“Damn it, there is no end to this...” Blowing away a few of the undead, Quingon looked exasperated with the mere number of the undead. “Getting cold feet, muscle-head?” “Don’t be ridiculous, Merri. Knocking these sorry cases around gets too boring...” Continuing their uneventful fight surrounded by countless undead after bringing down the undead bear, Quingon and his team had been repeating the same tactic over and over again. Knock and purify. If there is one uninteresting fact about the undead, that is most of them were mere puppets of their unholy master. Their numbers served not only to tire out their prey physically but also torturing their opponents mentally with their physical appearance and monotonous attack pattern. This attribute alone caused many seasoned warriors and bands to succumb to the terrifying boredom which resulted in carelessness when fighting an undead army. Of course, things would be different if they did not have a Maeist around, but even so...
“Well, it is obvious that Lucson can’t purify that number of the undead...” Sparing a gaze at their only Maeist who starting to show signs of fatigue, Merridian weighed their options while striking a few of the unholy creatures away with multiple quick slashes. “And my throwing knives are running out, not to mention Gabriel’s arrows.” Penn interrupted with her bright tone which slightly mired in urgency. Quingon gathered his Breath and gripped his halberd firmly as he lowered his stance in preparation for an elaborated strike.
Suddenly disappeared from the ground where he stood, Quingon went a few steps ahead from the team and swung his halberd horizontally with an exaggerated arch and force that it sent a number of the undead in front flew to the back and knocked the other undead beings down on their flight. Recovered almost instantly from the attack, Quingon focused his Breath to his feet as he jumped and leapt over his team to their back. Concentrating the last of the Breath onto his weapon, Quingon swung from the top as he landed and struck his halberd on the ground, causing a blow of whirlwind and dust that drove the approaching undead beings rolling on the ground.
Breathing heavily from his consecutive attacks, Quingon readjusted his breath and surveyed his handiwork with a satisfied grin. He has earned some time for his adjutant to think of a way to escape from the mess. “...W...What just happened?” Raising his eyebrows in wonder, Quingon looked back to find Penn’s expression distorted with surprise and bewilderment. The same expression was also printed on Lucson and Gabriel’ shocked face. “Nothing to be surprised. I expect just as much... Thanks, Quin” Brushing her head in resignation, Merridian whispered her thanks to Quingon who flashed a broadening fierce smile. “Still, impressive, I should say...” “As expected for someone who defeated Merri in Clash Fest...” The alarmed look from Lucson, Gabriel, and Quingon stopped Penn short, but not before she blurted out the fact that might cause them immense pain.
The rest of the team turned slowly to look at Merridian in anticipation of the fearful wrath that would befall them afterwards. Surprisingly, Merridian was preoccupied with the thought to resolve their current situation and did not seem to hear the painful account for the female swordswoman. “...Shut your mouth...” “Numb your tongue, brat...” Breathing a sigh of relief in unison, Quingon gazed angrily at Penn as other members were admonishing the careless scout who was screaming softly with regret. The small pocket of time was expiring as the undead at the back trampled across their fallen comrades and started to close on to them.
Sensing the lack of time, Quingon looked hurriedly to Merridian and found the darkened iris of his trusted assistant sucking him deeply into the bottomless oblivion below. Shivering at the slithering malevolence, Quingon tried to squish his words out from his mouth. “D...Did you found a way?” “In fact, yes, my dear Quingon.” A terrible feeling rode on his veins, coursing through his body at Merridian’s sudden change of her tone. The other members stopped their silenced bickering and swallowed in resigned anticipation as they caught the dark look eyeing their terrified lump of a leader with an evil naughtiness.
“...Penn.” “...Y...Yes!!” Quingon did not need to turn to see Penn’s delayed reaction leaden by fear. “Cover our rear. Gabriel will assist you.” “...Yes.” A breath of relief was heard from the petite scout before the snake came from behind and bit. “And Penn?” “...Yes?” “Don’t return until you shake them off. I will cut you in half if I saw you running back with the undead behind you.” Quingon’s heart skipped a beat as Penn hugged her head with an exasperated scream. “Lucson.” “Yes, ma’am.” “Head out first and flash at the undead in that direction. We’re cutting through.” “Yes!” Having no more business with the rest of the team, Merridian turned back to look at her team leader.
“Quingon...” The man stifled in a straight pose as his assistant regarded him with a chilling smile. “Follow behind Lucson, do your stuff and keep him safe.” Nodding with hopeless relief, Quingon stopped short as he knew Merridian better than anyone in the team. His esteemed assistant had more plan for him. “That look of dissatisfaction. I’m so glad you willing to do more. In that case...” Closed her eyes and nodded with mocked joy, Merridian outlined her plan afterwards without looking at the mortified Quingon. “What’s with this crazy woman? Nothing good has ever happened since I met this broad...” Gathering his thought in resignation, Quingon wondered when did his path had gone wrong.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
