Chapter 279: Aftermath

- Pov: Quinlan -

"[Tidal Wave]" A wave of water materialized at my command and I sent it over the remnants of my Fireball. It's not ideal to start a wildfire in a giant forest that encompasses hundreds of miles of land.

A man's gotta take care of his environment. Otherwise, my chances of a normal romantic relationship with Seraphiel would also decrease into nothingness I fear. Her heart would shatter if I killed millions of trees and bushes and whatnot.

The body of liquid swept over the remnants of my Fireball, dousing the lingering flames as steam rose in its wake once the heat met the cooling water. The earth, once scorched and blackened, was quickly soaked, with embers sizzling out under the steady pressure of the wave.

The spell's reach wasn't overwhelming- more like a fast-moving stream than a roaring torrent. It was but a basic water spell of my Elemental Sovereign class, after all.

"How are you ladies faring? Let me know if it's too much. I can still send you back home." I said, letting them know that I understand if they feel sick in their stomach. After all, besides Ayame and Blossom, none of them had killed humans. At least, not since meeting me.

"I already killed humans while invading with the army." Seraphiel replied emotionlessly. She wasn't fazed, good. As the second highest leveled member I really wanted her to stay.

"Can you hug me?" Aurora asked, but before I could reply she was already nestled into my embrace.

"Was it hard, my plump princess?" Sёarᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Yes…" She replied while hiding her face in my chest, not wanting to look at the myriad of corpses in our surroundings. However, in the next moment, she shook her head as if arguing against herself. "No. I can't keep hiding. I have to save my parents, after all!" And with that, she disengaged herself from my warmth and gazed over the bloody forest floor.

By the time I glanced at the last woman I wanted to question she was already on the move. Lucille kneeled down at her executed opponent and began looking through her valuables. She grabbed a coin pouch and the Common rarity Longsword, then brought them to me. "Store them please."

I couldn't help but chuckle wryly. "Just what is your backstory, woman? I take it you face no mental issues, right?"

She lifted her helmet's visor, letting me see a wicked, happy grin plastered across her face. "I'm happy as can be. Ever since you strolled into my home and pummeled Ghost into the bed, giving my Mavena a firm, live sexual education the process, my life has been only getting better. Thanks for everything, truly." She finished her response by blowing a kiss my way.

"Stop fawning over him already… You're boosting his already sky-high ego to new heights." My Samurai protested, but we all knew to ignore her grumbling.

"It's time to loot, ladies. If you are not ready for this activity, keep watch on our surroundings instead."

We did just that, with Seraphiel and Aurora sitting this one out. I have a slight suspicion that our resident elf was just lazy instead of struggling with inner demons and abused my offer, but I gave her no trouble. Her laid-back, cool attitude was rather cute, in my opinion.

"What are your thoughts, my beautiful Blade? How did we do?"

She paused her hand movements that were about to reach into a pocket to think for a second. "They were below our level, but we did exceptionally, I would say. Scourge more than stood her ground, she outright demolished their ranks with Dream's buffing spells assisting her. You were also great, but Solace surprised me the most. Her weapon makes her rigid Healer build incredibly versatile." Find this and more on m-v lem|p-yr

"Yeah. We struck gold with her... However, something is bothering me."

"Hmm?"

"Her class. Healer class is stated to be given to righteous individuals by the Goddess when they pray to her in a temple. I don't know how much the Goddess will appreciate it if I keep one such individual as my slave."

Ayame giggled lightly. "I guess your soul is beyond salvation then."

I don't know how to react. Since when was she this cruel? Before I could begin complaining, she continued; "in all seriousness, this has been going on throughout our recorded history. She surely would've done something already if she minded. She can communicate with us through her Arch-Priests, after all."

Hmm. I guess that's correct. Anyhow, it's too late to worry now. I sure as hell won't return her to Marcus, neither will I free her, at least not for a very long while. Both because I would go bald from all the gold I would lose and also because I plan to wife her.

In the span of a couple of minutes, our loot gathering was completed. This ragtag group was made up of lowlives who were dreaming big. It's one thing to be ambitious like we are, but another to sign up for such a competition while running around in common gear and being level 12 on average.

"I reached 17." Ayame commented jovially while humming under her breath. I know that she was feeling slightly insecure about not only me, but Seraphiel being higher level than her. She accepted me rather easily, knowing I had my cheats on my side, but she really wanted to be my trustworthy second-in-command, thus she desperately tried to keep up.

Now that someone else turned up she felt a bit threatened.

I wouldn't demote Ayame just for something like this, but I also knew that she didn't want me to pity her. She likely wanted to stand next to me by earning it, by being my most reliable ally.

As for the haul, it wasn't anything noteworthy. The 24 corpses carried a total of 60 silver. It's understandable, though. Why would anyone carry their riches on them to a place like this? I was still a bit sad, though. I splurged insanely yesterday, so I wouldn't have minded seeing some beautiful golden shinies.

"[Warp Gate]" I summoned the portal and brought us back a few miles. We wanted to choose a different path than where the battle took place. Monsters could be converging there after hearing the sounds of battle and smelling the river of blood and charred flesh.