Leon looked back. He decided to stay at the very back of the line so he could protect the ladies more easily.
When he turned his head, Leon found the three human-like creatures with large, muscular bodies still running after them. However, one thing he noticed was their incredible speed.
'In this case, they will soon catch up with us.'
The ice wall that Kiara created could hold them back for quite a while. It took the three creatures a few seconds to destroy them and within that time Leon, Kei, Haru, and Kiara had dashed swiftly. Luckily they had leveled up a few days ago so their speed wasn't too pathetic.
However, it was obvious that the strength of the three creatures was superior to them. So no matter how fast they run, it won't matter.
Leon looked at the map on the side of his vision. Their distance from Clyde was still quite far. They wouldn't get there fast enough before the creatures arrived.
"Kiara!" Leon shouted. Kiara turned around. "Use your ice to pinpoint our location!"
Kiara who turned her head finally realized how dire their situation was when she saw the three creatures approaching at an alarming speed.
Kiara nodded because she understood what Leon meant.
After seeing Kiara nod, Leon stopped and took his stance. The short sword gripped in his hand tightly; he clenched his jaw and activated his skill.
Leon felt energy start flowing through his body and making every millimeter of his body harden. Then Leon dashed towards the three creatures.
'At least I'll be able to stall for a bit.'
The three creatures looked at Leon who was daringly approaching them with stern expressions. The three of them had already felt a burning rage upon learning of intruders in their master's domain and now he chose to challenge them. So it was natural for the three of them to put up a tough fight with the intent to kill.
The muscular creature in the middle screamed and jumped. It fell while clenching his fist to smash it toward Leon.
Leon of course saw that. He jumped back a few meters and let the huge fist hit the ground where he had been standing.
*BOOM!*
The ground cracked, and a loud thud and tremors were created as the huge fist landed. Leon gulped at the sight of the destructive power the creature was causing.
When Leon looked up, he saw that two other creatures had rushed towards him with the same murderous look. Leon steeled his heart and channeled more Mana into his body.
The fists of the two creatures shot out simultaneously from Leon's right and left. Knowing that he couldn't avoid the punch that fast Leon raised his arms.
*DAKKK!*
*DAKKK!*
The two fists hit Leon's arm, causing him to grit his teeth and let out a grunting sound. However, the damaging effect that he expected was not that bad. Those two fists were strong but not something he couldn't handle.
The two creatures looked surprised when they saw that their fists did not immediately crush Leon. But Kiara didn't give them too long to be surprised; she had already thrown two ice balls toward their faces which instantly froze when they made contact with their skin.
Haru came a moment later, with her extraordinary agility and speed she had arrived before the large creature on the right side in the blink of an eye and immediately slashed her daggers towards its neck. Haru wasted no time and shot towards the large creature on the left and did the same.
Leon immediately followed up by swinging his sword from left to right, slashing both creatures simultaneously.
The two creatures let out loud pained sounds and tumbled backwards.
Seeing that the two of its friends were injured, the creature that had swung its fist at the ground became furious. It is charged with a ferocity greater than before.
Seeing that, Haru immediately moved backward behind Leon. Leon who knew his role lunged forward to face the creature head-on.
Haru, Kiara, and Kei decide to join the attack after Kiara creates a huge tower of ice that rises above the trees. Under that sunlight, the ice tower would reflect the sunlight so it could pinpoint their location. Now all they have to do is wait for their friends to arrive.
~~~
"What's that?" Wiley asked when he saw a tower of ice suddenly form in the distance.
Rosie, Albert, and Lola immediately turned their heads. They had the same confused faces as him.
"It's Kiara's!" Lola exclaimed. "That's the tower she created with her ice!"
"But why did she suddenly create a tower that tall? Aren't we supposed to be sneaky?" Wiley asked.
"Unless. She has no choice," Albert said.
They exchanged glances and let the realization come.
"Shit," Wiley said.
"We have to go to their place," Albert said.
They immediately ran towards the ice tower reflecting the sunlight. However, before they could take any further steps from where they were, three muscular humanoid figures that were approaching Leon's group landed in front of them.
"Fuck!" Wiley cursed loudly.
"Intruder! Tell me who your master is!" the being in the middle asked in a hoarse and deep voice.
"Our master?" Albert said, thinking. "We come from one of the powerful Celestials."
Wiley, Rosie, and Lola all turned to look at him. Their expressions seemed to ask 'What are you trying to do?'
Then Albert glanced at them with a look that seemed to be telling them to strike at the right time when they saw their chance.
How could they know the meaning of each other's gazes? Of course, they've been together for a long time. So they feel almost able to communicate telepathically with each other.
"Who is that Celestial?!" the creature asked again, this time with a louder voice and a sharper look. It made Albert feel that his decision was wrong.
On the other side was the tower that seemed to keep calling them closer. Albert felt that he could no longer buy time for this.
"We don't mean any harm, you know," Albert said. "We just want to visit."
"Visit? You want to spy on our master's domain?" the creature asked again curiously.
Albert raised his hand, showing the gesture that he meant no harm. Then he walked closer.
"We just wanted to see your volcano. That looks like an interesting sight," Albert said.
Suddenly, even though he just said it casually there was a change in the expressions of the three creatures. Their faces and eyes seemed more... relaxed after hearing Albert's words of praise.
Wiley, Rosie, and Lola also noticed the change. They immediately concluded that this was the right time to start acting. The three of them began pouring Mana into their respective weapons.
'Looks like these three creatures don't have high intelligence.' Albert thought as he walked closer to them.
"Yeah, your volcano is very beautiful. Can I go there?" Albert asked with a smile to add a peaceful impression on his face.
The three huge creatures stared at each other. Albert was now at a really close distance from them.
*SWISH!*
He took out his daggers from inside his sleeve and then jumped when the three creatures were averting their eyes from him. With a quick movement, Albert slashed his daggers toward the neck of the large creature in the center.
*SRATT!*
Blood splashed on Albert's face. The two creatures on the right and left had shocked faces seeing what was happening. However, before they could do anything, Lola's and Wiley's arrows had already lodged in their eyes. The two of them immediately staggered because of the sudden attack.
The creature in the middle was holding its neck with its large hand, trying to stop the blood that was continuously gushing out. It stared at Albert with eyes burning with rage. And then it slammed its fist towards him.
However, Albert had activated his Skill and made his body transparent. The big fist just passed through his body and hit the ground, causing a small earthquake.
The fight is inevitable. The two groups now faced the same fate and they couldn't move to help each other as they were preoccupied with their own enemies.
Meanwhile, while the others had started fighting the enemy, Clyde, Samuel, and Leyan were still submerging themselves in the boiling water pond. Their bodies had gotten used to the hot water and now they were more relaxed, as if they were bathing in ordinary warm water.
Even so, they were still aware of the task they had to do.
"Just a little more," Samuel said impatiently.
In their vision, their power of system is displaying a progress bar that has reached 90%.
[ The process of purifying and absorbing heat energy is underway. ]
[ Progress: 90%. ]
However, their anxiety was heightened by the presence of three large, brown-bodied muscular humanoids.
"Ah, shit. Can't they just wait a little longer?" Leyan said in an irritated tone.
The three creatures were so angry when they saw them soaking in their sacred pond. They didn't even bother to ask their master and immediately rushed to attack.
Luckily Clyde, Samuel, and Leyan had brought their weapons into the pond.
~~~