30. Rivals

The party found some nice rocks to use as seats and pulled out some no stale bread and water. They may have been a bit tired by the energy from chasing their goals that were fresh in their minds.

While they ate they were observing a spear man, infantry swordsman with a shield and a water mage take down giant locusts nearby. They had watched the three flawlessly fell two. The swordsman with sleek black hair and a burly build would halt the locust's movement, while the water mage with blue robes, glasses, and a very cliche wooden staff would use water in the shape of chains to hold them. After that set up the blond spiky haired spear man who looked lean and spry would land a decisive blow to the locusts head. The strategy was sound and fit perfectly for the three. After seeing them fell the second the party gave each other looks. They were all thinking; were we being out done?

"We'll rest another ten minutes to get our mana back to full then we'll show them who's the best!" Walker could feel the rising energy in the air and wanted to optimize the situation. Maybe it is better to have more parties around so we can push farther.

"GERALD!!! Retreat!!!!!" The shout from the spear man caused everyone to look up in haste.

Three giant locusts were currently ganging up on the swordsman but that wasn't the worst of it. A green hue could be seen on one. It had larger legs with more spines. The aura emanating from this jade locust was one of killing.

"Um, guys...that's not good." Gil could barely finish his sentence when the Jade locust released a kick sending the swordsman flying in to the water mage with a loud crack. Bones had been shattered!!!

"Sister Gloria! Gerald!!!!" The spear man was in a panic rushing to his now unconscious party members. They had been fighting for hours and were toward their end. The spear man Geoff was planning to rest with his party and walk back. They had claimed enough locusts and tagged them for the guards on patrol to pick up for the guild but now it looked like they would face their end. All for a few gold and exp...the two giant locusts with the Jade locust saw this opening and turned to unleash a massive kick in Geoff's direction.

Thwack vvvrrmmmmm!!! A crazy loud metallic sound and vibration echoed out. Geoff looked up to see an immovable girl holding a black shield in front of him. Her face was scrunched up in effort after a massive blow that took half her health to block.

"Get ugh up and move. You carry one my party will grab the mage." Su had relayed Walker's order. Remey had quickly lifted Gloria and the stunned Geoff came back to reality hefting up Gerald and slowly starting to head towards the wall...too slowly.

"Su! Guard them! Gil and I will be distracting these three until you're all far enough away!" Walker had issued the order while he and Gil ran opposite circles around the locusts causing them to turn in distraction. Midnight was circling the jade locust to distract it but the jade locust was smarter and realized its prey was escaping.

"Weren't these bugs supposed to eat plants!" Walker yelled at Gil.

"This green one is a female! It fights because it feels threatened it thinks you're going to kill its mates and young." Gil having grown up in the fields knew more. Gil was letting arrows fly towards the legs of the giant locusts in order to slow them down.

Walker immediately saw this and fired a mana shot towards Gil's target, noticing black streaks as he was happy that the staff was properly channeling the darkness element.

His mana shot was enough to put the locust Gil was facing to its side which allowed Gil to use quick shot three times sending arrows through its head leaving only one giant locust and the Jade locust remaining.

The situation was not good, upon seeing its mate fall the Jade locust unleashed a massive screech.

"Eeeaaaaaaaakkkkeee" this sound was deafening and Midnight could barely stand. Seeing this Walker ran as fast as possible to get in front of Midnight with his leather shield. The Jade locust kicked out "perfect block!" Walker used his only guard skill and was pushed back. The leather shield tore in half and Walker was left with 2hp. Midnight was in front growling in rage seeing her partner being harmed.

Walker saw Gil holding off the other giant locust along with Midnight's growing rage. He felt too weak to immediately stand and wasn't sure how he would survive. Midnight's growl reached a peak and heat waves could be seen emanating from her. She puffed up her chest and released a ball of black flames towards the Jade locust. The Jade locust was able to dodge most of the blow but Walker could see its back right leg was burning to ashes, severely weakening it. However, using this skill for the first time had completely drained Midnight as she collapsed...she was an easy target.

Gil was stuck slowly whittling down the health of the other giant locust, Midnight was unconscious and in the line of fire, and Walker was a step from death.

"Noooo!! Get up Midnight get UP!" Walker's voice was hoarse with emotion. He couldn't watch Midnight get hurt. It was unacceptable he needed to move.

'Skill unyielding has been taken from the hero's system'

'Unyielding- passive'

'The less hp the hero has the higher their matk, atk, agi.'

Walker stood up not even noticing the system notification. He brandished his staff and channeled all his mana within it. He was screaming from his heart for power that could crush this Jade locust. The system answered...

'Skill mana desolation has been taken from the destruction god's system.'

'Mana desolation- all mana'

'Uses high amounts of energy to send a concentrated blast of unstable mana. The unstable mana destroys the very fiber of a creature's mana system, making survival impossible. This skill can only be used once every five years.'

A massive amount of energy surged through Walker, the pain he felt from this was immense but he was numb to it due to his chaotic emotions. A ball of darker mana appeared before him condensed to the size of a marble then flew at incredible speed through the Jade locusts body. The locust stopped and a blast of energy flew from its body. Walker had already collapsed, falling in to unconsciousness. The Jade locust was devoid of life, its very mana system had been destroyed, its brain was mush, and any lingering life was soon to dissipate.

Gil had seen this and doubled his efforts using the last of his arrows and mana to kill the final giant locust with arrows to take it down. He fell to his knees along with the giant locust which has also fallen. Dragging himself up he dragged himself to where Walker laid finding him to still be breathing Gil glanced up seeing Remey and Su rushing towards them with a group of guards and a few other adventurers. "Hahahaha I guess I can sleep now." Gil passed out next to Walker.

Su and Remey were red faced and panicked upon reaching them. Tears could be seen in the corners of Remey's eyes. Su had steeled herself for the worst but noticing the three breathing her shoulders slumped and she dropped the shield releasing all the stress.

With the help of a few guards and adventures, they were able to carry the three back to the walls. There were tents set up for injured adventures due to the season. Remey was able to get them In to a small tent with enough room for the three and along with Su took the time to rest while Walker's wounds were treated.