Roy’s mind blanked for a second before conjuring a miniscule fireball to burn through the vine. As he was falling to the ground, time slowed to a crawl. He could see the injured berserk beast opening its jaws wide open, and displaying the bites of flesh and skin still stuck between its fangs and teeth.

“Holy Blessing.”

A strong silhouette jumped to Roy’s height wielding a white shield. Fred activated his skill and a golden barrier appeared between the two young men and the red bear.

The beast’s paw burst through Fred’s skill and shattered it into a shower of golden light. It then struck his shield and launched him dozens of meters into the dark forest.

When Roy’s feet reached the ground, the knight squads had almost caught up to his little group. He looked at Alfonse before the two ran with all their might inside the forest. As he turned to look back, Roy breathed out a sigh of relief—the red bear was fighting the knights.

The two ran through the dense trees in search of Fred, when Roy felt a chill in his back. Without thinking for a second, he rolled to the side.

Rumble!

A tree fell with a thundering noise, showcasing a proud knight in plated armor after the dust settled. The knight’s sword was covered in flashes of blue electric arcs.

Just as the knight was charging at him, a man dashed from behind Roy. With a green glint covering his sword, Marth blocked the knight’s attack.

“Marth? You traitor,” The knight furrowed his eyebrows in disgust. “How dare you raise your sword against our lord?”

Marth grunted at the burned flesh of his palm before clenching the grip of his sword once again. “A man that slaughters innocents is no lord of mine.”

Seeing the knight captain coming to his rescue, Roy felt relieved before his face contorted with a grimace. He then took a deep breath before looking at the two knights with cold eyes.

“Marth, good thing you came so fast,” Roy conjured a medium-sized fireball. “Pin him. I will blast his face off.”

Alfonse looked at his friend in shock at what he heard, “Roy, what-”

“Alfonse!” Roy looked at his friend with wrathful eyes before focusing back on Marth.

The captain was shocked for a second before he nodded, “As you wish.”

The enemy knight looked at Roy and Marth with wide-open eyes, “You crazy lunatics!”

Marth dashed at the terror-stricken knight with a steadfast heart. A green aura formed on his sword as he raised it high above his head before slashing at his enemy. Blue and green mixed in a clash of swords before the lightning knight dashed backward.

While Marth was pushing the enemy knight with each slash, Roy followed after them with his fireball still raging atop his palm. Just as the two were about to go out of the dense trees and enter the clearing, Roy dashed toward Marth and tapped his shoulder.

“Stop chasing. Let’s go.”

With those simple words, Roy turned and ran in the direction he saw Fred being launched at. After half a minute of searching, they found him crashed into a tree. His whole body was battered and bloody; his bones were most probably broken.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Roy carried Fred in his arms before quickly making his way out of the enemy territory. As they reached close to their friends, Alfonse looked at Roy with hesitant eyes while Marth marched with no change to his expression.

“I am sorry, Marth,” Roy continued walking forward without turning back. “I had to bluff like that or it would have taken too much time. If they surrounded us, we would have been in big trouble.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself,” Marth shook his head. “I understood what you were trying to do.”

Seeing the two being on such good terms, Alfonse let out a huge sigh of relief, “Oh thank the gods. I thought you went crazy for a second there, Roy. Your eyes were so scary!”

“I had to sell it well or he wouldn’t have bought it,” Roy chuckled before looking forward.

And I’m glad it was not you, Marth.

As they reached closer to their own camp and they could see their friends, Roy’s eyes grew cold. It was as if he was staring at his most hated enemy.

Seeing Fred’s wounded body in his arms, Robb rushed toward Roy, “How is he? Is he okay?”

“He is alive,” Roy gently put Fred on the ground. “He is just hurt, really hurt.”

Roy looked around at the men sitting next to the trees and on the ground before his eyes landed on Derek and Thomas. The portly middle-aged man was gently caressing the young boy’s back even while having a devastated expression on his own face.

“I should have been the one who died. It should have been me who died…”

Roy could hear Thomas’s sobs and words from afar. His shoulder slumped as he remembered the death of Brian, and Parker shortly after.

He shook the sadness out of his head before looking at Robb, “How is our escape path? Is it safe?”

Robb nodded with a somber expression before looking at Derek, “Yeah, thanks to Conrad. He laid his life for it.”

Marth’s eyes opened wide in shock at the revelation, before he looked down and bit his lips, “I see…” He let out a gulp before masking his emotions, ”So, Conrad died.”

Seeing those around him growing depressed, Roy stood up and said, “Let’s focus now. We still have a war to win.”

Hawk jumped down from a tree in front of Roy and his group, “That was some good work you have done. The red bear is demolishing their army.”

Seeing Hawk’s excited face and hearing this news, the mood was lifted slightly.

“Let’s go see what’s going on,” Marth said with an authoritative voice. “We can’t let them steal the fruit of our work.”

The group then made their way through the dense trees, roots, and shrubbery. On their way, Roy looked around to find that many of Jack’s group were severely injured. Hassan’s right eye was bandaged, while Daven had lost three fingers on his left hand.

Fucking John. Just wait, I’ll make sure to kill you.

Roy was not naive enough to think that none of his friends would die or be severely injured. However, to be ambushed in such a way filled him with endless rage. As he remembered Aiden’s face when they knew that John and the old man had betrayed them, his desire to kill the noble only grew.

After half a minute of walking, the group could finally see the clearing.

“Separate yourselves. Hide well.”

With this order from Marth, everyone found a bush or a shrub to hide in and watch the battle ensue.

Rainbow-colored auras mixed and clashed to illuminate the dark night. The army surrounded the giant beast, attacking it from every angle. A man wearing a long brown robe was commanding his vines to twist around the bear’s limbs, while the monster broke and tore them apart.

While the beast was busy dealing with all the annoyances, the knight who fought Marth earlier struck it with his lightning-covered sword. Each slash and thrust left a burned mark on the beast’s skin and slightly stunned it.

However, the red bear was not going down without a fight. With each strike from its paw, a knight would be injured, or even worse. The more damage it accumulated on its body, the more berserk it grew. Without caring for injuries, it charged at an escaping knight and bit through his armor.

“We should go in soon,” Marth whispered. “If the battle is done, we will have trouble. Especially if the army wins.”

Roy nodded at the captain’s words. The more time passed, the more the tides shifted for John’s side. The red bear was growing wearier by the second, and it would die very soon. Who knows what would happen after that?

Roy took a deep breath before conjuring a fireball. He pressed all the mana in his body inside of it, making it substantially bigger than any spell he had launched since the start of the battle. However, instead of aiming it at the weak red bear, Roy’s eye focused on John.