Chapter 182: Decoy
Kael lost all will to speak.
Even so, he had to do something... anything, even now.
Otherwise, her torso would be torn apart beyond repair, reaching a point where not even he would be able to heal her.
'Hurry... think of something, damn it!'
His mind raced through every possibility he could think of, but each one vanished just as quickly as it came. He was too far away to reach her in time, and even if he could, he was far too slow to stop the creature. There was nothing he could do except watch her get crushed between its jaws helplessly.
Little by little, the last remnants of hope slipped from his grasp.
At that moment, a massive greatsword slammed into the side of the creature's head with such overwhelming force that its neck nearly snapped sideways, forcing its jaws apart against its own will and throwing Seraphina out of its mouth.
Her body hurtled through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground nearby, rolling several times across the dirt until she finally came to a motionless stop.
Kael did not waste even a second before sprinting toward her as fast as he could, moving so recklessly that he stumbled more than once, but somehow managed to keep himself upright until he reached her side.
Dropping to his knees beside her, the first thing he did was examine her injuries. Her breastplate had been tattered, revealing a long line of twisted, gaping, and jagged wounds stretching across her torso where the creature's fangs had sunk into her flesh. Some of the deeper gashes were so severe that even the edges of her fractured ribs could be seen beneath the mangled flesh.
'I only have one-third of my mana left... but it won't be enough to heal all of this. And she's already exhausted, so I can't borrow hers. In that case...'
He raised his hand until it hovered above her chest.
"Instant Heal!"
A radiant green sun blossomed from his palm before its brilliant light enveloped her whole torso. Her mangled flesh quivered at first before the torn muscles began knitting themselves back together, closing the deepest parts of the wounds in a matter of seconds, though they still remained far from completely healed.
Since he could not restore everything, he chose to restore only enough of her injuries to keep her alive, or at least help her survive.
That was all he could do for her.
Just as a small sense of relief finally settled over him, the creature lunged toward him at a terrifying speed.
Before it could even reach him and interrupt the healing, Valric stepped between them and stood like an unbreakable shield.
Twisting his torso to the side, he drew the greatsword behind his back until its tip scraped against the ground. In the next moment, he drove himself forward before swinging the blade upward with explosive speed, delivering a devastating blow beneath the creature's jaw that slammed its mouth shut and forced the massive beast to stagger backward by several steps.
Valric quickly retreated and stopped in front of Kael. After catching his breath, he spoke in a calm but urgent voice, "Listen... I don't think I'll be able to hold it back much longer. As soon as you finish healing her, leave her there and follow my lead."
Kael froze for a moment.
'Huh?'
Leave her behind?
In that condition?
Why would he do such a thing?
She would be left completely vulnerable.
When no answer came, Valric glanced over his shoulder before asking, "Do you want her to live or not?"
Kael answered without thinking, "Of course, I do. That's not even a question."
The creature raised one of its paws before bringing it crashing down upon him, but Valric met the attack head-on as his greatsword roared upward to intercept it.
The sheer weight behind the blow forced him backward despite his stance, but he planted his feet firmly into the ground, every muscle in his body tightening as he struggled to push the monstrous limb away.
Amidst the clash, he spoke through gritted teeth, "Then do as I say. Right now, if either of the wounded remains here much longer, neither of them is likely to survive, and there isn't anything we can do to change that. What we can still change, however, is the outcome by creating an opening for them to escape. I have a simple plan in mind, but it won't succeed without your cooperation. Will you do it?"
Throwing its paw away, Valric tried to slip underneath the monster; however, its maw lashed down at him before he could get inside, forcing him to leap back. Its jaw slammed into the ground, its teeth biting through the stone as though it was nothing, leaving several cracks in their wake.
As the green glow of his healing magic gradually began fading away, Kael silently contemplated the leader's words.
What Valric was saying was reasonable and true; however, what he failed to understand was how exactly these two unconscious leaders were supposed to escape on their own... if he and Valric were going to be the ones creating the opening.
'Could it be?'
Eventually, Kael looked at him and asked in a friendly tone, "What's your plan anyway?"
Just as Valric came to a halt after sliding backward, he immediately pushed himself forward once more and leaped into the air. Raising his sword behind him, he brought it crashing down from above, striking the creature directly on its head.
His voice reverberated throughout the hall,
"It's rather simple. We are all going to escape, but we'll be taking different routes. You and I will keep the creature distracted while Aerisyl picks up both Valentina and Captain before leaving alongside them."
