"Wake up." Melissa tapped the chained up moon princess's face, turning to the left where all of the dead beast bodies were piled, "They'll just keep coming, won't they?"
"Ugh…" Valentine groaned, blinking her silver eyes for a few seconds before fully opening them. She sat with her back rested on a tree, observing them with an icy gaze.
"Oh, you were awake already." Melissa stood to her feet, glaring down at the silent Valentine, "I don't know how you're attracting so many beasts, but you have to stop it."
"What non— you know what, fine." Valentine stared out of the corner of her eyes at the bodies laying by her sides, frowning, "The moon palace didn't raise all these beasts."
"I guess I was right." Melissa sighed, raising her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, then turning to the side with a sigh, "She must be bleeding somewhere. Take care of it."
"Gladly." A young bright red haired woman stepped forward, crouching while Ralph and another auburn haired man watched from behind, and grabbed Valentine's forehead.
A fierce golden-red flame engulfed Valentine as Melissa stepped back, turning around to address both Ralph and the other man, "While Margret does her job, I'll go in the cave."
"You don't have to." Ralph shook his head, thumbing at Henry, "We can go in there. It will be best we keep you out of harm's way. You should leave the dirty work to us, ma'am."
"Haha! If I left the dirty work to you, then I'd be cleaning up double." Melissa laughed, turning around and forging a flaming dagger out of thin air, "It's better we wait a little."
Seeing this, Valentine narrowed her eyes. She cleared her throat, "How did you do it? That dagger— it just appeared out of nowhere. Isn't that the skill «Elemental Forgery»?"
Melissa cast a glance at the curious Valentine, then rolled her eyes to the side, "It is none of your business. I guess Margret is done, and the demons would stop pouring here."
"Yeah, it's just a few bruises." Margret stood to her feet. A sudden rumble started and her head snapped in the direction of the cave, dust rattling off and falling to the ground.
After a few seconds, three shadows dropped out, rolling across the ground to a halt. A calmly apprehensive gleam appeared in Melissa's gaze as she approached them, "Aaron?"
Confirming her suspicion to be true, Melissa breathed a sigh of relief, turning to the stunned Margret without hesitation, "Quickly heal them. Ralph, get them some clothes."
Arlene sat up, groaning and rubbing her head, sucking on her teeth as she cleared her throat, "They didn't have to toss us out like that. How can she have that much strength?"
"Oh, one of them is alive. What the fuck happened to you three?" Melissa questioned, pointing at Aurora whose body was riddled with wounds, "Why is she in such bad shape?"
Melissa paused, raising her glance from Arlene who calmly began to recollect herself to the cave's entrance. No other person stepped out from inside, "And where is Augustus?"
"Well, you see…" Arlene scratched the back of her head.
——
"Weeee~" Lily screamed at the top of her lungs, spreading her arms out and running at a frightening speed. Augustus sat on a tree branch, watching her with an amused gaze.
'The effects of 10-Second Skip are vastly superior to 1-Second Skip.' Augustus thought to himself, glancing from left to right to meet Lily anywhere she would suddenly appear.
He would blink, and in the next second Lily would be in a different location, 'It is like a «Flicker Dash» clone. It mimics the effects perfectly, although this can be interrupted.'
A flicker dash was a skill that allowed the user to flicker a short distance. It was not the rarest skill, used by many knights and regents at higher ranks. Well, this was just it.
Although, unlike flicker dash which transported the user a fixed distance and worked even if they stood still, Lily's skill needed her to run that fixed distance through the time.
'I can see how nice ten seconds would be for a quick assassination.' Augustus sighed, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes as she smirked, 'Of course, why else would he give her such an overpowered boost if not to use it for his own benefits? For love? Haha!'
Augustus jumped down from the tree branch, adjusting his sword's scabbard strapped to his waist as a gleam flashed through his violet eyes, 'As she used me to gain the boost, I only see it necessary. The more cards I have, the better my chances of success.'
Failure? Never again. Augustus looked around — the ruined goblin village all around him — and chuckled. For succeeding in this run he was ready to do much more than this.
"Are you done? We have to head back." Augustus announced, watching as Lily turned to him and sighed, bringing her playful dashes to a halt, "We can expect their army soon."
"It could get worse, trust me." Lily sighed, stretching her arms and letting out a loud yawn, "Once they figure out I've been hiding here with you. Things would only get great."
"I like the sarcasm. I really do." Augustus waved his finger, sighing as he turned from Lily to the path through the forest, "I wanted to take this path, but I guess that will wait."
"We can come back here later if you are curious where it leads." Lily cheered, raising a hand and slamming it on his back, patting it afterwards. Augustus chuckled… menacingly.
"Yeah." Augustus sighed, letting out a drawn breath as the wind blew in his face, his eyes snapping in the direction of a distant tree on while a silver owl stood, its eyes wide.
He aimed a finger-gun at the owl, smirking as a cold light flashed through his eyes, then fired. Now, he that he knew they weren't a related threat— he sent her a nice gift.
A few seconds later, the owl hooted then took to the skies, leaving a feathery trail.