There are no flashy lights, theatrical smokes, or weird sound effects. The darn net just disappeared as if it wasn't even there to begin with; sure enough, the usual small text popped at the lower left side of my vision.
"Electric Net +1"
I gripped Times' shoulders and immediately pulled the man away with all my strength. I don't know if Gres' body is just that strong or Times' body is just unbelievably light, but I managed to carry the winged warlord away with ease, but my efforts alone were not fast enough.
"Oh my god..." The Vyur soldier looked at Times with a dropped jaw, still contemplating the absolute wizardry of a fucking missing net. "How did you do that?
A vein began to pop out of my forehead, not because pulling Times' body was already pushing me to my limit but because this glorified bodyguard is starting to remind me why he's the most annoying part of this journey so far. Much more annoying than Dominion.
"This is unbelievable!" Gertrude's shaking voice came simultaneously as Dominion's protestation while looking at Times' body. "...could it be?" Gertrude's wavering voice continued as she moved her gaze at my face with watery eyes.
I ignored all of them as my face started to flush red. Dominion's naggings rang in my head. Gertrude's mumbled as her lips shook. And the soldier kept looking around the winged warlord's body to explain the secrets behind my HARVEST command. As I dragged Times away from harm's way without any help from these IDIOTS...
I finally snapped.
"Are you done?" I wheezed as I dropped the warlord's body with a thud. Gasping, I looked at both the hovering Vyurs with dagger-like glares filled with a mixture of anger, fear, and exasperation. "Or are you just gonna shower me with pointless nonsense till our enemies storm us?"
The soldier, whose name I have already forgotten, pointed to the sharp end of his wing without breaking eye contact with me. I just looked at him, thinking of ways I can torture him once I've become a god. I will relish upon seeing his shocked expression before ordering my men to maul him to death. My anger continues to poison my mind with dark fantasies. The only thing that brought my mind back to reality was the soldier's further unneeded babble.
"Don't order me, you Firmamentian trash! I'll have you know that..."
Once again, Gertrude disregarded the Vyurborne soldier as if he didn't even exist, interrupting him as if reminding him of his place underneath her. She flew closer to me and spoke with a playful smirk.
"Forgive me, Aleph." She clasped her talons at the long pointed nail at the end of Times' wings. I didn't know if it would work, but oddly, her efforts were enough to pull Times faster away from the mouth of the ravine. But she continued her rampant mumbling, looking down at her liberated father. "I was too distracted by your..." I couldn't quite understand the rest of what she said thereafter.
"M-my lady! There's no need for you to apologize to the likes of this man! He's..."
"I wish you're the one tangled up in a net instead. Maybe you would shut your mouth then." I finally couldn't bear enduring this irrelevant asshole's bullshit and spoke out loud. Nevertheless, I didn't stop pulling the pointed nail at the end of Times' other wing, following what Gertrude did.
The soldier growled. "What did you just say..."
"Do I have to punch your pretty little face just so you could turn around and see how close our enemies are?" I then looked at the still mumbling Gertrude. "Or is it a common theme for Vyurborne soldiers to lose their wits about them without a warlord's ass to kiss?"
"You will not speak of the proud--"
Once again, Gertrude interrupted the soldier's words. But this time, she ensured that the soldier would follow her commands without fail. With two swift kicks, Gertrude shoved one of her talons inside the soldier's mouth, pierced the tip of his tongue, pulled the entire damn thing out forcefully, and sliced it cleanly with his other leg. Two kicks. Before his tongue could even drop on the dry violet moss, the Vyurborne soldier was already tearing up, wailing out loud while gargling the blood gushing out of his tongue.
"Pick it up if you still want it." Gertrude pointed her claw at the severed tongue on the ground before pulling Times again with bloodied talons.
'Brutal.'
'Hah. That damn soldier is lucky I'm not his superior.'
While Gertrude and I pulled his father, the Vyurborne soldier kicked around and flapped his wings endlessly while allowing blood to spill out of the corners of his lips.
"Gods, stop crying already, will you? Just let a healer patch it back up again later, you fucking baby!" Gertrude bellowed with an unrefined tone utterly different from his father's strictness. "You're ruining my thoughts!"
"Enough!" Still unable to breathe well, Times pulled his wings away from us and roared before standing up, wobbling on his feet with falling eyelids. Gertrude caught him before he fell again, which was enough to give Times the strength to pull himself back.
"Are you alright, Father?"
"I am awake."
An alarming commotion suddenly emerged from the mouth of the ravine, and all our eyes directed onto it after hearing Bismarck's loud proclamation while pointing his cannon-like weapon at us.
"They're running away!" The giant warlord Bismarck's voice roared and sprang us all back to action.
"You had your chances to wake me up, but you used the time those mindless walking skyscrapers gave you to compete on who would pull me faster instead." Times' reprimand made me look even smaller than I already am. He already towers over my puny human body, but the way he looks down on me makes me feel even smaller. "Do any of you three great strategists have an escape plan as immaculate as the last one?"
None of us spoke. Gertrude looked down while biting his lower lip, and the Vyurborne soldier picked up his severed tongue and threw it back into his mouth. I just looked at Bismarck with his five giant soldiers running behind him.
"No?" Times let out a few ragged wheezes before flapping his wings and attempting to soar the sky once more, but before he could even hover two feet above the ground, his strength had already failed him, and he fell flat face first. "Damn this harpoon!" Times whispered with a voice that reflects his will to kill.
"Run." I raised Times from the ground and supported him enough to get him back up to his feet.
However, we all know that with a limping man and a Vyurborne who cannot fly, there's no way we could outrun the kapre now that they've gotten serious in wanting to bring us down.
Bismarck is swiftly inching closer towards us; to make matters worse, he's already in the ravine. I looked at my lone mana bar. It finally regenerated fully; I could now launch another fucking Tier 1 spell that wouldn't do anything.
'He's too big. Tier 1 earth Control spells can't even properly stop a human person, let alone someone as huge as Bismarck. He could just pull himself back up.'
Bismarck roared, and I didn't need to know that he's already here to send an unfathomable level of terror in my heart. His shadow enveloped all four of us, and from the looks of it, he's raising his hands, readying himself to strike. I instinctively threw a Tier 1 fire Projectile spell at Bismarck in a panic, but my efforts were all in vain. Bismarck just looked at my pathetic little fireball as I threw it. He moved his shoulder just a bit to evade the damn thing from landing on his body. Not like he would need to do that anyway since his armor is apparently inflammable. I am not even entirely sure why I threw that spell. My fireball just curved down into the ground and only hitting the dry violet moss, sparking a small bonfire-like kindle behind the now cackling Bismarck.
"Press this advantage!" Times pointed the end of his wing at the now silent soldier hovering beside him.
The soldier nodded with a grunt, with tears still flowing out of his deeply sunken eyes. He soared the skies and immediately sent blades of wind right towards the now growing flame I blazed with my Tier 1 spell.
"Good thinking, Exile." Times nodded at me with a look of approval, looking at me with eyes that showed his gratitude.
Eh? I don't get it. What did I do?
Smoke began to thicken around us. Bismarck began to cough out loud as he pointed his cannon-like weapon towards the Vyurborne soldier in the sky. He pointed at the soldier in the sky, but the smoke must have been too thick for him to see.
Huh?
Smoke?
Why do I see smoke?