Things got strangely quiet as Tia lead them on toward the giant tree that had sprouted up along the wall. It was unsettling. Things had been going at an almost constant pace of ever increasing danger since they got into this city. And now, in this moment of quiet, Levin got the very distinct sense that they were now in the eye of the storm. This momentary stillness and quiet was a false one.
He knew, lurking behind the now grass-topped buildings all around them, there were enemies all around. These very enemies had been attacking the large tree only a short time ago. But for some reason, they had now ceased their efforts.
Rolwen reached forward and put a hand on Tia’s shoulder. She did not make a sound in response to his touch. By some unspoken understanding, she knew that she had to keep quiet. She looked back at him, and they exchanged serious looks. Rolwen then glanced back at him, and he and Rolwen exchanged nods. Levin also understood.
They knew the enemy was around them in this area. An enemy who could strike at any time. Worse yet, he and Rolwen were high priority targets. Going into this area was very much a high-risk high-reward scenario. Most of the enemy was concentrated here right now. This meant they had the ability to take out their enemy right here and now. However, it also meant exposing themselves to danger.
If they were to prioritize self-preservation, it might be a better idea to just stay away from this area. However, if they did that, there was every chance the enemy could just come to them and strike at any time.
The two of them were at their safest when Asa was providing a distraction. The reason she was able to distract them was because she was the only target rated higher in priority than they were. And this is an enemy who can follow them and attack them from the very ground beneath their feet.
Their only chance at having any peace in the future would be to take out all of these enemies here and now, while they were in this zone set up by Asa to prevent these guys from moving freely. If they couldn’t eliminate this threat now, things would go into the long game, and their chances of remaining free from capture would rapidly reduce to zero.
Levin shook his head and had to suppress a chuckle, grinning to himself instead. Since when had he started thinking this much like Rolwen? Him and Asa had definitely had a huge influence on Levin in the five years since they were taken to that elven village.
Tia stopped suddenly in the middle of the road. She was staring up at the tree, and he could read from her body language that there was something… off about the situation. Confused about what it could be, he followed her gaze up toward the upper portions of the trunk.
He saw three misshapen roughly humanoid lumps on the tree. It confused him at first, but then he saw these lumps moving, and vines wrapping around them for restraint.
“It’s gnomes.” Rolwen said in a very low breathless whisper. It was one of the many skills they had practiced over these years. Through careful control of both breath and pitch, it was a voice that lacked the usual harsh breathy sound of normal whispers, being much lower and near the pitch of a normal male voice. It was carefully modulated so it would not carry very far, and was near impossible to hear without being very close.
“Asa’s plants drain earth mana.” Tia commented, but her whisper was not so carefully toned and controlled, and Levin cringed as he immediately went on high alert to look around and see if she was heard.
Rolwen made some gestures, and they went into a nearby house. It was abandoned. Most of the people seemed to have gone to the temple when the invasion began. There was little doubt that some must have been unable to make it there before Asa’s mother was able to raise the woodland sanctuary, but this close to the action, it was almost certain everyone uninvolved in this nonsense had fled.
Once they were in the building, they all crouched down in a corner that had a good view of the entrance, but could not be seen by someone on the street.
“Alright, strategy meeting. You noticed something about that, didn’t you Tia?” Rolwen said, using a very slightly easier to hear tone than he had before outside.
Tia nodded. “Yes. Well, sort of. Asa showed us those gnomes because she wanted us to notice something. She was trying to send us a message. I think she was showing us what her plants were able to do to the gnomes.”
“Heh, well then it’s incredibly obvious what she wants us to do, isn’t it?” Rolwen asked. “She’s saying they can be weakened by her plants, so we should just knock them into the tree. That sounds like something our one-punch girl here ought to be able to do pretty easy so long as she doesn’t bust up her own arm in the process again.”
“It doesn’t feel like it should be that easy though.” Levin said.
Rolwen looked like he wanted to say something to contradict him on that, but he quickly closed his mouth and got a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah, come to think of it, something does feel a little off.”
“There’s definitely something.” Tia said. “Asa realized something, and I could feel it through our link. There’s something very wrong about these gnomes.”
