Chapter 287 - A Magnificent Beast

"It's two hours now! What the hell? Where is he?" Alex twisted her lips, tapping her feet on the ground impatiently.

"It's a matter of life and death and this guy… offff!"

"What-"

Before she could finish her words, a small voice interrupted her. "Hello, sorry I am later."

Just as everyone turned around to look at the owner of the voice, they were immediately shocked. 

Liam was stumbling about, looking like he was going to faint and fall any time now.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Alex asked, forgetting to hide the big smile that was plastered on her face to see Liam in this condition.

Even if she wasn't pleased to see her own teammate in this condition, she still was glad that someone managed to put this guy in place.

Perhaps this defeat could even give him some humility and make him pleasant to work with. However, it was just wishful thinking…

No matter how much she looked at him, the guy did not look like someone who was just defeated or even narrowly escaped death.

He only had a big grin on his face even though he seemed dead tired.

While Alex was mentally scrutinizing the person from top to bottom… three people, Mei Mei, Mia, and Shen Yue, rushed forward at the same time to help Liam and support him so that he could balance himself.

However, three was a bit of a crowd, so their hands clashed and the trio lifted up their heads and locked their eyes onto each other, giving each other silent glares. 

"Mia!" Alex exclaimed as if she was just betrayed. The other onlookers were also equally surprised.

In the end, Mei Mei stepped forward and tugged at Mia, signaling her to leave Liam. "Sis Yue is enough to help brother. We don't need you."

Mia looked reluctant to let go. Nevertheless, she did not refuse and silently stepped away, leaving the two to support Liam.

Watching this, Alex rolled her eyes and the others turned to look at the trees and bushes as if they had not just witnessed what happened.

All the three women were scary, so they did not dare get on the wrong side of any of them. They could only silently wish they would be lucky enough to be in a situation like this one day.

Liam meanwhile, coughed a little and steadied himself. "I am fine. I am fine."

Shen Yue still did not let him go and held him tightly. She also checked him here and there for injuries. "Nothing happened. I just exhausted myself a bit too much."

"Oh? What were you doing? Is it something good?"

"You should have rested a little."

Alex blurted out and Mia as well spoke out at the same time, the two talking about completely different things.

Liam chuckled and then shook his head. "It's all good. Let's move. I can rest while we are traveling."

His fingers tapped the air in front of him, and soon a party request appeared in front of Mia. She quickly accepted it and then Liam sent her the location of the quest.

"We are going there." He mumbled and then collapsed on Shen Yue's shoulder, leaning on her. 

She wobbled a bit as it was too sudden and unexpected but she adjusted quickly, supporting him in a comfortable way.

"Are you okay, sis?" Mei Mei asked.

"Yes." Shen Yue nodded with a shy smile.

"Tsk. Tsk. Enough with this drama. Shall we start moving or not?" Alex shook her head and turned to start walking. 

"Damn. Too bad I couldn't get my hands on that guy. I would have liked to drag his ass on the ground all the way from here to Timbuktu." She chewed her lips and muttered in disgruntlement.

"Ignore her." Mia frowned. "Ok. You guys heard the boss, let's start moving. We need to reach the destination soon."

Everyone silently agreed and started walking, with Mia and Alex leading the way. 

Shin Soo, Kang Minah, and the group of Korean players covered the back and Shen Yue and Mei Mei were in the center with Shen Yue still supporting Liam very carefully and gently.

Apart from this, there were also ten other players who Mia had brought over from their previous guild. These ten players were part of their main guild group and were very trustworthy.

They had run all dungeons together and stuck together from the beginning up until now. So when Mia disbanded their guild, they had adamantly stayed back with her.

However, this respect they had was only limited to her, not even to Alex and much less to Liam. In fact, the majority of them were upset about their leader calling someone else boss.

Having personally witnessed Mia's performance as a battle priest, they doubted if this person who was being unconsciously dragged along by a woman would match her skills or even amount to half of it.

And also… 

Judging how their cold indifferent goddess was showing a bit of emotion when it came to the guy, they couldn't help but wonder about the rumor that was going around right now.

Did the two sisters really sign a slave contract?

But they knew that this couldn't be true as Alex was still being Alex. So probably there was no mind control or anything of that sort?

Just as they were thinking about this, Mia suddenly stopped and turned around. She gazed at Liam's unconscious figure and then touched a small tattoo on her hand.

Shen Yue was immediately alarmed. Were they going to do something now? 

"What are you-" She opened her mouth and the next second, wind whooshed in front of her and a huge white tiger materialized out of nowhere.

It was a magnificent beast with golden and silver stripes covering its body. Just the mere presence of the animal was breathtaking.

It struck awe in the hearts of those who were already familiar with it and it struck fear in the minds of those who were seeing it for the first time.

Shin Soo, Kim Hyun, Kang Miah, and Cheng Hee stood frozen, utterly shocked to their core. They did not how to act or what to think now. 

This was their first time seeing such a powerful beast with an aura like that of an unrivaled emperor. So they simply stood staring at it.

But Shen Yue and Mei Mei were faster to react.

They had dealt with more powerful elites because they had the two golems fighting for them. They in fact camped and killed the same elites again and again.

So they were able to act immediately.

In a fraction of a second, Shen Yue dropped Liam behind her and stood protectively in front of him. 

Her daggers were drawn out and she was about to activate her most powerful skills [Distract] and [Mesmerize]. 

These were less effective on the same gender, but even then they were powerful and Mia was the strongest opponent here, so she did not hesitate and directly went to those.

However, before she could activate, Mia raised her hand and signaled her to stop. "WAIT. WAIT. SLOW DOWN."

Alex also chuckled sarcastically. "Heh. No one is going to hurt your precious boyfriend, darling. It's just a mount, a ride. She is trying to help you."

Shen Yue looked shifted her gaze from Mia to Alex and then to the tiger who was now purring and smiling like a small cat, getting head pats from the ice goddess.

She immediately became embarrassed. "Sorry, I just…"

"It's fine, sis Yue. No need to apologize." Mei Mei snorted coldly, still looking at the two with her big eyes full of suspicions.

Mia did not say anything and simply walked forward to help Liam from the ground, but Shen Yue stopped her again. 

"Trust me. This is for the best. If we meet some unexpected company on the way, we need all hands on deck, including a strong fighter like you."

"Besides, he trusts me… now… so you should as well."

Shen Yue remained silent for a second and then nodded. She saw no reason not to accept Mia's words. 

So she personally lifted Liam to place him on the tiger in a very gentle manner.

However, she was still wary of the beast and only let him go when she was sure that it was not violent and it wouldn't harm him.

"Shall we now leave?" Alex snorted in disdain at all of these lovey-dovey acts. 

Each and everyone was behaving as if the damned jerk was some benevolent magnanimous hero who saved an entire world. Why all this fuss?

She wanted to see if she could give a couple of kicks to the unconscious guy but the two women were watching him like hawks so she did not get any chance to get close to him.

"Well, whatever.." She gave up and continued keeping an eye on their surroundings as the group together moved to the location of the quest.