Just when the sword was about to take Cliff's head off, an explosion occurred where his ally got sent.
BOOM!
It was Enrid, their warrior. He lunged so hard that it broke the ground and produced a loud bang from breaking the sound barrier.
"RAAAAAAGHH!!" He screamed, spinning his two-handed axe as he prepared for a powerful horizontal slash.
The knight of flowers immediately turned its attention to the warrior who was currently approaching quickly towards its location. As soon as Enrid reached the wooden knight, he performed a devastating horizontal slash.
CLANK! SHIIIIIIIIII….
However, the wooden sword that was supposed to hit the archer turned into a block, taking the hit from the axe. It certainly dealt a blow, but the sword did not suffer any type of damage at all.
"W…HAT?!" Enrid replied in shock, he pushed his body further to at least pierce through the sword but the two weapons continued to clash and create sparks. Until the knight of flowers deflected the attack by pushing its body forward. Making the Warrior staggered and open from any type of offensive attack.
The wooden knight spun itself and threw a roundhouse kick, aiming for his left rib cage.
"SHIT…!" He braces himself from impact, shielding himself by putting his arms on his chest on the left.
"Focused Shot!!"
In an instant, an arrow traveled through the air and punched through the knight's shoulder. It lost its balance because it was mid-way performing a roundhouse kick, which made it fall to the ground.
It was Cliff who fired the arrow, panting as he was trembling in fear yet chose to fire the arrow anyway.
"Good call-out!" Enrid immediately positioned himself in front of Cliff, holding his two-handed axe defensively while Cliff was holding his bow, pointing it towards the enemy.
The mage is hiding behind a tall rock, holding her staff as she concentrates. Her spell is currently on a cooldown right now, meaning that she cannot use any magic.
Tsk…! I feel useless! Will they be able to endure for a few minutes? Please, hold on everyone…!
Meanwhile, a few minutes ago.
Riyu found himself waking up from getting sent away by a mysterious wooden knight. He checked his surroundings first.
I've been sent into a cave wall, it could collapse if I'm not careful… Agh…My head… Minor headache and pain in the back of my head must be a concussion…
After checking his surroundings, he moved his limbs one by one. Toes, knees, shoulders, fingers, and neck. So far, the back of his head is the only thing that hurts. So, he quickly crawled out of the place he was sent to. After checking everything, he confirmed that he was fine.
"Minor bruises, that's fine–"
Suddenly, at the corner of his eye. He saw a blur going in a certain direction. It was the mysterious knight that had almost killed him and Cliff. The Rogue observed carefully and patiently, looking at the knight who was beating his allies without any issue. Their gap in strength is obvious, none of them will be able to eliminate him under normal circumstances.
Hell… The moment I join in, I'll become a liability. Despite being experienced, I'm not strong enough to deal major damage to that tree knight… My friends are enduring while I'm doing nothing, shit…!
His friend, Enrid, is seen clashing with the knight. Couldn't even destroy the sword, it must be invulnerable to physical attacks. That's the only logical conclusion that he ended up with, nothing else. The rogue tightened his fist and his body shook out of frustration.
CLANK! SHIIII….
Sparks…? OH!
He turned his head back to where he and Cliff were hiding earlier. The flask of oil, it's on the ground, spilling its content everywhere. Creating a puddle of oil.
"Now, that's a plan…" Riyu picked up his daggers and activated his skill. His presence vanished into thin air, there was no noise upon or after vanishing.
[ Stealth Walk ]
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
Both Archer and Warrior are panting, Enrid is injured at all places yet there are no signs of his body being broken. Cliff has his eyes locked on the knight, his reaction time and body reflexes are the only thing that could keep up with the Knight's unnatural movement. With the two working together, they stare at the knight. Waiting for it to get back up.
"Cliff, remember the call-outs… hah…" Enrid pants, he must be in a lot of pain yet the fact that he is still holding on meant that he isn't ready to go down yet.
"I will…keep all of you alive…" Cliff responded. The archer is focused intensely, a single twitch from the knight's fingers and he'll call it out for his ally.
The Knight of Flowers' hand twitched.
"He's moving. Prepare for an attack, Enrid-san!" Cliff called out, with both of them getting ready to defend. They held their weapons tightly, with conviction and determination.
The knight slowly stood up, its sword still stuck in its deadly grip. It looked at the arrow that he got shot with on the shoulder, then looked back at the opponents who did it.
SWOO–
"NOW!" Cliff shouted.
Within a single second, both the warrior and the knight closed their distance with their weapons ready to kill. The knight slightly stepped backward, surprised by the Warrior's sudden boost of speed.
"YOU HESITATED, GOTCHA!" Enrid smiled intensely. With blood dripping down his head, his expression is devilish. He performed an upward slash within a second, lifting the knight off the ground and making it fly in the air.
"MULTI-SHOT!!"
Cliff released 3 arrows, each following the other in a certain direction. It pierced through the frigid air and all three arrows punched the knight's chest mid-air, sending it away from them.
It landed at the entrance of the unnatural garden, where a bunch of large piles of rocks were arranged on the ground. Its body hits every sharp end of the rocks, damaging the exterior skin-armor that it has. However, it did not crack at all. Finally, after rolling on top of a bunch of rocks, it landed on a black puddle of liquid.
It tried to push itself upwards but slipped and only covered itself with more of that black liquid.
"Burn, you fuck…"
A hooded figure, holding both flint and rock can be seen near the puddle. With a single flick, the flint and rock clashed with each other and produced a large amount of sparks. All of those small sparks of light landed on the black puddle of liquid.
"It's oil… your favorite~"
The puddle ignited in flames, covering the entire puddle with just fire. Burning the knight who covered himself with the oil used for maintenance, also flammable. It reached its hand out, yet nothing came to grab its hand. It didn't have a mouth but it wanted to scream.
Riyu immediately ran towards the others and panted.
"Sorry… I got knocked unconscious. Is everybody okay? Cliff? Esther?" Worriedly, Riyu asked for their conditions. Suddenly, he got pulled by Enrid and hugged him before facing him again.
"Cliff's fine. Shaken up but he'll manage… Esther? she's hiding behind that rock, replenishing her mana… What about you? Is your body fine?" Enrid was also the same, he was worried about his friend as well. He let out a sigh of relief after hugging his friend and confirming that he was still alive.
"Minor concussion, other than that… I'm fine." They both smiled.
Riyu looked behind his friend. Standing behind him is Cliff, who is currently looking down at the ground. Meanwhile, Esther left the place she was hiding at and slowly walked towards her friends. Her eyes? Almost teary. Enrid noticed and smiled, showing that they were all fine.
"I-it's my f-fault for s-shooting those arrows… I… I–" On the verge of crying, he got grabbed in both arms and was forced to look up at the person who grabbed him.
"I'm sorry kid…"
Riyu…apologized?
"I didn't think that there was a possibility that a strong monster was sleeping under that tree. I should've considered that first before telling you my suggestion. I am sorry, please. Do not blame yourself for my mistake."
It was true that he didn't know that there was something stronger underneath that place. But, he was still responsible for what had happened and he must take accountability for it. All three of them are adults, he's but a kid. As an adult, he must become an ideal role model for him, so that he doesn't repeat their mistakes.
Cliff cried and lowered his head, it was the second time he cried in this world now. He probably looks pathetic, crying all the time. He couldn't handle it, he tried to change the way he spoke yet he couldn't change his personality that easily overnight.
You are still a loser, go apologize to him.
"I–"
Crack!
A large cracking sound. He lifted his face.
His eyes widened, pupils narrowed. His mouth was agape.
The person who was just holding his shoulder, the rogue who taught him how to use a throwing knife, and the individual who saved him, are dead.
Their head tilted extremely to the left, his eyes? Voided. His neck? It is wrapped in a burning wooden hand, this hand broke the neck of Riyu, the [ Rogue ] of the Party.
[ Riyu, the rogue has been slain. ]
[ Party 1: Esther, The Mage (Alive)
Enrid, The Warrior (Alive)
Cliff, The Ranger (Alive)
Riyu, The Rogue (Dead)
Tips:
Be mindful of your ally's health. They may fall down and permanently stay down. ]
Huh?