Too shocked...

"Elijah!" The cry of Lyla resounded very strongly in the silent forest.

The beast was dead. And with his death, all the people who had been controlled by the beast had fallen unconscious. All the people who were standing were the operators.

Elijah looked tired, but she had a smile on her face. She walked up to Lyla, who was sitting on the ground to catch her breath.

"What's up, Captain? "The smile on her face could not have been more innocent. She said, "I am just completing a special mission."

"Don't touch him," Lyla groaned. Elijah didn't know whether it was due to pain, or whether Lyla was angry, but she didn't care.

"Come on now, Captain. You can't do it. Catching him is going to give 150 credit points. How can you hog all 150 credit points on your own? I want my part as well." Elijah slowly walked towards the now unconscious Aiden.

Lyla was even more irritated by her smile, "We had talked about it. If he doesn't attack, we're not going to fight him."

"How can you be so sure of that? Without hesitation, he killed Alex. "Elijah kicked Aiden. As his unconscious body rolled over the ground, Elijah said, "Can't you understand how dangerous he is? He even lied that he could not use magic."

"That..." Lyla was mad, but she couldn't refute her. It was true what Elijah had said, "Still..."

"Still! What Captain?" Elijah looked at Lyla with serious eyes, "He even deserted us when we were fighting with the horde of beasts."

"But he is the one who saved us." The voice was weak, but everyone could hear the words of Sara.

"Saved us? "Elijah shook her head, "he had no intention of saving us. Maybe he just saved himself, and..."

"Even if he did that, it doesn't change the fact that he saved us." Lyla couldn't control her rage any more, "Without him, we'd have been stuck in this place for who knows how long. I order you, as captain of the team, to stand down."

"Teech…" Elijah looked at the immobile body of Aiden. 'This has been such a good opportunity. But that idiot…' She gave another kick to Aiden.

"ELIJAH"

"Sorry Captain, I didn't intend to, but he was sleeping in the middle of the road. So I just pushed him away." Elijah moved away with a frown on her face.

"Is the situation of the Planet Will so bad that they had to send a bickering child to save us?"

Lyla was already fuming and those words made her angrier. But looking at the big man with a blade in his hand, she chose not to shout.

Lyla gritted her teeth and stood up, "I am Captain Lyla. Team UG93."

The man shook her hand, "Captain Enric. Team UG71."

"Three years ago?"

Hearing the question, Enric groaned, "Yes, it's been three years. But to me, it was just yesterday. To think that I have been living under the control of the beast for three years..."

"Sorry to hear." Lyla asked, "But Captain, haven't there been four teams on the mission?"

Enric's sighs were getting longer, "There was. UG69-UG72. But when we landed, we took different paths. We've all had different missions. Ours was to explore the city of Irupax."

Looking at his tired friends, he added, "I think we've been lucky enough to survive for three years without a casualty."

"Captain, did you find any other operatives?"

Enric shook his head, "I don't even remember anything after we walked into the city. The ESG does not pick up any signals from other operatives."

"ESG?" Lyla was confused.

"Empirical Survival Guide." Enric was even more surprised, "Don't they use it any more?"

"Yes. We do. But now it is named as 'Empirical Survival System', The ESS."

"Whatever. It is the same thing." Enric moved towards his partner, who was just waking up again.

"Captain, you should return to the planet with us." Lyla proposed.

Enric took a deep breath before he turned back to her, "Is there anything else we could do? "He stopped for a moment and said," We 're going to do as you say."

'Three years ago. Here in the hell hole, they've wasted three years. Living a life that never existed.' Lyla shook her head. According to the ESS, she had been under the control of the beast for no more than a day, yet she felt so empty.

Having a memory that was never her, and not knowing what she was doing, made her feel empty and conflicted. Still, after three years of the same feeling, she couldn't dare to believe that those men are still all right.

All four of them, however, sat there without a single word. Lyla sighed, looking at them. But that was not her biggest concern. 'And what of these people?'

