Chapter 55: Saved by Homura and The Bloody Battlefield

"Damn it,"

My soul equipment dissipates into black flames with my crown that was still somehow on my head reverting to its normal form. I tried to stand up and fight back, but I was too tired to even stand up. Not even counting how I don't have a weapon.

If I try to fight them with my bare fists, there's no doubt I will get overwhelmed in an instance. As I lose hope I see a blue light head towards the bears.

FWOOSH

A blue flame incinerates the bears about to pounce on me. The heat was so intense I felt my skin start to burn. [Enhanced Regeneration] could barely keep up with the blue flames engulfing every bear in my sight. Their black and gold shadows roared in pain as they either melted or turned to ashes.

More bears filled their dead comrades' places as I saw Homura running towards me in the distance. Activating [Feral Claws] she tore through 10s of bears in an instant, staining my part of the mountain with dark red blood.

When a bear snuck past and lunged at me Homura shot a bullet of fire at the bear, turning it to ashes. This kept up for a while as the bears kept filling their places so Homura gave up on exterminating them all and decided to just get me out of here.

I was luckily still conscious due to the extreme pain in my thigh and arm so I had no trouble limping towards her. [Enhanced Regeneration] was slowed down immensely because of the poles stuck in my limbs. Pushing through hordes of bears, with [Feral Claws] and [Wisp Magic she finally arrived near me, kneeling.

"Arpious are you okay," Homura says kneeling next to me.

"Do I look like I'm okay…" I mutter.

"Maybe not…" she says, throwing me over her shoulders.

Dashing down As we dashed through the forest, we were continuously attacked by bears. It seemed like the number of bears hadn't dwindled at all, even though the queen stopped summoning them.

I told Homura to search for a place where the bears could be congested near the bottom of the mountain. And just like I expected, searching for about 5 minutes bore fruit as we saw a massive cave at the foot of the mountain.

She placed me on a tree branch where I lay there hoping for her safety. My [Enhanced Regeneration] already kicked in so the blood loss was minimal but the poles were still stuck in my thigh and arm.

…

『Status』

[Name: Arpious]

[Race: Dark Siren]

[Status: Near Death]

...

I have to finish this fast, Arpious's state right now is not optimal.

Jumping down from the tree I placed Arpious in, I made my way to the side of the cave. Multiple growls could be heard from inside. Soon 100s of bears poured out of the cave and then stopped. I looked back into the cave, seeing thousands of bears restlessly waiting to eat and rip apart something.

Hiding in the shadows I tried out the same movements I did when I was hunting as a tiny fox. It's called fox walk, you step forward landing with the tip of your toes first and then slowly stepping down. This creates little to no sound, perfect for hunting or stealth missions.

It's not like I did any stealth missions though…

Creeping in the shadows I had to step over a few bears that were sleeping. Drool littered the ground as I gagged from the rotting smell. Making my way to the very back, I searched for ledges to jump on in the cave, so I could put my plan into action.

Arriving at the very back of the cave where not that many bears roamed I found a platform within jumpable distance so I moved onto the first step of my plan.

Placing my palms on the ground, pillars of blue fire sprung from the ground, incinerating anything that it touched. Soon the cave was filled with roars of pain with the silhouettes of bears turning to ash in blue fire.

I quickly made my way out of the cave due to the smell of burning flesh made me puke my breakfast out. I arrived at the entrance to see the hundreds of bears that avoided my fire scattering throughout the [Forest of Poison].

...

"HOMURA IT'S FINE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO KILL THE REST, WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR WAY BACK QUICKLY!" I say, seeing that she was getting low on stamina and mana.

『Status』

[Name: Homura]

[Race: 4 Tailed Wisp Fox]

[Status: Servant]

[Level: 16/60]

[HP: 68/100 MP: 35/80 SP: 14/25]

…

"Did you kill the queen?" Homura asks, tearing one last bear apart with [Feral Claws].

"No, she got away…" I say with a bitter expression.

Homura doesn't respond, not trying to further anger me by trying to comfort me. She knows that I haven't really lost before besides now. A tie for somebody who wins all the time is a loss in their book.

We soon arrived out of the [Forest of Poison] where both of our jaws dropped. A fourth of my kingdom was turned to rubble as corpses littered the battlefield. My entire army was getting pushed back by the huge wave of bears.

I directed Homura to go to the back of the battlefield where our side was. The houses here were fine but if you look a bit further all you could see was a bloody battlefield. Even the air was slowly turning a red mist from all the blood.

Arriving there we saw a few leaders resting with troubled faces. Aika was also here with Yin standing right next to her. Looking around more I couldn't see Kumo so I assumed she was still fighting on the battlefield.

The most injured leader was Aiso who was littered with cuts and scratches, even a few bite marks on his body. Some elves were using magic that I assumed was [Healing Magic] since when they placed their glowing gold hands near his wounds, they slowly closed up. Even the dried blood on his body started to disappear.

"My queen!" Aimi calls out, seeing my endangered state.

Everybody in the resting area heard Aimis shout as they wanted to see what happened to me. I also feel a set of eyes look at me with killing intent. When I turn my head in that direction I see Yin pondering whether she could kill me right now and possibly escape.

tsk

Doesn't she know if she tries to kill me, she will instantly die or suffer?

Concentrating on the collar, I squeeze my hand as Yin starts to make choking sounds. When she saw me glaring at her with my tightening hand she dropped to her knees in fear knowing she messed up.

Loosening my grip, I could see Yin curled up into a ball, on the ground, muttering,

"I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back…"

Aika saw this and asked her what was wrong while reaching out with her hand. Yin was frightened and accidentally smacked her hand away with a panicked face. She then knew she messed up further, seeing my glare turn into a bloodlust-filled gaze.

She proceeded to start shaking while curling up in a ball once more.

As I had my gaze locked onto Yin she was soon masked by the massive crowd gathering around me with eyes of panic. Aimi tried to call over healers, but all of them were busy and if you interrupted the process then the wound could open up again, potentially being worse than before.

"Here, let me help," says a woman's voice that pushed through the crowd.

Appearing right next to me was an elf slim and tall with an above-average body. She wore all white clothes, with a staff in one hand, that had a purple stone on the end. She has a very beautiful face but not nearly as beautiful as Aika.

"I'm the healer in Akitos party, allow me to help," she says, slowly pulling out the goldenrod in my arm.

『Status』

[Name: Ichika]

[Race: Elf]

[Status: Nervous]

[Level: 37/50]

[HP: 80/80 MP: 78/100 SP: 40/40]

[Strength: 10]

[Defense: 10]

[Magic: 30]

[Speed: 25]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Wind Control] [Grand Healing Magic] [Intense Focus]

[Titles: [Grand Healer]

…

She was pulling it out too slowly so I smacked her hand away, frightening her. Ignoring her frightened expression, I did it myself quickly ripping the rods out of my thigh and arm.

"Half heal my arm and fully heal my leg," I order then wincing in pain.

"A-as you wish," the Ichika stutters.

A golden glow envelops her hand as she places it near my leg wound. The pain that was in my thigh, soon dissipated leaving only my arm left. As she moved onto my arm, I thought of a plan to get rid of the rest of the bears. Nothing came to mind besides one plan that could potentially kill me in the process.

Feeling most of the pain disappear from my arm I tell her,

"All right that's enough,"

Standing up I then think of evolving, which instantly displayed a notification in front of me.

[Would you like to evolve?]

Yes…