Three figures ran across the forest, occasionally turning around and releasing roaring explosions while they moved. Of course, they were none other than Aster, Cassy, and Kali.
"Slowpokes, keep up! We're almost there!" Kali encouraged the two, who were slightly lagging behind her.
Cassy was still not running at her top speed; however, Aster, who was in front of her, was already wheezing. His Constitution did increase by one, but it was nothing much when compared to the other two.
"Star, just tell me if you need a heal!" Cassy commented, her eyes filled with worry.
Although she was willing to waste a heal to relieve his fatigue, Aster himself was reluctant. He didn't want to waste Cassy's precious heals on something that was far from life-threatening.
Thankfully, he didn't have to suffer much longer.
"I can see it!" Kali shouted, pointing ahead of them, where a giant rock formation could be seen. "Head to that rock!"
Aster forced his body to move faster, expending more energy on a last spurt. Within 30 seconds, they arrived at the base of a 10-meter-tall rock formation. It had flat sides, which made it hard to scale. However, they didn't come there to climb it anyway.
The three placed their backs against the rock wall, limiting the direction in which attacks could come.
Their formation was simple, with Aster at the furthest, back against the wall with his pistol, and Cassy and Kali standing left and right in front of him, respectively. It was as if the girls were placing their bodies in line to protect him!
"Star, you stay there and provide cover fire! Stupid Rabbit, you handle the goblins to the left!"
"Got it! Also, I'm not stupid!"
"Haa... Haaa... Haa... Urgh..."
Aster's vision was blurry from all the running he did, but he didn't dare to let down his party members. He lifted his lead-like arms and held the gun forward, aiming the pistol shakily.
*KIIEEEEK!* *KEEEEK!*
Soon enough, a rain of arrows came once more. The same as before, most of them got stuck on trunks and branches, before a few reached the three with deadly force. This time, there's nowhere to hide!
"Leave this to me!" Kali stood up front and raised both her daggers before taking a deep breath.
Her atmosphere sharpened enough that you could hear the air turn crisp around her. Then she leaped into the air, as if to meet the rain of arrows, and spread both arms wide.
"Skill: Dagger Tornado!"
Just as Aster thought she'd be blocking the arrows with her body, Kali started to rotate rapidly, calling upon a small tornado that pulled the projectiles toward it. Then, she swiped them down with her two daggers, neutralizing the rain of arrows in a flash.
About three seconds later, right when she landed, all the arrows turned into scraps, falling down like broken twigs scattered by the strong winds.
"Watch out, they're coming!" Cassy was warned as she started to hear the incoming footsteps of the army. "There's too many of them! Roughly a hundred!"
"Maintain formation! Don't let them get close to Star!"
"..."
Watching the two girls move to cover for him, Aster felt like he bit a bitter bug. "Am I just going to stay in this position with these two protecting me?" He asked himself as he tightened his grip on his pistol.
However, it was also true that he couldn't compete with them in terms of physical abilities. If he, too, stepped in front, then he'd simply become a hindrance.
"I'll just do what I need to do." He whispered, swallowing his pride for a moment.
He pointed his gun forward, aiming true toward the incoming goblins, who were now within sight, and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
A bullet flew, ringing as it created sonic booms, heading toward one goblin. The lead bullet landed right in the middle of the goblin's chest, opening a finger-sized wound where blood started to flow out. A fatal wound!
*BANG!*
Without rushing at all, making sure that his aim was true and stable, Aster fired once more. Again, the bullet flew without deviation and hit a goblin's forehead, killing it instantly.
*BANG!*
Another shot, but this time, he missed. However, he didn't lose focus and pulled the trigger after adjusting his aim a little, letting the bullet pierce a hole through a goblin's neck, creating a faucet of green blood through it.
*CLICK!*
"...!"
And at that moment, he finally ran out of bullets.
With unaccustomed movements, he removed the magazine and took a new one from his pocket, loading it before locking the hammer and aiming forward once more. Just as he used half of the clip, the other goblins finally reached where Cassy and Kali were.
A brutal fight began.
Kali, with her brutal agility and flexibility, weaved through several goblins at once and attacked their vitals in one stroke. In a flash, ten goblins were killed!
Cassy wasn't as flashy, but she could match a goblin without backing away. Of course, the enemy wasn't alone, so she was forced to be a little creative. She jumped around, not letting the goblins lock onto her, and attacked with passing slashes as if to imitate Kali's battle style.
A rabbit beastwoman with superior jumping abilities, and a cat beastwoman with astounding speed. Both of them fought fiercely, piling corpses upon corpses by the side.
"Hauck!"
But of course, fighting while outnumbered wasn't something you could pull off without practice. In the end, Cassy suffered a blunt injury to her thigh and a stab wound to her right shoulder, almost making her drop her dagger.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Aster didn't delay and fired, killing the goblins around Cassy with ease. They were so close that it was harder to miss than to hit them, after all!
"Priodis Sirreo Cura! Minor Heal!"
Having no choice, Cassy had to use a heal. The wound on her shoulder quickly closed, with the bruise on her leg disappearing in a flash.
During the time she was healing, Aster was continuously firing at the goblins targeting her. Soon enough, another magazine was used up.
Only one more was left.