Chapter 117
Targeting the Next One
A couple of days later, Erin’s group had finished their preparations and resting, and were ready to continue on their journey. Durge had learned that one of the two warlords of the Western Continent, Rayleen, had been spotted at a nearby city. With their next target decided, the group set out towards their next destination, Cliffdrop City.
Durge had been able to also confirm that Gotzmeyer had lost his life during the destruction of his base, which came as a relief to Erin. She had been worried that the imp would have been able to cause problems for them in the future, but that didn’t seem to be a threat any longer. Although, the redhead couldn’t help but wonder what had ultimately been the cause of Gotzmeyer’s death, since he seemed to have been prepared for the loss of his fortress, but she assumed that his escape route hadn’t been as well made as he had thought.
While spirits were high in the group as they were getting ready for their next journey, Erin couldn’t help but notice that there was something wrong. There was an awkward air that seemed to be hanging over her friends, like a tension between herself specifically and the others that was causing things to be uncomfortable.
The only one who seemed to not be bothered by this was Zeldana, even though she had her own issues. Recently she had fallen victim to some strange condition, where her body had become very itchy. The elf had been reduced to a scratching mess that had gotten better only recently, despite her still having to scratch herself every now and then. Erin had no idea what had happened to Zeldana, as she herself had refused to talk about it all that much. All the redhead knew was that the elf had become somewhat hostile towards Lexton, but she didn’t understand why.
Whatever the case was between everyone in the group, they had completed their preparations and were now ready to leave Grand Mine Central. All they needed to do was go to one of the pathways that led out of the city and be on their way. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done, as some members of the group had issues with their method of transportation.
“NO! I refuse to go through that again!” Ryle yelled angrily. “I am NOT going to travel inside the guts of a goddamn overgrown worm ever again! NEVER! YOU GET IT!?”
“Look, dumbass, it’s the fastest and most efficient way for us to get where we’re heading!” Lexton argued. “Unless we use this method, we’ll have to travel for days, while avoiding wild beasts, bandits and whatever crazed killers Golorath’s forces can throw at us! Do you want that!?”
“I don’t care! I’d rather face all the bandits and monsters of the world than go through the experience of being swallowed by a goddamn worm!” the blonde said. “I know people have weird kinks and all, but I’M NOT INTO THIS!”
“THAT’S NOT THE REASON WHY I WANT TO USE THIS, YOU ASS!” the kobold shouted angrily.
Erin let out a deep sigh of frustration over the argument between her two friends. She had honestly expected this to come up, but it was still a frustrating aspect that she hated to deal with.
The reason for the argument between Lexton and Ryle was over the method the group would take in order to leave Grand Mine Central. The immediate and obvious choice was the same method they had used to get to the city in the first place, which was to be transported inside a creature known as a Grand Centipede. While not exactly a comfortable form of travel, it was still much faster and safer than other methods, which is why Lexton strongly suggested that they should use it.
However, due to the method being very unpleasant for obvious reasons, Ryle was protesting against it, stating that whatever positives they got from it were outdone by the sheer disgust and horror of what they had to go through.
In all honesty, Erin sympathized with her blonde friend. Getting swallowed by a giant insect was not something anyone wanted to go through once, much less twice. The redhead was certain that she would have nightmares over such an experience for the rest of her life. Despite this, she knew that in order for them to travel as efficiently as possible, they needed to go through this. Even if it made her skin crawl.
“Ryle, I get what you’re saying, but Lex is right. We have to use this method,” Erin said with a sigh. “I honestly feel similarly as you do about this and would want nothing more than to use a different method. But the fact is that we are already in enough danger as it is. By going another way, we’re only going to put our own lives at more risk, which is something we need to avoid right now.”
“And getting swallowed by a big-ass worm isn’t a risk!? Is that what you’re saying!?” the blonde asked. “We might have gotten here by one of those things, but that doesn’t mean we should just blindly trust the damn things! How the hell do we know they won’t actually eat us for some reason!?”
“Because the people controlling them know what they’re doing, idiot! If they didn’t, their business would have gotten shut down years ago!” Lexton yelled, tired of Ryle’s complaints. “Hundreds of people use them every single day! Don’t you think we would have heard by now, if there were any real dangers to this!? Or I would even consider suggesting this, if there was a chance those things could kill us!?”
