“I survived… again.” Rei muttered, her heart clenching at the sight of her fallen comrades.

She was one of the few remaining Orange cores in the group. Unlike the others, she hadn’t made it this far through sheer luck, however. The other hunters had done everything in their power to protect her. Even the Yellows threw their bodies between her and the monsters, giving their lives for hers.

Because she was a medic.

The last surviving medic in the camp, in fact. She was arguably the third most important person left in the expedition, after Doh and Sol. And she hated it. So damn much.

She sighed.

Pushing herself to her feet, she walked up to the others. The blisters hurt like hell. Not that strange, after so many months of gruelling work. Just days of non-stop travelling, alternating with nights of harrowing battles…

And she knew she had it a little better than the others. Percy had given her a few healing potions, to help her patch up her injuries. She felt a bit guilty about it too. She was the medic here: this was the reason so many people had died to keep her alive: yet she had to rely on Sol’s friend to keep going. Of course, he’d handed the others some potions too, but not as many. He’d favoured her to thank her for earlier, and because they weren’t as effective on the high-borns.

Reaching the group, she looked at the other Orange cores, her gaze brushing over their tired features. If there was a silver lining, it was that there weren’t any injured people for her to tend to. Anyone the monster had touched was already dead.

“Are you guys sure you all want to go through with this?” she asked. “You understand there’s no going back.”

“We’re screwed anyway. What use is living for another day or two, before the survival of our people?” Fal replied.

The others nodded, though they didn’t say anything. They’d already made their minds up. And so had she.

She approached Doh. He was helping Sol and Percy to plant those green mushrooms of theirs on the last wyvern. The man paused upon seeing her, flashing her a questioning look.

“Boss, I’ve discussed this with the others. We think we should camp here for a day or two…”

Doh raised an eyebrow.

“Rei, I know you’re all tired: everyone is. But we can’t do that. The blood will attract more beasts, and we no longer have enough men to defend the camp. We need to keep moving.”

She shook her head. Sol had also stopped tending to the mushrooms at some point, her attention now glued to her.

“That’s what we’re counting on. If Sol relies solely on the Green carcasses, it’ll be a couple of weeks before she gets her new core. We’ll all get wiped out by then. What if we take a stand today, and plant the mushrooms on whatever Yellow beasts we attract?”

Doh’s eyes widened, but it was Sol who protested.

“We’ll get slaughtered! How is that better than waiting two weeks?!”

Rei chuckled.

“Prioritize your safety. You and the captain need to survive at any cost. If Latt and Sik make it too, that’s a bonus. The rest of us are disposable. Throw us at the monsters if you must. Plant mushrooms on our corpses too, if you think it’ll make a difference. Do whatever it takes to bring the technique back to our people.”

Having scouts and medics made sense at the beginning of the expedition: when there were still hundreds of them. Right now, the Orange cores were just holding Sol and Doh back. The high-borns would travel much faster without them. They’d make for less appetizing targets if they didn’t have to escort a bunch of weaklings through the forest. And they’d have an easier time escaping from a losing battle.

Especially since they were about to get stronger.

If things worked out, Sol could get her second core tomorrow. That would make her more powerful than a normal Green. And Doh would master Circulation in a few days. Protecting each other, they stood a real chance of reaching the lake. The return trip would be even harder, since they’d have to travel the whole way by themselves, but Percy and Sol would hopefully upgrade their spell by then.

It was a huge gamble, but it was their best shot at completing their mission.

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Strictly speaking, they should have done this weeks ago. They would have lost more people at the time, but they would have saved more later. It would have raised their odds of success significantly. Doh had probably thought of it, but he’d clearly chosen not to sacrifice them like that. This was why Rei and the other Orange cores had taken it upon themselves to volunteer.

“We won’t just abandon you! We can hold on for a couple more weeks!” Sol yelled, some tears rolling down her cheeks.

Rei smiled at her. Sol wasn’t the naïve girl she’d been when she joined the group. She’d matured a lot over the years. Rei knew Sol understood it was the only way: she just refused to admit it.

“Percy, can you do me a favour?” she asked.

“What is it?” Sol replied, though her tone was calmer.

“Nobody will blame you if it all fails in the end. You’ve already done plenty for us… But if it comes to that, make sure you get out of here. As long as you exist, our memory will live on, inside your soul. Never forget that.”

He nodded. Doh didn’t say anything either, tacitly agreeing with her plan. Even Sol remained silent, finally accepting this was the only way.

