"Stop! Didn't we just tell you about the dangers?!" Rieza shouted at the two girls as they started to run off the edge of the platform.
"We can't just leave Talise to get killed out here! We need to-"
KUH
Simon appeared from behind both of them, slamming his palms onto both of their necks and catching them straight away before they could fall off of the platform. The strikes were just enough to knock them out for around 2-3 hours depending on the conditions, leaving Simon with less troubles to worry about.
Rieza looked at Simon with a hint of fear after seeing Simon blink behind the two and knocking them out cold. This is understandable since she had never seen someone handle a situation so bluntly. It seemed all too physical and all too painful.
"Sim, are you sure that was the best way to handle them? You could have-"
"Trust my words, knocking them out means we don't have to look after them." Simon said bluntly as he tried to find where Talise was.
"I can't see her... she must be in the thick brush." Rieza explained.
"No, she is already near the cave." Simon said as he pointed towards a distant rock that bordered the clearing.
"She is dead. Come with me, we are leaving with these two." Simon immediately announced while picking up Cortasia.
"Trust my words."
Rieza looked at Simon with worried eyes as she looked back and forth between him and Talise. On one hand, she wanted to save Talise, but on the other, she knew that she would only die if she pursued this matter. Simon did not say anything wrong either, he had only stated the obvious truth. She knew that they should just retreat and abandon the hunt.
But for some reason, she felt too much guilt to just leave her classmate to die in such a manner.
"I am leaving." Before Simon could even react, Rieza had already jumped from the platform and started sliding her way towards the clearing.
"Are you f**king kidding me? ARE MY WORDS A JOKE TO YOU?!?" Simon was absolutely furious. He had already gotten everything ready to leave, he had already saved half of the team, but now another team member is rushing to her doom? Simon could only take so much, he is a person after all. He has emotions, and much more volatile as a matter of fact.
Now he had to deal with a second team member rushing to her doom. What else could he think? He only knew that this spelt disaster, and nothing good will come of this. He felt absolutely infuriated.
"IS DEALING WITH A MID LEVEL 7TH RANKED DEVIL A JOKE?! LAST I CHECKED, EVERYONE WOULD DIE!!"
Simon sighed in anger, sitting on the edge of the platform, contemplating how the situation had gotten to this point. If Simon had a magical fishing rod that could catch falling women, he would use it right now, but he did not possess such a tool. He only had a 6th rank visualisation and two team members to protect.
Such a disaster would make anyone want to die.
He only came here to destroy a puppet. Now he had to deal with something that might just be out of his league and help extract two team members.
"How am I supposed to get them back to the platform while avoiding whatever is lurking in that damn cave? I need a damn good plan, otherwise everyone will end up dead."
'I have to wait and observe. If that devil is unable to be beaten, I will stay here and transport these two away. If I have a chance, I will go down there.'
Simon watched closely as the two girls started approaching the cave. Rieza tried grabbing onto Talise's sleeve and dragging her away, but Talise would budge. She would shake Rieza off of her and smile as she finally identified the puppet in the cave entrance. Seeing her prize only tens of metres away, Talise was ready to pounce.
That was until a roar echoed from the cave. A sinister cackle followed as a gross and deformed red horned creature crept out of the cave, followed by a trail of bones. With bright white hair and an evil grin, this devil glared at the two girls with eyes of hunger. This devil seemed to be emanating an aura that could not be surpassed by the likes of even Lenn.
Without a doubt, this was the worst situation Simon could hope for.
"Rank 7, 5th vision, red horns, female."
Simon had no solutions.
"Kukuku... these little morsels have come to offer me themselves as food? I will gladly oblige...Would you like to minced? Diced? Fired whole? What is it that you desire?" The devil snickered as it moved closer.
"Talise! We need to go! NOW!" Rieza exclaimed as she tried to tug on Talise's shoulder.
"Haha...hah...what is this?" Talise started sweating all over, fall8ng to her knees as she became delirious from the fear.
"I...am going to...die?"
"F**k! Talise, snap out of it! We need to run!" Rieza yelled while slapping Talise all over her face.
Simon watched with a terrible expression, sighing in disappointment.
"The most I can do I deal enough blunt force trauma to knock this devil out for less than a minute. I do not think I can pierce her skin with my power. At most, we can hope for a 50% chance of survival." Simon walked back to the centre of the platform and face the direction of the cave, slowly building up pace as he ran towards the edge.
"I will try to destroy the puppet with a dagger on my way down. But that is all I can do."