The plan was just as I expected: to march into the jungle to the spot where they identified the use of Holy Power and try to find the entrance of the base, so after a swift moment of preparation, we ventured into the woods. I was with Nicole and James as always; being followed by Super-Demon, some Holy Knights, and a few soldiers of the national army.
It had been a rather sunny day with a few clouds passing over our heads, and yet, the heat of the jungle could be felt all around us. It was surprising to see how the soldiers were easily able to keep up with us, despite not having a magically empowered body, and even with the sweat that was running down the side of their faces, they never asked to stop, never faltered, and never complained.
Flying all the way there would’ve been much easier—perhaps even safer—but since we expected to find a bigger resistance than before, the extra firepower was added. With a glance back at the people following me, I wondered if it would be better to leave them at the back and spare them the fight since… there was no need for them to sacrifice themselves like this… However, the General insisted that they had to have their own men in this operation and I wasn’t going to take away their desire to prove themselves.
Super-Demon was somehow the one that seemed to be having the most difficulty in this place. He would stumble over roots, slip with the mud, and sometimes even have a heavy breath, despite not having a body that needed to do so. He even insisted on still wearing the same black mask from the time I met him, ignoring anyone that told him that nobody was going to recognize the face of a skull.
Salrak also connected to us as He usually did with these sorts of missions. He didn’t really say anything, and simply told me that whatever happened, it was up to my judgment, as it usually was. Still, I insisted that He told me if I was likely going to attack someone that didn’t deserve it, so I’ll be paying attention to simply neutralize anyone that doesn’t need to die.
As for Reeta and Feng Liu’s people, they were sent to another side of the jungle, to our right as we all headed in a southwestern direction. They were also being followed by Holy Knights and soldiers, but I couldn’t know what their plans were if there was an attack.
After hours of walking, we hadn’t come across anything. James and Nicole were also getting somewhat annoyed by this, with James coming up to me. “Can’t we just fly over there? I don’t think we need to be escorting soldiers that are just going to die.”
With my eyes set on the path ahead, I answered, “We don’t know what there could be waiting for us, and we should be grateful that we’re not alone this time.”
“I’ve prepared myself this time—much more than how I was before. You know that I’m also just a step behind reaching the S ranks, one of the handful of people in this country that has it like you and coach Reeta. I have no doubts that I can end that Saint Elf or whatever,” James insisted, cutting away a branch and some bushes that were in our way.
“Eletha is not a normal woman. Her powers aren’t just the powers of mana but the power of the Holy Gods Themselves. It would be rather foolish to face her alone,” I refuted and cut away a path this time.
“I just think that we’re wasting our time here,” he said as he brushed away a low branch. “We could’ve been done here already if we just flew there.”
“A war can’t be won alone,” I said, as a memory of the open fields full of soldiers and demons flashed in my mind for a moment. “We’ll try to keep them safe and deal with everything that they can’t deal with. It’s better that way.”
James sighed and fell back a step behind me. “If you say so… But how long are we going to keep walking like this?”
“Yeah, I’m also feeling pretty bothered by the heat…” Nicole followed up, suddenly standing next to James.
“It’ll take as long as it needs to,” Helena answered from behind both of them. “Just be grateful we’re not marching in an open field to face several Demon Kings and Generals. They would’ve attacked from miles away.”
I glanced back to look at the serious Knight-Commander. She was sweating slightly, but her appearance remained mostly the same as when I first saw her with her golden armor and hair matching it. “You were in the Final War?”
She nodded as she avoided a low branch. “Yes. However, I was lucky enough to not be right under the fight between you and Salrak, so I was able to see the mountains crumble from a safe distance…”
“Mountains crumble…” Nicole mumbled with her eyes looking to the side.
“There’s also that,” Helena continued. “You’re also not fighting close to a godly clash of powers. Even if the ones we’re facing are strong, they’re not strong enough yet to decimate an army with a wave of their hands.”
“E-eh… it’s hard to imagine such a thing…” Nicole said with her eyes on me this time.
“It took years and a great deal of support from both the Holy Gods and those following me to get to that point,” I replied, and with a wide swing of my sword, I opened a path to a clearing up ahead.
It wasn’t burned or destroyed, which meant that we still weren’t at the place where Holy Power was used, but just looking at it allowed me to have a better sense of the time. It was still sunny, but it wouldn’t be in a couple more hours. We’ll probably have to set up a camp for the night. Not here in an open field, of course, but maybe further up ahead. It was also going to be better so the Knights and the soldiers were well rested for the fight.
With my eyes on the field, I pressed a button on a little artifact that we were given before setting out. “Feng Liu? What’s your situation?”
Once I released it, a short buzzing sound was returned. “Nothing so far. It’s just been jungle, mud, and—”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“This sucks!” Kang Hana’s voice interrupted. “I would’ve much rather left all of these people behind and done this alone!”
James widely smiled and nodded, but refused to say anything about it.
“How many times have I told you that that way we risk losing another one like last time? And how about—” he paused for a second to sigh. “Sorry Althea, but as you can probably guess, nothing important has happened.”
“I think we might need to camp soon,” I said, stepping into the open field with the rest of the people following after me.
“Ah… okay. Just let us know and we’ll stop as well so we don’t get too further ahead from you,” Feng Liu replied.
“Okay,” I answered, before releasing my hand from the artifact.
It was a bit of an annoying tool that they gave us, and I felt like it was easier when Salrak was dealing with those things, but it seemed like He didn’t want to interfere so much with an operation that was being done by the people of our worlds. He wanted us to have the freedom to do as we see fit, leaving the judgment of a God out of it.