The whole place was littered with people sleeping soundly on the ground. Lyla had no idea how much time they spent under the control of the beast. Maybe 5 or 10 years. For those people who have been living on Earth for so long, 20 years might not come as a surprise.

'It's not like I could do anything about it.' Lyla walked to the beast's body. Her teammates were also gathered here.

"Sara, heal Aiden." As soon as Lyla spoke, Elijah sent another [Wind Blade] to the dead beast, shedding blood everywhere.

Looking at her, Lyla frowned but said nothing. She moved towards the beast, pulling a tube-like object with a needle at one end. As soon as she plunged it in, blood continued to pour inside the tube.

Lyla, on the other hand, plunged her long sword deep inside the chest of the beast and slid to open the chest. Blood kept flowing as she continued to dig deeper.

Soon enough, her blade hit something solid. Moments later, she fished a grey crystal with a fist.

"Grey, huh? "The voice of Elijah was confused. "There is no element. But thinking about the beast could give a mana cost reduction and a mana amplification effect."

It would be wrong to say that there was no greed in her eyes, but it was the same for Lyla, too. They've never seen a 3-star mana crystal before. According to ESS, it was the third time a 3-starred elemental beast has been killed.

"I want it. I will pay with credit points." Elijah was first to propose but was greeted with the silly smile from Lyla.

"Even if the old operatives didn't object, do you think Aiden will let you have it?" Lyla asked with a smile.

"Tch." Her agitation was expected, "Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think, Captain, you can't stop me if I'm going to complete a mission." Without waiting for Lyla to respond, she walked to Aiden.

"Elijah! "Lila cried out in anger. It had attracted everyone's attention. But what was surprising was that it had been effective. Elijah stopped in the tracks.

*Dong* Dong*

The bell only deepened the silence. Even if she had never met her before, but Sara knew what these cowbells meant.

And the next thing she knew, she was staring at a pair of red burning rings. A chill ran down her spine as she sprawled across her ass.

But that thing never looked at her for a second time, and it stared at Aiden. But it wasn't the end of it.

*Boom*

Something big fell to the ground, sending debris all over. It took some time to settle the dust, but they could see the outline of the beast.

It's a beast with four legs. There were a long tail and a long neck. A few longhorns came out of his head. The most surprising thing, however, was the giant bat wings on its back.

'A dragon, huh? 'The beast landed nearer to Elijah. Others don't know if it was because of fear or any other reason, she couldn't move at all. In her view, the detail of the beast was much clearer.

[Name: Adi

Species: Golem

Grade: S (??)

Element: Unknown

Feature: Red crystal eyes, Human skeleton with vines and moss(??).

Comment: Golem with consciousness (?)]

'How does this thing look like a human being? 'She cursed in her heart as a pair of red eyes stared at her. Others could see it as well as the dust cleared.

It certainly looked like a flying lizard, but it was as described by the ESS. The vines were growing out of the skeleton of a beast that looked like a dragon, and the wing of the beast was covered with green moss.

'Should I run away from here? 'The thought resonated within everyone's mind, yet none of them dared to answer it. How could they do that?

A-graded beast, with a 3-star elemental affinity that could kill anyone with a touch. It was faster than sound and nearly 300 operators were killed by it.

And if it wasn't enough, an S-graded golem that looked like a dragon and could fly as well. There was no way that they could escape.

But sometimes it was the fear of death that made people fearless. Such was the action of Asher.

Nobody had any idea why he did it, but Asher suddenly threw a pair of fireballs at the green dragon.

*Roar*

The roar shook the whole earth, and the wind vibrated as well. It seemed that the attack was a success. But before a smile could appear on his face or another fireball could form in his palm, the land resonated with a thunderous laugh.

"Did you think that the fire would be effective because this body is made of plants? Or was my acting too perfect?"

The voice wasn't smooth at all. It was more like a few stones grinding against each other. The voice poured a bucket of cold water over them.

They looked with fearful eyes as the fireballs had failed to set a mark on the beast. Their mind resounded again, 'We're going to die.'