Annihilation(3)

Richard’s brows furrowed as he thought back to the Josephs’ assassination attempt. However, he was barely sixteen years of age… 

Who would pay such a huge price to kill him?

 But it wasn’t the time to ponder about such matters. “I heard that the natives of a plane will treat us as enemies when we first enter it.”

Flowsand nodded, “Large scale teleportation like our party’s will definitely alert the experts who’ve grasped the laws of the plane. If this plane is as strong as you claim, then it will house at least a few legendary experts. We’re now in an extremely dire situation, what do you plan to do?”

What to do?

Richard inwardly flashed a wry smile. No matter how much they struggled, if the experts of this plane arrived here they would have no chance of survival. Flowsand, Gangdor, Waterflower, the trolls, Olar… Everyone was looking intently at him, waiting for him to come to a decision.

Richard was suddenly alarmed, reminded once again that he was the leader of this party. Even without his sheer power, he would have to make the decisions. The strength of their party, alongside the scouts already sent out, should have ensured that things wouldn’t be too rough. However, the destination had been changed to an intermediate plane, so their priority was now mere survival!

Richard looked at Flowsand, asking the critical question, “There’s no chance of going back, is there?”

“There are three methods if you wish to go back. First, conquer the entire plane. That will give me the resources to build a tower that can search for the coordinates of the Eternal Dragon. Second, if we’re lucky enough we might be able to find some ruins of the Eternal Dragon here. We can activate the church once more, performing a sacrifice for the blessings to reopen the tunnel to Norland. Third is for us to capture another party coming to this plane.” Flowsand spoke indifferently. As a priestess of the Eternal Dragon, she was naturally familiar with such matters.

Richard surveyed the area again, before he spoke loudly, “I really want to have luck like that, to be able to find the vestige of a church and then return to Norland. But even if we found a church, where are we going to obtain the items to sacrifice? Will obtaining the items to sacrifice to the Eternal Dragon easier than actually conquering the lands here? The item that sent us here was the head of a greater devil!

“We’re already here. As an Archeron, I don’t want to run back home with my head bowed down. I would rather choose the first option. In fact, that is our only choice!”

Richard’s voice resounded in the camp. Archeron… Just that word seemed to have some strange effect on the party. Everyone’s pulse quickened, their hearts coming to life in trepidation as they thirsted for fire and blood. And Richard was the leader of that zeal!

Gangdor roared at that moment, “Hey boss! Your martial arts were extremely dashing when you fought, but if you want to lift our fighting spirits you need to drink wine! That’ll give you the atmosphere!”

Richard stared at Gangdor blankly, “You aren’t nervous?”

Gangdor shrugged his shoulders, “I was a little afraid at first, but now that I think about it the death camp was much more dangerous. Every creature there wanted your life! Since that lass Waterflower isn’t afraid, why should I be?”

Waterflower had her sword hugged close, leaning against the wall. Her eyelids were half-closed, as if she was about to sleep. It was as if she did not hear Gangdor’s provocation at all. It seemed like the current circumstances didn’t matter to her much at all. With her white robes and bared legs, it made for a striking scene.

Richard looked at the two trolls. Medium Rare scratched his head, saying slowly, “I’m just afraid that there will be nothing tasty to eat!”

Tiramisu raised its fist and smashed it against Medium Rare’s skull, “All you know is eating! It’ll be perfect if there’s trolls in this plane. We can infiltrate their camps.

“The ten most beautiful ones are mine! You can start from the eleventh!”

Medium Rare jumped and howled, “No way! You get the best one, that’s it!”

“I’m a mage!”

“So what?”

The two trolls were going at each other’s throats by then, so Richard turned to Olar. The bard’s face was still ashen, he hadn’t completely recovered yet. Perhaps it was the blood loss due to the injury, or maybe he was just afraid, but he shot a weak smile when he met Richard’s gaze. 

However, he hesitated a bit before looking at Flowsand. He mustered up his courage, “If the beautiful Miss Flowsand could give me some encouragement, perhaps a sweet kiss, I’ll be filled with courage!”

Flowsand smiled gently, “You’re teasing a priestess of the Eternal Dragon. Aren’t you afraid of losing lifespan?”

Olar was stumped, not daring to press on. He turned elsewhere for his courage, this time to Waterflower, “If this beautiful lady can give me some encouragement, I’ll be bold enough to conquer the whole plane!”

Waterflower’s brows twitched as she opened an eye. She stared at the elven bard and said indifferently, “When the environment is better.”

Olar’s face suddenly flushed red. He opened his arms out to the skies, as if wanting to embrace something. He then turned to Richard, getting on one knee before proclaiming, “You have the most courageous warrior, my Lord!”

Richard did not know what to say. He could vaguely sense the girl’s thoughts through their connection, and she didn’t try to hide her feelings. While she had spoken the truth, it was only technically so. This scene was filled with many chops and slices, but it didn’t seem appropriate to tell the elven romantic the truth.

It was only then that Richard realised it would not be easy to lead a party. He could not fathom how Gaton had managed to amass thirteen knights under his banner. From Mordred to Lina, they all had their own quirks. And each of them were not to be trifled with, and were not saints.

And now, Gangdor propped his chin with his hands and looked at Olar like one would at a fool. He had wanted to laugh, because he felt like there was a sense of accomplishment looking at somebody acting like this.

“The baron’s troops may appear shortly.” Flowsand interjected.

Richard inhaled deeply, “We can deal with a baron. I have to hurry and try to understand the seed.” Indeed, the seed, that azure grey egg, was the only resource they hadn’t used.

“Seed…” Flowsand’s body shuddered. Richard looked at her, but he could only see her head bowed down with a blank expression.

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