Chapter 15 - Gettting out of harm's way.

Back near the bed, Moldrivore spoke up to the saint's evacuating team.

"Do not fear, brothers and sisters. Some of you may have different preferred weapons, but that's alright. With your abilities and the fact that we all are wearing uniformed armor, even if the False Goddess Samtael switched your bodies with each other, you would still be able to put up a fight against her without your Characters."

Then he turned toward the war machines, their hulking metal forms looming near the water's edge. "Those inside the vehicles. Covered for us while we bring Mother deeper into the forest. Once her safety is ensured... Rain all hell on the False Goddess. Burn it to crisp."

A voice bellowed from one of the armored vehicles. It was Gennan's.

"All units! Turn on your flashlights and find the beast!"

'This is not good. Where is he?'

There were supposed to be three people per war machine: a driver, a gunner, and a gapper. But Gennan's machine only had two. The man who was supposed to be the gunner got into an accident on the way here and couldn't make it. As a result, Gennan had to recruit a random hunter as his gunner who seemed to have some knowledge about the false goddess and that was good enough for him, not many managed to live to retell their encounter with it.

For some reason, he found himself to be fond of Elliot but that man bolted off in a different direction, abandoning the trust he had given to him. Now, Gennan was forced to man the weapon himself.

It wouldn't have been a problem if not for his secret. One he never told anyone except Moldrivore. His eyesight was deteriorating. He couldn't see faces properly anymore, let alone control a weapon meant for precision strikes.

At his command, eight beams of light cut through the darkness beneath the floating island. The lights swept side by side. Yet, they couldn't cover up the entirety of the island and had to search franticly for the false goddess lurking within the shadow.

"Where are you, beast?" Gennan snarled. "Come out and face your retribution!"

"Over here!" a voice shouted from one of the other war machines.

"All units focused on number 3's light!" Gennan barked.

The beams all converged in one spot. The light illuminated something.

"What in the seven winds...?"

"Number 5!" Gennan snapped. "Report! What do you see?!"

"It… it's a person," the woman stammered. "They're… crucified. There's something—quills—stuck through their hands."

Another voice cut in, panicked. This time it was on the radio. "There are more over here!"

"Here too!"

The radios crackled with overlapping voices, each more frantic than the last.

"All units, stop the search!" Gennan roared. "Form a perimeter around the evacuation team! Code Black! I repeat Code Black!"

Despite the urgency in his voice, the order came too late. And a wet, tearing sound echoed in the clearing. Screams erupted from every hero and hooded figure near the saint.

The outer rings surrounding the saint broke apart completely. People were failing to their legs as if their legs and arms gave out after being struck in a long and painful position, others shoving their way out of there, trying to flee, not wanting to be captured by something.

Just as sudden as the screams, from the river emerged a giant figure, red scales reflecting against the dim sunlight. It had two heads and each had one eye. This beast resembled that of a crocodile but was ten times as wide and five times as tall. It lunged forward with long, powerful strides, covering the short distance from the bank to where the chaotic mass was in a few breaths time.

It opened one of its jaws, serrated fangs sinking into the deep into the armor of a switched hero. The armor barely held against the crushing jaw but then it threw the switched hero in the air before snapping his entire body in its mouth. It chomped down multiple times, blood spilling onto the ground, sipping red into the white snow.

Meanwhile, the inner rings surrounding the saint were struck. They couldn't move the saint to a safe place while protecting her against the stampeding crowd of people. Killing their brothers and sisters' bodies wasn't an option because once they succeeded in subjugating the False Goddess, breaking off its spell, their brothers and sisters would be doomed to become nothing more than lost souls, wandering endlessly until they faded, forgotten by an uncaring world.

"Move! Move! MOVE!" Gennan called out to all available war vehicles. "The false goddess had already switched their bodies with those crucified. Mother's life is in danger."

Almost instantly, the war machines rumbled to life, their engines roaring as they surged forward. A hail of bullets tore across the snowfield, hitting the crocodile beast. But the shots bounced uselessly off its thick, armored scales, barely even earning a reaction.

Suddenly, the voice com of one of the transports got disconnected from the rest.

"Number 5, do you repeat!?" Gennan yelled into the com. "Number 5, do you repeat?!"

Then another immediately after.

"What is happening?"

Just before another com was cut off, a voice answered to Gennan. "Something is dragging us into the lake. Go! We can handle this! With the lake covering for us from the false goddess sight, we can use our Character without fearing it change our bodies!"

Four out of eight war machines had already been dragged into the lake, their hulking frames swallowed by the depths as a beast with hooked claws pulled them under. Then, from that darkness, flashing sword strikes broke to the surface, spilling waves of unfreezable water over the lake's edge.

Not far away, the two-headed crocodile beast continued its onslaught on the fleeing figures. Wherever the crocodile beast went, chaos and blood were ensured to follow. Unlike the unity shown to Ellie before, the people were disorganized and disoriented, moving franticly. Some were limping, some were skipping, some were crawling. Clearly unfamiliar with these new bodies of theirs.

"Number 1 and Number 2! Accelerate at full throttle and ram into the shit bag! Stop it from destroying more of our brothers and sisters' bodies!"

"On it!"