***

The beasts attacked earlier than usual.

Normally, they waited to do so under the cloak of darkness. But they seemed to have lost their patience today. Was it the smell of blood stirring their appetite? Or did they see them as easy prey: given how much the group had shrunk?

Either way, it didn’t matter.

It was a horde of lizards this time. Their smooth scales reflected the sunlight much like the trees did. It made it harder to stare directly at them, or to make them out from the background. At least, that would’ve been the case if the Melodians didn’t all have Soul Vision.

Luckily, there weren’t any Greens this time. Perhaps there weren’t any left in the area. Or maybe they were content to sit back and wait. But it lifted some pressure off the hunters for now. Only some.

Fal was the first to fall, a couple hours later.

It was a miracle he’d lasted this long, flinging spells with a single arm. Everyone fought tooth and nail, fully aware this would be the final battle for most of them. And that it could very well determine their world’s future. Sol and Doh slaughtered dozens of creatures, unleashing their terrifying spells all over the battlefield like a pair of grim reapers. The other Yellows picked up the slack whenever their leaders needed to rest. The other Orange cores simply tried to survive as long as possible, to keep some pressure off the high-borns.

But not Rei.

Technically, she could fight: it would have been strange if she couldn’t, after all this time. But she was probably the weakest in the group. Instead, she’d taken it upon herself to drag the carcasses behind the front line, to prevent the other lizards from snatching them up. She planted spores on them, hoping the mushrooms would grow on time.

Two more Orange cores died in the evening.

Everyone kept guzzling down healing potions to keep going: except Sol who couldn’t. At least, Circulation helped her ration her mana better. A few mushrooms were already beginning to sprout from the beasts’ orifices, and from the incisions Rei had carved into their bodies. But they were still tiny. They’d need several more hours to mature.

‘Will we even last that long?’

Counting the carcasses, Rei figured they’d killed around sixty or seventy Yellow lizards already. Unfortunately, Yellow beasts were much smaller than the Greens. The mushrooms didn’t just grow more slowly on their bodies: each carcass produced much fewer of them too.

They’d killed hundreds of Orange beasts too, but those were useless. It would be several days until any mushrooms bloomed on them, so Rei didn’t even bother planting any. According to their earlier estimates, they’d need at least a hundred Yellow carcasses to hit their quota. Only then would the one-day timer truly start ticking.

By midnight, all the other Orange hunters were dead, leaving only five people in the group: Doh, Sol, the two Yellows and Rei.

Doh and Sol couldn’t fight side by side anymore. They took turns, covering for each other as they rested for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the Yellows protected Rei, helping her tend to the carcasses. There was a veritable mountain of them behind her, which the surviving lizards were now eyeing with unconcealed hunger. It would have been impossible for her to guard it by herself.

The good news was that the lizards’ numbers had dropped greatly. They’d already amassed enough carcasses, so it was just a question of buying time now. There were only a few dozen beasts still besieging the group, with just ten Yellows among them.

Normally, either Sol or Doh would have been more than enough to take care of them by themselves. However, everyone was exhausted by now, and the creatures weren’t alone. At some point, their Green leaders had deigned to show up. Two of them. They didn’t look much different from their lesser kin. Just bigger. Faster. And far stronger.

Holding all the creatures back was a struggle for the survivors.

Doh was forced to spread his mana thin, deterring the horde of weaklings with lots of painful spells. He bought time for Percy and Sol to fight against the Greens, but it was still a tough battle for them, considering the numerical disadvantage. The others did everything in their power to guard the carcasses. If they got stolen, it would have all been for nothing.

It took an hour for the first of the Green lizards to fall under their sickles. By then, six more of the Yellow creatures had joined it too, along with most of the Oranges. Unfortunately, one of them managed to rip Sik’s throat out with its dying breath.

None of the survivors shed a tear though. Not because they didn’t care about their dead comrade: any of their dead comrades: but because they’d long run out of tears. They were too tired to mourn, and loss had become a constant in their lives for a while now.

The sun rose.

Finally, the second Green fell, the rest of the monsters soon following it.

No more creatures attacked either: at least, not immediately. This part of the forest must’ve been the lizards’ territory, so it should be a while until the neighbouring packs noticed their absence.

Plopping down weakly, Rei breathed heavily, her hand pressed against the deep gash on her abdomen.

She was experienced enough to tell this was it for her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep