As I watched Lazuli stealthily sneak into the encampment and rescue Vanye from the stake she was nailed to, I clenched my fist with a smile while pumping my arm into the air, only for me to tilt my head in confusion when I saw her motionlessly standing in the same spot with Vanye in her arms.
'Oh, I'm stupid; she's probably teleporting. I tend to forget about it since she doesn't really use it much.' Thought Alexander lightly as he gently hit himself in the head, only to furrow his brows when observing Lazuli's surroundings.
Someone was approaching Lazuli's location, and if she didn't leave soon, they'd spot her and possibly break her concentration; however, thankfully, before the person reached her, she suddenly vanished. Seeing a pair of women appear behind me, I quickly turned, only to glance between Lazuli and Vanye; after that, I grabbed Vanimo and quickly leaped out of the tree we were sitting on while using my free arm to catch them just as I landed on the ground.
"You're fucking amazing, Lazuli!" Stated Alexander proudly with a smile as he gave Lazuli a deep and passionate kiss, causing her to faintly nod with a slight blush.
Setting Lazuli and Vanimo on the ground, he practically leaped into her arms to check upon Vanye, which was an amusing sight since he was the older brother, although he barely looked to be an adult.
Vanye!? Vanye, are you okay? How do you feel? Do I need to kiss your wounds like I used to?" Asked Vanimo anxiously as he held Vanye's arm while eyeing the hole in her hand, prompting him to pucker his lips, though before he could kiss her wound, she suddenly embraced him.
"Y-You're alive? V-Vanimo, are you r-really alive?" Asked Vanye hesitantly as she tightly embraced Vanimo while tears streamed down her face, her words causing him to smile softly.
"Heh, that's such a stupid thing to say; of course I'm alive. I promised you we'd always be together, so how could I die?" Replied Vanimo with a faint smile as he lifted his head and gazed at Vanye, tears threatening to escape his eyes.
With Vanye sobbing all over Vanimo's shoulder, I didn't want to break up this reunion between brother and sister, but we did need to leave; I'm betting they're going to be quite pissed when they find one of their own dead along with their prisoner having escaped. However, I didn't need to do anything as Vanye suddenly erupted into violent screams of agony that sounded several times worse when she was this close.
"VANYE!? VANYE, WHAT'S WRONG!?" Exclaimed Vanimo in concern as he held Vanye's face while tears continued to stream down his face.
While I was just as confused as Vanimo as to why she was still screaming, I saw several arrows whiz through the air, heading right for us thanks to [Heroes Gaze]; summoning Zartha and Trina, I used [Expand] and stood in front of Lazuli, Vanye, and Vanimo, protecting them from several arrows that would've otherwise pierced them.
"We must leave; Vanye's screams are giving away our position!" Stated Alexander with a frown as he blocked the rain of arrows while watching several mercenaries rapidly approach their location.
"W-We can't just leave, w-what about Vanye!?" Exclaimed Vanimo anxiously as he glanced at Alexander, who bit his lip before swinging his greatswords, creating a massive gust of wind that knocked the arrows off balance.
"ARGHHH! S-STONE-ARGHHHH!" Stated Vanye through her excruciating yells of pain, her words causing Alexander to furrow his brows in confusion.
'Stone? Stone? What the fuck is she talking about stone?' Thought Alexander in frustration as he glanced at Vanye before shifting his focus to the mercenary encampment.
As I scanned the encampment, my eyes suddenly narrowed when I saw a reddish-black miasma radiating off someone, though weirdly enough, it was the same miasma that surrounded Vanye when I first encountered her. However, upon closer inspection, it was the man the miasma radiated off; no, it was the reddish-black stone in his hands that he seemed to squeeze with all his might.
'Please don't tell me this is some kind of voodoo magic.' Thought Alexander as he gritted his teeth in frustration and annoyance before turning around and glancing at Lazuli while his greatswords protected them like a shield.
"Lazuli, you take them away; I'm going to get the stone to stop Vanye's screaming." "That is not a smart idea." Said Alexander and Lazuli, respectively, as she peeked his head from behind him before shaking his head, causing him to wryly smile.
