\”Are they close, little man?\” A big man with the characteristics of a reptile asked the mage, walking in front of him. His tone was clearly of disappointment, making the little mage regret following his leader’s orders.
\”Klaus! Stop harassing the poor mercenary. He’s helping us track down those bad guys.\” Olivia respected the strong lizardman, but she was still the leader of the guild, and everyone had to respect her command.
The group did not like to work with mercenaries, but everyone knew of the Magic Band’s useful spells and tricks to track people… It was a pity that they did not know Cornelius’ orders for the mage not to do his job very well.
\”We have been in this forest for over ten hours… I want to see that man again too, but you seem to be taking it too far, Olivia…\” Another tall man spoke. He was very handsome as opposed to the scary lizardmen…
Olivia looked at the elven archer carrying his large crystal bow and can’t help but sigh. \”What do you mean? See that man… Are you in love with him?\”
\”Hahahaha… I knew Glen was gay! I never saw him with any woman… I don’t believe in that bullshit of elven pride. He wants cock, and that’s all.\” Klaus would not miss the chance to humiliate the elf archer. They were both S-rank adventurers, legends in Portgreen, and other parts of the world, which made them very competitive with each other.
\”…\”
\”….\”
The whole group was silent when Glen did not respond to Klaus’ provocations as usual. They couldn’t help thinking that the handsome elven archer could really be in love with the famous dishonest A-rank adventurer…
Olivia tried to prevent news about the mysterious earth mage and Lucien from circulating through the city, but it was impossible… Lucien stayed a few hours in the town, but it was enough for his fame, for several different reasons, spread like fire on dry straw.
Everyone in the group was aware that they were tracking a very powerful man, but also… The man who was described as all the girls in the guild as \”the most handsome person of all existence,\” \”the knight who dominated Ravenous,\” or \”the harem king of novices,\” among other exaggerated titles.
The tracking mage was walking in front of the group of adventurers with a tool made of metal and stones in his hands. The circular object was easy to use but difficult to build, making Olivia envy the Magic Band’s tricks.
Cornelius used other magic tools to capture part of Rose’s earth mana at Aria’s inn. Now any experienced mage or wizard could use that tracking tool to follow Rose at a specific distance.
The little mage was looking at the stone in the center of the circular object, paying close attention to the gray light. The brighter the light, the closer they would be to Rose, so all he had to do was use the object as a compass and move in the direction in which the light became more intense.
Five hours later, the mage saw the light grow brighter than before and knew that the earth mage was very close. They were already far away to Portgreen within the west forest and close to the border as the territory called \”Forbidden Forest,\” which also bordered the Light Empire and the Alliance.
\”Guild Leader, they are heading north.\” The mage knew that Rose was going south, but he couldn’t let the group of adventurers find them before Cornelius arrived.
Cornelius planned to reach Olivia’s group quickly, but they didn’t think she was going to go hunting for the earth mage so well prepared. Olivia brought together the best adventurers who were in town, and her group was now ready for anything.
The group of adventurers included Glen, Portgreen’s best archer; Klaus one of the strongest men in the city, known for being one of the five most powerful S-rank adventurers; Olivia, one of the two leaders of the guild, and several A-rank adventurers, such as wizards, warriors, and others.
The Magic Band’s man thought that Cornelius would reach them in less than two hours after leaving the city, but they were already 15 hours in the forest and approaching the targets.
Of course, the man was afraid to lie to Olivia, but he trusted not only Cornelius but also the other mercenary groups. The Guild was very powerful, but they could not easily beat the united mercenary groups, especially the three most powerful. Black Hand was in prison, but the union of Magic Band and Red Lady Party was potent.
\”To the north? They must be trying to go to Bluewind… Whatever. They cannot escape us now.\” Olivia’s eyes sparkled when she heard that Lucien was close… Actually, it was the earth mage that they were tracking, but she just wanted to catch Lucien.
Glen’s eyes had a similar sparkle… He couldn’t stop thinking about Lucien, who dodged his incredible arrows so easily… Even his charged arrow failed to stop the man, who appeared to be faster than light and was described as more beautiful than the sun…
The group of approximately 100 adventurers headed to the north quickly, going in the opposite direction that Lucien was going. The support mages of the group were always chanting spells that improved speed and recovered everyone’s energy so they could smoothly sprint.
After running for 20 minutes, Glen stopped when he heard something suspect. \”Wait! I think there is a group approaching us.\”
\”Magic barrier!\” Olivia trusted Glen’s high perception, and when she stopped, she also heard footsteps. She didn’t think twice about ordering the wizards to raise a magic barrier before she finds out who was approaching.
The wizards acted quickly, creating a dome of yellow light that covered the group. They were inside the forest surrounded by trees, so the dome broke some trees, opening a clearing of almost two hundred meters.
Everyone was on high alert, but the view was still minimal outside the dome, preventing them from seeing far. A few seconds later, a man came out from behind the trees and stood in front of the dome.
\”I am your ally, Olivia. Why are you so worried?\” Cornelius spoke in a sarcastic tone quite different from how he acted in Portgreen, and Olivia noticed it.
\”I thought that the only help you were going to give us would be your tracking mage… You know, we are in the middle of a chase in the forest, so being careful is never enough.\” Olivia did not look relaxed while she spoke, and everyone in the group was still ready. It was difficult for them to trust just a mercenary in the group, and even more the leader of a great mercenary group.
