Temporary Trio

"You okay?"

Luna nodded her head in gratitude and straightened herself.

Mina, who had cleared up the Corrupted surrounding her, arrived by the ponytail girl's side to check on her.

After making sure that she was alright, the fox girl let out a sigh of relief.

Luna looked grimly at the horde of abominations incoming as she said:

"If this keeps going, we'll definitely lose."

"I know." Yuna replied as she put her greatsword on her shoulder.

"How much essences do you two have left?" The bob-cut woman asked them after a moment of silence.

"...I think I can fight continuously for another 10 or 15 minutes, maybe."

"I'm also around that point."

Yuna seemed to be in thoughts as she massaged her neck. She turned to the two girls and spoke:

"If we combined our powers, maybe we could deal with them..."

"Want to team up?"

The girls didn't hesitate at all and agreed immediately. Three of them had been fighting mostly on their own with some occasional support to each other from time to time.

It was clearly ineffective since even though they stood their ground for a long while, the monsters were still flooding in endlessly.

If they tried to cooperate, the Corrupted would most likely be pushed back further — giving them some time to rest.

"Alright, you and I deal with them head-on. Mina, cover us from afar with your bullets."

The fox girl snapped her fingers, manifesting a torrent of bullets on standby as a response.

After receiving Mina's silent agreement, the ponytail girl and the bob-cut woman immediately dashed forward, colliding with the vegetation horde.

A man-eating plant saw the humans heading towards it which made it open its mouth wide to swallow them whole.

Yuna blocked the Corrupted's giant jaw with her giant greatsword. Luna utilized this chance to jump on top of its head.

High-voltage lightning started channeling around the latter's hand as she punched down.

Boom!

"GARGH!!"

The plant went crazy from the painful strike. It controlled its vine to reach for the human on its head.

"No, you don't!"

Yuna stopped the abomination from attempting anything by cutting down its root which helped it move.

The incandescent flame that covered the greatsword burned the plant heavily. The fire started spreading across its body as it wailed in pain.

"Time to die." Luan muttered and she channeled lightning around her dagger.

With one stab, the man-eating monster was sent to hell instantly.

Just as Luna was about to jump down from the charred corpse, three bat-like monsters flew toward her and Mina.

Before they managed to reach them, however, a round of glass bullets pierced their bodies and they fell to the ground.

Luna turned her head back slightly and nodded in gratitude which Mina replied back with a gentle smile.

The former felt slightly embarrassed for some reason, so she quickly shifted her gaze away and focused on the other Corrupted.

Yuna noticed the weird interaction between the two but didn't say anything and followed the ponytail girl.

The three confronted five plant-like monsters as some spit out their poison, and others launched their thorns-like bullets at the duo.

Mina used her own crystal bullets to neutralize the enemy's attack.

Luna and Yuna dodged the poison spit by dodging to a side. The latter summoned a large firewall on her palm and shot them forward.

Boom!

Three Corrupted were set on fire as they fell down and screeched painfully.

On the other side, the olive-skin beauty avoided another barrage of thorns and vines by a close margin.

Some managed to stab her legs, arms, and other non-vital organs.

"Argh!" Her face scrunched up a little.

Luna glared at the two Corrupted angrily before the lightning started circling around.

She shot herself forward to the treant's face and with one single punch, she pierced the thing's head as it lost its life.

The ponytail girl glanced at a rose with a smiley face for a moment. The monstrosity noticed this and it sent out another wave of thorns bullets.

The ponytail girl gazed at it scornfully. Then she disappeared from where she was as the bullets completely missed their target and hit the ground.

The rose seemed confused by the human's sudden disappearance. It turned its head left and right trying to find the human's trace.

"Nice try, flowey."

A mocking voice reached the rose as it tried to turn its head back.

Bang!

The idiotic Corrupted didn't even manage to look at the human as a small hand full of lightning went through its brain.

After that, lightning spread across its body and within just a split second, the abomination became a charred flower.

"...I still can't master Shunpo just yet..." Luna said while touching her legs.

Then she dusted off her hands before glancing at Yuna and Mina.

They nodded in prior agreement and continued to slaughter the Corrupted.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the forest near the city's perimeter, at the battlefield against the Leader.

[Let's retreat first.] Achilles carried Sia up and started running away.

The rusted worm naturally wouldn't let its prey escape so easily. It immediately chased after and attacked Achilles with its metal tentacles.

He dodged the abomination's relentless assault by running around in a zic-zac manner.

He didn't need to worry much about the spores that the Corrupted had released. Since most of them had been trapped in the ice by Sia.

[How's your wound?] Achilles asked worriedly.

[Not that rough. We should be back to normal for a little while more. Don't worry] The little elf assured him with a gentle gaze.

He moved his head in relief and kept running away again.

[Can you use that technique when you killed the Wendigo to deal with this thing?] Achilles asked again after thinking for a bit.

Sia seemed surprised when she heard what he said but quickly recomposed herself.

[That skill has a long cooldown. We were reluctant to use it unless we want to finish the fight quickly.]

She added after two seconds.

[...And with that thing's armor, We're not sure whether it could kill it or not.]

Achilles slid down and avoided a tentacle headed for his head before distancing himself from the Armored Leechworm again.

[...With all that armor on its body. It must have a soft inside.] He started at the parasite and examined it for a moment.

[Agree. But how do we reach it?]

[I'll try to find a cranny where its insides aren't protected. All you need to do is to deal a finishing blow with all your might.]

[...What if it's still alive?] Sia asked grimly, her expression tense.

[...I'll kill it myself.]