"No. No, it is not, but just because it's a stupid idea doesn't mean I won't succeed. Anyways, just get them to safety, okay? I won't be dying or anything, not when I've got you, Yuki, and Michelle as my lovers." Remarked Alexander with a faint smirk as he kissed Lazuli before smacking her butt, causing an arrow to pierce his arm.
Waving at Lazuli while hiding the arrow in my arm, which she clearly saw, she gave me a blank look before running into the forest with Vanye and Vanimo as her luggage.
Sighing in relief, I quickly turned around and cut the arrowhead off the shaft before pulling it out of my arm, causing me to wince slightly while tossing it onto the ground.
'Of course, it hit the one gap in my armor.' Thought Alexander lightly as he hardened his gaze at the numerous incoming Yamen mercenaries.
With my eyes set on the large, muscular Elf deep within the encampment, I took a deep breath and dashed forward, fueling my body with mana while also using [Strength Augument] and [Speed Augument] to further increase my power; I held off from using [Lightning Cloak] since it required a decent amount of mana, though with my current mana regeneration rate I could use my other two skills while barely losing any mana in the process.
When I finally neared my first enemy after dealing with probably a hundred or so arrows at least, he brought his sword back, causing the wind to circulate around it before he swiped it at me, launching a blast of highly dense air, which I simply cut through with a blade of wind I launched from Zartha. His armor managed to offset any serious injury, but he was still forced back a few steps, and using that chance, I leaped into the air and violently kicked his head to the ground, knocking him unconscious while I continued to the next person.
I would love to ignore these mercenaries and go directly to the man holding the voodoo stone, but I can see the mana within his system, which was larger than mine, and from the build of his body, I doubted he was a mage, so I've doubt he was strong, probably even stronger than me if I'm being honest.
'He would probably be considered a B-class adventurer… Great.' Thought Alexander with an unsightly expression as he clicked his tongue before continuing into the fray, dodging various attacks while everyone he came was either grievously injured and/or knocked unconscious.
Although I knew I wouldn't be so easily defeated when facing a B-class adventurer, I also knew I wouldn't win in a fair fight; thankfully, for me, I was akin to an unstoppable berserker as I could ignore any attack that wouldn't outright kill me.
Raising my arm, I blocked an arrow from piercing my eye with my armor before leaping into the air, dodging a massive hammer from behind, only to appear directly behind my attacker.
"Huh, where did he go!?" Asked the mercenary as she retracted her hammer while observing her surroundings, only for a golden hilt to slam into her head, knocking her unconscious.
"Behind you. Speaking of behind, you've got one amazing butt." Said Alexander lightly as he glanced at the woman before continuing towards the encampment, her butt occasionally flashing through his mind.
'Master, are you being serious?' 'What, don't do that; it was merely an observation I happened to notice. It's not like I was solely looking at her ass.' Said Trina and Alexander, respectively, as he glanced at his greatsword in his right hand while it released an ever-so-faint hum.
Shaking my head at Trina, I neared the encampment, which was being guarded by tens of warriors, with even more waiting for me inside.
'Welp, I haven't used this in a while.' Thought Alexander as large gusts of wind circulated his swords before he leaped into the air while spinning.
As I landed on the ground, a tornado manifested around me, though that wasn't all as I took a deep breath before releasing a torrent of flames from my mouth, which the tornado sucked up.
'Fire Storm.' Thought Alexander with a smirk as he continued to supply the skill with mana, causing it to grow larger.
Using [Fire Storm] as a distraction, I crossed my sword before swiping them towards the mercenaries, launching two [Void Slashes], which had gone completely unnoticed until they arrived at targets, leaving behind nasty wounds on each one of them while the firestorm finished them off; I hadn't meant to kill them, but what's done is done.
Running through the large, fiery tornado, I entered the encampment, only to be pelted by a volley of attacks as wind, fire, earth, and even ice, along with arrows, rained down upon me. With there being too much, I used [Blink], appearing in a different spot while smacking an archer with the board side of my sword, sending them skidding across the ground.
"Ouch." Muttered Alexander lightly as he glanced at the arrow lodged in his butt before shifting his focus to the archer responsible.