\”Nah… What kind of leader would I be if I let the villains that caused so much damage to our city run away? I came to join you on the chase.\” Cornelius spoke friendly words but was not moving any closer to the dome, leaving Olivia and the others even more alert.
\”So, where are your people?\” Olivia also had a good perception and could hear mages channeling a spell together from more than 300 meters away. She just didn’t know what to do yet…
Cornelius gave Olivia a strange smile. He knew she was a brilliant person, but he still wanted to disable the group of adventurers to impress Red Lady. He thought for a second before…
\”NOW!!!\” When the tracking mage, inside the dome, heard Cornelius’ warning, he released the magic tool and tried to raise his arms while summoning something from his storage treasure…
The man’s movement was very fast because he already expected something like that… But not fast enough…
\”AAAAAAAAAA!!!\” Klaus, who was close to the mage, ripped his two arms off quickly as if he were breaking sticks. Blood spurted as the poor man fell to the floor, screaming.
\”Ahh… Little man, did you really think we were going to trust a mercenary worm blindly?\” The mighty lizardman did not stop after plucking the mage’s arm and even stomped on him while speaking cruel words, making not only the other mercenaries nearby but also the adventurers make a face.
Cornelius was upset that his initial plan was so easily prevented, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy to deal with Olivia. Still, he had another plan before he needs Red Lady’s help.
Olivia smiled at Cornelius as she spoke confidently. \”Do you think I didn’t expect anything like that? I knew that you, mercenaries, would not be honest even when a common enemy attacked our city… Still, I left the city with a small group… Don’t you think I would have everything under control?\”
\”You are overestimating yourself, Olivia. You can be with a powerful group, but…\” Cornelius started to speak at the same time as he began to make a sign with his hand. His mages were almost ready to cast a spell that would break the dome…
Olivia could hear the wizards and knew that Glen too. She didn’t wait twice before giving him the order.
\”Shot.\” The dome prevented anything and anyone from entering, but it didn’t prevent anything or anyone from leaving. Glen, who was already planning his moves, started shooting his crystal arrows while giving the location of other mages to the other archers in the group, who also started shooting in the directions that Glen ordered.
*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*
Within 300 meters, only the sounds of arrows could be heard. Most mages stopped channeling magic to create small individual barriers while others tried to hide. Still, Glen’s arrows were incredibly accurate and fast, killing many mages.
Olivia smiled at Cornelius, expecting to see a startled reaction on his face, but he just looked a little disappointed. She did not want to attack the leader of the Magic Band, even after being attacked by them, but something seemed wrong, and she ordered her wizards to try to disable him.
\”Shit!\” Cornelius was upset that everything he tried was going wrong, but that just meant he was not going to impress Red Lady… Still, Olivia had no escape from whatever Red Lady would do to her.
He was a powerful mage and had several protective amulets. So, he created several individual barriers in front of him to block the adventurer’s attacks while retreating.
\”I will catch him quickly.\” Klaus didn’t like to be in a defensive position, he would follow all Olivia’s orders, but they didn’t seem to be in any danger in that situation. He tried to go towards Cornelius, but Olivia grabbed his arm in one swift movement.
\”Nobody leaves the dome! Think, you idiot! Only the Magic Band wouldn’t attack us even if we were in a small group…\” Olivia knew that they could easily deal with Cornelius and his mages, but she still felt that something else was going on, so she didn’t want to act hastily.
Klaus was the type of person who could be described as \”not very smart,\” but even he could understand Olivia’s words… But before he could ask what she thought, they heard a loud laugh echo through the forest.
\”Hahahaha… Olivia, Olivia… You remain very cautious, as always. It is something admirable, but it still won’t save you this time… Without Ivan around, I am the most powerful person here… And I also have more people with me.\”
As soon as Olivia heard the voice of her arch-enemy, she made a face… A second later, she began to see many mercenaries approaching the dome from different directions, many of them holding large shining shields with a sun…
——————–
While the mercenaries surrounded the dome, a figure watched everything from the top of a high tree more than two miles away from there.
They were almost three miles away when Lucien heard footsteps, so they started to follow Olivia’s group to understand the situation until he heard the Red Lady’s group approaching and climbed the tree to get a better view.
Lucien can’t help commenting with Lust. \”Another significant improvement in my senses… I think I can see and hear more than 3 miles if I focus…\”
\”You and your women are still absorbing the demonic energy… We are really improving fast, but the road is still very long, and you have to give them more and more pleasure.\” Lust was very pleased with how things were going and wondered if Lucien’s sisters would be doing so well as them… But she couldn’t take it easy and had to make Lucien even more lustful.
Lucien was reporting everything he heard to Astrid and Maggie. They knew the Guild and the mercenaries well, so Lucien could understand the situation and the people involved in the conflict.
When he saw that combat was inevitable, he came down from the tree to decide with his women how to proceed.
The trio was aware of many powerful adventurers and mercenaries nearby, but they were not afraid… After spending some time with Lucien, they developed a kind of super-confidence in him and would follow him anywhere, knowing that nothing bad could happen to them near their hubby.
*Roar*
As the girls smiled to show their confidence in Lucien, Oya roared excitedly as her instincts told her that they would probably have some \”fun\” soon… Oya was spending a lot of time with Lucien, and that was strangely influencing her…
