30 Worst Luck (2)

Lucas could hear the scream of a woman desperately crying out for help as he gripped his sword tightly. Since he could hear the scream so loud and clear, it was either that the place was near them or the woman had a sharp loud voice.

Unconsciously, Lucas stepped forward towards the dark tunnel where the scream came from but stopped by Carl who grabbed his left hand, while shaking his head and looking at Lucas before he fixed his eyes on the dark tunnel again.

"Young master, it's too dangerous. Don't go…"

"But….." Lucas wanted to protest. The scream for help came out once more after a few seconds, making Lucas worried and wanted to run to help her.

"We don't know what is happening there. I cannot risk it." Carl was firm while stating that, with no consideration to back down. Carl also really wanted to help just like Lucas but the possibility of high ranked monsters or even worse, demons lurking in the dark tunnel made him reluctant to do so, since he was with Lucas.

"Are we just going to leave it like that!" Lucas frowned but only got that look from Carl meaning there was nothing they could do. His impatience was fueled a bit but it calmed down after seen Carl's miserable look as he gripped his sword tightly.

'Ah….He also wants to go to help...'

Lucas instantly realized that Carl not helping whoever was screaming was not because he was afraid of the monsters but because he was afraid that he would put Lucas into danger. And it was only then Lucas knew that running into the dark tunnel was only going to give them disadvantage as they didn't know anything about the situation.

'But are we just going to stay like this?' Lucas couldn't shake off the thought of leaving it like nothing had happened. But he also couldn't leave the thought that if he went in to help them but only to be met by some monsters that both of them couldn't handle and made Carl to face the danger.

Lucas felt that he was really selfish as he cursed himself.

He really couldn't risk putting Carl in danger. No matter how proficient Carl would be, he was still at the level of a normal knight, not a commander. The scenarios of 'What if' all piled up in Lucas's mind as he got a headache from thinking.

Carl sighed as Lucas was not trying to protest anymore as he let go of the grip. There was no sound of screaming and the surrounding became quiet again.

'Did she die...…..?' Lucas felt guilty, gripping his sword tighter in anxiety, looking at the dark tunnel again.

As soon as the voice died down, an eerie atmosphere rose up in the tunnel, which made both Carl and Lucas's spine chill.

'Something is coming…..' Lucas wrinkled his eyebrow with his instinct kicking in. He hadn't been in such situations before but he felt that judging from the atmosphere it was not something good.

Looking up at Carl who also had an anxious face, Lucas knew that he also caught up with the atmosphere.

"Please don't make a noise and let's leave…." Carl whispered as if his voice was mixed with a big shaking.

Just hearing his voice, Lucas could confirm that they were in danger. A danger that Carl could not be able to handle. They didn't know whether the opposite direction from the scream would be a way out to the tunnel but both of them believed that it was better than sitting here.

'I am sorry....' Lucas apologized in his mind to the one he couldn't help, cursing at his own weakness.

Slowly and slowly, he stepped back, led by Carl who tried to light up the way with the faint glow of fire in his palm. "Please be careful with your steps…." Carl softly warned Lucas as he was worried that he might slip by accident by the uneven ground.

They had walked for around 20 minutes, stating that they had already reached around a mile from the place they had rested.

Lucas felt anxious as Carl stopped walking. And it seemed that he was thinking the same with Lucas.

'We won't have the protection of Viridis anymore if we walk past this...' Lucas thought looking around the wall whether there were some signs made by some hunters but unfortunately he couldn't.

'Where are we now?' Lucas wanted to ask someone but he didn't want to raise a question to Carl as he believed that raising questions to him would bring him more anxiety if he didn't know the answer, which was more likely that he didn't really know.

Lucas just wanted to hit himself to a wall and took himself to near-death situations, met with Lucian and asked him for ways but he knew that it was so ridiculous that he cracked a smile in disbelief of his stupidity.

"Carl, do whatever you believe in. Don't think about me too much." Lucas ensured Carl while smiling softly, saying that he was ok with everything. "And I am not that weak. I can even support you if the danger arises!"

"Thank you, young master….." Carl breathed in more deeply to calm his mind. "I think we sh---"

"Young master, watch out!"

Even before Carl could finish what he was trying to say, Lucas instantly realized that he was pushed roughly away from the place he was standing while a light flashed through his eyes. It happened so fast that Lucas didn't catch what had happened and when he realized it, he felt that he was clasped by Carl who took the impact for falling on ground instead of Lucas.

Everything turned black for a moment and lit up again when Carl used his fire mana to light up the tunnel again.

It was then Lucas looked at the place he was standing before and his eyes widened when he saw smoke emerging from that place as if it was hit by lightning.

'What happened!?' Lucas's mind was filled with alarms as he got up slowly with Carl and he realized that Carl had already in his front, readying his long sword staring at the tunnel. This time his palm wasn't the one making the light but the sword as the soft red flame engulfed the blade as if he didn't want to engage in battle in the dark.

Clop! Clop!

Lucas could hear hoofs striking the rocky floor. Whoever the owner of the hoofs, Lucas was sure that it was coming to them slowly and was the culprit of making the first attack.

"I didn't realize that there are more people here."

A creepy haughty voice emerged from the owner as Lucas could see the figure, making his spine chill more and gulped down in anxiety. It was similar to a stout man. The only difference was that his two legs resembled that of a goat, and there were small two horns emerging from his head.

'A demon....' Lucas wrinkled his eyebrow with his heart beating too fast in distress. He was thinking that the deviated inhibition of monsters could also lead them to meet demons in unexpected places but he didn't believe that he would meet the worst case scenario.