“You’re putting your trust in overgrown bugs! BUGS!” Ryle argued. “Doesn’t any of that seem even a little messed up to you!?”
“Look, Ryle, I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice,” Erin said with a sigh. “By not using this method, you’re putting Arnie in more danger. You don’t want anything bad to happen to him and want to keep him as safe as possible, right? Well, this is the best way to do that.”
“...That’s low. Using Arnie against me,” the blonde said in a saddened tone. “Alright, you win. Let’s go with the horrifying giant worms that might eat us at any given moment.”
“No they won’t, dumbass!” Lexton shouted.
Erin simply shook her head as she turned away from the argument, having grown tired of it. Not to mention, seeing as how she had managed to convince the most stubborn member in their group to go along with their plan, there was no more need to get herself involved. After all, it would only give her a worse headache than she already had.
“So… I don’t mean to be a pain or anything, but I have to make sure. We’re still going to go for the Grand Centipede transportation, right?” Durge asked as he drove their van. “I kind of got the impression that we all agreed on that, but I just want to make sure.”
“Your assumption would be correct,” Erin said as she let out a sigh, trying her best to ignore the argument happening behind her. “I hate to use such a low tactic on Ryle, but we don’t have the luxury of wasting time fighting among ourselves like a bunch of children.”
“Hey, it’s not like what you said wasn’t true. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it is still a fact regardless of how one might feel about it,” the orc said with a smile. “Besides, this just shows how well you know us. That’s a sign of friendship in a way, isn’t it?”
“Well, when you travel with each other for a long time, you’re bound to start learning a few things here and there about each other,” the redhead said as she glanced behind her, to see Arkay trying to break up the fight while Zeldana simply watched on the sidelines. “Whether those things are good or bad depends on the person you’re with.”
“That’s just the nature of all living beings in the end. We all have our good and bad sides,” Durge said. “Although, this does make me wonder a bit. All of us know just what type of a person you are from spending so much time with you, but no one here seems to know who you are exactly.”
“...What do you mean by that?” Erin asked, feeling a bit nervous over where the conversation was going.
“Simple. We know your name and face, as well as what kind of a person you are. However, what we don’t know is where you came from at all,” the orc explained. “Things like, where were you born? What kind of a life did you live before meeting any of us? What are your family and friends like? From what I know, the rest of us are aware of our past lives, yet you are the only one that is practically a mystery to everybody else.”
“Well, maybe there isn’t anything that’s worth knowing?” the redhead said, trying to get past the subject. “Not everybody has an interesting backstory that they carry around. Maybe mine is just one that isn’t worth mentioning?”
“I’d have to disagree with that. Not only is every life out there full of their own twists and turns, but I’m certain yours is one that’s more than worth knowing,” Durge said. “And let’s just say that it actually is as uninteresting as you’re saying it is. What’s the harm in sharing it with us?”
Erin felt her physically lock up. What the orc was saying was completely true. She couldn’t simply pass the question of her past as nothing, since it didn’t really excuse her not telling about it to others. However, the truth was that the redhead didn’t want her friends to know who she truly was. She couldn’t help but feat what the reaction of her friends might be, if they were to find out about how she was related to the Five Overlords.
“I… I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m sorry,” Erin said in a sad and apologetic tone. “The thing is that I have a somewhat of a… questionable past that I don’t like to talk about. Not to mention, I’m not sure how badly you guys would react to it, if you were to know what it was.”
“Are you serious? Have you considered the type of people you hang out with?” Durge asked with a raised eyebrow. “Take me for example. I was part of a warrior tribe that lived by barbaric rules and only desired to be more effective in killing. And after that? I became an enforcer to a criminal group that threw people into a death game for fun.”
“Well… That is a pretty dark past,” the redhead said a bit awkwardly. “But I don’t think it’s really all that bad. I mean, you didn’t get to choose where you were born in the first place. And when you were with the Laughing Ogre, I doubt you were as bad as your employers. After all, you tried to save Arkay, right? I’m sure he wasn’t the only one.”
