Resolve (2)

Slaughtering the monsters in front of her as she released countless wind slashes and utilized the wind element to completely obliterate any abomination which dared to stand in her path, Astrid was worried. Really worried.

As her eyes frantically darted around the battlefield, she began feeling a sense of urgency to find Evan as soon as possible.

As such, Astrid didn't care about her mana consumption, as she utilized all the tricks in her arsenal to increase her speed and kill the monsters at the same time.

THUD-! THUD-! THUD-!

Wherever she passed, it left behind a trail of monster corpses, decimated into countless pieces of flesh, silenced forever. Cursing at the storm which just appeared, decreasing her visibility, Astrid activated her mana vision.

A kaleidoscope of colours bloomed in her vision. Swathes of blue, green, yellow, red and many other particles were swirling violently in the air disturbed by the massive thunderstorm.

Concentrating with a frown on her face, Astrid turned her head 360 degrees, trying to find any clues which could lead her to Evan's whereabouts.

After a minute of searching and the sense of urgency within her increasing with every passing moment, a wave of despair washed over her.

'Is he really dead? He can't be! My feeling can't be wrong, I'm sure of it!'

Gritting her teeth, Astrid redoubled her efforts in the search. Finally, just as she was about to give up, a crumpled figure appeared in the corner of her vision.

The different coloured particles of mana were slowly leaving his body turning into a voidless husk devoid of any mythical energy.

'There! He's right there!'

Renergised after finding Evan, a sense of relief washed over Astrid, easing her worries at not finding him in time.

As she ran closer to his body, the full extent of his injuries and wounds made their way into her vision, and an audible gasp escaped her mouth.

Rushing up to the unconscious Evan, Astrid hurriedly took out a healing potion from her storage ring and moved his body a little, so that she could pour the potion down his mouth.

Sensing that the potion trickled down his throat successfully, Astrid saw his face, which was always hidden by the golden dragon mask for the very first time.

Inky black hair which swayed lightly in the wind alongside the enchanting golden eyes caused her to blush a little at his handsomeness.

However, any useless thoughts were purged from her mind after gazing at his eyes, which were slowly losing their golden lustre.

Scolding herself, Astrid began using the little affinity she had for the fire element to conjure a stable blue flame.

Pressing the flame on any open wounds to cauterize them and stop the blood loss, a question emerged in her mind after gazing at the gaping wound in the centre of Evan's chest.

'Judging from the wounds he received, most of them were only superficial, with only a few scratches here and there from fighting certain monsters. The large amount of blood which streamed from his orifices was most likely due to being unable to handle the pressure radiated from the Wyvern. However, that doesn't explain the gaping wound in his chest. In addition, it is a stab wound and from the way he fell face down on the ground, the thing stabbed him from behind.'

Thinking up to here, a grim expression appeared on Astrid's face as she realised the magnitude of the situation at hand.

'They betrayed him! But a single question remains. Who would do such a thing? And for what purpose?'

Since she felt that Evan had experienced similar situations like her in the past, Astrid knew he was a man of many secrets.

'But those secrets must be so outrageous that he ended up being hunted and betrayed.'

The more Astrid thought of what might have transpired, the stronger her suspicion of someone in the inner circles of their squad had betrayed them and attempted to assassinate Evan.

Even though she was curious how Evan hadn't slipped into the clutches of death yet, now wasn't the time to think about such trivial things.

There were important things to ponder about.

'I wond-'

Just as she was going to start listing off potential candidates who might have carried out such an act, a voice filled with humour and mocking resounded out behind her.

"Well. Look what we have here. The ice princess has actually forsaken her own safety to go and search for a person who only possesses the worth of a bug."

Flinching, Astrid cursed her carelessness as she turned her gaze back to know which person the voice came from.

Her eyes widened into saucers at the discovery of the figure's identity as she gritted her teeth and spat in a voice which oozed as much venom as she could muster.

"Finn! You treacherous bastard. So it was you who stabbed Evan in the heart!"

"Oh, my, how clever of you to find out. Yes, I admit it was me. Although betraying him leaves a somewhat bad taste in my mouth, it was necessary. The martial art in his possession is enough to set the fire of greed in the hearts of many, and my employers would very much like to get their hands on it. At some point or another, he would have gotten betrayed. I just sped up the process a little. In this new post-apocalyptic hell we live in, morals won't do us any good, only strength will. It is a dog-eat-dog world, after all."

Feeling a burning rage begin to flare up inside, Astrid really despised those who betrayed their comrades after fighting with them in a life-or-death battle.

Where everyone was responsible for looking for the other's back, so it made no sense to Astrid that someone would stab their comrade who they fought together with, in the back.

She loathed treacherous people with all her being.

Filled with rage, Astrid released her aura to the maximum. A large gale began forming around her as the loud booms of thunder in the sky drowned out what Finn wanted to say next.

Making sure nothing would happen to Evan, Astrid's eyes burned with ice-cold murderous rage as she attacked immediately, not wasting any time.

With the storm raging on in the background, Astrid felt as if she was in her natural element as the howling winds converged on her figure, enhancing all her capabilities.

Unsheathing the sword on her waist, Astrid augmented the weapon in her hands with the sharpness and swiftness of the wind.

Even though she wasn't a close combat mage, after learning several vital lessons from her past, Astrid made sure she was prepared for all eventualities. Which included having some degree of swordsmanship.

Since she and Finn were both mages, the battle would drag on for a long time until one person consumed all their mana.

Astrid wanted to end the battle in the shortest time possible to get Evan to safety. Hence, why she took out the sword which she rarely used.

Slashing the sword with all her might, Astrid watched as the sword in her hands blurred as the storm which raged on in the background gave her weapon a welcome boost.