Gale took the Breath back in. What Rachel saw was a predator, and it wasn’t one of the normal kind that had hulking muscles and slight intelligence. It was something different, as its legs looked more like elongated horse legs and a slimmer torso.

He could take it on by himself. That would allow the group to defend the convoy if the beast ever runs through him to attack the weaker links.

Gale looked into Rachel’s eyes.

“What?” Rachel asked.

No. Fighting it alone wasn’t the answer. Being alone, he could run away when things got bad, call it a day, and try again tomorrow. However, they only had one shot at killing the beast. No second chances.

“You’ve been staring for a while, everything ok in there?” Rachel tilted her head.

“The man’s thinkin’. Let the man think,” Ollie said.

“Yes, clearly something you need to do as well,” Annett elbowed Ollie.

“Earth to Gale. Did you think of anything?” Rachel asked, tugging at his sleeve.

Gale nodded.

“It’s uhh,” he said. “Something I call a predator. This one’s fast instead of muscular.”

Rachel put a hand on her chin. “Alright, any ideas on how we kill it?”

“We might need to test it and retreat back to the stone tower,” Gale said.

“That’s risky,” Rachel said. “Worst-case scenario is that it follows us to the stone tower. If that thing underneath is gone, they might get brave enough to just cross the border.”

“Well, it ran away when it saw Rachel earlier, right?” Ollie chimed in. “Could be biding its time for something, and that’s totally creepy for a beast.”

“It might’ve been following from afar all this time since we got near the stone tower,” Annett said. “You never know.”

“I say we need someone to act as bait.” Rachel turned her head to Annett. “Think you can do it?”

Annett crossed her arms, avoiding Rachel’s eyes. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, obviously scared to do what she’d been asked to do.

“I’ll-,” Gale started.

“No. I’ll do it.” Annett cut him off.

“Are you sure?” Gale asked.

“I’m sure,” Annett sighed. “I’m probably the best option anyway.”

“Trust her, Gale,” Rachel said. “We’re a team.”

That’s right. They’re a team. Each one carries their own weight. Hopefully, Annett doesn’t get hurt from being a bait. Not because he cared or anything like that. He just didn’t want to see her get hurt. Definitely.

“Alright, that’s settled.” Rachel turned to Ollie. “I’ll be on fallback. Block the route to the stone tower just in case. I’ll be on the lookout for smaller beasts. Ollie, you pick off stragglers if any. Annett walks in looking as innocent as she can into the forest, and then…”

All eyes turned to Gale. “I’ll take it down,” he said.

“Good. Take it down as fast as you can while it’s distracted by Annett.” Rachel said.

Yeah. This plan should work, and no one gets hurt as long as he takes down the predator as fast as he can.

“Remember,” Rachel said as they prepared to move out, “Don’t hold back. End it quickly. The longer we fight, the more monsters will come. Stick to the plan, it’s short and simple. Ready?”

Gale nodded, his grip tightening on the bone saber.

Annett stepped forward. “I’m ready,” she said.

Rachel gave her a nod, then turned to the others. “Everyone knows their roles. Let’s do this.”

Annett stood in front of the edge of the forest and the stone tower. There was a clear line that divided the border. One side had shorter grass, the other side had much longer grasses that almost looked like underbrush.

“Remember,” Annett said to herself, “Just act natural. We’ve got your back. Just go in there and look like an innocent girl ripe for the taking, they said.”

Taking a deep breath, she took her first step outside of the border. She walked deeper, passing the first tree, and then the second and third trees, until the trees blocked the view of the stone tower.

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout,” Annett mumbled, passing over a large rock. “Here is my handle, here is my spout.”

She reached a clearing with a large patch of dirt. Hoof prints covered the patch, going everywhere.

“When I get all steamed up, hear me shout.” Annett bent down to examine the dirt. She pretended to look at the dirt, rubbing her fingers on it. “Tip me over and pour me out…”

Suddenly, her head snapped to something that looked like it was flying through the trees. The creature emerged from the shadows, too fast for her to see.

“Ahhh!” she screamed in a high pitch.

The beast had its maw open right in front of her. Its body a twisted mixture of a horse and a snake, with patches of scales and short horse fur all around its body.

“Now!” Rachel shouted.

A fireball flew between Annett and the predator, just inches away from either one. The beast immediately bolted in the opposite direction of where the fireball came from.

Gale was already there, sabre already in mid swing at the neck. The beast swerved. Blade missed by just a couple of millimetres.

The predator lunged at Gale. Sabre’s edge met against the blunt hooves. Hands numb.

