Part Twenty-Three

I’d been peeking through the half-broken door, when something grabbed me by the shoulder and whirled me around. And I was halfway through swinging my sword when I saw who it was.

“Alicia!? Fuck, don’t just grab somebody like that. Scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, but I needed to get your attention without alerting that thing. Do you know where Gwen is? ‘Cause, Kalia didn’t know and we don’t have much time to look. The Minotaurs are distracted right now, but that won’t last very long.”

I glanced back at the street to see that a large group of Goblins were attacking the Minotaurs, likely having been drawn in by the explosion. Maybe that was why they hadn’t come in after us right away, but the fight wouldn’t last long with that thing out there. A single spell could probably wipe the Goblins out, though it would hopefully take time to charge such a thing.

“Wait, where’s Kalia at? I didn’t see her.”

“Next door with Gwyn. He got thrown through the wall after the explosion or something, and we just barely managed to get him over there. Kalia’s working on him, but it’s bad. He nearly went into shock already.”

“Fuck. No, I’ve got no clue where she’s at. Which is bad because she’s probably hurt bad too. There’s too much debris out there to search through with the Minotaurs breathing down our necks, but how-. Ah! The Spirit!”

“Huh? What are you-?”

I quickly called out to my familiar and told it to search the other room for Gwen. It didn’t even take a second for it to find her. She’d apparently flown into a large bookcase we hadn’t been able to move in time, and the thing had collapsed around her. Alicia and I dug her out as quickly and quietly as we could, and carried her toward the back door and out into the yard.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Over there. See where the fence slats are broken? That’s what we used to move Gwyn. It wasn’t easy doing that on our own, but we got him there.”

You know, I want to fault them for moving a trauma patient, but I don’t think I can considering the circumstances. And heck, we’re possibly doing the same thing right now. Desperate times and measures and all that.

We carried Gwen, who thankfully weighed far less than Gwyn, into the house before laying her down by Kalia and Gwyn. She’d taken off his armor and was bent over him, sweat dripping off of her from the intense concentration she needed for whatever she was doing. She hadn’t even noticed us come into the room. A few tentative minutes passed where all I could hear was her and Gwyn's breathing, as well as the slightly distant cries of monsters. That part was somewhat concerning, but there was little I could do about that at the moment.

“Woooo, okay, he’s stable, but only just. Did you find-? Michael!? W-when did-. Ah, Gwen! I-I’ll get started in her right away! Unless, do you need aid right away?”

“I’m good. Focus on them, quickly please.”

Truth was, the numbing effect from Rapid Recovery was fading, allowing the burning caused by my cracked ribs to make a comeback. I’d be okay for a bit, but moving too much hurt me severely. I wouldn’t be able to fight until I was properly healed.

Knowing that I was ‘fine', Kalia moved on to healing Gwen. Her armor was dented all over from the impact, but hadn’t broken. That, combined with her being further back than me or Gwyn, had probably kept her from being horribly injured by the explosion. Kalia said that aside from fractured bones and a concussion, she was fine and would soon wake up, though she went back to healing Gwyn soon after.

I wasn’t even going to ask what was wrong with him, it was that bad. His face was completely pale, and his arm had been visibly broken until Kalia reset it. The sound it made as the bones shifted back into place was utterly horrific. Healing Magic was useful, but since it was forcibly restoring injuries back to their proper state, it often resulted in more pain, or at least discomfort.

It was only in that moment that I’d noticed that our unofficial sixth member was missing, though he turned up just as I was about to look for him. Regis popped into the room through a window, all the while carrying something that looked suspiciously like roasted Minotaur. At least he was being considerate by going into the corner to eat.

“Haaah, hehe, oooookaaaaaay, I’m done! Hehehehehehehehe!”

“Uh, what’s going on with Kalia? Is she…okay?”

She’d all-of-a-sudden started giggling to herself, as well as becoming extremely flushed. If I hadn’t been watching her until now, I probably would’ve thought she was drunk off her ass. Especially when she began rubbing Gwyn's arms and murmuring about his muscles under her breath.

“Ah, it’s Mana Exhaustion, isn’t it?”

“I’m gonna…go ahead and say it is, if for nothing else than Kalia’s dignity. I feel like this isn’t something we should be seeing.”

“Kuuu! Burp!” Uh-oh, I’ve got a bad feeling.

Regis, having finished his ill-gotten lunch, burped in the cutest way before walking over to me and rubbing up against my leg like a cat. But unfortunately, someone else saw him too. And at that moment, tragedy was born.

