Kai felt a pair of eyes watching him and decided to check.
He doesn't find anyone, but there must be someone.
No bushes rustled when he arrived here. If there really was someone, they must've climbed the cliff right behind him in an instant. "Is that even possible?" He looked at the high-top and shook his head. "With the appropriate Patron God, then maybe. But it's all strength. No trace of mana."
Shaking his head, Kai bent his knees and sprang as high as possible.
Even with all his might, he could barely pass half the height.
In the process, he also learned that the surface was smooth, so it's hard to grab onto anything.
"Hmm," Kai landed and looked up once again, sizing the cliff.
Kai returned to the hideout and peered inside, only to find Dorian sleeping—and Abigail lying around idly while looking at the stars above. He made sure nothing happened to them before sitting back down right outside again.
Later that day, good news arrived.
Rakha met up with Dorian at the rendezvous point and informed him that the students who were bringing the crates towards Team Coeus' main camp were approaching. They're moving at a snail's pace and are careful.
He estimated that they would arrive at night.
Even before nearing nighttime, Kai and Dorian were already preparing for their raid.
"Only four students were transporting the crate," Dorian said—as he cleaned his sleek-black fingerguards, readying them to rend flesh. "Counting Rakha and the other guy, we are equal in number."
Dorian stared at Kai and saw that his mind was somewhere else.
He was staring at the soil intently, like it was more interesting than what Dorian had to say.
"Hey," Dorian flicked his fingers repeatedly. "What are you thinking?"
Kai blinked his eyes and realized that he had been spacing out.
His eyes naturally trailed to Abigail on the other side, who was crushing herbs—and stuffing them into folded leaves. She was preparing their first aid to prevent infection in their wounds. It was one of her areas of expertise.
Realizing what Kai was hinting at, Dorian glanced at Abigail.
"You've made five of them, that's more than enough," He snapped at her. "Instead, get some water and use your power to bless a few gulps' worth. Replenishing mana is way better than these herbs."
His voice was harsh. Commanding.
For a second, Abigail turned to look at Kai, expecting him to say something.
But he didn't.
"Is it okay for me to take water on my own?" She asked, recalling what had happened.
"You dared to do it without asking us before," Dorian sneered in contempt. "What's stopping you now?"
Even though she seemed to have more to say, she stood up and grabbed two bota bags.
Before she left, she stopped mid-track at Kai's voice.
"Abigail," He called, and only continued when she turned her head to look at him. "You should know that when I saw you back then, my first instinct was to save you. Not because you're a healer, but because it's the right thing to do. I could have left you to die, but I did not. I chose to risk myself to save you because it's the right thing to do.
"Yeah, and you forced me to risk mine, too," Dorian snickered at the thought of that idiocy.
Abigail paused.
And when she lifted her gaze, she smiled, "And I really appreciate it, Kai. Thank you."
Once she said those words, she quickly turned to leave.
"Hey, what about me?" Dorian was flabbergasted for not getting a thank you.
Kai saw a tear dropping to her cheek before she turned.
Once her footsteps disappeared into the distance, Dorian looked back at Kai again.
"What's that about?" He asked.
"Let's make our move right now," Kai suggested. "Instead of waiting for those students to get into our kill spot, we should get to them. Better to battle them further away from their main camp in case something unexpected happens."
Dorian listened attentively, and his face suddenly turned sour.
He abruptly stood up, killing intent oozing out of his body, but Kai caught his hand.
"We have a minute to spare," Dorian said through gritted teeth. "I'll kill her in ten seconds max."
"No, we don't," Kai shook his head. "Forget about it. Let's get moving."
Reluctantly, Dorian caged his killing intent. Both left the hideout and met up with Mathias.
Rakha had been watching the crate. He was reluctant to let it slip away from his sight, even for a second, as the contents of the crate were what they really needed right now. With the mana ores, Team Crius could return to the battlefield again.
And then he could finally teach Matilda a lesson as he always wanted.
Soon, he was greeted by unexpected guests.
Kai and the others came sooner than he expected, with a change of plan.
"Did you really keep an eye on it?" Kai asked as he lay prone on the ground.
He fixed his gaze on a group of students from Team Coeus a hundred yards ahead. Four were flanking the carriage loaded with a crate, and the horses pulling it were the captured students of Team Crius.
All of them were frail and riddled with bruises.
Seems like the ones mining in the mine are them, while Team Coeus took the harvest.
"Are you fucking questioning me, Lesser Angel?" Rakha growled. "I kept my eyes on it all the time, and even saw them opening the crate a couple of times. I'm sure the crate is real. I am one hundred percent sure."
Kai nodded.
That's not exactly what he was asking, but it was good nonetheless.
