Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Fighting Back



Jett finally and slowly crawled out of the rubble that was meant to be his grave. Every part of his body hurt like crazy. He lay on the ground, thoroughly checking his injuries. "Argh, that really hurt. My arm's dislocated, and I've got a pretty deep wound in my abdomen."

The sounds of battle echoed in the distance, but luckily for him, no one was nearby. "A terrorist attack at a time like this? Who could they be? I don't remember reading anything about this in the book." He looked around and saw that everyone was holding their own. With their aid, the adventurers steadily subjugated the attackers one by one.

"First thing's first," he muttered, activating a skill.

[Regeneration A]

[Able to heal all physical injuries no matter how severe; cannot reattach severed limbs.]

"That's more like it." Jett watched as his wounds and dislocation slowly healed without any pain.

Feeling well enough to join the battle, he stood up. "My number one priority should be finding Freya."

[Tactical Mirage]

"Three on my right and one behind me. A four-man squad? No one's watching. I can go all out." He rushed towards them with the sword he had from the last quest, moving as though he had eyes everywhere.

He quickly stopped and blocked the first attacker from behind. "Don't get cocky just because I'm a kid."

"Keh keh keh, cocky you say? Well, you should never leave your back exposed!" the leader, who seemed to be in charge, yelled as they all closed in from different directions.

"Who said it's exposed?" A smirk appeared on Jett's face.

"What's so funny? Wait... Hold on..." The leader of the squad sensed something was amiss. "Wait, fall back!" He tried to warn his men as he stopped mid-attack and guarded himself.

"Too late," Jett stated with a deadly calm.

{Hell Fire}

Before they knew what was happening, they were engulfed in flames, their screams of pain the only thing left. The only person to survive was the squad leader, though barely; part of his right arm and face were rendered useless by the flames.

"Argh... I underestimated you, kid. But I'll kill you this time for sure." He still managed to hold his dagger with one arm.

Jett was amused that he missed one target. "Oh? Someone survived that? You must be skilled. Well then, why don't you try to kill me." He taunted him.

"I'm not that dumb. You just burned three men to a crisp without remorse. You don't seem to be an ordinary kid."

[Purple Mist C]

[Creates a miasma to reduce area visibility while slowly poisoning the target.]

The man hid well, unaffected by the mist, waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike. "You're my prey now."

"Pretty handy skill you've got there. It's actually worth taking," Jett yelled, pretending not to know his enemy's location. 'You're like a sitting duck as long as you're inside my mirage,' he thought proudly.

He finally saw an opening and went on the offensive. "Don't let your guard down, brat."

"How do you fall for the same trick twice?" Jett blocked his attack, his sword coated in aura.

"Wait, is that...?" the man asked, shocked by what he was seeing.

"Aura? Why, of course it is." Jett gave him a wicked smile. "It's time to end this." With that, he cut off the man's arms, rendering him useless in battle.

"Ahhhhhhh!" The man screamed in agony, lying on the ground bleeding. "I can't believe I lost to a snot-nosed kid. Go on, kill me."

"C'mon, what do you take me for? I still need some info from you," Jett admitted, musing aloud.

The squad leader broke into laughter. "Hahaha, you really are just a kid, thinking I'll tell you anything."

"We'll see," Jett smirked at him.

Ray and Evelina went on to search for Jett. "Jett! Where are you? Jett!!" they yelled, but got no response. They searched everywhere but couldn't find him. "Where is he?

I can't find him anywhere."

"Are you even sure he went this way?" Evelina asked as they searched aimlessly around the rubble.

Ray pondered on what to do next. "Hold on, I'm still thinking."

"Don't tell me he really didn't make it," Evelina shivered, fearing the worst.

"Who didn't make it?" Jett appeared behind her.

Evelina screamed as she ran to take cover behind Ray. "Ahhhh Ray, Ray, I just saw a ghost."

"Who, me?" Jett stood in front of them, confused and unscathed.

"Jett? Is that you?" Ray asked, also not convinced.

Jett looked around. "Umm, I think so. Is there supposed to be two of me?" He wondered why they were both spooked.

"Freya said you were in trouble, that you took the full blast of the explosion earlier and still got buried in the rubble." Ray looked at Jett from top to bottom, purely surprised. "How are you not hurt!?"

"Oh, right," Jett replied, realizing he originally had a deep wound around his stomach area.

Ray was all kinds of confused at this point, and Jett's nonchalant attitude only made it worse. "Oh right? Don't act like it's not a big deal. How did you even survive the blast?"

"We'll talk about that later. What's going on?" Jett looked away, trying to avoid the question.

"I'm not sure, but I think this attack was orchestrated just to get Freya," Ray voiced his thoughts on the matter.

"Freya? Where is she anyways?" Jett acted as though he was oblivious to the situation.

"Since you're alright, you can help us rescue her, no matter how small your battle prowess might be," Ray patted Jett on the shoulder as a form of assurance before calling on Evelina. "Evelina, you're up."

"Aye aye, captain," was her childish response with a salute before running ahead of them, followed by Ray.

'It really does hurt that he thinks I'm just that weak,' Jett thought to himself, half weeping, before joining them.

*****

"We lost a lot of good men just for this one girl? I ought to crack her skull right now." A heavily built man clad in the same dark cloak as the others ranted as he threw a wooden chair against the wall, shattering it instantly.

"Calm yourself; we need her alive for our plans to be achieved," a voice spoke from within the shadows.

"At least she's being compliant and not causing us any trouble," another added.

Freya sat helpless in their midst, chained to an iron pillar, not uttering a word, with only despair in her expression as her blood was slowly being sucked out by magic.

"But will this be enough? She is the Priestess of Light, after all, and also one of the Divine Lords," another asked, pointing at the chain they used to restrain her.

"It's more than enough," the voice from the shadows replied with horrifying laughter. "The revival of the master is upon us."

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Why didn't she try to fight back or escape? ┐( ̄ヘ ̄)┌

Well I hope you all like this chapte