Chapter 80 - Aftermath (1)

Emersyn, who was leading the troops, stopped in front of a boulder. She signed at them and immediately paved a cave. She extended her hands and a huge brownish circle appeared and the boulder lost a part of its body. Then, she dug out an underground base for them to hide for the meantime.

Meanwhile, the people who watched her do her work were all stupefied. They hadn't witnessed anything like it before. She could command these natural resources with just a lift of her finger.

"... is she one of the heroes?"

"That can't be..."

They whispered against each other. After a long while, Emersyn finally finished and guided them inside the well lit cave. They were, once again, stupefied. The base was deep underground and the ceiling and foundation were rock solid; taking into account the chance a demi-dragon might be around where they were. Having settled a base deep inside enemy territory, Lance was somewhat glad about it. But, how about their supplies and escaping? This place might have just been their grave. He looked around the place as he sighed, looking at the bright faces of the knights and the others. Flora distributed the tents and they immediately set it up since they were exhausted and needed rest. After all, they lost a lot of members from that fight. The original number of Unit 1 of thirty, became fourteen. The others' numbers declined from two to ten members.

Earlier, they had another fight with three demi-dragons that they couldn't escape from, so they decided to fight it. The heroes kindly cooperated this time and they somewhat killed two while one escaped. They didn't chase that one and just celebrated internally before marching quietly once again. However, without their knowledge, Emersyn quietly took care of the escapee from afar.

"Rest well," Lance said as he let them enter their tents and get their well deserved rest. When he was sure that no one was out, he entered his tents alone and laid down on the soft blanket over a rag.

Emersyn suddenly appeared out of nowhere and went out of the base. It was dark and chilly, and there were millions of stars blanketing the night sky. She stepped on the grassy ground and immediately took off to eliminate any potential huge threats around five kilometers of the vicinity. There were a lot of surveying demi-dragons and she killed them while keeping her sword in her hand. When she thought that she killed enough, also leaving behind some for the group. She didn't mind leaving those behind since those would help them overcome their limits. Then, she went to the direction of the heart of the forest.

Meanwhile, back at the base, Flora was jittery as she waited for her master to enter their tent. However, no matter how long she waited, Emersyn never appeared. Morning came and she never got any sleep.

"My Lady?" Elodiaren called from outside. When he didn't get any response, he called once again, "My Lady? Are you awake?"

"... Master is not here..."

"What-"

"Master is not here!"

"Flora?! What happened?!" Elodiaren immediately opened the tent and saw Flora huddled close to the mattress, her teeth clattering.

"Master is not here!"

"... where did she go?" He asked gently.

"She didn't come back last night!"

"... what?"

"Master… Master..."

"Shit..." Elodiaren immediately went out of the base and tried searching for Emersyn's traces.

"What happened, Cone?" Korbin asked Elodiaren as he trained.

"Emersyn-"

"Ah… I haven't seen her since last night. What's wrong?"

"She's not here."

"Maybe she went out?"

"Her roommate said that she didn't return last night in her tent."

"Oh..."

"Wait, did you say that Emersyn went missing?" A gruff voice asked behind him.

"Commander," Elodiaren called.

"Hero Cone, is what you said true?"

"Yes."

"I guess… we have no choice but to advance without her help. Ronald, give me the map."

"Yes, Commander."

"We need to be more cautious than ever before. We are going to have a reconnaissance team prepared..."

Emersyn rubbed her chin as she saw a gigantic mana crystal floating at the center of the small lake. She could see demi-dragons drinking water from that very lake. It seemed like the cause of their huge vessels for mana was that crystal. Moreover, she could feel a huge, no, ginormous lifeform at the bottom of the lake. It was life threatening and might be a good ingredient for her breakfast.

When she flew towards the crystal, that lifeform revealed itself. It was a Leviathan. She didn't expect that at all, but she stopped flying and stared right back at the Leviathan's ice blue eyes.

"Hello," Emersyn greeted.

"..."

