"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. What's happening now?" Alchemy scoffed.
{Calm down. What do you mean? What danger is approaching?!} Nera questioned.
{Those vial monkeys and wolves. They're pincering us! Both are accompanied by a leader who looks significantly stronger, potentially a mutant of some kind!}
"Oh no."
Those were the only words that could escape Alchemy's mouth as the color drained from her face.
'The monkeys should have hated the wolves. They couldn't attack together. Letting those scouts go back alive was a mistake. No, they'd come anyway if more of theirs went missing. Did I go too far? Did I overstep already?'
Alchemy's body began shaking profusely, convulsing rapidly as countless thoughts passed through her mind. Thanks to her high INT stat, the thoughts could end and leave her head faster than they ever could on Earth, only adding to the pain.
"-Dess," Nera shouted, trying to get a hold of Alchemy.
The moment one bad thought managed to escape her mind, another even worse one replaced it. She screwed up. She screwed up badly.
Her current units wouldn't be able to handle either group. Even if Nera and Sapphire held off one, she couldn't hold off the other alone. She didn't even know how to fight properly!
"MOTHER GODDESS!" Nera continued shouting, slapping Alchemy.
Reaching for her face, the stinging pain forcing her out of her thoughts caused Alchemy to look at Nera.
"N…Nera?"
"Is this all it takes for you to give up? Give us orders, damn it! Even if we all die"
Die.
Alchemy knew very well that this was real. She would die because of her mess up… Every single one of the Verminae would die because of her.
"Aren't you meant to be the best! Our leader! Our Mother! Please, Mother Goddess! Your orders."
Breathing rapidly, nearly to the point of hyperventilating, Alchemy shook her head.
"Shoot… What am I doing? This isn't me!" Alchemy cursed herself, clenching her fist until blood was drawn.
This wasn't like the eagle, where she overwhelmed it with numbers and was done.
If they had two mutants, it meant that those were most likely their leader. Leaders capable of commanding several creatures around level 20. A confrontation would surely end in a loss. And even if by some miracle they did win, how many of hers would die?
"How far away are there? Did they bring any types of items or weapons?"
{The monkeys are equipped with sticks that have glowing rocks on them. They're also carrying some sort of wagon with a cloth over it.} One of the squadrons reported.
{We couldn't identify the wolves. When we tried to get close, the largest one noticed us, forcing us to retreat. And the closer of the two are the monkeys. At their pace, they'll reach us in 15 minutes.}
"Wands… And maybe siege tools? Would they be able to develop those? No, it doesn't matter. Nera, go wake Sapphire up. Then, grab the thorns and confront the monkeys. DO NOT engage them until they show hostility."
"What about the wolves, though? You can't tell me you plan to go alone?"
"I'll take the new Wingrazers and Sapphire. We'll have enough."
"That's too reckless! What if they manage to defeat you before I can come to help!"
Standing, Alchemy gets into Nera's face.
"We don't have the leeway to do this halfway, Nera. Gambling is our only option here. Either trust me now or never trust me again."
Plus, the wolf situation was entirely her fault.
Alchemy began walking away. She needed her units to be centralized to minimize casualties.
"Not that it'd matter. If we fail, all of us might just die here anyway."
Conflicted, Nera looked at the hut and back at Alchemy.
"Damn it. If only I could be in two places at once. I could stay by your side." Nera cursed.
{The great Mother Goddess has passed down her orders. Listen to me now!}
Turning away, Nera woke Sapphire and briefly explained what was happening before running to intercept the oncoming wolves.
Meanwhile, Alchemy kept going over possibilities.
'I saved the monkeys from the wolves. Was it a ploy to get an idea of our power? Or maybe they just want to eliminate a potential competitor? And the wolves. Did they see through my ploy? Are they really intelligent enough for that? No, maybe I can explain the situation if that's the case. Shoot, they won't care about that and will try to maul me anyway…'
No matter what she thought, the possibility of neither side being here with malice didn't cross her mind. Such a thing was impossible. Even the possibility of the monkeys being grateful for Nera's assistance seemed unlikely.
"M-master Alchemy! Are you alright?!" Sapphire shouted out, running to catch up.
"Do I look alright?" Alchemy let out a minuscule, dry chuckle.
"We'll be fine! We're strong! I leveled up a lot during our outing!" Sapphire said, rubbing against Alchemy as they walked.
"I… I really hope you're right." Alchemy responded, doing her best to stop the shaking.
Showing fear would only increase the other party's willingness to attack. On the off chance that negotiations could be held, fear could not be allowed.
"Listen. No matter what happens, you should run if things start looking bad. If we're going to lose anyway, there's no reason for both of us to fall. I don't know what will happen to the Verminae if I fall, but you are not tied to me. You have no reason to stay."
Alchemy's words made Sapphire feel a strew of emotions.
Fear and Sadness chief among them. This young girl, woman? Besides the fact that she looked very young, Sapphire wasn't exactly sure how old Alchemy was. Whatever the truth was, Alchemy was just grooming and telling her that she wouldn't abandon Sapphire just last night; was now telling her to run for her own safety.
'Master Alchemy has saved my life and taken me in after everyone else abandoned me. I must protect her, even if it cost me my life! I won't let her fall here!' Sapphire told herself, repeating it like a chant.
If Alchemy were to go, then Sapphire would surely join her.