[Third Person's PoV]
Kwadoi turned towards two of the green men holding Rose and her mother hostage. "Take them both to Perv Asshat; he will know what to do with them."
"Oh, it seems you monsters have kept your rationality. That's quite interesting," 559 said before disappearing and rushing towards Kwadoi.
She held her sword ready to attack, but as she appeared, Kwadoi dodged to the side and punched 559 in the stomach, taking her by surprise and causing her to go flying back. Luckily, she managed to detect it in time and block it.
Meanwhile, Alexia and Sherry both prepared to rush towards Rose to save her, but the green men surrounded them, making it difficult to reach her.
Alexia immediately conjured swords made from ice and sent them flying towards the green men as she rushed forward with her own sword in hand. The ogre men destroyed the ice weapons with their own and rushed towards Alexia. They tried to strike her, but she dodged, albeit with difficulty.
559 quickly recovered from the blow and charged back at Kwadoi, her sword now glowing with an ethereal purplish-pink light as she poured her magic into it, enhancing her speed and strength. Kwadoi smirked, his eyes gleaming with malice as he readied himself for her onslaught.
"You're fast, but not fast enough," Kwadoi taunted as he evaded 559's strikes, each swing of her sword slicing through the air with deadly precision. She growled in frustration, increasing the intensity of her attacks.
Nearby, Alexia and Sherry were dealing with the green men, who proved to be formidable adversaries. Alexia summoned a wall of ice to block an incoming attack, but the green men shattered it with their brute strength.
They moved with surprising speed and coordination, countering Alexia's ice magic with relentless force. Her ice blades were shattered mid-air, and she had to dodge swiftly to avoid their powerful blows.
Sherry, wielding her mana crystal artifacts, unleashed a barrage of elemental attacks. A burst of fire erupted from one crystal, but the green men simply powered through the flames, their thick skin barely singed. She followed up with a wave of water from another crystal, using the liquid to trip and disorient her foes, but they recovered quickly, adapting to her tactics. As the green men closed in on her, Sherry switched to a crystal imbued with lightning, sending bolts of electricity crackling through the air. The green men, however, seemed to resist the shocks, their resilience adding to their menace.
Amidst the chaos, Rose and her mother were being dragged away by two of the green men. Rose struggled, her eyes wide with fear as she tried to break free, but the green men's grip was too strong. Alexia and Sherry noticed but were too occupied with their own battles to intervene effectively.
Rose could only helplessly watch, fearing that if she tried to attack, they would hurt her mother in retaliation.
Seeing this, Alexia's determination intensified. She created a massive ice spear and hurled it towards one of the green men holding Rose. The spear struck true, impaling the creature, but another green man grabbed Rose and her mother before they could escape, dragging them farther away from the battlefield.
Sherry noticed Rose's plight but was surrounded by green men, making it difficult to intervene. "Rose!" she yelled, trying to break through her own attackers. She felt helpless; she was supposed to be their squad leader, but all she could do was watch.
559, focused entirely on Kwadoi, didn't spare a glance at Rose or her mother. Her single-minded determination to defeat Kwadoi left her unconcerned about what happened to Rose or, much less, her mother.
After hours of battle, Alexia and Sherry managed to subdue the remaining green men. Alexia's ice magic froze their weapons, while Sherry's elemental attacks incapacitated them. However, their relief was short-lived as they remembered what happened to Rose.
"We can't let them get away!" Alexia shouted, exhausted and tired, starting to chase after them, but it was too late. The green men had already gained too much ground.
Helplessly, they remember watching as Rose and her mother disappeared from their sight, the green men dragging them into the shadows. The bitter taste of failure lingered as they realized they had failed to save them.
Alexia and Sherry were both on the ground, trying to catch their breath and recuperate all of the mana they had lost, surrounded by the corpses of green men.
Kwadoi had multiple cuts on his body due to their battle, but 559 wasn't completely unscathed.
"Hehehe!" She giggled happily.
"What's so funny?" Kwadoi asked, preparing to attack once more.
"You are so dead, you don't even know it. Hahaha!" 559 simply put her sword down and knelt, throwing her hands in the air. "MY LORD, YOU HAVE ARRIVED! YOUR MOST LOYAL SERVANT GREETS YOU!"
Kwadoi looked at 559 strangely and prepared to attack, but then he heard a voice behind him that sent a shiver through his whole body.
"Victoria," Shadow sighed. "We've talked about this abnormal behavior of yours."
Kwadoi was about to quickly turn around, but Shadow was quicker. He struck a hand through Kwadoi and pulled out his entire spine along with his skull. As Kwadoi's body turned into ashes, Shadow looked around, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"They managed to research the monsters enough to create enhancement pills from their blood. Interesting," he muttered.
Shadow then felt his lip twitch as he saw Victoria bowing up and down with her hands out, worshipping him. "I'm truly fortunate to be in your presence! There could be nothing better than this!" she exclaimed.
Sherry and Alexia, both struggling to get up from the ground, watched Victoria bowing.
Victoria started crawling towards Shadow's feet. She grabbed his legs. "Let me kiss your feet, for every step you take is a blessing upon this land."
"Just like last time, I will kick you in the face, Victoria…"
'Just like last time?' Both Sherry and Alexia thought as they looked at Shadow.
Noticing their looks, Shadow sighed. "After we first met Victoria, she started treating me like her own god. While I wasn't paying attention, she kissed my shoe. Thinking it was an enemy, I may or may not have kicked her in the face…"
"And I still think of that memory very fondly, my lord," Victoria said, clasping her hands together and looking at him with admiration.
Alexia shook her head. "Wait, that isn't important. We have to go and save Rose. She was taken—"
"No, my lord, she's a traitor! She has betrayed our organization and what Shadow Garden stands for. Most importantly, she has betrayed you!" Victoria interrupted.
"She hasn't betrayed anyone! Don't listen to her!" Alexia angrily retorted.
"You guys don't think I wasn't aware of what's going on?" Shadow asked with a raised brow, his eyes glowing with power.
"Wait, so you watched Rose get kidnapped and let it happen?" Alexia asked, her face growing enraged. "Why?"
"I'm sure you are both aware, Rose currently has her own inner demons that she isn't really willing to share with anyone. Those inner demons include her kingdom," Shadow explained.
"So you let her get kidnapped so she could face what's been troubling her head-on?" Sherry asked.
Shadow nodded his head, and immediately Victoria started to sing praises. "As expected of our Lord and Savior! Always thinking ahead, always looking out for us! For our betterment."
"But she is safe, right?" Alexia asked.
"Have you forgotten?" Shadow replied.
"Ah, your shadow things are with her, aren't they?" Alexia quickly realized.
Just then, from his shadow, Gamma came tumbling out, rolling and landing face-first against a tree.
"Ow!" Gamma cried out as she held her face. She then remembered why she was here, turned towards Shadow, and rapidly crawled towards him, forgetting to walk due to her excitement and nervousness.
"Dear husband! It's Alpha! And she's pregnant with your child!!!"
Alexia's, Sherry's, and Victoria's eyes widened in shock, while Shadow turned towards Gamma in confusion.
"Of course she is. I was the one that did it. I'm already aware of it, and of course it's my child. Who else's would it be?" he responded calmly.
"Eh?" Gamma stopped and thought about it. She grew embarrassed as she stood up and rubbed the back of her head.
"I suppose you have a point. Oops, hehe, silly me."
Meanwhile, the others were still surprised. "ALPHA'S PREGNANT!" they exclaimed in unison.
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