Three gunshots barked. Bullet trails whipped and curved through trees. Bullet holes planted themselves into the predator’s thighs. Ineffective. Not even a flinch.

The predator ran. Through the trees, it disappeared almost instantly.

“It’s running!” Ollie shouted from a tree branch.

“Chase it and end it quick!” Rachel yelled over her shoulder, disappearing into the treeline. Annett and Ollie followed suit without hesitation.

Wait. This was fishy.

He wanted to call out, but they were already gone. Gale followed, making chase. Something about this didn’t feel right.

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The predator led them on a winding path. One moment, it was through a steep downhill. The next was through a field of felled smaller trees. And then lastly, jumping a small cliff into a clearing.

Rachel went first. Wild flames covered her fist, Annett and Ollie just behind her.

She took a stance and punched the air, hurling a fireball to where the fleeing predator was.

Suddenly, a muscular predator of enormous proportions burst into the clearing, barreling down to Rachel tiny form. It was an enormous, fat 4 garbage trucks of muscle.

Gale launched himself to intercept. Just before it rammed into Rachel, he punched it straight in the head. Its trajectory changed slightly, missing altogether. His right arm was completely numb after.

“Fall back!” he shouted. The larger predator was already getting up, slow but steady.

Rachel fell back to the treeline where its harder for a large being to maneuver. Taking another stance, she punched the air, sending a wave of fire.

It hit the side of the larger predator. However, its thick reptile like scales didn’t even look slightly burnt.

Ollie fired a burst of three bullets at it, all aimed at the same spot. Its scales pinged with three metallic dings. Bullets bounced off like it was nothing.

Annett dashed in, spear forward. She struck through in between the scales. The tip got lodged, and with a quick shake of its body, the shaft of the spear snapped off.

The plan they had laid crumbled. Everyone now fought for survival. Gale narrowly dodged an overhead swipe from the larger predator. His right arm still felt numb. He could barely hold on to the sabre. Ollie backpedalled to avoid the swinging tail. Annett ran back to the treeline, then translucent yellow energy spread from her hands to the larger predator. Rachel fired off more fireballs at the armour.

Nothing was working. If he didn’t need to save Rachel, he would be able to hold on to his sabre properly.

“Stall for time!” Gale shouted.

Everyone nodded.

“Create a firewall!” Ollie shouted.

Rachel took another stance. Her leg dropped onto the ground as she thrust her palm. A wall of fire tore through the ground between the large predator and where Gale had sat down.

Gale took out another piece of cloth. Come on, you fucking piece of shit. He wrapped up his right hand, tying it tightly on his sabre.

“Slow down the fast one!” Ollie pointed at a branch.

The slim predator pounced from the branch. In mid air, it was enveloped by a yellow light. The change turned its movement to look like it was underwater.

“Herd them together!” Gale shouted.

Rachel shot out a fireball at the slowed slim predator. The fireball aimed just further into the treeline rather than directly at the beast. Sidestepping, the slim preadtor moved inwards into the clearing.

Ollie’s pistol barked twice towards the slim beast, bullets aimed for the hooves. Even with the slow applied and homing effect, the bullets missed. But it did the trick.

The slim beast retreated even further, nearer to the larger one. Then, out of nowhere, a low rumbling roar came from the larger predator. The enormous beast charged at Rachel.

She jumped back, not before sending two punches of fireballs onto where she jumped from. Fire engulfed the large beast. It retreated backwards.

“I can’t hold this much longer,” Rachel gritted her teeth.

This needed to end.

“On my signal,” Gale called out, “Rachel, drop the flames. Ollie, aim for the eyes. Annett, with me.”

Gale took a deep breath, centring himself. Time seemed to slow as he focused on the predators, reading their body language, anticipating their moves. Then, as the two beasts retreated to each other just close enough.

“Now!” he shouted.

The wall of fire vanished, plunging the clearing into sudden darkness. The predators, momentarily blinded by the change back to darkness, hesitated for a crucial second.

Ollie’s two bullets streaked through the air, homed in, and found their mark, striking both of the larger predator’s eyes. The beast reared back, whining. Annett fully concentrated her time-slow on the slimmer beast.

Gale moved.

Rachel sent a few more fireballs to the side of the slimmer predator, herding it closer to the bigger one.

Gale launched himself off a tree. His blade became a blur as he spun. Tied cloth holding steady. Focused Phase Touch on the edge activated. The sabre whistled through the air.

Just before the predator dodged, two more shots rang out. The slowed slimmer predator hesitated.