'Well, that differs from what I assumed...'
Kael had expected that both of them would be responsible for bringing the two unconscious leaders onto the circle first, then leave the rest to Aerisyl.
There were two different ways to travel through the floors after stepping onto a teleportation circle. The first was by individually thinking of the designated destination, while the second relied on physical contact, allowing one person to bring another along with them, or even several people at once. In fact, that was naturally how adventurers brought someone into a floor they had already visited or conquered while the other person had never set foot there before.
Therefore, as long as physical contact was maintained and at least one person among them could think of the destination, it made no difference whether the others were awake or unconscious; they would still be transported together.
Even after hearing the explanation, Kael still hesitated to decide whether he should go along with the plan or not.
It was not because the plan itself was bad, but because he doubted whether Aerisyl would truly be able to fulfill her role. If somehow the plan went south, which it certainly would considering his luck, she would not even be able to protect herself, let alone safeguard others. Which meant the entire plan was bound to fail.
Knowing that, why had Valric still chosen to go through with it?
'Could it be because he argued with the Mistress of Waves earlier that he doesn't want to help her personally?'
He was just about to reject the proposal when Valric was once again thrown backward by the creature before coming to a stop right in front of him.
He narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's taking you so long? Are you perhaps doubting that my companion won't be able to run while carrying two women on her shoulders?"
The corner of Kael's mouth twitched.
'Actually... that didn't even cross my mind. But how exactly is she going to carry them all the way to the circle anyway? His plan is full of flaws.'
Looking back at him, Valric studied his face for a moment before a genuinely surprised expression appeared on his face. "You actually are? Seriously?"
Kael nodded as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Still, why had he sounded as though he was making a joke out of it?
Valric let out a quiet laugh, "Why would you even arrive at such a foolish conclusion? Healer though she may be... Aerisyl is still an S-Rank magician with a fully saturated mana core, where the nature of her element, whether it is suited for combat or support, has nothing to do with it. Or have you never heard that the closer one's mana core approaches complete saturation, the greater the improvements their body undergoes? Their speed, agility, eyesight, endurance... every aspect of their physical abilities grows with each rank their mana core advances."
Kael stared at him in clear astonishment.
'Woah... that's actually a thing?'
Valric, however, continued in a deep voice, "Simply put... when it comes to natural physical ability only, Aerisyl is not only faster than you, but also considerably stronger. However, she's still too weak compared to the combat-oriented S-Rank mages, which is why she usually refrains from participating in battles where she cannot keep up. Even so, she possesses more than enough strength to defend both herself and those beside her. Never underestimate true healers... they may appear frail and vulnerable at first, but in reality, they are anything but that. Appearances can be deceiving sometimes."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Still... it's really unexpected, to say the least. I never thought there could be someone out there in this world who is a mage himself but doesn't know one of the most basic principles of becoming one. No, but seriously, how did you fail to notice the overwhelming difference in your own strength after advancing to A-Rank? It would be understandable if you were only a D- or C-Rank mage, where the changes aren't all that noticeable at first."
Kael shot him a bleak expression.
'Well, that's because I am a C-Rank mage. Besides, how would I know any of it when my rank hasn't gone up and has been stuck there for who knows how many years now.'
Valric let out a heavy sigh, "But it's not my place to judge the gaps in your knowledge, so I'll pretend I never heard any of that. In any case, there are only two reasons why I chose Aerisyl instead of you for that task. First, she can run faster than you even while carrying two or more women in her arms, which gives them a far better chance of succeeding. Second, these mindless creatures seem to be strangely attracted to you, though I cannot say why. But if you were the one to attempt it, you would only be putting their lives in far greater danger. And I'm not willing to take that risk."
Kael fell silent for a moment.
He felt stupid.
Hadn't he already known that?
Wasn't that exactly how he had tricked the other monster not long ago?
So why hadn't he thought of it this time?
Or perhaps he had...
Perhaps he had simply been trying to ignore it.
But why?
Why was he still arguing with the leader instead of making a decision yet?
Why was he wasting his precious time while forcing him to fight against the creature?
Why was he still hesitating when the answer had been standing right in front of him all along?
Why?
Whether he liked it or not, one thing had become painfully clear, though. If he was the one who tried to save his wife, he would only make everything worse for her.
He wouldn't be saving her life; instead, he would be the one leading those creatures straight to her.
He would become the very reason she died.
It was a cruel truth.
One he had no choice but to accept.
'I think I get it now. I am a burden to her... to all of them.'