“Ehehehehe… Reeeegiiiis~. Come here shweetie~. Come to mama.” And now she’s slurring her speech. Oh boy.

“Ku!? Kyuu!”

Regis, upon hearing Kalia yet again try to call out to him, attempted to reject her like normal and wander off. But Kalia’s current state of mind was anything but normal. In her drunken (?) haze, she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“I. Said. Come. Here!”

Without waiting for a response this time, Kalia lunged at Regis, trapping him in a bear-hug, squeezing him tightly against her chest even as he squirmed to get away. But the worst thing about drunk people is that they always seem to have some sort of ridiculous ability to keep doing things even as their motor functions fall apart. No matter how much he struggled, Regis couldn’t escape his horrible fate.

……why do I suddenly feel jealous? And who exactly am I jealous of? ……better not answer that question.

“Kuuuuu!? Kuuuuu!? Kuuuu!? Ku!?”

“Uh, shouldn’t you help him? I doubt he likes that all that much.”

“Sorry Regis. You’ll just have to take this one for the team. I’ve dealt with drunks before, and it’s never fun. Though, maybe he was just a bad drunk.”

“…Clint?”

“Yuuuuup. Sometimes that guy was the absolute worst. There was this one time he snuck some beer out of his mom’s fridge. Not only did the idiot get wasted after like, two drinks, but he also nearly threw up on my sister after hitting on her. It was…something.”

“You’re joking.”

“I wish. To be honest, I always kind of thought he had a thing for her before that, but that incident confirmed it. Granted I don’t think they’d ever have gotten together. Rina only ever dated two guys, and both of them were musicians, just like our parents wanted. She’d never have dated someone they disapproved of.”

“…”

“Ehem, sorry to make this awkward, but where are we?”

Just as Alicia was about to respond, Gwyn apparently woke up and was understandably confused.

“A house near where we were attacked. A powerful monster blew up the front of the house and sent all of us flying. You’ve been unconscious for a little while now, but Kalia said you’re okay. Maybe. She’s not exactly in a good state of mind right now.”

“…What exactly is she doing?”

A good question. Unfortunately, it didn’t have a great answer.

“Ehehehe, whosh a good boy? Whosh a good boy. You are! Yesh you are Regish! You’re a good boy!”

“Kuhuhuhu! Kuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu!” I have now heard a fox cry. What the heck is going on today?

“Just ignore it. We see nothing. We hear nothing. We know nothing.”

“Uh, okay?......Ehem! And how is my sister? Is she okay too?”

“Still unconscious, but Kalia said that she should wake up soon. Though that makes it weird that you woke up first. Did she go overboard healing you, or is it just because you’re just tougher?”

“Who knows? What about the creature that attacked us? You didn’t say what happened to it.”

“That’s because we don’t know. The surviving Minotaurs got attacked by some Goblins right after, and we used that opportunity to book it. And considering that we can still hear battle sounds even now, I think the situation has only gotten worse.”

“I see. I’m sorry for how difficult saving both of us must’ve been.”

“It was nothing. I’m sure you would’ve done the same thing for us. How do you feel? Any lingering pain?” really Alicia? Nothing? You seemed pretty annoyed earlier.

“No, just some mild soreness and vertigo. I think I’ll be fine once I’ve got my legs under me again.”

“That’s good. I’d like to clear outta here before long. Those Minotaurs could come looking for us at any moment.”

With his immediate questions answered, Gwyn laid back down to continue recuperating. But that wasn’t the end of the conversation, as Alicia grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side seconds later.

“…Hey, should we maybe go check on the monsters? If they’re still fighting even now, then something else must’ve showed up. It can’t hurt to know what’s happening over there before we leave.”

“I, I don’t know. It’s doesn’t seem all that safe to send just one person over there, but I don’t want to leave the others alone. Kalia's still doing whatever that is, and Gwyn and Gwen aren’t in any state to fight.”

“Yeah, but we need to know what’s happening out there. I’ll go by myself if I have to.”

“Alicia’s, that’s-.”

“Exactly the same thing you’ve done several times in the past. Someone has to go, and I think I’m the best choice this time.”

“…Fine. Just be careful. Extremely careful.”

“Promise.”

I watched Alicia leave the house with a heavy heart. I knew it would be hypocritical to not let her do the same thing I’d done several times, but I couldn’t help but worry about her.

Fuck, this is just….fuck.

I shook my head, trying to dispel my worries, but they weren’t that fragile. Doubt, anxiety and fear warred inside my head, creating a cyclone of negative emotions.

“She’ll be fine Michael. Alicia knows what she’s doing.”

