"Old man, what can you tell us?" Lila asked exhaustedly, they traveled for a few hours already and oddly the beasts are coming repeatedly like they knew where to find them.
The late afternoon glow still showed a coiled snake on a tree around seven meters from them. its body was coiled on the tree's crown as it's yellow eyes stared at them. the animal should be around five-meter long, and the body thick as an adult tigh.
Gerald, holding both guns on hand used his ability, his essence shone on his eyes. And suddenly the living things around were covered in an aura.
"As long as we don't go too close, it won't attack us."
"It's finishing digesting something. It won't move unless it feels necessary, also, that's a green nightmare it leaves poison gas traps around their digesting place. Little puddles that release vapor. If you have a low enough essence on yourself, you'll fall into an illusion."
Sophia, his granddaughter commented while adjusting her pink glasses.
Gerald raised his eyebrows. He knew this girl is a little succuba, and always thought she was like this in school too, but she surprised him today.
They slowly bypassed the snake. Lila's nerves were tense the whole time, after distancing themselves. Larissa looked into the distance and saw Lazaro above the tree holding a pair of small hatchets.
"Tyrannic turtle, ten meters ahead," After learning how to identify beasts through the market with Sophia's help, he announced with ease.
(What a lucky man you are, the little girl had the patience to teach)
Lazaro ignored and measured the beast's strength wit his eye
The heart of the people in the formation started to beat faster.
The tyrannic turtle was a biting one, similar to the snapping turtle except, this one was ten times the size and could jump and run, it preys mainly on crocodiles and other reptiles counting their own species.
Lila heart trembled and with her shaking. Lucas went into attention, the shield on his hand suddenly felt fragile
"Friend we'll need your help. This is an E level beast, with tough defense and high agility."
Lazaro didn't answer. Wich made them sigh in apprehension, through their travel since morning, Lazaro only acted on last-minute situations. His lack of answer meant 'deal with it.'
He laughed at their reaction and stepped towards a more near tree from them as he steps on the ground a weird smell reached his nose, his feet felt wet and he felt a familiar smell on the snake the saw earlier. 'Illusion? It can't affect m-' He suddenly saw himself amidst a pink fog.
"Haa." an angry sigh spilled out for him.
****
Larissa laid her hands on Lilas's shoulder and smiled at her, the essence on her palms gently soothed her mood.
"'Thunder is the most destructive element of nature.' So he said." Larissa spoke. Lila was their main attacker, and besides that, she found the brash women kind of cute.
Lila's snorted.
"He also said he'd sleep beside me, and also promised to protect me above others but then he wasn't by my side in the morning and put me on the very front to fight for my life."
"..."
Larissa smiled went rigid trying to endure the impulse to laugh.
But the woman noticed it and gave a smirk of her own.
"...From what I observed, I got the feeling you'll be falling for his lies too." Lila said.
"...?"
"it's moving towards you," Lazaro announced, but his voice was weirdly weak.
Lily hurriedly started to prepare to attack, they defeated six lower-class beasts on their four-hour travel, she had grown used to it. Yet the threat of the Tyrannic turtle flustered her movements.
With heavy thump sounds, the menacing turtle came jumping on their direction. She shot the bolt.
Lila's missed, now seeing the beast get closer she gt nervous and her moves even more awkward.
The creature jumped to the side. Gerald shot his gun but it coiled its head and let the bullets hit the shell.
Fwhip
fwhip
Two small holes formed on the shell and the beast halted for a mere second in confusion.
Silver, gasping for breath, condensed two more arrows as the beast approached, "Four is my limit." He said and shot.
The turtle couldn't see the danger and the arrow impaled its eye. Forcing it to a momentary halt.
"HA!" Lila screamed and the usual booming sound and flash of light spread with Avilá amplifying powers. She felt at ease as long as it was a hit.
"YES!" She yelled seeing the smoke and the burnt marks on the animal.
Its shell broke into spiderweb cracks, it showed no signs of movements.
Lila gasped for breath bend over with hands on her knees while Larissa cared for Silver.
"You bastard! If that monster came too close, your machetes wouldn't work! I would've died."
"..."
She clenched her teeth at his silence, her chest was a mess, she didn't know if he was ignoring her or it was just because of the moment, she suddenly slapped herself in the face. 'Am I a teen? If he wants it then good. If he doesn't then I'll just move on.' She thought resolutely but the thought of he giving up on her like her family did make her chest churn with anxiety.
Larissa agreed with Lila for once, they'd die if the turtle came closer, why didn't Lazaro move?