At last, he understood what he had to do.
...Throughout their conversation, however, Valric never once stopped fighting.
As the creature lunged at him once again, the two of them continued clashing, each trying to bring the other down before they themselves could be overwhelmed. It snapped at him with its massive maw, swept its enormous paws, and hurled the full weight of its body to crush him, hoping to either pin him down or devour him in a single bite, but Valric refused to yield, sometimes meeting its attacks head-on with his own, other times slipping beneath its towering frame or vaulting over it whenever an opening appeared, searching for any vulnerable spot he could exploit.
No matter how many times his greatsword struck its body, or how quickly he moved around it, the creature didn't receive so much as a single scratch. Its strange fur, or whatever that unnatural layer covering its body truly was, didn't even sway beneath the impact, much less split apart.
It was only a matter of time before one of them began to lose ground, either through exhaustion or because the gap in strength finally became too great to overcome.
To his surprise, that moment arrived far sooner than Kael had expected.
It had been noticeable from the beginning that Valric's movements were gradually slowing down with every exchange. However, it wasn't the kind of fatigue that came from prolonged battle, but something far worse, as though the strength within his body was slipping away from his grasp with each passing moment.
Eventually, he made a mistake.
After bringing his blade crashing down upon the creature's head, he was a split second too late to pull himself away, allowing the beast to snap its jaws upward and hurl him into the air. Before he could regain his balance, it lashed out with its paw and drove a devastating blow into his chest, sending him crashing back down.
His body slammed into the floor with tremendous force, making cracks spread outward beneath him.
The creature planted one of its paws upon his abdomen, pinning him down with such overwhelming force that he couldn't move at all, blood slipping unwillingly from the corner of his lips.
'Damn it!'
Gritting his teeth, Kael clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms before forcing himself back onto his feet.
He scanned the surroundings in an instant.
Aerisyl stood several metres away, supporting Valentina over one shoulder while patiently waiting for an opportunity to move. Meanwhile, Mistwalker continued driving the first creature toward a distant corner, making sure it wouldn't be able to interfere or divert its attention elsewhere.
Kael wouldn't have been surprised if she had been the one to order the withdrawal.
His eyes narrowed.
Seraphina still lay there silently, her breathing soft, her silver hair sprawled across the ground like a flowing waterfall.
'Ah!'
'Do it, fool! It's a matter of life and death!'
With that, he turned away from them and burst into a sprint with everything he had, abandoning her in that state without even looking back even once.
He was proceeding with the leader's plan, except he was leaving him out of it. He was going to lure the creature away by himself.
He had to do it alone.
There was no need to drag another person into his problem anymore.
'Follow me, bastard!'
He was certain this plan would work.
It was not because he had confidence in his charm, but because he had finally realised why these creatures kept fixating on him.
It had to be either the sweet scent clinging to his body or the tattoo itself that kept drawing these creatures toward him. Judging by the hostility they showed him, one of them, or perhaps both, had to be affecting the creatures in some way, or at the very least irritating them enough that they couldn't ignore his presence.
Even so, he still couldn't understand why they reacted this way, how that scent or the tattoo affected them in the first place, or what part either of them played in all this.
Considering that the tattoo had somehow been influencing his own mind, allowing him to resist that mysterious headache, perhaps it wasn't unreasonable to assume that it could also be affecting the minds of these monsters, or whatever they had inside their skulls.
Perhaps they simply mistook that influence for some invisible attack and were instinctively responding to it the only way they knew how.
For a moment, he felt like laughing, but the next moment he also wanted to cry.
'It seems I've unknowingly made an enemy out of all monsterkind. From now on, wherever I go, these bastards will definitely hunt me down even if I try to ignore them. This rotten luck of mine really couldn't get much worse.'
It was still a better punishment than suffering through cold water!
As the faint sound of hurried footsteps echoed amidst the clash, the creature raised its head and fixed its gaze on the puny human running away from its grasp. Yellow flames danced within the depths of its eyes.
Valric's eyes widened.
'No, you fool! Return at once!'
The creature lifted its paw off him, releasing him without the slightest hesitation, then surged forward, completely ignoring the woman lying motionless on the ground as though the fleeing young man was far more important than anything else around it.
A smile spread across Kael's face.
'Yeah... like that. Don't even think of looking back now. I alone am your only enemy.'
Never in his life had he imagined that this twisted tattoo would one day prove to be useful.
Life was truly strange.
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(Chapter Ended)
To be continued...