"I just wanted to look at the crystal---"

"You killed my servants."

"Well, yeah---"

"And you are a human."

"... are you saying that we have enmity between the two of us that can never be washed away with a simple kindness?"

"... yeah. Exactly."

"Then, I guess, you will be my breakfast today."

"This impudent---"

Before the monster could finish what it was saying, Emersyn was already before the Leviathan and perfectly positioned her arms and sword to quickly incapacitate the monster. However, the Leviathan had an unbelievably thick skin. Her attack could only grace a wound as it bled.

"..." the Leviathan shuddered from the first pain it felt.

"Hmmm… maybe my sword was a bit weak..."

Weak… weak?! That was the first time it got wounded from the day it was born! Enraged, the Leviathan roared loudly that shook the whole continent.

***

"What… just happened?" Lance mumbled as he heard a loud roar from the direction they were heading to. The demi-dragon they were fighting shivered as it collapsed on the ground. With that chance, they immediately struck it with fervor through its thick and tough skin to kill it while it was vulnerable.

Previously, they took around a few hours to take down one demi-dragon; but now, they could easily take down one in an hour. It was a huge difference from their previous battles. However, they lost a lot of people. From the original 120, they went down to 54. From that point on, they only lost zero to two people per battle.

But… these demi-dragons that weren't afraid of anything… was showing fear from that roar, shivering as they collapsed. Well… it was good if that made their enemies vulnerable, but if it is an opponent that was impossible to kill, then they were doomed. However, if someone was fighting it, then they couldn't do anything about it. Anyway, they decided to just wander around the heart of the forest and hunt more of these vulnerable demi-dragons.

***

The Leviathan's wound instantly healed and Emersyn whistled in astonishment. She rested her sword on her shoulder, quietly watching the dragon before her.

"A human dared wound me?!"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"You…!!!"

"Oh my! I'm so scared~ What do I do~?"

"Fu---" before it could finish its curse, it suddenly twisted its neck in fright and saw the human woman brandishing her new acquired weapon. The blade of the sword struck deep on its carapace and blue blood gushed out. The Leviathan roared and immediately summoned the water to strike the human. The water turned sharp like a blade and divided into more blades that chased after the human who kept on avoiding. Emersyn kept fending off the countless blades of water attacking her from all sides. She fended off most of them and the minority struck her hard skin.

The Leviathan's icy blue eyes widened. However, its surprise didn't last long. The lake's water rose and droplets of sharp ice formed and continued striking Emersyn as she slashed against the monster's attack. She just struck those that were aiming at her face and advanced steadily. This time, the Leviathan undid the ice shards as it came back into its liquid state and immediately froze the atmosphere along with the lake.

"Oh…," Emersyn mumbled as she watched this unexpected phenomenon. Soon, intense heat came out of her body and melted half of the frozen lake.

"You…"

"Yes, me," Emersyn chided.

"You will pay for this!"

"Do you even have any more skills to use on me?"

"..."

"None?"

"Heh. It is time."

"Time for what? For you to die?"

The Leviathan smirked then looked at the sky. Emersyn also turned to look and she could see a huge meteor coming right at her.

"I will take you down with me!"

Emersyn's eyes went wide and her mouth agape.

"Yes! That's the one I want to see in your face! Despair, human!"

"This can fetch a high price in my hometown..."

"?"

"Should I keep it whole or just shatter it?"

"What are you-"

A huge explosion came afterwards and the planet shook from its orbit.

The repercussions of the clash between Leviathan and the meteor was groundbreaking that it slightly changed the climate of the planet. Meanwhile, Emersyn, who changed the direction of the meteor towards the dragon, was safe inside her wings of darkness. Once the commotion died down, she unfurled her wings and silently descended down. She touched the meteorite with her index fingers and cracks immediately formed then the humongous piece of space boulder shattered. Despite the countless pieces of rocks, she could see the Leviathan buried under, unmoving.

She shrugged then collected the rocks as she waited for the fainted Leviathan to wake up.