So, with that plan in mind, we crossed the clearing and went into yet another dense part of the jungle.
* * *
Night fell, and with it, we also stopped. Camps couldn’t have fire, nor anything that could give away our location, so we were mostly just under the dark sky; and dark it was, since soon after, it started raining.
Everything got muddy quickly, the hot air of the day turned cold just as fast, and the noises from nature turned from loud animals and insects that I couldn’t quite identify with their sound alone to just a few things here and there mixed with the sound of the raid.
Still, this didn’t mean that we were going to stand under the rain and allow ourselves to be poured on by it. So we created with a bit of magic a few earth shelters for all of us, while making sure that they wouldn’t stand out. Because of that, there were a few parts that remained muddy or wet, but it was good enough so that none of the soldiers, Knights, or us were damped.
Nicole, however, remained completely dry, since she activated some form of fire aura in her body, so every droplet that touched her quickly evaporated. Some people were even glad that she was around, and I noticed both Knights and soldiers trying to huddle closer to where she was. She didn’t seem to notice, and as long as they remained nice about it, there was no need to make an issue out of it.
Out of the group, I was one of the few people that were used to remaining awake for days, so I volunteered myself to be on the lookout. And so, while people went to sleep, I stood somewhere further ahead, with a small dome of water magic over me to keep the rain away as I remained vigilant through the night.
* * *
Hours passed, and nothing seemed to change. Not even the rain lessened in the time that we spent here, and I could only hope that it didn’t stay like this the next day. In the past, powerful mages could go out and create the ideal weather conditions for the fight, but right now, none of us here was powerful enough to do so.
It was while I was idly watching the darkness of the rainy night that something caught my attention. Magic—no, Pure Power—was being used further ahead, and my senses heightened to their top. I wondered if it was someone from the other group, but before I could call anyone’s attention or send a message to them, I heard a loud boom. Soon after, a bright light illuminated the sky from the horizon, and just as fast as it appeared, it bent in the sky, going in the same direction where Feng Liu and his group were supposed to be.
“We’re under attack!” I shouted as I quickly turned to warn everyone behind me.
The light beam quickly crashed with something in the air, and with an urgent look that way, I noticed that it was stopped by a large Mana Barrier and a strange Silver Barrier that was on top of it, creating a bright explosion of golden light that spread in every direction.
Behind me, the captain of the soldiers and the Knight-Commander quickly called to attention their own people, who just as fast as the light spread in the sky, stood up and rushed to their positions. It was impressive to see how the soldiers appeared to be in a much more organized formation than the Knights, who seemed to just ready their weapons and stand at attention as they looked up at the sky with no particular formation.
James, and Nicole quickly rushed over to stand next to me, but I didn’t have time to explain anything to them as I heard yet another loud boom coming from up ahead, followed soon after by another couple of them. Knowing what that meant, I took to the sky and saw the bright lines going to the sky and bending this way. One of them was going to the same spot from before, while the other two turned to come this way.
With my left hand raised forward, I created a large darkness barrier that spread to cover as much of our side as I could. A second later, both the beams crashed with my barrier. It was a powerful hit, and just from the impact alone, I felt the burning Holy Power that those shots were infused with, causing my darkness barrier to explode outwards and in the same direction that those attacks came from.
That Holy Power had no control over it, so I was able to use my darkness to further push the attack back, eventually engulfing it with darkness and suppressing the golden light that was about to spread in every direction.
Next to me, Nicole appeared with her battledress aflame. She was looking with widened eyes and a serious expression to the darkness from where the attacks came from. “What was that?! How did they know that we were here?!”
“It doesn't matter!” James replied, appearing on my other side with his spear ready. “They know that we’re here, and we can’t allow them to keep attacking!”
“I agree,” I said with a serious tone, not quite as urgent as they were. “They’ve revealed their position to us now. So I think we should hurry over there before they destroy everything around here.”
“Althea!” I heard Helena call for me from below, so I glanced over at her floating a short distance away from the trees, close enough to quickly fall down to the ground if she needed. “I’ll rally the Knights and push forward with the National Army. What are you planning to do?”
“I’ll push ahead and block any more of those attacks. Try to move as fast as you can,” I replied, my eyes focused on the horizon from where the attacks came.
“Very well,” she simply replied, falling down to the earth as I heard more shouting coming from her, telling the Knights to move.
“Finally! We get to go straight to it!” James exclaimed, leaning his body forward as if he was about to burst ahead.
“Right,” I said, not denying his desire, since by now, that’s what we needed to do. However, I still had to know what was going on with Feng Liu, so I reached for the artifact and called him. “Feng Liu? How are things over there?”
There was a moment of buzzing, and I worried if they were somehow hit by that last attack, but with just focusing my eyes on their direction, I could see three figures floating in the air, which meant that they were likely alive. After another handful of seconds, his voice finally came through with a grunt.
“We’re alive… That was quite the unexpected attack. If Hana hadn’t sensed that movement of magic from where that came, a few people would’ve been dead,” he said with a strained voice. “I guess we have no option now, right?”
“Yes,” I replied with a nod. “We’ll rush ahead and deal with this right away.”
“Heh, I guess it’s a race then,” he replied as if this was a game. “We’ll get rid of that girl as soon as we can, so if you want to keep her alive, I suggest that you—”
A few loud booms were heard once more, causing us to look over at the horizon. Several beams of golden light were coming from different places in the horizon, but now that we were in the sky, we could clearly see where they were coming from; and the place where we had to get to first to ensure that those attacks wouldn’t hurt anyone on this side.
“Get ready!” I shouted, and with me, both James and Nicole readied themselves for the push we were about to do.