The spinning form’s sabre connected with the slimmer predator’s neck. Decapitated head sent into the air. Blood sprayed outwards.

[Tainted Forest Predator felled.]

[The royal guard had sworn to protect her Lord’s land even through the chaos and blight. Only by succumbing to the taint could she continue protecting.]

[Extracting Origin from Prey…]

The grains of light immediately entered him. His hand recovered just as the cloth was already torn to bits from the stress.

The larger predator roared another deafeningly low rumble. It charged blindly at where Gale was about to land.

Rachel unleashed a torrent of flames directly into the predator’s face. The beast covered its head, stopping its charge mid-motion and skidding on the forest ground.

“Together!” Gale shouted, charging forward.

Annett focused her slow on the beast. Ollie’s shots found their mark on the creature’s joints, making the beast flinch. Rachel’s flames kept it disoriented, unable to mount an effective defence.

Gale’s focused Phase Touch sabre struck true at the beast’s forehead. The beast convulsed before falling with a loud thud onto the ground.

[Tainted Forest Predator felled.]

[Loyal till death and loyal to his beloved, he swore to protect both even if he had to give in to the taint to follow both.]

[Extracting Origin from prey…]

Silence fell onto the clearing. Each of the group members heaved, trying to catch their breaths. The group stood there, weapons still raised.

“Is it… is it over?” Annett asked.

“It’s done,” he confirmed, turning back to the others.

Gale approached the fallen predator cautiously, even though he already knew that the beasts were dead. The system had told him so. Can’t hurt to be extra careful.

The rest of the group made an audible sigh of relief.

“That was… intense. Like it was literally hot because of the flames,” Ollie forced a laugh.

Rachel nodded, panting, her eyes still narrow with adrenaline. “I’ve never pushed fire that much before.”

Gale gulped as his eyes darted between the two beasts. If he had come out here alone, he was for sure dead. Two against one. One fast, one bulky. Without the other’s backup, there would’ve been no second chance of running away and coming back for revenge.

“Lennard is definitely wrong,” Annett smiled weakly, turning to Gale. “Everyone needs each other to get through all of this.”

Fuck Lennard. Even if that asshole hated him, he’d still protect him. His gratitude wasn’t necessary.

“Gale…” Rachel came a step closer to him. “Sorry. I made a bad call.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Gale asked.

Ollie and Annett shook their heads.

“Did we win together?” Gale looked into Rachel’s eyes.

The air rose in temperature as Rachel nodded.

Even if he was frustrated at how they chased blindly, what mattered was that Annett wasn’t hurt. No one ever wanted to be blamed for just trying to do what’s best. What mattered was that no one got hurt, except maybe his hand, but that’s beside the point.

“We should head back,” Gale said. “The others will be worried, and we don’t know what else might have heard the fight.”

The group nodded in unison.

“But wait, should we bring back any of these?” Rachel asked.

“It’ll slow us down.” Gale said. The point is no longer to fight back, but to get to the exit.

“Okie,” Rachel said. “Where to?”

She had the right question. They had chased not knowing where they were going.

“This way.” Gale led the group back to the stone tower. Dad always said, each time you pass by anywhere in the woods and even in the city, memorize it like it was your backyard.

Soon enough, the group emerged from the treeline. Battered, exhausted, and most importantly, alive.

Lennard pushed his way to the front, his eyes widening as he saw the blood and scorch marks that covered the group.

“What happened out there?” he yelled.

Gale opened his mouth to respond, but Rachel beat him to it.

“There were two of them. Big muscle one, fast smart one,” she said. “And we won.”

The crowd murmured at her reply.

“How?” a man asked from the back of the group.

Ollie stepped forward. “Teamwork. How else? You guys thinking we got magic bullets that magically kill the magic beasts?”

“But you do have magic bullets,” Annett commented.

Ollie grinned.

“And what about next time?” Lennard raised his voice. “What happens when we face something even worse?”

“Then we’ll face them again, with teamwork,” Gale stepped forward this time, chest out.

Lennard stepped backwards. The murmurs soon died down from that declaration. Each of the convoy members left to their own resting areas. Looks like the firmness in his voice had took the old man down a notch, at least for now. Not sure how long that’ll last.

“We’ll be leaving in a bit,” Rachel told the convoy. “Everyone, rest for a bit while we get a move on.”

Gale felt his muscles ache, especially his right arm. Even as he got the two origin extractions, punching that beast bare handed probably did a number on his bones.

Just as he was about to go to his resting area, he felt a warm hand placed on his shoulder.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep