Cid had already taken down five of the eleven assassins—no surprise for a man who had survived countless life-or-death battles.
The assassins darted like shadows, but in a straight fight, their blows glanced harmlessly off Cid's defenses—his core stage and his activated skill simply suppressing them.
He hadn't even tapped into the depths of his skill—what they saw was just the tip of the iceberg.
But when Mark and the three he was "fighting" heard Joel's yell, their attention snapped to Cid.
Surrounded, pressured, and with Jules on the brink of being overwhelmed—Cid finally let go.
His body swelled as his skin flushed to a boiling red, fire coiling around his spear.
He slammed it to the ground. Flames burst outward in a sweeping arc, forcing his enemies to stumble back, wary.
Without hesitation, he glanced at the surrounded Jules and hurled his shield with a roar.
The enemy closed in again, and with Mark joining the fray, even Cid began to struggle.
Not far off, Ryan had overloaded his body with mana.
Veins bulged beneath his skin as he clashed against three assassins, locked in a brutal stalemate.
Yet, he was aware of Jules's predicament.
Realizing Jules was getting cornered, Ryan let out a thunderous roar: "Ahhhhhh!"
Enhancing its sound waves, the roar seemed to turn like a tangible sea that poured out of him, causing the nearby people's heads to ring with pain.
Jules, Joel and the other two weren't spared as they froze for a moment.
One of Jules's attackers didn't even get the chance to recover.
Cid's shield tore through the air and crashed into the side of his skull with a sickening crunch.
Brain matter splattered, and his body dropped like a sack of meat.
Ryan had told Jules to be prepared for a situation like this when they chatted, so Jules's reaction to the sudden ring was better.
With a dagger lodged into his side, he darted towards Ryan, a blue magic circle appearing beside him as he tried to help.
But just before Jules could even reach Ryan and tell him to run, an arrow shot at Jules's back, causing him to stumble.
He fell, turning toward the source of the attack, bracing for the next one.
Suddenly, a breeze blew his dusty white hair forward, obscuring his sight. He blinked—and there she was.
A well-built woman with white hair and blue eyes stood menacingly, stabbing her hand into someone's chest.
Captain… Jules almost relaxed as he smiled slightly.
As Freya killed the archer, she moved to Joel and, recognizing him, swiftly went down and cut his legs with a dagger in her left hand.
At the same moment, a big reptilian creature that had long slender body, short limbs and a long tail with white scales, some blue patterns and wings hovered above the scene.
Its blue vertical eyes locked on Cid, whose aura was dimming.
Jules heaved a sigh of relief for the man, and recalled his other supporter.
But before he could stand up to help Ryan, he heard Freya's angered voice. "Sit." She said, rushing to help Ryan.
How the hell did she get here from the edge of the island in just two minutes?
As Jules wondered, he saw a potion beside him and mused, I love having an overprotective aunty.
Freya had been watching this region from afar for a while and immediately she saw the bomb light from far, she darted here using the river for most of her journey.
He watched calmly as Freya, a Light Platinum Stage, single handedly killed the attackers along with her winged salamander.
With Freya going after those who ran, Jules sat, covering his healing injury after removing the weapons stabbed into his body—a painful experience.
Out of the attackers that were here, only Joel, Mark, and one other were alive.
Heh, she must've forgotten—they could be useful for interrogation...
Shaking his head, Jules noticed that Cid had collapsed, while Ryan could barely move anymore.
He wanted to move to support Ryan and give him a potion, then he heard footsteps.
Gritting his teeth, Jules forced himself to stand as he cast a spell.
"Whoa, whoa. Young master, take it easy!"
Five people appeared one by one, from where the Freya's beast came from.
One of the people walked closer, and a brown bearded man came into view.
He wore light armor made with reptilian skin, reflecting its high quality.
A short cape was attached to it with a logo depicting a blade stabbed into a sea creature's head drawn on it.
Jules recognized the squad based on his memories.
[Quest "Survive" has been successful.]
It's over? I... survived!
Seeing the notification and the familiar logo, Jules eased one more.
"I'm the Vice Captain of the Leviathan Squad, Dan, here with members of team 4. You should know us"
The man said with a warming smile, "Captain Freya led us here without telling us anything."
Jules gave them a nod and gestured towards the surroundings. "This happened."
As the man and the others looked around to see multiple corpses, then Cid, they tensed.
"Go check up on, Cid," Dan instructed, his voice turning serious.
"Here, use these potions." Jules said, giving them his bag, then he gestured to Ryan, "Please, attend to that young man there too."
Dan accepted the bag and gave it to the four members of team 4 to handle it.
He pointed at where Joel laid, not far from Jules, "What about him?"
Jules eyes turned serious as he replied, "Apprehend the three that's left alive for interrogation and gather the corpses. While you do that, check for clues on their body."
Dan was taken aback by Jules actions, but he quickly recollected himself and said, "Yes, young master."
As Dan walked to Joel, Jules fell on the floor again and smiled slightly.
Young master, eh... Is this what it feels like to be alive?
Jules mused for a minute, before Freya returned back on the back of her winged companion, two corpses held with its mouth.
Landing on the floor, Freya gestured good job to her squad mates and approached Jules, who was staring through the crown of trees and towards the setting sun.
In the midst of panting, her eyes were shaking as she asked, "Are you alright? Can you move? Damn it, I should have been here sooner!"
Moving his eye to look at the woman in her mid 30s, Jules thought:
Did she exhaust her mana just to rush here? How caring!
He proceeded to chuckle as he sat up.
"Captain, I'm living aren't I, and with all limbs intact too! I'm fine."
Seeing his face bright up, Freya heaved a sigh of relief.
"We should still get you a better potion! Your mother will kill me if she sees you in this state. Are you ready to go now?"
Scratching his head, Jules said an excuse he had prepared for a while now.
"Actually, I have something to do in this forest."
Confused, Freya asked, "Are there more people? I don't sense anyone nearby and Nari doesn't either."
Standing on a sturdy tree, the winged salamander seemed to nod its head.
"No. Somewhere in this forest, there's an artifact that's calling on to me."
Freya's eyes widened, "What?"