"Alright! Looks like we got 'em!"
The one who spoke loudly, but quickly realized he was shouting and hushed, was none other than Billy. He was just so excited to see the combo between him, Alicia, and Trisha work.
After the Assault Team was created, the group was further divided into three—for the sake of the plan, of course.
The first was Adonis; who would launch the first strike on the enemy by catching them off-guard. This, he promised, would throw them into a state of confusion and panic, giving them the window of opportunity to strike.
The second team—theirs—was to wait until one of the Dragons pursued Adonis, and the other one went to fetch the falling corpse, before striking the remaining two in the air.
According to Adonis, they were to give it everything they had.
"They're mostly Dragon Commanders, but one of them is a General. It would be difficult taking the General down first, but you guys can kill the Dragon Commander beside her and weaken her as well."
That was their task, and it seemed like they executed it splendidly.
'The third team consists of just Clark, who will find a way to hold down the Dragon who went after the corpse, and we're meant to back him up by ambushing the Dragon, while Adonis takes care of the one that went after him…' Alicia's thoughts trailed.
Once they were done with their tasks, they could finally deal with the wounded Dragon General together.
It was a basic strategy, but considering how they didn't have enough time and more numbers, this was the best route they could take.
Right now, they were hiding at the edge of the forest, some hundred meters close to the Capital's walls. Once they got the signal from Clark, as well as recover some of their Mana, they would jump out and unleash a bombardment of attacks on the Dragon Commander that Clark would be occupied with.
'I'm concerned about him, but….' Alicia thought about Clark Kant, the one on the sole third mission until their intervention.
The idea of only him facing one Dragon Commander by himself was worrying. However…
"Don't worry. I might not be able to beat one myself, but I'm confident in my ability to take a beating!"
… After his declaration, they decided to leave that role up to him.
'Belle and Rey have the safest task. But, with the amount of destruction already done, and the many people needing saving, I just hope they don't get overwhelmed…' Alicia thought to herself in worry.
Rey was a pretty bold and resolute person, so she was mostly worried about Belle who seemed very soft and emotional.
Either way, she was relieved that both weren't in harm's way for most of the battle.
'If they're done with rescue efforts first, they supposed to come and assist us. But, considering the scale of destruction that has been wrought in the city, I doubt they'd be done before us.'
The goal of Adonis' plan was to end things as quickly as possible. Everyone was low on Mana, so a drawn-out battle would be detrimental to them. Most of their attack patterns relied on the element of surprise.
And as for the Dragon General, since it would be a five against one…
"Kwii kwii."
… Correction, a six against one, they had a high chance of winning.
"Thanks for helping us scout the area, Snow." Alicia smiled as she pet her white rabbit, a soft smile on her face.
The little creature purred, almost like a cat, and she found that adorable. It seemed, even in the tension of battle, one could enjoy the little things like this.
'I wonder what's taking Clark so long, though…' Alicia looked in the direction where Clark's Heat Vision was supposed to pass through, yet she saw nothing.
"Is he really o—"
~VWUM!~
Before Alicia could conclude her sentence, she—and everyone else with her—felt space warp behind them, and a certain overpowering entity emerging from behind.
"—kay…?"
It was all a blur, but this silhouette had purplish black eyes, with three horns; each rising from three sides of his forehead. A cold expression was imprinted on his face as he stared at them, both hands behind him.
Then, with his mouth open wide—
"EVERYONE RU—!"
—A devastating blast followed.
~BOOOOOOOOM!!!~
The entire forest erupted with the overpowering explosion, and the shockwave alone sent Alicia and her comrades flying away from the covering of trees.
"Gahh!" She screamed, her eyes tightly shut as she felt one of her arms dislocated as a result of the force alone.
One of the joints in her arm was broken, and the searing pain caused beads of tears to gush from her eyes.
'I have barely enough Mana for it, but I can still use [Absolute Healing] on my…self…?'
Alicia reconsidered her thoughts once she saw Billy and Trisha beside her. They had lost an arm and a leg respectively. Everything was blown off by the blast, and from their cries, and the blood that spurted out of their wounds, it was clear whose situation was worse.
"[Absolute Healing]!" She swiftly proceeded to squeeze out every ounce of Mana she had to heal her two comrades.
It worked! They were both able to grow out their limbs, reversing the effects of destruction that had been wrought on them.
However—
"Bleurghh…" Alicia found herself puking out loads of vomit, mixed in with traces of blood.
Not only did she feel nauseated, thanks to the drain of Mana affecting her physically, but her entire body screamed at her with pain.
She was still struggling with these feelings when she realized that there was something—no, someone—missing from those who were with her just a moment ago.
"How interesting. Healing to such a degree…" The deep voice of their adversary came forth as he emerged from the burning woods.
"A-ahhh…!"
Alicia's eyes were widened as she saw the man. Not simply because of his intimidating aura or his overwhelming presence, but due to the gory remains that stained his dark apparel.
"… Snow…?!"
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Thanks for reading!
Yeah, well... our first casualty is here.