She sent her inquiry to her friends and heard the answer from them through a vine on her side. 'Poison, asleep'
'Poison, asleep?' Larissa thought and suddenly widened her eyes. 'Green nightmare snake's poison!'
"We'll camp here, for now, keep an eye out, I'll find Lazaro." Larissa suddenly said.
Gerald felt a bad vibe from her words, and others were confused.
She took the first step to where Lazaro was.
"Groowwll"
But froze. And So did the others.
A chill made the hairs on her whole body stand on an end. The panic took roots on her heart but her only actions were to put on a cold expression and look Lila in the eye
"Get ready! Everybody fire at once!"
Her heart trembled, she commanded her friend form the forest, It was still digesting her meal of a day ago but it could at least give a helping hand.
The beast came in a berserk state.
Its head went down on a swift attack towards Lila
"Twhuc!"
A shield stood in front of her. Lucas was thrown back and smashed on Lila, both of them rolled before standing up again.
Lucas watched the aluminum shield being torn apart like it was nothing.
He clenched his teeth, without the shield he only had his pitiful earth affinity.
Silver couldn't move no because of fear, his body was simply that weak, he been walking the forest for hours and spent his daily limit. The enraged turtled locked eyes on him as he was the nearest. 'Ha, well, might as well.' He pulled the last bit of essence from his lowe Dantian and felt his body go empty like a shell. but a single arrow condensed.and he aimed it well.
fwhip
"GROOL!"
From that close, it sunk into the beast's soft neck. Gerald showered it with five more bullets from the side, but none entered its thick hide.
It swiped its claws in rage, Silver could see the dirt underneath the nails at it came to tear his waist apart.
But unbeknownst to both; green vines extended through the ground like snakes and like a whip is slapped Silver who fell sideways to the ground with a gash on his shoulder.
"Lila fry it!" screamed Larissa as she controlled the vined to delay for a few instants. but no answer came.
"I'll go!" Sophia said with trembling voice but Gerald held her neck and pulled her ten meters back, stopped, and observed things somberly. He and his granddaughter are useless. And he saw that Lila lost consciousness, there's no one who could fight it, if Lazaro doesn't appear, he'll have to run away with Sophia.
Lucas looked trembling to the surroundings. Lila wasn't moving, Silver was conscious but couldn't move, Gerald ran away with Sophia, and Larissa was moving the vines in front of him.
They'd all die. At that thought, an image appeared on his mind. A middle-aged lady with two pre-teens and a toddler by her side watching a coffin going down the seven palms deep hole. And his Fat ass couldn't do anything more than watch by their side.
'I-I can't die, I-I'm their pillar now...' Lucas felt the blood in his clenched teeth. The vines broke, and the turtle charged at Larissa.
Crushing the earth like it was nothing, it ran.
His mother's calloused hands replaced the turtled at each step, his own uselessness fueled rage in his chest. his eyes went red. He didn't know since when, but he was moving, charging right at it. He prayed and hoped for Lila to wake up or to something else help him otherwise they'd truly be dead. He pulled his essence unto his lower Dantian. When the turtle was one meter away he stomped firmly on the ground.
A small wall went up abruptly from the ground. In the distance, Lucas sighted Lazaro running to him.
'Please, god, let me win this few seconds., only this one is enough.' Lucas preyed.
He clenched his eyelids together and waited.
THump! The wall crumbled, the turtle appeared through the dirt, it found Lucas and launched a bite.
"I"ll take you on!" An arm hammered its mouth from above, the fingers on that arm grabbed the beast by the face sinking the pinkie on the other good eye. The beast roared from pain and thrashed to the side trying to shake off Lazaro who had a ruthless grin on his face.
Larissa, Lucas, Gerald, Sophia and even Lila who just managed to open her eyes stared in a daze.
His veins were bulging like earthworms, his muscles wriggled as if it would burst out at any moment.
He stretched his legs on the side of the shell and latched his toes firmly pressing himself atop of it, from grabbing he enveloped the beast's neck in a headlock. It tried to recoil the head but the pressure on the neck did not allow it. It jumped and moved around wildly.
his golden eyes went ruthlessly stern.
It slowly stopped moving. After five minutes, when Lazaro's arms were turning into an eery purple, there were no more movements. But Lazaro held it down five minutes more. It showed no signs of life.
Lazaro looked around at them and approached Lucas.
"Without you, they wouldn't survive. Go rest"
The words came to his ears and a finger tapped his forehead. tiredness came to his body. And he slipped into darkness.
'Stupid smiling fool.' was the last thing he thought.