Oh. That’s why.
The very real possibility of death hit Alice and she freaked out. Alice spun around and conjured a larger burst of [Anarchy Flare], shooting it at the spear.
Losing her grip and fumbling, Alice slid down a couple of feet before managing to latch onto a clump of grass. She hit her back roughly against the hill, hanging a mere twenty feet above a hundred dwarves who had their spears ready to stab into Alice if she fell.
Meanwhile, her larger fireball completely incinerated the spear and the attack team scrambled to respond. The dwarves with the shields moved to sporadic places within the attack team and lifted the slabs of metal above their head, forming a protective roof.
Instead of a meteoric onslaught from above, the fireball hovered in midair after it consumed the spear and spluttered out of existence, just like Alice had planned. The only reason she’d created a larger fire attack again was because she knew there’d be 0 chance of her possessing the accuracy to hit a thin spear with her smaller attack.
Seeing the attack team in this compromising position gave Alice an idea though. But first…
Alice’s right arm felt like it was going to rip out of her socket by the time she’d found the upper body strength to pull her left arm up to grab the grass. After jabbing her feet into the side of the hill, Alice chanced a look down. The attack team was still in the same position. Good.
Forming a medium sized fireball of [Anarchy Flare], Alice shot at the roof shields. She watched with bated breath as the attack hit one of the shields, blazing for a few seconds and hiding the shield underneath. Finally, the flames faded away, revealing the “roof” still standing.
Smiling, Alice shot off five more of the same attacks, each aimed randomly around the roof. As they landed, Alice turned around and focused on making up for lost ground.
This was how she continued up the hill. Whenever her previous barrage fizzled out, Alice sent another five or eight or ten—however many to ensure the dwarves couldn’t move up ahead. It was a risky game that hinged on Alice timing it correctly. If she waited too long before firing another set, then another spear could be sent her way.
It made for slow travel, but slow and steady ended up winning the race. Alice grasped the edge of the top, and with a relieved gasp, hurled herself onto level ground.
She laid on the grass, not caring for the wet dirt gradually seeping into the back of her shirt. Alice’s chest heaved up and down as she greedily sucked in bucket loads of air. Her stomach felt like somebody had used it as a punching bag, and all four limbs were torn.
Alice could have slept there, but as fate loved to remind her recently, she wasn’t out of the woods yet.
When grunts and the sound of grass being torn out filled the air, Alice knew something was wrong. She almost didn’t want to look, but peeked her head over the top anyway—
—only to immediately retract her head when a spear was launched at it. The spear flew through the space where her head had been seconds earlier and embedded itself into the trunk of a tree, quivering in its tight embrace.
Alice gasped, perhaps a late reaction, but her nerves were shot. Alice was so tired, that the thought she’d been a second away from death barely caused her to panic. Alice tried to recall the scene she’d bore witness to in that single second.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The attacking team had been climbing up the hill, and at a much faster rate than she was. Even with all the armor, they were throwing themselves a few meters into the air and latching onto the grass, before repeating the action. It was a matter of seconds until they reached Alice.
It wasn’t like Alice could lean over the edge and try to shoot them off without being stabbed. And she doubted they wouldn’t just be able to dodge the fireballs, with the ridiculous physical edge they had over her. Which left Alice with one option.
Rolling over and touching the tip of the edge (just enough so she wouldn’t have a spear stab through her fingertip), Alice focused. Drawing upon [Anarchy Flare], Alice focused on keeping the output stable. She gently squeezed the fire out of a narrow tunnel instead of forcing it all out as she did for her fireballs.
Igniting the grass, Alice directed the black flames down the side of the hill, sending a wave of corrosive fire toward the dwarfs. She expected most of them to be able to jump down in time, but Alice figured at least a couple would be caught up in the wave. Surprisingly, Alice didn't find herself feeling nearly as guilty about that as she should have.
Looking back, Alice should have sprinted the moment she burnt the side of the hill.
Alice found that out when a gray blur went past her, flying high into the sky. Looking up, a tiny silhouette covered the sun. Alice tried to zoom in, wondering what it was. It was pretty big, easily taller than her. And Alice spotted pieces of metal. . .was that a shoulder pad—oh shit.
All traces of fatigue gone, Alice rolled to her feet and made a mad dash for the forest. The dwarf landed roughly on the ground, and started following. Further sounds of metal against the air and footsteps slamming into the ground alerted Alice to the fact that she had vastly overestimated the physicality of the dwarves.
All pretense of preserving her powers gone, Alice began shooting full-sized fireballs of [Anarchy Flare] over her shoulder, uncaring of where it landed. She pushed her legs harder than ever, jumping over logs and sprinting through hanging vines. The smell of smoke and wood burning reached her nose. Through the cloud of panic, a little guilt pierced through but that was quickly overshadowed when she saw a figure approaching her.
Flinging another fireball behind her, a rush of vindictive satisfaction rushed through her when she heard a muffled grunt. Then there was the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, along with more stifled gasps. The only footsteps that rang through the air were hers.
After running for a few more minutes, Alice chanced a look behind her. The only thing she could see were trees, leaves, and bushes. Sighing, Alice faced the front just to run into something rock solid.
Alice shrieked, and her left hand burst into the black flames. She flailed her hand and something latched onto her wrist, keeping her sole weapon locked in place. Pushing on the dwarf (because what else could it be?) with her right hand, she tried to squirm free, kicking at the dwarf as well.
When that didn’t work, she made the fire increase in size, determined to get free even if it meant making an explosion at point-blank range! Alice’s eyes blazed, the fire reflecting off her irises. The heat grew stifling, and the leaves nearby caught on fire.
Eat th—!
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, ALICE?” a familiar voice shattered her focus.
The black fire dimmed and faded away. Alice blinked, ceasing her struggles. Slowly, she lifted her gaze, looking at the face of the dwarf who’d caught her.
Looking at the angry and concerned face of Blanche.
“B-Blanche! I-!”
//Congratulations for surviving the onslaught of the dwarves. You have also completed the Quest [Save the Damned Children!] You have been rewarded Skill Points and Level Points as thanks for your service to [Araga].
Level up: You have reached Level 7!
[Anarchy Flare] Rank E, Level 4->[Anarchy Flare] Rank E, Level 5!
Progress towards next Level: 38%
[Four Skills available. Do you wish to see Skill slots?]
The System’s monotone voice clashed horribly with the tsunami of tumultuous emotions the mention of Alice’s damned Quest brought. The emotions that Alice managed to shove away in the height of battle came back in full force, shattering the walls she constructed around her heart.
Feeling more lost than ever before, Alice could only cling to Blanche and cry.