came from a Lightning Arrow. Aren, however, paid no attention to the wound, forcing himself to keep standing, clenching the dagger in his right hand with all his strength, preparing himself to meet more enemies.
“…Seven, including two on Alnea’s side,” Vestia said. “Zain, help him take care of his wound.”
“No need,” Aren said. “I am fine.”
“No, you are not. The potion I gave you can only help you ignore your pain, but it cannot heal your injuries.”
“…It is just some a small wound. Right now, taking care of our enemies before you run out of your Spirit Power should be our priority. Or else, none of us will be able to survive.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“…If you do not take care of your ‘small’ wound, then you will die from bleeding first,” Yuri said, before turning towards Zain. “Help him take care of his wounds.”
“…Even I am tired, you know,” Zain mumbled, leaning against a brown stick, with a white crystal embedded into its head, complaining about his unfair treatment. He still listened to Yuri’s words though, tearing off his left sleeve to wrap it around Aren’s wound, hoping it would stop the bleeding.
“…Although it is just a flesh wound, being hit by a Lightning Arrow can also damage your nerves. It is best if you get it treated as soon as possible.”
“…That does not seem possible right now.”
“…Alnea can help you with first aid, but if you want to treat it completely, we will have to go back to the city.”
“…Let us talk about that after we deal with our current enemies,” Aren said to Yuri, before turning to Vestia. “How long can you maintain the sandstorm?”
“…Five minutes. You understand what the unit of minutes mean, right?”
“Everyone who has been to the Lost City should know what minutes mean,” Zain mumbled, while the rest frowned at Vestia’s words.
“…Five minutes,” Fran said, carrying a green shield in his left arm. “Taking down one already took so much time. We still have to take down seven more—
“Six,” Vestia said, smiling for the first time in a while. “Alnea just took down one more, and is moving towards the last Wanderer on his side…”
“…We still have five more Wanderers to deal with on our side.”
“…Cecilia and Karl each should be able to take down one more.”
“…That bastard Karl,” Ralph mumbled, as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “He fooled us all.”
“…I still cannot believe that he has so much strength left.”
“…It is not late for us to be thankful that he has so much strength left. What are you two grumbling about?”
“…Even if Cecilia and Karl take care of one more Wanderer each, that still leaves us to deal with three Wanderers,” Fran said. “Taking one down with all of our combined strength already took us so long. How are we going to deal with three of them in just five minutes?”
“Four and a half minutes now,” Vestia reminded, before letting out a sigh. “It could have been longer if I had not forcefully separated the Wanderers of the Lotus clan.”
“Then we would not even have had any chance to take them down,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “Besides, I cannot last longer than you either.”
“…Lack of Spirit Power is always a problem for Wanderers,” Vestia said with a sigh. “If only we were at our peak, we would not have had to worry about anything. The two of us alone should have been enough to deal with all eight of them. Pity…”
“…If we had been at our peak, the Wanderers of the Lotus clan would never have dared to come out. But it is indeed a pity. I was looking forward to taking down the Wanderers of the Lotus clan with my own hands.”
“…You two have already done enough,” Norren said, with slightly flushed cheeks. “Let us do some work too.”
“Indeed,” Ralph said, echoing Norren’s words with a sigh. “It is not just the two of them though. Cecilia too… Do not forget that she is just an Intermediate Stage Wanderer.”
“…One can tame an Oren Beast two Stages higher than herself, one can control a sandstorm in the Black Desert, and one can connect senses of multiple people with each other… Why are the girls in our team all so strong?”
“…Should we ask him to accept more girls into our team after we return?”
“…If you are relaxed enough to talk nonsense, then you should have rested enough to face another Wanderer,” Yuri said, glaring coldly at Zain.
“…I was just joking.”
“I am not.”
“…You should indeed stop lazing around, and get back to work,” Vestia added. “Otherwise Alnea will snatch away the only three Wanderers that are left.”
“…Is he already done over there?”
“I thought he was moving towards the fourth Wanderer…”
“That was about a minute ago. Now, he is rushing towards us.”
“…So, he has already taken down five of them?”
“And is still rushing to take down more of them.”
“…He is also just an Intermediate Stage False Wanderer.”
Everyone stopped talking for a few moments, and looked at each other in silence. They were all tired beyond their limits. Some of them were even injured to various degrees. Fighting enemies at their peak, while they themselves were completely drained of their Spirit Power was not easy.
However, none of them had any intention of backing down. Especially when they recalled how shameful their earlier behaviour had been. If they did not do anything, and let their leader snatch all the credit, then maybe, the events that had transpired earlier would stick to them for their entire life, becoming the greatest obstacle on their path of Wanderers.
“Just like last time?”
“Just like last time.”
“How much time is left now?”
“…Three minutes.”
“That is enough.”
Those who were on the ground pushed themselves up, while those who were standing clenched their weapons.
“Let’s go,” everyone said to Vestia in unison. “We cannot let our Captain get the better of us once again.”