“Hmm… I think I’ve got it.” Rolwen said in a somewhat grim tone. “It’s the fact that those gnomes were alive. I’ve seen Asa kill before. She wasn’t keeping them alive due to hesitation to take their life. So, I’m thinking maybe the only reason those guys were still moving was because she was actually unable to kill them. In other words, she’s not saying that her plants are able to weaken these guys. She’s saying that weakening them like that and pinning them down may just be the only way that it’s even possible to deal with them.”
“You mean they can’t die? They’re immortal?” Levin asked.
“No.” Tia said. “I’ve already heard from Tadalin. He killed one of them at the outskirts for certain. The other one escaped.”
“What? Heard from him how? You’ve been with us the entire time.” Rolwen commented, looking straight at Tia with an incredulous look. “Actually, you know what? Never mind. I’m starting to think you’re the bullshit character of the group, so I’m not even going to ask.”
“Huh?” Tia looked at him in confusion.
“Rolwen, that’s not nice. And besides, I want to know too. How did you hear from him exactly? You said you copied a Hidan bloodline, but the Hidan don’t have any kind of communication ability like that. How were you able to hear from him?” Levin asked.
“What? Ummm… well…” Tia stammered, probably a little confused at Rolwen’s nonsense still, before she finally found her words. “Uhh… it’s because we are both divine beasts. We can exchange spirit energy tinted with our divine energies through the link my bloodline established with him.”
Rolwen nodded. “Yep, what did I tell you? Bullshit character.” He said.
“Shut up Rolwen, this is definitely not the time for that sort of thing.” Levin hissed.
Rolwen shrugged. “Yeah, yeah.” He said. “Alright, anyway, that’s one confirmed kill. We know from Terlu that he’s an add-on to the standard group, not part of it. So, including him, they numbered 13 instead of the typical demonic 12. With Terlu presumably out of commission with that arm injury Tia gave him, one confirmed kill, and those three we saw drained and restrained up on the tree, we should have 8 left to deal with. That’s how many we have to be on the lookout for.”
“Terlu’s the name of that former Earth kid you had with you from the gnomes?” Tia asked. “We probably shouldn’t completely count him out. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt since he was from Earth and all, but if we see him here on the surface again, we should consider him an enemy.”
“You think that Terlu might join this fight against us?” Levin asked.
“Absolutely.” Rolwen said, suddenly looking far more serious. “I’m completely on the same page with the eldrich leech goddess here. Tia’s right. She lived in a time that was not as nice as ours, so she knows what real war is all about, just like I do. We shouldn’t make assumptions someone’s going to be on our side just because they are from Earth like us.”
Levin frowned and looked over his two companions. He really didn’t want to think that fellow earth kid they had spent that time talking to down while they were captured might become their enemy.
“Look, he even said it, right? He was chosen to join this mission so that his words he could speak in English would have some influence on this battle. He even said their evil god had predicted this or something. We should probably consider him an enemy spy who was trying to work an op on us. No matter who he was in his last life, he was born among the enemy in this world.” Rolwen said sternly.
Levin sat bolt upright when he heard this. Terlu actually had said that. He still didn’t like the idea, but… the more he thought about it, it actually did make sense to consider him an enemy.
“Hey.” Rolwen said. “I’m not saying he absolutely is going to turn against us. It’s just… don’t be surprised if it does happen. If we see him up here on the surface again, you need to be prepared to fight him just like we would any of these other bastards.”
“The wound I gave him would not keep a bloodline elemental user out of a fight.” Tia said. “It’s exactly severe enough for him to use as an excuse if he wants to stay off the battlefield and avoid being compelled to fight against his will. But if he really wants to fight us, he will be able to, even with that wound.”
“Right, that’s enough of that now.” Rolwen said. “Let’s say we get out there and start knocking some heads into a vampyric energy-sucking tree?”
Tia shook her head. “Rolwen, there’s really no need to be dramatic like that. It’s ridiculous.”
Levin sighed. “Yeah, that’s just Rolwen being Rolwen. I don’t think he can help it.”
“Aww, come on! You guys are no fun at all.” Rolwen groaned
Tia glared at him. “Did you forget we are in the middle of active battle zone?”
That shut him up really fast.
“Alright, let’s go.” He said, suddenly a lot more serious.
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