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“Tell that to the police and other criminal groups. I’m sure their hearts would grow from such a heartwarming tale,” the orc said as he rolled his eyes. “Besides, what about the rest of our group? Lexton is a proud con artist. Arkay is a former thief. From what I heard, Ryle used to be a bounty hunter that actually tried to kill you. And do I even need to say anything about Zeldana? I don’t think there’s a term that’s enough to describe what’s wrong with her.”
“Those are… certainly some good points,” Erin said. “But I’m still not sure. My past is really messy and I’m not even sure if any of you would believe me. And I’m not sure whether it would be better if you all thought I was lying or not.”
“I see,” Durge said with a sigh. “If that’s how you feel, there’s not much I can do about it. I just hope that you change your mind at some point, so we can finally learn who you are.”
“I’ll be sure to do that when I’m ready,” the redhead said. “Thank you for understanding.”
With their conversation over, Erin turned her attention back on the road ahead, only for a certain sound catching her attention. She could hear some sort of a scratching noise from behind and immediately knew what it was.
“Okay, Zel, what is wrong with you, seriously?” the redhead asked as she turned around to look at the elf scratching herself furiously once again. “I know I shouldn’t have high standards and expect all that much from you, but what the hell happened to you that made you like this? Also, you’re a healer, can’t you just fix yourself and be done with it?”
“Heh. Good luck with that,” Lexton mumbled with a smile. He was quiet enough so that only Zeldana heard it, who shot him a glare in response.
image [https://i.ibb.co/B63SPRs/Ch-117-Pic-1.jpg]
“I’m afraid that there are some issues that even the greatest of healers cannot fix. And this is one of those,” the elf grumbled as she kept scratching. “All I can do is try my best to tough it out, until it finally stops.”
“That sounds rough. Any idea what caused it?” Erin asked. “If nothing else, I’d like to do my best to avoid getting in a similar predicament.”
“...Trust me. As long as you don’t make enemies out of scaly dickheads, you should be fine,” Zeldana replied, which made Lexton chuckle.
The redhead was unable to catch the hostility between Zeldana and Lexton, so she was left simply confused by the whole thing. She ultimately decided that the matter wasn’t worth being worried about, since the elf herself had said it would pass, and turned back to face the road ahead.
This didn’t mean that others, who were far more informed on the matter, didn’t pick up on what was going on.
“Hey, Lex? Why isn’t Zeldana telling on you?” Ryle whispered to the kobold. “I mean, couldn’t she just point a finger at you and blame you for what she’s going through? It wouldn’t exactly be false, after all.”
“Well, there are two reasons for that,” Lexton whispered back. “For starters, if she were to tell Erin about what I did, she would quickly learn that Zeldana tried to use the vial I gave her on Erin. In other words, if one of us were to go down, both of us would go down.”
“I see… And the other reason?” the blonde asked.
“She doesn’t want to lose,” the kobold replied. “If she were to let what I did to her get her all riled up, she would be admitting defeat. Basically, if she gives in, she loses. And she knows that.”
“...Did you seriously anticipate all that when you gave that vial to her?” Ryle asked with wide eyes.
“It was a calculated risk in the end. I was half expecting her to throw a scalpel at me in retaliation. Glad that didn’t end up happening,” Lexton replied with a shrug. “Still, it was a risk I felt was worth taking.”
“It’s a risk that will end up biting you in the ass someday,” Zeldana whispered angrily, getting the attention of both Ryle and Lexton. “Mark my words. One of these days, I will find a way to get back at you for this. And you won’t see it coming.”
“Oh, I’m so scared. Just watch me tremble,” Lexton said mockingly as he lightly wiggled his fingers. “I honestly doubt there’s anything worse you can do than your way of giving medical treatment to people.”
“We’ll see, Lex,” the elf said with a glare. “We’ll see…”
Despite the arguments, the group eventually made their way to the Grand Centipede station, where their van went through the preparations they had gone through before. One of the workers sprayed a gas over their vehicle, after which they were swallowed by one of the gigantic insects before being on their way.
Even though she had already gone through this, Erin was still very uncomfortable with the whole process. After all it wasn’t easy to relax when a giant monster swallowed you, no matter how much you told yourself that it was going to be alright. In fact, the redhead wouldn’t be lying if this was one of her biggest fears in a way. She had never been able to handle bugs all that well, so this was naturally something that put her on edge.
