Encounters III — Ambrosya

"If it wasn't Camellia, then who? Doing such things in the middle of the day... Surely they do not fear much." King crouched down and inspected the corpse.

I also couldn't help but wonder just who this person was. I had skipped a class to participate in Camellia's rescue, so having such an unexpected occurrence bothered me quite a bit.

If we took too long here, both Camellia and my next classes would disappear into thin air.

"We'll find out as long as we advance," I answered King and gave Rose a passing glance, "Let's go. Our priority is still the youngest princess of Kyokto. Camellia must be retrieved alive."

"My thoughts exactly." Rose replied before gesturing deeper into the carnage around us, "Thankfully, the resonations have yet to stop. My sister is still alive."

With a nod, I then pressed upon the concrete beneath my feet and shot forward. King and Rose followed after me, considerate of my pace.

We leapt over many a corpse and avoided as many pools of blood as we could. Our shoes and cloaks were stained with rusty crimson, but it was no matter. Eventually, the sound of battle rang out just within our reach.

Aventine's hunger was being transmitted to me, making my bloodstream boil. All those corpses that he could've eaten...

He wanted them in his belly, but I restrained him. I did not have time to wait for him to gobble each one up.

Anyways, as long as we survived this ordeal, we would be able to return. A feast would be waiting for him then.

For now, I had to assess the situation.

"King," I spoke.

"Roger," He replied before activating a circular device.

Whoooom—

A low hum reached my ears as mana was poured into the device, activating its enchantments and mechanical sequences. But before it fully activated, a figure blasted through the smoke and fog, brandishing a blue scimitar with a serrated edge.

My pupils dilated in shock as I felt the raging flames of a warrior's intent.

[ Foresight ].

I reacted even before the scimitar came flying at me.

Goo-like mana bubbled out from within my body, coating my skin, muscles, and bones. I was reinforced with a strength that stacked on top of my current E+ rank physical ability. It was a slow process in the timeline of battle, but even if it was not complete it was useful.

With a burst of strength drawn from the Rushing Shadow Art, I evaded the serrated scimitar with all my might. Only a small cut appeared on the skin of my forearm, allowing me a breath of relief.

DONG—!

The tremoring sound of a gong blasted the air in front of me in the next second. Rose used the force of sound waves to create distance between me and the sword, sending both parties flying.

King grabbed me from midair and slammed a ball into the ground.

Whiiiiing—!

There was an eruption of blinding light, and the three of us successfully defended against the warrior whose aura was in the early stages of rank C.

If it weren't for the clear signs of exhaustion apparent on the warrior's body, I would've been beheaded for sure.

'I really need more strength,' I cursed silently as another figure emerged from the fog.

Blonde hair and blue eyes just like her elder sister's, but a face that was starkly different. She was like a fox, cunning and sly. She stood at 5 feet 6 inches, with a body dainty and frail.

She was cloaked in a bloodstained bedsheet and wearing battle-worn garb. She had yet to find an opportunity to fix her clothes, creating a very skin-filled sight.

In her hands was a staff that held three dice within a transparent glass globe.

The [ Dice Staff ] had finally appeared before my very eyes.

"Camellia," I spoke, and Rose's head snapped back in surprise.

She had been ready to flee with all her might, but this sight was beyond her expectations.

"Sister?!" Camellia's surprised and high-pitched exclamation appeared in an instant.

"Sister?" The warrior's deep baritone voice questioned.

Camellia's expression went through many changes in that moment. Shock, relief, joy, fear, and nervousness. But she eventually settled on her previous ferocity.

"We'll talk as we run! Han! Sis! Follow me!" She commanded, "There are still a dozen more f*ckers after us!"

Then, she rushed past us, with the warrior Han in the lead.

"Follow them!" I added to Camellia's command, "King, we'll deal with the pursuers! Rose, support magic! Adapt to their fighting style!"

Thus came a battle on two fronts.

"There's no end to them!" Han paved a path through dozens of lives. He waded through the corpses he had cut down earlier. His blue scimitar gleamed with mana as it flowed in and out of his body.

"Just keep going! I'm waiting for the right spell!" Camellia's chaotic array of magic shot out sporadically. There were times when no magic came out at all and times when an immense beam of flames erupted from her staff. The unpredictability of the dice was both her bane and boon.

"Camellia! Don't roam too far from me!" A true symphony of music was being played by our crowd-controller, Rose. Zones filled with sounds barred both movement and balance, creating space and inhibiting our foes from wounding us. If not for the moving barrier of sound she had imposed upon our small group, my eardrums might have ruptured.

"If only the battlefield wasn't too chaotic, this might've been easier!" King cursed as he stretched his [ Specialisation ] to its limits. He dealt with those who pursued us, uncaring for those we ran into. He had put his trust in me to eliminate any threats to the groundwork that he was laying down.

A wide range of mana technology was utilised, slowly erasing our traces from existence. Soon, we would disappear into thin air with the push of a button.

I, on the other hand, kept silent. I was a blur of motion, obscured by the lights of magic and the swirling fog. I would flit in and out of the group, piercing into the vulnerable hearts of my foes, poisoning some and eliminating more with a burst of flames.

Even those who were above my rank, I cut down. With Rose's crowd-control and Camellia's wide range of attack, my life was made easy. I simply had to make use of pre-existing injuries to cut into their flesh.

Escape was just within our reach.