It was a foggy morning. Hazy light bloomed everywhere. In that mist, a group of adventurers carefully walked down the riverbed. The flora glowed, pulsating; nothing was out of the ordinary.
Turen wouldn't usually suggest hunting like this, but it was different this time around. They'd usually be able to hunt crystal drakes of this caliber, but it usually wasn't worth the effort.
At this party, Jua had the most output; she knew that. Her lover, Jan, though very skilled despite his permanent injuries to his mana foundation, was not able to conjure as much mana as he once used to.
Hearing something, her ear twitched, her grayish-blue eyes shot toward the direction of the sound—it was a small creature. It glared at her before skittering away.
Then her eyes brushed upon the youth they'd taken with them. Ailz Mittra. They all knew it wasn't his real name; it was the same regarding Selene. But whether they're siblings—she couldn't tell.
I had my doubts about him… but the day before when that "girl" appeared… I couldn't stop thinking about it, she thought.
Jua didn't know what to make of Ailz at first. She figured he was a decent mage who lacked the experience, which was why the Guildmaster Ateles suggested that he temporarily join the party.
They'd be compensated for whatever the loss he'd cause during the venture, but… Turen didn't see it that way. He was… more open to others, so to say. For him, it was like coaching a junior.
But after yesterday, everything suddenly made sense to her. The guildmaster, the saint-lookalike, and Erda with the military's reaction to them. She was sure, this youth before them was none other than Saint Amethely's fiancé.
As a fan of hers, there is no way I'm that easily fooled! Jua exclaimed in her mind. Still, his name is unknown, but he's a wanderer, huh? No wonder I thought he seemed oddly clueless for someone who'd supposedly attended a military academy.
"…"
But… I'm starting to think they suit each other—wait… he's a wanderer, but Selene doesn't act like one… if she's not his sister, who is she? Was he perhaps adopted into a family? Hm… that's the most probable case. Then again… it isn't my place to pry.
..
All morning after they headed out, Alum noticed Jua's subtle glances here and there. Uncertain of the reason, he concluded that he probably didn't fool anyone in Night Ouen.
If it were complete strangers, it would've likely come across as a strange coincidence, but with the Guildmaster's direct involvement as well as prior knowledge that he was related to the military… Meeting Amethely was just solid proof.
Still, they didn't treat him any differently.
"Shh…" Jan suddenly stopped. He touched the ground, and his ear twitched a little. "They're just up ahead—"
As he was about to finish his words, the mist began to glow orange. Turen raised his shield, dug it into the ground, and activated a directional barrier as Nuli surrounded them with an additional one.
Both Jan and Jua materialized their divine weapons. The fireblast lasted a few seconds before coming to an end. The mist around them was hotter, the ground around them was molten.
"In position!" Turen exclaimed.
Jua nodded, Jan readied himself, while Alum took a few steps back.
Taking out a special arrow from her void storage, Jua drew her bow and shot it toward the sky—with a loud thundering blast, it blew away all the mist in the vicinity.
Turen and Jan rushed toward the massive tortoise-looking drakes as Jua crystallized mana into arrows, waiting for her next opportunity.
The three behemoths were like walking fortresses. Massive, slow, and incredibly tanky. Most C-rank parties could take them on, but it was arduous work, not often worth it considering how badly the materials were damaged in the process. And so, damaged crystals were essentially useless since there was no repairing or melting them down, as was the case with metal.
"HAAAAAWN!" one of the crystal drakes roared.
The others began to run and curled into a ball, slowly gaining momentum as they rolled. Intending to stay behind, the largest one faced them.
"Ailz, prevent their escape!" Jua exclaimed.
Alum nodded, "Affirmative," and raised his hand. Instantly, massive walls blocked them from fleeing as they crashed into the massive ice construct—THOMB! The ice shards shattered everywhere.
Stunned and rolling on their back, their clubbed tails glowed, exploded as they smashed the ground, flipping them over on their feet.
The largest one raised its legs, stomping the ground and causing pillars of fire to burst out of the ground.
Jan effortlessly dodged. Turen blocked the attack and was sent into the sky, later caught by Nuli's barrier.
"…"
Like Jua, Alum needed an opportunity for a clean kill while keeping his companions safe. Simply throwing powerful spells at the beasts would lose them, Lech, and time. However, if it were merely a commission to kill, once frozen, a solid 10 minutes inside [Brittle Tomb]—a cold blizzard of nano-bladed ice would render them as crystalline powder.
Jan got to the side of the large beast—an explosion ruptured beneath its feet as it whipped its tail. With pressured winds beneath his feet, Jan jumped into the sky. The other two beasts channeled a scorching breath attack into the air.
"Jan!"
Reacting swiftly, Turen threw Jan the shield as he was outside of Nuli's effective range. Blocking just enough of the attack to push himself to the side so not to get steamed alive.
Crystal Drake A completely stopped its spin, wobbling a little, while B and C stopped their combined attack to cover for their disoriented comrade.
"Tch… missed my chance," Turen clicked his tongue.
