The scene unfolding in front of me leaves me in confusion. Just a moment ago I saw my life flash before my eyes as the unstoppable light saber wielding bastard's sword was about to take my life. After I opened my eyes I was surprised that his hands were cut off, star wars style. A joke about him being related to Skywalkers run through my mind but I brush off the idea. After all he is more like Count Dooku than Anakin or Luke.

Am I already dead and what I see is just my mind showing me what I want to see as I slowly succumb to the sweet embrace of death? If not, then I am truly lost and confused.

"Rebeccah you traitorous bitch! Do you know what you just did?" The disarmed fellow roared in anger and disbelief at his subordinate.

The woman in question was slowly floating towards the armless sword mage. An innocent smile pasted on her face. Which only incensed the anger of the handicapped person in front of me.

Oh my god. Maybe the near death experienced really did a number on me. The puns just keep coming!

"Do you know what will happen when the Organization finds out what you did here you bitch? Not only you will feel their wrath, even your whole family will taste torture worse than death!" He yelled, blood draining from his face as he bleeds out from his severed arms.

"Oh don't worry about me, dear leader. You look pale. Let me take care of that." With a wave of her hand I see the wound close and color returns to the face of the man. Unfortunately, or fortunately he didn't grow new set of hands.

The man instantly looks a lot better, but it did not weaken the fire in his eyes even for a little bit. Like he is spitting acid he hissed. "You wench. I will have your skin for doing this to me."

"Oh Christopher. Given with a smidgen of power and authority and you already let it go over your head. Do you really think you are still in the position to threaten me? Such arrogance coming from the weak. It amuse me to no end." She then lets out a hearty laugh.

The kneeling man grits his teeth so hard that it draws blood. "Do you really think you can get out of here after doing this to me? All the others are incompetent and will be no use in a fight. They couldn't even take care of pushovers!"

Oh right! What happened to the fight of the others? I look around to see the result of the battle. On Kurt's side, I can see the Twin Tigers of Kupesh lying on the ground. I can see their limbs in unusual position and large bumps where their joints should be. A clear sign that he dislocated both shoulder, elbows and knees of the two. For a supposedly peace loving monk, he sure have a sadistic side and not shy in inflicting pain upon his enemies.

I then focused my sight towards Philip who is standing over his fallen opponent. Durga who is so imposing earlier with his Aura that is so hot, I could even feel it from here. Now, that seemingly unstoppable force lies dead on the ground, with a short sword sticking in his skull which looks like the one used by the girl fighting against Alora earlier.

My gaze then fell upon the two female, their fight was also over. Alora steps on her opponent who was also lying on the ground. She seems to be alive for I can still sense her Mana and Ki from here. She is also missing her sword, so it must've been her sword who is now sheathed upon Durga's head.

What the fuck is going on here? Did she also betrayed her companion? Is there a conspiracy here?

Upon hearing her voice, my attention went back to Rebeccah who is now in front of Christopher. She looks down on him as she floats. "Says the man who can't even take care of a dwarf and The One who is not using any Void energy. A few dwarven toys and you think yourself equal to us blessed by the Gods? It is fine to be confident, but we women hate those who are full of themselves." She winks at the man which only makes him more furious.

"Besides, me still being alive is a proof that I am not a traitor. I even saved you from committing a treachery to the Organization yourself by cutting your filthy hands. You don't have to bother thanking me. It's on the house." She then floats away and flew near Alora. "I would appreciate if you take your foot away from the girl." She smiled at Alora.

"What makes you think that I have to comply with your whims?" Alora starts to nock and arrow and draw her bow.

"I advise you not to do that. You might have defeated my companions, but you are already exhausted from the fight and I am still well rested. Also, not to boast like that sorry sack of a man right there" She pointed at Christopher before turning back to Alora "You "might" defeat me if you work with each other. But not before I take 2 or 3 of you with me. Most probably, I will wipe the floor with all of you and take the one with me to our Hideout. But that is too much work." She shakes her head and chuckles derisively.

"We will see about that." Alora growls as she draws her bow.

Rebeccah was still leisurely floating in the air as if she is in no imminent danger. It is a clear indicator that she have trust in her own abilities. Not discounting the fact that I can feel her draw mana from within herself and the energy she is about to release is no joke.

I can feel the tension rising as both women stare at each other as if daring the other to start the fight. Fortunately before a fight ensues, Philip rushed towards Alora to calm her down.

"Alora." With a single word, Alora put down her bow and stared at Philip. There are no words exchanged, just meaningful looks. After a few moments, Alora shrugged and returned her weapon to her back. She then took her foot of the helpless woman beneath her and walked away. "Thank you." Philip smiled in appreciation at the Elf who just pouted slightly at the gesture.

"Thank you elf." The woman once again said as if she is amused in trying the patience of the grouchy Elf and as expected, Alora seemed annoyed by her antics.

"I would prefer you to not test the patience of "my friend" here. You might think of this as a joke but one more mockery of Alora, I will be the first to slit your throat." Wow. I did not think the man have it in him to threaten a woman, and I thought Knights are the epitome of being a gentleman.

"Fair enough. Now, could you hand over my cute companion to me?" Rebeccah smiled teasingly at the Knight.

"Not so fast. Before we give her to you, I want something in exchange" Philip told her.

"My, my. Is us leaving you in peace not enough?" She asked innocently. When she saw Philip shake his head she continued. "Hehe. I take that as a no then? Hmmm. I think I know what you want. Unfortunately I cannot give you your companion back. I also will not indulge you with the information about his location either."

"Then it is a no deal." Philip then raised his sword.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Men." She shook her head derisively. "I said I won't give you what you want to know. But I have someone here that can divulge you of the information you sorely need." She then points at the kneeling Christopher who is looking at her with hate filled eyes. "You don't even have to worry about him fighting back-"

"Because he's already been disarmed." I interrupted her and chuckled at my own joke. Shit I just couldn't hold it in.

At first, Rebeccah look at me with a confused look and then she laughed out loud. "Ohhh. I get it! Cause he have no arms. Hehehe. Nice one The One." She wipes off a tear from her eyes before continuing. "A woman loves a man who have a sense of humor."

"So you're just going your handicapped friend here without a fight? We might kill him you know. Ortho have a bone to pick with him." I declared. She was chuckling at the pun and shakes her head. "Got to hand it to you. It would not be pretty."

She laughed out louder than before. "Oh my. I think I like you." She wiped another tear from her eye before waving her finger at Alora. "Don't even think about it girl. Put that down before I make you regret pointing your weapon at me for a second time."

I glanced at Alora who is being calmed down by Philip. I didn't even noticed her pointing her arrow at the woman. Rebeccah must have great awareness of her surrounding to notice the threat.

"So do we have a deal?" She turned towards Philip once more.

He looked at Alora then to Ortho. After exchanging meaningful glances he then cleared his throat and answered. "If you promise to leave in peace, then you can leave."

"That's the plan. By the way you don't need to lower the barrier trap you have set around your camp. It is only covering the sides and below ground. It is wide open up above so we can just fly over it." She declared.

"What? There was a barrier trap? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Christopher suddenly stood, but since he doesn't have any hands he lost his balance and fall on his face again.

"Well you didn't ask me. So I didn't bother sharing my discovery to you. I believe Weylin also knew about it. Not that it would change anything. You would still charge in here like bull despite the apparent traps you achievement hungry man that you are." She then sighed. "Seriously. Low class nobles, am I right?" She said in a mocking tone.

The man was speechless and just grits his teeth as he bury his face in the ground as if it would hide his shame.

This woman is ice cold. I wonder what this man ever did to her that makes him deserving of this treatment. Well to be honest, he might surely done something indeed. Considering that he is such a prick when we were fighting and he almost killed me. So fuck that guy.