“…I hope you’re right, Gwyn. I really do.”

***

[Alicia’s POV]

Steady. Steady. Steeeaaaaady. Go!

Feet planted on the windowsill, Alicia swung herself up onto the roof in an impressive feat of gymnastics. She quickly rose to a crouch, keeping as low as she could so the monsters wouldn’t notice her up there. Peeking over the peak of the roof, she finally got a good look at the street, and the fact that it had turned into a warzone.

More monsters had shown up from somewhere, pushing the surviving Minotaurs to the brink of defeat. She wasn’t sure how many of them had survived the battle and subsequent explosion, but there was currently only about fifty left, though they were up against roughly twice as many Orcs. The Goblins had already been eliminated or ran away by the time she got there.

While the two groups were currently embroiled in a melee, it was the two combatants at the center that caught her attention. First was the Draconian Minotaur that was responsible for the current battle, but the other enemy was one that Alicia had prior experience with.

A Cyclops? Hm, didn’t Analyze say that they’re among the strongest Demi-Humans? How will it fare against the Draconian?

The two creatures stood amidst a large pool of blood and viscera, leftovers from those already slain. Both monsters were quite large, easily surpassing even the tallest humans, and were showing clear hostility to one another. Alicia had arrived just in time to watch their deathmatch.

“MRAGRA!”

The Cyclops let out a battle cry as it charged towards the Dracotaur, a large metal pipe or pole clutched in one hand. But the Dracotaur was prepared for that, and jumped several feet backwards while casting a spell. Multiple balls of fire appeared in front of it, and shot towards the Cyclops, exploding as they collided with it. However, the Cyclops’s innate resistance to magic allowed it to easily weather the attack, and pursue the Dracotaur through the flames.

After closing in, the Cyclops swung its pipe at the Dracotaur, to which it used its arm to block the blow. Unfortunately for it, the force of that attack was more than the Dracotaur's arm could withstand. But even as its arm broke, the Dracotaur didn’t let this opportunity go to waste. It raked the claws of its unbroken arm across the Cyclops’s chest, easily slicing through the tough skin and the dense muscles beneath. Blood gushed from the wound, putting the Cyclops in very real danger.

Sensing that its opponent had left an opening, the Dracotaur tried to press the advantage. It lunged forward, attempting to use its fangs to rip the Cyclops’s throat out, only for the Cyclops to grab it by its throat, and lift it off its feet.

The Dracotaur struggled against the hand holding it, clawing at the Cyclops’s wrist. But the battle had already been decided. With a victorious roar, the Cyclops snapped the Dracotaur’s neck, killing it.

“”””Mraaaaaaa!!!””””

Minotaurs are, by their very nature, very concerned with physical strength. The strongest individual in a herd leads them, and their orders are absolute. However, this has led to very interesting traits to develop amongst the bovine monsters. When said leader is killed, the rest of the herd shall flee immediately, even if they were winning.

Alicia watched, stunned, as the handful of remaining Minotaurs began to turn and run, leaving their backs open to the surviving Orcs, though they didn’t pursue them. Instead, the monsters turned to the Cyclops, and began to cheer as the monster lifted its victim up into the air, as if to show it off to them. But this was also the moment Alicia had been waiting for.

She rose from her crouch, pulling the string on her bow taunt and taking aim. Originally, she’d hoped to take advantage of the confusion of battle to kill the monster that had attacked them, but this worked too. Any chance to eliminate a dangerous threat was perfect by her reckoning. With a small, defiant smile, Alicia released her arrow.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been an effective attack. Cyclopes are quite powerful, and one would normally be able to block the arrow after hearing the bowstring snap. But the effects of Alicia’s bow silenced that noise, and the Cyclops itself was wounded and distracted. It wouldn’t have stood a chance of completely blocking the attack even if it had heard it.

And so it came to be that Alicia’s arrow struck its mark, piercing right through the Cyclops’s eye and deep into its brain. A decidedly lethal attack, as even a Cyclops’s vitality wouldn’t be able to survive the destruction of half its brain for long, but Alicia had take it a step further.

Now lodged inside the skull of its target, the arrow released the [Fireball] spell that had been Imbued into it, causing flames to erupt from every hole in the Cyclops’s head. If there had been any doubt that the monster was dead, that sealed it. Only the most powerful of monsters would survive something like that.

With its life taken in its moment of triumph, the Cyclops’s body toppled to the ground, sending the Orcs into a panic. However, try as they might, they couldn’t figure out who killed their leader, for they'd already slunk away.