'Will Carl be able to handle him?' Lucas looked up at Carl anxiously again before he looked at the demon. Fortunately the demon was the only one and that meant that Lucas and Carl were not in a hopeless situation.

Carl stepped back and so did Lucas as the demon came forward. Both the demon and their eyes were not leaving from each other, inspecting for one's strength.

"Just give up, you filthy humans. You can't win."

Lucas didn't want to hear the haughty voice as it gave him a nauseous feeling. He just wished that it would be so much better if he only had teleportation magic.

It seemed that the demon didn't like waiting that much as he dashed forward towards Carl with his war hammer which Carl defended himself with his sword in faint flames.

"I will just kill you first before I hunt that brat."

"Young master Lucas, please step back and stay away from me!" Carl shouted back in a hurry as he pushed back the hammer from the demon and fueled his sword with mana, trying to make a quick slash towards the abdomen of the said demon.

Lucas also stepped back as Carl had said, knowing that he would only cause a hassle if he just stayed near the fighting place. Instead, he watched from afar, prepared the wand that Maria had gifted him and focused on Carl, making sure that Carl would not have disadvantage in lack of stamina or mana in fighting and to heal immediately in case of an injury.

"You are not that bad, I suppose…." The haughty voice came out from the demon again as he grinned.

Carl didn't say anything back, only focusing on the battle, finding the opportunity to bring up a finishing blow. The demon was not using any magic and just focusing on physical strength to attack Carl but it was a lucky thing for Carl who had experience in fighting with the ones with stronger build.

'They are not as fast as Ryosuke…..' Lucas could see exactly how the fight was going. As the demon had a big stout body and the weapon he was holding was a heavy one, he was not very fast and for Carl, he seemed like he was having an advantage seeing how he was now on the offensive side.

'We can win if it is like that?' A small hope glimmered in Lucas's mind as he looked at the battle and casted the healing magic on Carl to replenish his mana and stamina.

Feeling that his strength had returned, saying 'thank you' to Lucas inwardly, he made a quick hit on the demon as a faint before chanted, summoning his fire mana,

"O' great Lord Lucian, thou who blesses people with mana

Channel upon the blazing fire on this subject, in the form of a splash."

Instantly he waved in front of the face of the demon, the specks of fire emerged strongly, making the demon to be blind for a moment and shout in pain as he unconsciously covered his eyes.

Swosh!

Grabbing the chance he got, Carl immediately forced his sword into the chest of the demon and slashed in to out, making a spatter of disgusting green blood gushed out from the injury.

And he didn't stop right there, creating another stab towards the neck, in order to ensure his victory and he succeeded to do so, sighing in relief and happiness as he looked back towards Lucas, waving his hand as if he wanted to tell that it was safe now.

Lucas almost jumped out from happiness when he saw the falling figure of the demon and the smile of Carl but he instantly realized something was wrong.

'The demon... he didn't use any magic?' Lucas frowned as his instinct kicked in again. 'Then who was the one that made the shot before!?'

"Carl! GET OUT OF THERE!" Lucas shouted with his all might.

Wosh!

A thread of lightning struck so fast with a loud 'boom', loud enough that Lucas' ears couldn't hear anything for a moment, at where Carl was standing, causing an explosion which even made the ground to shake, causing a huge amount of smoke to emerge.

'Sh*t…. It is not one demon but two!!!' Lucas cursed again and again, closing his eyes shut for a second as the dust rushed towards him. He was surprised that the tunnel didn't collapse from that explosion.

As soon as Lucas could open his eyes again, he looked for Carl in the smoke whether he was able to avoid being struck or not, hoping that he was able to do so.

But it was even worse than Lucas had imagined.

Lucas' mind was filled with agony and despair, feeling that all the hope he had had crumbled.

There stood a tall figure with its hand grasping the neck of Carl, smiling creepily, revealing her sharp teeth. It didn't have any goat-like legs or horns and was really similar to that of a female's body but Lucas knew it was not a human.

"LET HIM GO!"

Lucas didn't know whether it was a good idea or a ridiculous one to lose his composure and rush towards the demon, keeping his wand back and unsheathing his sword.

But there was only one thought that lingered in his alarming mind.

That Carl might die if Lucas didn't do anything.

And he couldn't revive a dead man.

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"So is this the entrance of the Oiria tunnel?" Ryosuke asked while looking at the entrance which was embedded in the mountain of Ereck.

"Yes. Let's hope that they are here." Brook had a stern look on his face as he didn't like that energy or aura that was coming from the tunnel. "Or that they are not."

"Let's hurry there." Tus, too, was anxious, just by looking at the tunnel and Eura was the same too.

"I kind of pick up Lucas's smell here." Eura, being a member of the beast tribe, had a sharp smelling sense and hearing that from her, Ryosuke and Tus sighed in relief, thinking that it was not too far for them to find Lucas.

Before they even stepped into the tunnel, all of them felt that the ground beneath them shook a bit with a faint sound of 'boom' like the impact of a big explosion from afar. And they didn't like it very much as the sound came from the deeper part of the tunnel.

All of them frowned and even without telling each other, they all rushed into the tunnel in unison.

Ryosuke lit up the flames to show them the way without even being told.

All of the sped up as they just wished that it was not Lucas and Carl that were engaging in battle.

Feeling the coldness of the tunnel as they ran deep inside, it was the first time to everyone that they felt impatience with the speed that they had.