Philip and Alora untied Weylin and proceeded to come towards us to secure the armless Christopher Esclaire. Rebeccah then flew towards Weylin and with a simple wave of her hand, healed all the wounds Alora inflicted on her.

Even after all the punishment she received from the elf, Weylin still sports an expressionless look on her face. "I deeply apologize, Mistress Rebeccah. I failed. The Elf was just too strong. She disarmed me and used my own sword to kill Master Durga." She kneeled and bowed deeply that her forehead is touching the ground.

"No worries sweet girl. Frankly I am surprised you lasted this long against her. There is more potential within you. I can feel it. No need to feel down." She reassured the girl and helped her to stand up. She then casted a spell which wrenched her sword out of the corpse of Durga and it floats towards them. "Take your sword. A warrior must not be seen without her weapon, no? Now. Let's get out of here." With a touch of her hand, Weylin also started floating in the air.

"Mistress! Please don't forget about us!" One of the Twin Tigers of Kupesh pleaded. I think he is Timothy or something.

"Mistress, please heal us! It hurts!" The other one of the Twin Tigers moaned. It sure do look painful. Getting all of your limbs dislocated.

"Oh yes! I nearly forgot." Rebeccah turned towards them and in her face was a sadistic smile. "Losers who can't even defeat an opponent two versus one. I told my parents that you two were trash from the moment I laid eyes on you. But they forced me to take you both under my wings and I am nothing but an obedient daughter so I respected their wish."

"What are you saying Mistress? We don't understand. Didn't we follow all of your orders?" Bertel asked, hope and fear fight within him.

"Oh yes, you did. But you have reached the peak of your potential and I find it wanting. I no longer have any use of you two kittens. Actually, this is a great opportunity. I will just report to my parents that you died here. Then they can give me new subordinates. Hopefully someone who is not as useless as you both." Motherfucker. Is she going to do what I think she will do?

"What?" Both of them asked. Fear and trepidation creeps on their face.

"I said I no longer any use of you. Trash are best disposed of. So to make sure your death will not be traced back to me." She then started to chant silently and I feel a frightening amount of mana surge from within her.

If you ask me, loudly chanting your spell is a quick way to get countered. You practically say what element and attack you are going to cast. Which makes me wonder why mages don't do this practice.

"No Mistress! We are still useful!" Timothy pleaded.

"Please don't kill us!" Almost crying Bertel tries to crawl away.

Kurt was about to step in and save them but he was stopped by Philip. "Don't. This is a good chance to assess her powers." He told Kurt.

"People are going to die Philip. I am not standing by while I could do something to prevent it." Kurt argued before getting stopped by Alora and Ortho. "Get out of my way."

"No Kurt. Yer jeopardizing our mission. Remember why we fought here! We need to rescue Mark." Ortho argues. He is holding a device in his hand which he will most likely use to stop the bald monk.

Before Kurt could push them aside, the spell has already been finished. "Natures Wrath!" Rebeccah yelled as her mana pours into the ground.

After that, huge roots sprung from the ground and wrapped around the Twin Tigers. Both men screamed for their life and was quickly snuffed out as the roots squeezed and broke their body from the pressure. After that the ground opens and their lifeless bodies were dragged underground. What was left of them was the blood that was splattered around the camp.

I was horrified of what I have just witnessed. Such a horrible way to go.

From our stunned group, one was able to find her voice. "How could this be?! You know Elven magic?" Alora questioned the woman.

To which the woman in question replied with a mocking smile on her face. "A woman must have her secret, no? Farewell!" She then grabbed Weylin and flew to the skies.

Alora was furious and was about to fire an arrow at her but the woman must have already took account of this happening so she casted another spell, almost instantly this time. "Fog Storm!" the whole forest was then covered by a thick fog which hid their presence. They also seem to hide their Mana for I can no longer sense them.

