Special Chapter XII - Trio of Destruction (part 2)

Behind the forest trees, the captain rubbed his neck and tried gasping for air.

"The hell... Hah... Who the hell are they!?"

"Calm down, captain... They aren't just anybody."

Gajah said as he also tried catching his breath. He turned his gaze towards me as I entered their vicinity. 

The group are all trying to gasp for air. Luckily, no one passed out from the pressure, probably because this spot is quite far away from the road.

Kirene was grinning though, she must be happy knowing that someone as strong as them exists, that she can fight them later. But she still had signs of sweat on her forehead, meaning she still won't be able to stand toe to toe against them.

I walked to Gajah, and immediately asked my confusion.

"They are the 'Rankers'?"

"Yes… Those three are... the Trio of Destruction. They are all Rank 1."

After everyone captured their breaths, we all began walking once again. And along the way, everyone is talking about what just happened. Mainly, discussing who those three were.

"Why did they come here? Did they somehow find out about our plan?"

Bemlar asked the unanswerable question. But since I was there when they were conversing, I heard all of their conversation and was able to answer.

"One of them, the one with the blonde hair, said that he detected a massive surge of pressure coming from the beach, all the way from the kingdom."

I explained what I had heard to them. Everyone else listened with confusion, but they still noted everything I told them.

"How did you hear... Never mind. It's probably best if I explained their abilities to you guys."

Gajah said as he peered his eyes to us, walking right behind him. He turned his gaze back forward, and began telling us.

"The tall bald guy is Elbrado. His height is nearly two meters, and his body is rather similar to the captain's. He possessed immense physical strength, so strong that he could destroy a boulder in one flick of his finger.

The second is Merida. She is a beauty, but don't be fooled by it, as she possesses a very scary prowess. She had the ability to conjure wind barriers, meaning she can simply kill someone by creating an airless sphere on her opponent's head. She can kill anyone without even trying really hard. In Veldonia, she was nicknamed the goddess of death."

The name goddess of death piqued my interest, and a small bloodlust within me. I don't know why I suddenly got angry, but that name surely had some meaning to it.

"And finally, the leader, Prym.

Don't be fooled by his girlish name. He is the most powerful amongst them. Merida and Elbrado are already ranked 1, but Prym is on a whole other rank.

He is incredibly powerful. He is younger than the others, but it doesn't change the fact that he is the strongest. Not just that, he is also quite the strategist.

The magic ability he used is lightning, but he is not like any other lightning magician. He can travel through the lightning, like the lightning itself. He can zap anything by calling a thunder strike from the sky. Aside from that, he also can fly.

His incredible speed is similar to that of lightning. He is the most dangerous, you probably won't even notice that he has killed you.

A genius, a lightning killer, as well as the ability to fly. He is easily one of the most dangerous rankers in Veldonia."

Gajah ended his explanation there, and I began going into deep thought.

Prym is the one I'm very interested in. Something from Gajah's explanation just felt odd to me.

A lightning user, and he can fly?

No, that can't be right. Lightning magicians can't fly, wind magicians can.

"Hmm..."

While I was pondering, the captain noticed my confusion and walked closer to me.

"Do you think you can take at least one of them?"

Everyone else stared at me, hoping for an answer. I simply chuckled at them as I stared forward.

"Not a chance."

We continued walking while talking about how crazy those three are. The deeper we get into the forest, the stronger the stench of the dead becomes.

We are getting close.

"Bloody hell… it reeks!"

The captain mumbled as he covered his nose with a cloth. The others are also closing their noses as they keep on walking. The trees are starting to change the deeper we go, from the green and bright leaves, to brown and nearly dried leaves.

"We are close."

Gajah said as he marched forward. He stood at the most front, because It was him who first found the location. And also so that no one else will take the first hit if an ambush happens. 

Though if an ambush happens, I could always leap forward and grab him.

But so far, no ambush happens. Until we arrived at a certain location where the trees had lost all of its leaves.

The reek of the dead is no longer there, but instead replaced with the smell of ash.

No, it is ash.

The captain looked to the ground, and lowered his body. His hand took a finger full of the soil on the ground, and he studied it deeply.

"Ash."

The captain brushed the ash with his fingers, and the ash flew out from his hand, following the wind. Everyone else began to grow even more guarded, staring at their surroundings more carefully.

The trees no longer have leaves, and the ground is just covered in ashes. 

Something is definitely not right. 

"We are very close."

"I agree."

Gajah mumbled, and answered by the captain. The two led the way deeper into the forest, but before they could walk far, a loud scream came out of nowhere.

"HRIIIEEEKK!!!!"

"Wow!!"

In just a split second, Gajah lowered his body to the ground to dodge the sudden attack from the attacker. But when he got up and was about to slice the attacker in half, the attacker was already gone.

For some reason, we didn't realize that our surroundings had changed. The air has gone colder, and a thick fog has appeared. It's probably due to the ash on the ground, slowly forming like a fog. 

Vision is very low, and we can barely see what's in front of us. It's almost as if we are in the middle of a thick fog.

"What was that!?"

Gajah shouted, but nobody was capable of answering.

"I don't know, but it looked like a bea-Look out!"

"HRIIIEEEKK!!!!"

The captain shouted at Gajah, and they quickly moved. 

Gajah went back down to the ground of ashes as the captain sliced whatever was jumping around. His slice was able to touch, but it only grazed the target by a little bit. 

However, it was enough to stun it.

That 'thing' fell to the ground right in front of the captain, and it... stood up... In all four...

"Oh... my... god..."

Gajah mumbles at the sight in front of him. Everyone else, including me, are simply frozen, staring at the thing in front of us.

It wasn't a beast. It was a female human. 

An undead female human, with her body upside down, standing on all fours. Her left cheek was ripped open due to the wound, and her white clothes are torn and even tainted with blood and black slime. 

Her eyes are nowhere to be found, and black blood flows down from the eyehole like tears.

Suddenly, I feel like screaming.

And they say nightmares are just dreams.