It wasn’t like Erin was the only one who didn’t like the process, as some of her friends were also unnerved by it. Durge was able to put on a calm front, but it didn’t take much observation to tell that he was also nervous. The drops of sweat running down the side of his face and the fact that he kept his eyes closed were more than enough to reveal the way he truly felt. Ryle was naturally not doing well, as she had been the biggest in opposing this method of transportation. The blonde was trembling terribly and had curled up in a corner, trying to ignore what was happening outside the vehicle. Arkay was also scared, but was able to keep his calm. However, he made the mistake of trying to offer comfort to Ryle, which ended up with the cat boy being pulled into an extremely tight hug that managed to knock him out.
While most of the group had a more negative reaction to what was happening, there were those who weren’t concerned at all. These two being Lexton and Zeldana. Everybody else already knew that the elf wasn’t bothered by the whole thing at all due to how she handled it during last time, most likely because she had experience with it already. It was somewhat same with Lexton, as while he hadn’t been transported via Grand Centipedes before, he had prior knowledge about it and was certain that nothing bad would happen. Erin assumed that due to his extensive knowledge, he didn’t find any reason to be afraid.
The trip was able to proceed in relative calmness. It took some time, but everyone in the group was eventually able to calm down and not be bothered by the fact that they were traveling inside a giant insect. Once they were able to reach such a state, the members of the group began to gravitate towards different means to spend their time. Lexton was working on some of the gear he needed for their future endeavors. Arkay picked up one of the books he had bought in the city and started reading it. Ryle had a deck of playing cards and soon had a game going with Erin and Durge. Meanwhile, Zeldana was preoccupied by the itching she was still going through and was doing her best to scratch it away.
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After some time had passed, they finally made it to their destination, Cliffport City. After the Grand Centipede vomited out their van, they were back to traveling normally. It didn’t take long for them to find a hotel to stay at as a base of operations, while they looked for information in regards to Rayleen.
“Alright, here we are, guys,” Erin said as she opened the door to their room, taking a step inside while followed by the others. “Get comfortable. We’ll be staying here for a while.”
“Huh? Is this some kind of a joke?” Ryle asked while looking around at the room. “How much did you pay for this? Because it looks like this is something Lex would sell!”
“What do you mean by that?” Lexton asked as he glared at the blonde.
“I mean this looks like a scam,” the blonde replied. “Just look at this dump! It’s just a big empty room! There’s no furniture or anything!”
True to what the blonde had said, the group’s hotel room was indeed just a big empty space. The only things that they had were the lights on the ceiling and a door that led to a small bathroom. In all honesty, it looked like someone had robbed the place of everything in it.
“Nah. It’s exactly as I was told by the staff,” Erin said. “The trip here, along with some of our other expenses, ate up quite a bit of our finances. This was the best we could get, as a more expensive place would have left us almost broke with no money for food.”
“Seriously!?” Ryle asked in a shocked voice. “How the hell did we end up so bad!?”
“Well, there are quite a lot of costs that needed to be covered,” Lexton began to explain. “For starters, there are all the daily costs that we have to go through, such as food, lodging and gas for our car. Then there was the transportation fee that Erin mentioned. Not only that, but there are all the other costs that came from me and Durge.”
“And what would those be?” the blonde asked.
“For Durge, he needed some money in order to persuade some people into giving him the intel we wanted,” the kobold continued to explain. “As for me, it’s all the materials I need for potions and my other gadgets, especially when it came to Durge’s new weapon.”
“Are you kidding me? You needed so much money that we’re almost broke?” Ryle asked as she glared at Lexton. “Couldn’t you have cut off at least a bit of your spending? Couldn’t have hurt…”
Lexton didn’t say anything in response, as he simply pointed at Zeldana. The blonde immediately got the message he was trying to tell her.
“...Never mind,” Ryle muttered.
“Anyways, it isn’t too bad. The room itself is clean enough and the carpet seems pretty comfy,” Durge said as he inspected their room. “I’m sure we can get some blankets and pillows, so we can sleep comfortably in here.”
“Oh! That should work out just fine then!” the blonde said before glancing over at Arkay. “I know a way how I sure can sleep comfortably…”
“Huh?” the cat boy said, not understanding what Ryle was implying.
“Ryle, would you mind and not start with that immediately?” Erin asked in a frustrated tone as she shook her head. “We only just got here and we still have some stuff to do before we can even consider resting! So would you mind and focus on that for now at least!?”
“Fine! Sheesh!” the blonde said. “I’m just being honest!”
“And that’s one of your biggest issues,” Lexton said. “That and the obviously very small brains you have inside that thick skull of yours.”
“Well, you’re gonna have a big problem when I put my foot down your throat!” Ryle shouted at the kobold.
“GETTING BACK TO TOPIC AT HAND!” Erin yelled, putting an end to the bickering. “We should gather around and discuss our next course of action. From what Durge has gathered, our next target, warlord Rayleen, has been spotted in this area. Did you learn anything else?”
“Not much more, I’m afraid,” the orc said with a shrug. “The only thing that I heard was that she was seen around these parts, flying around. It’s unclear what her motive is or if she’s even alone. She’s been seen on her own every time, so no one knows if any of her troops are nearby.”
“But they were able to confirm that it was her, correct?” Lexton asked.
“Definitely. There are even pictures going around that show her face,” Durge replied. “When you’re as big of a figure as she is, your face becomes very known to the world. There’s no mistaking that it’s her we’re dealing with.”
“Any idea why she is here?” Arkay asked. “Since she is one of the three warlords, it doesn’t seem plausible that she would just be flying around here for no reason. There has got to be at least some sort of a theory as to why she would be doing this.”
“I’m afraid there’s not much to go on. Most of the people I talked to had no clue as to why she would be doing this,” the orc said with a shrug. “The only theory available is that she’s scouting out the areas that were under Gotzmeyer’s rule. Now that he’s gone, she might be planning an attack to take over.”
“Makes sense to me, considering who we’re dealing with,” Zeldana said. “Rayleen was always the most hotheaded and battle-hungry of all the warlords. Now that one of her competitors is gone, she might be looking towards taking over his resources, before going after the last one.”
“Is there anything you can tell us about her that we could use in our upcoming battle against her?” Erin asked while looking at the elf. “If we could find some sort of a weakness to exploit, we could use that as a means to take her down.”
“Only a couple of things. She isn’t all that tactical and is pretty straightforward in her way of fighting,” Zeldana answered. “Golorath’s warlords were all selected due to their individual strength, meaning that they are all powerful fighters on their own. His mindset appears to be “might makes right” since he doesn’t seem to pay too much attention to tactics himself. Rayleen is a perfect example of this, as she would go headfirst into battle, either bombing enemy lines with fire magic from the skies or beating them to a pulp with her bare hands.”
“Did the resistance forces use that to their advantage?” Durge asked.
“Of course. There were a couple of times where it seemed like they had her trapped and were about to put an end to her,” the elf replied. “However, she was always too powerful to be taken down in the end. It was like trying to trap a fully grown dragon with a net meant for fish. It just wouldn’t work.”
“That’s concerning… But we still have to do what we can to defeat her,” Erin said. “We’ve come all this way and been successful so far. Not to mention, we still have even worse opponents ahead of us. We can’t just back away from this now.”
“So what do we do then?” Durge asked.
“First, we’re going to do some preparations,” the redhead said. “I’ll go to the city with Lex to sell some of the stuff he’s got prepared for us to earn some money. Some of us will also look around the city to find out any places that might be of interest to us. Once we have gathered up our resources, we’ll go look into this Rayleen person ourselves.”
“And that means what exactly?” Ryle asked.
“For starters, we need to confirm that she is still here. If she has left, then we don’t have any reason to be here,” Erin explained. “We’re also going to observe what she’s doing. With any luck, we might learn something useful. After that, we’re going to be making plans for what we’re going to do next.”
Everybody agreed to the plan set up by the redhead. With the night already looming over them, they decided to call it a day and go to sleep. Due to their recent victory over Gotzmeyer, they were all feeling confident over their chances when it came to Rayleen. After all, they had already beaten one warlord, so they should be able to handle another one.
What they didn’t know was that their next target was far more than they had imagined and had already laid a trap for them.