"If they knew, why didn't they make this crate a dummy?" Dorian whispered questioningly.
"I don't know." Kai shook his head as his brows dropped into a frown. "But they would not leave that crate in plain sight—without insurance. I'm guessing there are other students in the shadows following the crate, waiting for us to show ourselves."
"Lion?" Mathias asked worriedly.
"No, he's back at the main camp and hasn't made an appearance," Dorian assured. "If there's anyone guarding this crate, it'd be either Wolf or Snake. Fuck, this is a really bad idea. I can already see countless scenarios where this went wrong."
"Really bad," Rakha agreed. "But what choice do we have? Once Team Coeus gets its hands on this, it's over. Team Hyperion and we would be wiped out."
Once the four agreed that this must be done, they went into their positions.
Rakha and Mathias would be the ones who attacked first, while Kai and Dorian would aim to kill a student as quickly as possible before ganging up on the remaining two. It's a direct plan, and it should also be effective.
Keeping their bodies low and covered by the bushes, Kai and Dorian made their way around.
Both stopped behind a tree, suppressing their mana to avoid being detected. In the heavy air of silence that followed, Dorian found himself staring at the side of Kai's face—as they waited for Rakha and Mathias to make their move.
"Just so you know," He whispered. "If I die because of this ambush, it's going to be your fault."
"You really have to say it, huh?" Kai clicked his tongue.
Before another word could be exchanged, it started.
Crack—!
Rakha's veins glowed green underneath his charcoal-black skin before he kicked a tree hard, knocking it down right on time, and blocking the carriage from moving forward. Leaping out from the other side, Mathias pointed his hands forward and shot a ball of fire.
Seeing their armbands, the captured Team Crius felt alive again.
Some of them even went out of their way to attack Team Coeus.
"Ambush!!"
A student with icy-blue hair reacted quickly.
He slammed his hands onto the earth, summoning a curving wall of ice, blocking the fireball.
At the same time, Kai and Dorian, already in his monster form, appeared behind two unsuspecting students. Like an effective and cold-blooded assassin, they killed those two with a single motion.
Kai decapitated the student with a perfect slash, while Dorian ripped out the other student's throat and broke his neck.
Both died without even channeling their mana to retaliate.
Adrenaline surged through their bodies as they charged at the remaining two students. Kill these two, and the crate and its contents would be theirs. But things aren't going to be as simple as that.
Roar—!
Out of nowhere, the ground cracked with three fiery holes.
From each one, a black hound emerged with a growl—tackling Dorian, Mathias, and Rakha mid-charge simultaneously. Kai watched in shock as they were dragged away. But before he could process it, his instincts screamed at him to lean back.
And he did.
Swish—!
Kai watched a sword cruising past his vision and cut a long slice across his right cheek.
He narrowly avoided an attack that would've sliced his face in half.
Recovering quickly, Kai gritted his teeth and leaped away. His feet screeched against the earth until his back slammed against a tree trunk. He readied his scimitar, eyes locked forward at the figure that radiated a dangerous aura.
A white mask stared back at him. And behind it are twin spheres of red.
All of the captured students shuddered in fear at the sight of him.
Wolf.
Kai had seen Wolf in action before that night of slaughter, but standing before this man was an entirely different feeling. Only now did he realize how strong a High Angel really was. His legs were shaking from the mana Wolf was radiating.
His mana is a lot thicker than mine or anyone in our group.
From the squint of his eyes, Wolf must be smiling a little behind the mask.
He didn't address the black hounds that were fighting the others. Didn't address the students from his team who were ambushed. Didn't even say anything to Kai, even as he assumed a fighting stance with a scimitar ready in his hand.
Instead, Wolf knelt.
His fingers brushed a bloodstain on the earth.
And then he lifted his mask just enough to bring his fingers inside to his nose.
Like a hunting dog, he inhaled deeply.
And through it all, those red eyes never lose focus on Kai.
"So, it was you," His baritone voice echoed through the mask. "You're the one who snooped around our camp, Lesser Angel."
Just one sniff and Wolf recognized him.
It was almost like he had the same sensitive nose as his black hounds.
He rose.
"When we attacked your team, Matilda told us that there's no one who could resist us. She's wrong," Wolf changed his grip on the handle of his great sword, stabbing into the ground before him, and rested his chin on it. "She was supposed to deal with you for making the error, but no matter."
Kai cursed inside.
He had forgotten about the black hounds and recklessly marked the camp with his own blood.
"Say…" Wolf pulled Kai's attention back to him. He then tilted his head slightly, almost curiously, "What do you say you also join our team? What do you say, you also join Team Coeus? I'm curious how Matilda would react."