"Already at top speed from the beginning, mate!"

Gennan and the rest had finally caught up to the crocodile beast. Two vehicles at the front were about to ram into the beast from behind but it suddenly came to a halt. Its strong legs planted deep into the ground, claws gripping into the cold redden snow.

"Dodge!"

*Thud!*

The collision sent the two vehicles at the front flying forward. They twirled circles in the air, smashing into the ground with each cycle, leaving their marks behind like lover kisses—intense and explosive—before barreling into the people.

Amidst the smoke, a mangled metal carcass with the number one painted on it lay upside down. Its wheels continued to spin at top speed against the air, the driver was unconscious, his foot still pressing on the pedal. The other vehicle managed to land safely, and the gunner began to rain hails of bullets down on the culprit of this devastation. It too wasn't without harm, with its bones broken from the impact, it could only endure the annoying mosquito bites.

Gennan and another vehicle speeded up from behind, barely dodging the unmoving gigantic flesh. They passed where the other two vehicles were.

"Leave it, Number 2!"

"But.."

"Our priority is getting Mother out of here!"

Turning its wheels, leaving Number 1 behind, Number 2 joined in with Gennan. Together, they reached the crowd of switched heroes.

"Flash them!"

Three beams of light surged forward, dancing from one spot to another. Having lived their entire lives under the weak halo of the dim sun, these civilians were unfamiliar with such glazing brilliance, monetarily stunned, closing their eyes, and stopped their frantic movement when bathed in its brightness.

"Do not be afraid! Everything is under our control! See?! We had already taken care of the crocodile beast" Gennan yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"Gennan?"

"You piece of shit!"

"It's your fault we had to endure that abomination's torture!"

"Get out of that strange thing and face our wraith!"

"I know you are angry that we have use you as bait for that beast but please you need to understand. It is all for the betterment of our people. You have to make way. The saint needs to be safe, she is our only hope to end this winter hell! So please! Make way!"

"Bullshit!"

"Get out of that strange thing and face our wraith!"

It was clear that his words couldn't convince them to make way. The people started to throw snowballs, aiming for the small gap at the top of Gennan's vehicle.

"What do we do now?" the driver asked. "Should I just run them over? I won't harm our brothers and sisters. Just enough to scare them and force them to cooperate nicely."

"And risk them putting our mother and siblings' bodies at harm?" Gennan retorted. "I am creating an opening. Prepare to drive."

As soon as he finished his sentences, Gennan opened up the hatch door. He stood up at the top of the vehicle, taking in the sight in front of him. Despite them provoking him to come out not long ago, these civilians were now quiet, nervously looking away from him.

Gennan looked further away to the blurry hooded figure that was also looking back at him. He already knew it was Moldrivore.

'You own me big this time.'

Gennan unsheathed his blade, and jumped down, perfectly landing on his left knee.

"He is coming. What do we do?"

"I don't know. You're the one who provoked him."

"Hey, you little rat."

"Come on guys, there are so many of us while he is all by himself."

"Are you blind? Don't you those strange things over there."

Gennan didn't have the time to care about the commotion his presence was causing to these civilians. Before the false goddess made its move, he had to clear a path for the others to reach his mother to ensure her safety.

He took in a deep breath, calling upon his Character—Dissolution Against Thorn. His blade shone briefly then almost immediately, from where it stabbed into the snow, reddish-black thorny vines shot up. Like tidal waves, the ivies rushed toward the crowd of people with great speed, slithering beneath them, branches wrapping around their legs, and reaching the bed. Then just as abrupt, the vines became bigger, tightening their hold. More ivies emerged from each branch that entangled the civilian's legs, circling them until they couldn't move anymore.

Gennan grunted, gritting his teeth. He willed the ivies to lift those trapped in its embrace into the air, creating a straight path, with vines hanging down loosely, leading to where his mother was. A civilian—their curiosity got a hold on them—touched the vines and their hand was immediately wrapped with thorns. The thorns weren't able to pierce the gauntlet, but its strong grip didn't let go no matter how much that person tried yanking their hand out.

"Go!"

Gennan's driver pressed his foot on the pedal, and black smoke emitted out from the back of the war vehicle, making its way through the thorny path, pushing aside the vines as it went. The vines didn't try to cause trouble for the driver, allowing it to pass with ease. Soon, the driver reached his destination. He opened the hatch door open and was immediately greeted by a hooded figure holding the sleeping saint.

The driver held his arm up, accepting the graceful figure with both hands. The saint was so light even the weakest wind could make her fall over and break her fragile bones. She was now covered in layers of a thick wool blanket, and her hair was cut short so that it wouldn't cause her trouble getting inside. If they didn't cut her beautiful silky hair then it would take up all the space, making it hard for the driver to control the vehicle. The driver slowly put her down. He secured her into a corner, making sure she wouldn't be thrown around when he drove.

"Get her out of here."

Moldrivore didn't jump inside the hatch door.

"What about you?" The driver asked, his voice was that of concern.

Moldrivore shook his head.

"The situation has finally been somewhat settled down thanks to you. If I leave this place, morale will plummet, making things spiral out of control once again." Gennan put his hands over the hatch door, closing it. "Just do your part and get Mother out of here."

"Will do."