Chapter 25 - Attack of the Armadillons (1)

Renata led us slightly away from the village's north entrance. "We're not going to defend the village?" Dorothy asked. "We will, well, some of you will," Renata replied. "What do you mean?" Dorothy asked again. Renata smirked, "Class 1-A, listen up!" Renata barked. "For today's mission, we will be splitting into two groups. Those whose name I call, step forward!" Renata shouted. "Wortel, Gilbert, Eliza!" she called out loudly. "Yes, ma'am!" Eliza, Wortel, and Gilbert saluted simultaneously. "You three will be team one. Your job will be to aid the village militia defending Darug Village. Do your best to support them. And like I said earlier, don't let any monsters into the village," Renata ordered. "Yes, ma'am," the three said at the same time.

"Dorothy, Rie, and Vaan," Renata called out loudly. "Yes, ma'am!" Me, Dorothy, and Rie stepped forward at the same time. "You three will follow me. We are team two. We are going to the Armadillons' nest. Prepare yourself for a tough battle," Renata said. "Yes, ma'am," we three replied simultaneously. Then, Renata looked at the two teams and nodded. "Team one!" Renata called out. "Move out!" As soon as she said that, Wortel, Gilbert, and Eliza immediately went toward the northern entrance of the village while Renata stayed with my team. "Team two," Reanta called. "Try to keep up," Renata flashed a smirk. Then, she suddenly dashed away, leaving the three of us rooted on the spot. "Tch, that damn witch. Always doing whatever she likes," Dorothy gritted her teeth with annoyance. The tips of my lips twitched, 'I had never seen Dorothy this agitated before. What happened between those two?' I thought. "Let's go, guys. Or else we will lose her," Rie said.

After that, we followed Renata as best as we could, but she was just too fast. It almost took us every bit we had just to catch up to her. I knew for sure that Renata was holding back. If not, she would have left us a long time ago. Renata ran through a small forest to the north, and when we came out of it, we could see the West Peninsula. "It should be around here," Renata squinted her eyes. Then, she climbed a nearby tree and stood at the tree's highest point. Renata scanned her surroundings and found a cave facing south on the edge of the island. Renata squinted her eyes and found a horde of Armadillon marching toward Darug Village. "Bingo," Renata smiled. We arrived when Renata just landed from the tree.

"You guys are slow," Renata teased. "Hah, hah, hah. You know full well we cannot catch up to you," Dorothy rebuked. Rie tried hard to catch her breath while I took a deep breath to compose myself. "You found the nest, at least, right?" Dorothy shot a glare at Renata. "Of course. Who do you think I am? It's just over there," Renata pointed. I lifted my head and saw the area where Renata pointed. The nest was a cave located on top of a hill on the peninsula. Renata looked at us and chuckled. "Seeing the state of you guys, we'll be killed if we go right now. Rest up. You got five minutes. After that, we storm the monster nest," Renata said.