After a minute or so, the fog begin to disappear revealing that the 2 women are nowhere in sight. We also found out that the fallen figure of Christopher was also missing.

"Shit where did he go?" Philip shouts as he tries to look for the man.

"He hid his Mana. Let's split up!" Ortho replied.

We were about to do that when we heard a scream in a distance. That fool. He must've tried to escape and was caught by the barrier.

We ran towards the scream and found the body of Christopher. Smoke rising from his body after getting electrocuted by the barrier trap that Ortho set around the camp. Seriously, this dwarf really like electrocuting his opponents.

Kurt rushed towards him and checked his vitals.

"Is he still alive?" Philip asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Yes. I am going to heal him now." Kurt closed his eyes and focused his Ki on his palm and proceeded to heal the prick.

After a few moments, his wounds started to heal and with a gasp he opened his eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. Got to hand it to you. You run fast." I smirked at the man.

The joke earned me a disapproving looks from everyone around me, even from Christopher Esclaire.

"Really lad. Ye should lay down with the jokes." Ortho placed his hand on my shoulder as he told me.

I shut my mouth at that moment and watched the proceeding. I just wanted to lighten the mood. I can't believe when I say that I miss that Rebeccah lady. At least she can appreciate humor.

"Tell me." Philip started while gripping the lapel of the man. "Where did you took our friend?"

With hate filled eyes, the man answered. "Do you think me a traitor? I would never tell you where we are holding your precious little friend."

"Open your eyes. If by the tiniest chance that you escape us. What would you do when you get back to your Organization? Not only have you failed on your mission, you also had most of your party killed." Philip tries to reason with the man.

Almost frothing in the mouth he roared in anger. "It is only because I was betrayed by that bitch! If she didn't interfere I would've-"

"You would've killed me, thus failing your mission." I interrupted him. "If you did succeed with killing me, I think it would be worse for your Organization. From what I guess, I am essential to your Organization. So…" I paused to let the idea sink in on his thick head.

I think it is working for the realization of his fuck up is clear on his face. Then his anger overcome him as he shouts his frustration to the sky.

We stood there and watch the man curse names of people we don't know and also his teammates. But the name he curses the most was the wind mage Rebeccah. "If only I was given more competent men, this wouldn't have happened!" He roared. Cursing his fate.

"Open your eyes. You were discarded like trash. Most that you could do is tell us where your hideout is. Think of it as taking revenge." Philip once more try to convince the man.

Christopher laughed at Philip "Hahaha! You think your puny party could take on the Organization? You can't even defeat me without the help of that bitch! People as strong and those stronger than me are currently there. You will never get your companion back. Who knows, Mariam might have killed him already. That sadist bitch." He must be talking about the crazy wind mage we fought before. He seem to have a lot of grudges with wind mages.

Alora was the one who replied. "Don't worry about that. We will manage." She told the man.

"Also, if I ever get captured, how about I reveal that Rebeccah betrayed you that is why you failed to capture me? Would that be a great way to get your revenge?" I added.

Christopher paused as he thinks of what I said. After a minute or two he replied. "Not if. When. For they will capture you. It is only a matter of time." He sighed deeply. "I will take you on your offer. If this is the end of the road for me, I might as well take that bitch down with me." He said with a determined look on his face.

With a steely gaze he started. "Listen carefully, the location of our base is---" before he could reveal his secret, he started convulsing.

"Kurt! What is happening?!" Philip yelled as he held the man who is now foaming in the mouth on his hand.

"I don't know. His Ki is all over the place!" Kurt exclaimed as he placed his hand on the man.

"His Mana is spiking also." I yelled as I feel the mana inside Christopher begin to concentrate on his belly at a dangerous rate. "Oh no! Everyone run! He's going to explode!" I started running away, I even used more Ki to reinforce my Aura in order to run faster.

I felt Christopher's mana peaked, and a second later a loud explosion erupted as I was flung against a tree by the shockwave and the world turned dark.