"Hu-"
The [Skeleton Archer] shriveled and all the white bones turned dark green. This was the special effect of poison damage from [Storm Sabre]. Also, with the additional damage the sword dealt to the undead, the poor [Skeleton Archer] didn't even have the chance to return any damage, shattering into bones fragments.
Fei's sneak attack worked. He gave it a taste of its own medicine. While Fei was enjoying the feeling of accomplishment, the crowd of[Skeleton Archers] further away reacted.
"Bing, bing, bing-" All their bowstrings stretched and numerous arrows flew at Fei like rain drops in a storm.
"It's starting!" Fei held up his [Azure Spiked Shield], blocking the arrows while backing off rapidly. He was planning to disrupt the [Skeleton Archers] formation and kill them off one by one.
However-
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Blue ice arrows flew towards the [Skeleton Archers] behind Fei. He turned around and realized that Elena didn't follow his instruction to back off, but rather approached the [Skeleton Archers] while returning fire.
"Shit!" Fei knew they were in trouble.
This was the first time Elena didn't listen to Fei. It seemed like she didn't know the hidden dangers in Tristram. If she continued attacking back, it wouldn't kill all the tricky [Skeleton Archers]. Rather, it would put Fei and herself in a dangerous situation. There were two mini-bosses hidden in the crowd, and their arrows dealt high damage and carried magic effects. One shot ice arrows similar to Elena's arrow, which slowed movement and attack speed; the other shot lightning arrows that chunked a large portion of health. Even for Barbarian Fei who had a lot of health, he didn't dare fight them directly. He planned to chug [Health Potions] as he fought them guerrilla style. If luck wasn't on his side, he could potentially disturb monsters and demons in the other areas of Tristram. |If the final boss Griswald was disturbed, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Get back! Quickly!" Fei yelled at Elena, signalling her to back off.
However, it was a bit late. The [Skeleton Archers] noticed the mercenary. The terrifying 'arrow rain' covered Elena as well.
Elena didn't have anywhere near the armor that Fei had, nor did she have a shield. Although she tried to dodge the arrows, a few arrows pierced her body. Blood started flowing out of her wounds and quickly stained her blue leather armour.
"Master...The quest is more important, don't worry about me...I will attract their attention. You can go from the side and rescue Mr. Cain! Please go!"
The arrows were still penetrating her body. She was sweating a lot due to the unbearable pain. Her face was pale, but her expression showed determination. She shook her head and bit on her beautiful red long hair to endure the pain. However, her hand movements didn't slow down because of the injuries, and she returned damage consistently even though the numbers of wounds on her body was increasing.
Her armour was getting soaked in her blood, but Elena was like a Goddess of War that just wouldn't back off. There was no fear on her face, but rather hatred in her eyes. Step by step, Elena was getting closer to the crowd of [Skeleton Archers].
But at this moment –
"Crackle !"
One of the mini-bosses [Bone Warrior Archer] reacted. A life threatening lighting arrow hit Elena accurately. The mercenary's body shook. She almost instantly fell to the ground. Since she was now standing in the same spot, her health bar was dropping like crazy under the rain of arrows.
"Shit!"
Fei was worried about her. He ignored the arrows flying at him and sprinted towards Elena and held her in his arms. He then poured a bottle of [Minor Healing Potion] down her throat as he used his battle cry -[Howl] to scare away the monsters approaching them. Then, he quickly used a [Town Portal Scroll]. As the monsters started to flood onto them, he quickly jumped into the blue oval portal with Elena.
"Buzz, buzz"
They had luckily escaped from death and returned to [Rogue Encampment].
Because of the [Minor Healing Potion], Elena had almost fully recovered, and her mind was clear. Fei on the other hand was heavily injured on his back. The ice and lightning arrows from the mini-bosses almost paralyzed him. Although he wasn't dead, he only had 30 health left after all the bleeding; a couple more arrows could have killed him.
It was a very scary situation. Fei didn't know if he could revive or not and whether he would die in the real world as well if he died in the Diablo World.
"Man, I can't act like a hero all the time!"
Fei smelled the light fragrance from Elena's body, but he had no time to enjoy it at all. He grabbed a bottle of [Minor Healing Potion] and drank it himself. He threw one towards Elena, and then pulled the arrows out of his back. Blood was spurting out again, so he had to drink one more bottle to counter the pain.
Luckily, [Minor Healing Potions] tasted sweet and had no side-effects.
"Holy, damn this pain... Hey beauty, why won't you listen? I told you from the beginning to back off, didn't I?"
Fei's health was full again. Fei had to blame the hot mercenary; if she had listened, they wouldn't be in this situation.
Elena lowered her head and tears filled her eyes. She didn't talk back. She didn't drink the [Minor Healing Potion] either. She held it in her hands because she didn't want to drink such a precious potion. The injuries on her body weren't fully recovered and she was on the verge of crying. Fei's heart softened as he saw that, so he didn't blame her anymore.
"It's okay, just drink the potion...Oh, right. You don't have to follow me back to Tristram later. I won't be able to take care of you there. When I finish the quest, I will come back and find you."
After some thinking, Fei decided to leave Elena at the camp and complete the quest alone. If both of them went, Fei really wouldn't be able to watch out for her. An archer wouldn't be effective when dealing with a group of archers. If the [Skeleton Archers] kept on harassing them, they wouldn't be able to cooperate very well and the hot mercenary could be surrounded by monsters and torn into pieces.
However, Elena misunderstood Fei's meaning.
"Ah? No! Please don't fire me, master...Next time...Next time, I can watch out for myself...I can protect myself...I..."
Elena's panic surprised Fei. This was probably the first time she spoke that much to Fei.
Since a long time ago, Tristram had fallen, so the road to the east was blocked by all the monsters. The rogues in the encampment could only get items and potions from travellers like Fei to maintain the existence of the camp on the moor. The items and potions that blacksmith Charsi and leader Akara made weren't enough to support the whole camp.
The accumulated resources throughout the whole history of the camp had depleted in the past 60 years when all the travellers disappeared. If this continued, the camp would be conquered by monsters and demons and fall within a year.
Fei's appearance in [Rogue Encampment] was an opportunity for the camp to survive. He was the first traveller that stepped foot in the camp after 60 years. These travellers could get items and potions from the moor that the rogues would never get. This was the reason why Kaysha was willing to provide mercenaries for Fei, a complete stranger in the camp, despite knowing that numerous rogues were used and humiliated by the travellers.
This was all for the survival of the camp and its residents. Someone had to make the sacrifice. Elena wasn't the strongest of all the female rogues, but she was definitely the prettiest and hottest. To maintain cooperation with Fei, any type of sacrifice had to be made – including the female rogue's life and body.
If Elena unfortunately died on the moor or during an adventure, other female rogues would take her place to maintain the connection between Fei and the camp.
This was the cruelty of the Diablo World – the brutal 'Law of the Jungle'.
That was how the small encampment could survive throughout history, and how the residents were able to live on.
Without a doubt, Fei was the only hope and light in the [Rogue Encampment] that was approaching eternal darkness. No matter how many sacrifices they had to make, the leaders of the encampment were willing to make it.
Of course, Fei didn't know about this. This was why the normally calm and quiet Elena was so anxious when she thought Fei was firing her.
If she offended the traveller, it would bring an immeasurable loss to the encampment. Moreover, Fei had been very caring towards her the past two hours, which was thousands of times better than working for the despicable travellers she had heard about in tales. Elena was also getting used to fighting alongside of Fei. She cherished the opportunity to be Fei's mercenary.