He was about to attack Drake A, but was blocked by B and C's breath attacks. Nevertheless, Jan seized the opportunity and used [Shadowstep], diving into the shadows beneath them and popping up underneath Drake B.
"Jua, Ailz," Jan's voice echoed in the shadows, his dagger swirling with high-speed winds.
Both Alum and Jua shifted their attention from Drake A for a moment—Jua readied her arrow. Her mana exploded as disintegrating lightning crackled. Nuli prepared a sound field, ready to activate it the moment Jua was ready to fire, while she blocked the breath attacks.
Alum understood that the underside of the drake's neck had the least amount of armor. Jan presumably didn't have enough mana to sustain himself if he executed it. Alum could try pushing it up with ice pillars, but controlling and levitating tons of ice was different from using it to indirectly push.
The surface area is too small for a favorable outcome, but if I block all the pathways, the pressure should suffice—Jan should then escape the force with [Shadowsteps].
"Jan, get out the moment you unleash the thrust!" Alum exclaimed.
"Got it!"
"Nuli," Jua said calmly.
"Ready," Nuli replied.
Alum nodded, then, in a decisive move, he created two pillars. Drake B's head was stuck between, and then two additional pillars rose under the drake and in front to trap and generate as much pressure as possible.
Oh? I see, Jan noted as he was surrounded by ice.
Finally, he thrusted the swirling blade upwards—KABOOOM! The attacked cratered so much thrust and draft that the ice ruptured; shards scattered everywhere. Jan was launched into the safety of the shadows.
Drake B's breath attack came to a halt as its head was knocked towards the sky. Nuli activated the sound field as Jua released the arrow—completely stripping the armor under its neck.
"Turen, switch!" Jua exclaimed as she gathered her breath.
"Always!" he shouted.
Turen's mana surged, his grip tightened. Shrieking red winds made his sword vibrate intensely, containing the storm yet to be unleashed. Then, just a moment later, Jan kidnapped him and took him right under the drake—in a swift swing, the drake's throat slit open.
Not yet realizing that one of their own was down, Drake C's eye turned toward Drake B's—its body had collapsed, the head hung as blood poured out of the wound.
"Drake down!" Turen said, grinning as he appeared with Jan beside the team from the shadows. "Two left…" he took a deep breath, his expression serious again.
They all nodded in response.
"HAAAAAWUUNH!!!!?" The two Drake's whaled when they realized one of them was down.
"…"
Jan took out Turen's shield from void storage and handed it to him.
"They're about to be even more hostile, Ailz," Turen remarked.
"Understood," Alum calmly replied.
Despite the nonchalance, his head throbbed hard from the amount of mana he had to expend for the giant ice structures. His vision had blurred for a moment, but was mostly fine now. He still had plenty of mana left, and he should be fine as long as he didn't have to use a lot of mana in a single instance.
Drake C began to rampage, charged toward them—Nuli conjured a barrier. It crashed into it violently; the barrier cracked as it raised its feet to stomp it—then… BOOM!
Jua shot it, stripping it of the armor. Jan followed with a clean cut as Turen positioned to take on Drake A next.
—Thud…
Drake C collapsed. But… ever since Drake B collapsed, Drake A acted differently. It should've become enraged like the other Crystal Drake, but it simply stood there—its eyes glanced briefly at its dead friends before shifting to the adventurers.
"…What's it doing?" Jua voiced, confused by its lack of reaction.
"Not sure, but… play it safe," Turen replied.
"…"
Alum looked at the creature. It slowly blinked; it seemed relaxed, not doing anything.
"It's over," Alum softly voiced, catching his party member's confused gaze.
Then, realization hit them all. Jan, who had just returned, seemed perplexed, wondering why nobody had moved.
"That's… a little sad," Nuli averted her eyes from the beast.
"Well, yeah. But there's no time to pity it in this situation," Jua pointed out.
Jan finally understood. He nodded. As for Turen, he sighed—it was a sorry sight, after all.
Alum materialized Depth Cutter out of the ring, "I'll make it swift," he said as he slowly walked toward the beast.
"—Wait!" Jua grabbed his shoulder; she didn't know why he would take such an unnecessary risk.
Turen shook his head, "Let him," he said, his eyes nudged Jua toward the Crystal drake—its eyes had crystallized, barely moving.
I already noticed it the moment the others ran. You didn't stay behind to fend us off because you were the biggest or the strongest. You're in pain. Your internals have likely begun to crystallize, just like your eyes—you'll die very soon either way, but more painfully as the crystals slowly consume you.
Nuli cast a defensive spell on Alum just in case. Jan was in the shadows waiting to pull him out the moment danger struck.
It sensed that he was close, thus, bowing its head. Alum could hear the crystals shatter from within the beast; its muscles had rapidly crystallized.
I can't imagine how life was for you… But you can rest now.
He inbound Depth Cutter with water—stabbing into a tiny crack in its armor. High-pressure jets shot into the crack, then instantly burst into steam, sending a shockwave through its head.
After that, the extraction crew came to dismantle the beasts. The members of Night Ouen rested a moment before going on a patrol around the area.
Alum glanced at the beast one last time, then tossed a candy in his mouth before joining his party on the patrol.