Erend's words were barely audible to Javier, the leader of this special operations team.
Everything he did was enough to make Javier brand him a monster. But now there was nothing they could do.
They had climbed back up to the second floor and found that all three of their targets had disappeared.
Billy Brook had said something about the portal opening before Erend Drake jumped to the second floor through the hole in the wall.
"Are they being helped by the Elves, sir?" one of Javier's men came up with an idea.
Javier just kept quiet and tried to process everything. Their unit is tasked with capturing people who are recorded breaking into the Oval Palace and then stealing documents and artifact from the secret vault.
Javier did not know the details of the three people recorded in the security video, not the thing that was stolen. But they never knew the details of their target.
They just need to get the job done well without knowing much. Javier and his unit understand that.
But they didn't think that what they were facing was a monster.
"Let's go back now. This is all too weird," Javier said.
The special forces returned with their wounded members. Javier reimagined what the monster looked like in his head.
A tall man with red and black skin. Javier could see for himself that no attack could penetrate the man's skin. Whether it's a bullet or a blow from their stun rod.
In addition, the man also had such great strength that he could sever the ropes of shackles in one fell swoop and spit fire. Javier recorded it all in his memory. Only for one purpose, revenge.
He wasn't going to let the monster get away with it after making him fail the mission and killing several of his men.
~~~
Erend, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk exit the Portal. They were finally able to heave a sigh of relief. But as soon as they looked around, the three of them were startled.
"Where are we?" Erend muttered.
The interior looks like a spacious luxurious room with white dominating. But as soon as they looked further around, their confusion was immediately resolved.
They were in Aurdis' room. There was a large bed at the other end of the room. Then they saw the owner of the room standing not far away looking at them with worried eyes.
"Are you all right?" Aurdis asked.
She stood wearing a light white nightgown with a low chest so that her cleavage was exposed. The nightgown was also short enough to expose Aurdis' legs to thighs.
Under the bright light, it was all very clear. Aurdis' long, soft blonde hair glinted in the light. The light also shows how beautiful every curve of Aurdis' body is.
"Uhm!" Erend coughed restlessly.
Billy and Lt. Boartusk were snapped out of watching Aurdis by Erend's voice. For a moment they forgot that they had just been chased by an army that wanted to capture them.
"Uhm, thanks for helping us," Erend said.
Aurdis nodded his head. Then asked, "What happened to you?"
The three of them explained to Aurdis what had happened to them. Along with the fact that the key had also disappeared from their grasp.
Billy tells the story with an angry expression on his face when he talks about people who seem to want to help them but turn out to be betraying them.
Not only that, but they also made them scapegoats and wanted to capture them immediately.
Aurdis looks shocked. The look on her face didn't look good after hearing their story. Of course, she was in shock.
The key to the Fountain of Eternity was within their grasp. But suddenly the key disappeared again before their eyes.
"We're sorry," Erend said guiltily. "We are too stupid and trust them."
"No. It's not your fault," Aurdis spoke with a smile. But his smile looks sad.
"I swear I'll take the key back," Erend said with determination.
"But how? We don't know where they took the key," Billy said, frustrated. "What's more, now we are fugitives in our own country!"
Billy pressed his head with his hand. No one said anything now. Silence filled the room for several minutes.
"You should rest first," Aurdis said breaking the silence. "You must be tired."
Despite having just received very bad news about the loss of the key to the Foutain of Eternity, Aurdis was still thinking about their predicament.
Aurdis escorted them to a room located next to her room.
Erend, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk came in but they couldn't rest in peace. Too many things happened that made their feelings not fit to just rest.
"What now?" Billy asked.
"I don't think we can do anything now," Erend said.
"Erend's right. With just the three of us, I don't think we can do anything. At least for now," Lt. Boartusk added.
Billy sighed in frustration. But he really couldn't think of anything as a solution. So Billy fell silent too.
The sunlight on Eternal Earth started to get brighter. The three of them stared at the scenery outside the window but this beautiful view of the forest and hills outside the window could not cheer them up.
But they've had enough of feeling restless, afraid, or angry. Several hours had passed at that stage. Now it's time for them to focus on more important issues.
How to retrieve the key.
The three of them were used to the dire situation when the war with the Elves was still going on. Every day is the same fear and anxiety. So now they are used to the situation.
"We should ask the Elves for help," Erend suggested.
"I don't think they'll agree," Billy said.
"Yeah, I know. But it's them who need the key. I know they think it's the human's fault because that guy stole it in the first place," Erend said. "But do you know how that guy can get inside?"
Billy and Lt. Boartusk ponder over Erend's words. But they couldn't think too long because the bedroom door was suddenly opened.
Aerchon appeared and stared at all of them.
~~~