Shooting Star

There are five holes to where Sieghart and the others got seperated with Christa, Lira, the elven woman entered one of them. Along with her is the two new Emerald and Diamond adventurers, Lance and Sasha who accompanied them into rescuing the Queen of Reilaea, Elena and the other rulers of the 2 other Kingdoms.

Not being able to use a powerful magic inside an enclosed place with mob of monsters coming left and right, Susun tells everyone to escape through the five holes. Which brings Lira and the two others in their situation.

*Screech!*

*Roar!*

As they go deep inside the hole they entered, they continue to hear monsters roaring and screeching from behind.

"There's no end to this, huh?"

As she spoke, the air inside the cave becomes thinner and thinner by the second. Despite realizing it, she kept moving forward until something in front of them caught her eyes. She calls up to the two who are following her.

"You two, this is the end of the line."

Finally, after a long chase, Lira, Sasha and Lance reached the end of the road as they find themselves in yet another empty area, a dead end. An area that is barely getting any light from yellowish green emerald crystal shards attached all around the area.

After seeing such an unexpected view, the first thing that came to Lira's mind was:

"So many emeralds..."

Crystal shards such as Emerald and Diamond are greatly popular in merchant stores. They can fetch a great price depending on the quality and type of shards. People buy them for various uses. For instance, it can be used for making dog tags, which are given to Adventurers for their designated ranks. They can also be used by alchemists as materials for creating all kinds of potions. They say that a healing potion created with either an emerald or diamond shards have stronger effects than a regular healing potion.

*Screech!!*

While Lira is being fascinated by the view of hundreds of crystals scattered around the area, the monsters have finally caught up to them.

"They're finally here!"

With their guards up, they took a stand to confront monsters heading towards both Sasha and Lance. But just then, Lira came between them. And with swift movements that can barely be seen by the naked eye, she sent the hobgoblin and the hound that are charging towards the two away in a matter of seconds.

Afterwards, she turned around to face the two and warned them:

"Remember, do not use powerful magic that will destroy this place, or we will be exposed to the enemy up top."

Both Sasha and Lance stood there wordlessly as they watch Lira go on her way to confront the monsters herself alone. They were dumbfounded by her precise and swift movements. They later realized that the other monsters are heading their way and so they, too decided to join the fight.

...

On David and Rein's side, they both find themselves in the middle of the nest of monsters. One after the other, they appear from the corners of the room. Until they soon realize that they are completely surrounded.

"We're completely surrounded. Running away now would be meaningless. We have to get rid of these monsters here and now."

As his mind was set, the look in his eyes changes. And the bow and arrow in his possession begin to dematerialize as it circles around David like a fog, like a ghost dancing around him.

"Reveal your form, Media."

The flow of light begin to form around David's wrists. And then, the bow and arrow that turned into a flow of light begin to materialized into crossbows attached in David's both wrists.

"A mini bow...?"

As the mini crossbows takes its full form, David swinged his right arm in front of Rein. And in a flash, an arrow made of yellow light bursts out and flew right beside Rein's face. Behind the girl, an ogre was shot in the head and was sent flying in the dark by it's impact alone.

"You said, you will do what must be done to survive, right?"

It happened so fast that Rein did not realize in time that the force of the arrow grazed her smooth face.

"No matter how dirty the methods you use, no matter how painful a sacrifice you will need, you will do whatever it takes to live another day."

As her eyes are stuck into David, the feeling of the blood running down her cheek brought her back to her senses.

"Say, if your desire is to protect the people around you, if your desire is to avenge the ones you've lost..."

For some reason, the words that came out of David's mouth made Rein's legs froze in the same area she's standing. From the eyes of the monsters bellowing as they mindlessly jump towards the man who seem to give them no attention, it's like he's inviting them to kill him without the will to fight back.

"...Would you do whatever it takes to achieve those desires? Even if it means breaking the rules of the world? Even if it means to not give a damn about the world's fate?"

To the young woman, the veteran adventurer's glare alone sends terror down her spine, from what she can see which the monsters couldn't, is a face of a man who has a strong desire to kill, a desire to kill, make it an enemy or an ally. A desire which reeks of betrayal, anger, and rather sadness.

In a blink of an eye, the monsters that jumped towards David were all flunged away with arrows with the size of a dart from the corners of the nest. It was so fast that it made the other monsters stopped from moving and was utterly confused how it turned out. Not even Rein were able to follow up what happened, all she knows is that countless arrows also went to her, and is fortunate enough to be protected by a magic barrier she enveloped herself with a few minutes ago.

Now, Rein knows that the arrows that penetrated her barrier did not just come from indiscriminate attacks of David. David is a known adventurer who excels at using his magic bow and arrow with great accuracy and precision. One of the reasons why he is nicknamed the "Shooting Star" in the Kingdom of Reilaea.

The thing that she sensed coming from david, and the arrows just now only indicates one thing. The veteran adventurer knows who Rein really is. And most likely, the other four who were with her have their identities revealed as well.

"Let me ask you another question."

As the words escaped David's mouth, the light arrows that struck the monsters all around the cave begin squirm out of the dead monsters' corpses. As it seemingly freed itself from the lifeless monsters, the arrows begin to fly around David while the rest of the enemies trying to approach him are being pierced one by one by the same arrows he shot earlier.

"You are given orders by the cruel King to kill someone, and you are forbidden for failing the task given to you. But after seeing that someone in person, you realized that he is far stronger for you to assassinate alone. What do you do?"