"Just what are these monsters?"
Catherine asked with a hardened gaze as she looked at the dead body below her, it was barely the height of her waist but was fully black in color, it had no mouth or any other sensing organs, it looked more like a golem of darkness,
"It doesn't matter what it is, what really matters here is, is that all of them?"
Austin asked as he looked through the other corpse, hoping to see if they have any weaknesses to exploit,
"Looks like my evaluation isn't on point"
Catherine spoke as she appeared beside them, while Marlene who stood beside Austin was as silent as she can be, giving a glance to Marlene she turned to Austin as she spoke,
"Whatever this trial is, it's changing to adapt, its finding the weakness in our formation and is trying to take us down based on it"
The words Catherine spoke brought about a heavy silence but it didn't last for long as Austin stood up, his eyes burning with desire as his hand was clutched deeply,
"I brought you guys here, then I shall take you all out safe"
A thick feeling of guilt filled Austin's face as he spoke those words, the feeling of remorse filled him, due to which his will to move forward was weakening. Suddenly both Catherine and Malone placed their hands on his shoulder as they spoke at the same time,
"Don't go there"
Seeing the words he spoke being given back to him a silly smile came to his face, the feeling of guilt slowly decreased, as a fire lit in his heart,
"We will make it out!"
Austin told with conviction was he was cringing inside,
'Damn, this is starting to be more like a rom-com adventure'
While trying his best not to let out his feeling of cringe, Austin looked towards the girls with a grateful smile as he spoke,
"Thanks for that"
"It's nothing, you did jump up that hill to save us and we are grateful for it"
Marlene spoke and Catherine nodded her head to it, seeing so with a thin smile Austin looked towards the path ahead,
"This time I will take the lead..."
Saying so he took a step forward, the mana around him rumbling to his will,
"The two of you, follow me"
He requested as he walked forward, his back being the only thing the girls to gaze upon,
"From now on, this will be a massacre...."
As Austin declared the huge sword in his hand shook, just like always the path ahead was obscured and dark, the fog affecting the surroundings such that using mana was becoming harder but none of them seemed to affect Austin as he kept moving forward with a straight back, Catherine and Marlene wanted to speak but seeing the determination in his eyes they knew that he wouldn't listen to them now.
Just after they had taken 15 steps the fog around them shook after which several attacks much more powerful than before came to the trio, a small part of the barrage was focused on Austin while the majority aimed to reap the life of the two girls, one poisoned and unable to fight back, while the other was now becoming useless,
"No, you don't"
Austin slowly whispered as the mana around him moved to his wish, two earth walls raised in front of the two girls blocking the attack for some seconds but that was more than enough for Austin to react, with a speed that defied logic, Austin waved in front of him with his sword, his attack destroying all the attacks that were aimed at him.
Then his sword went to his left hand as he waved it back, then his sword went to his right hand as he did the same backward wave, the attacks that he did took place within a second, and all the two girls felt was the wall appearing before them for a second before which it was gone and as the wall left so did the attacks that were after them.
The two of their eyes soon focused back at the person in front of them his back still straight while he looked relaxed with his sword in his hand, the girl's eyes widened as they saw at least 6 different copies of the same monsters from before ruthlessly ripped apart,
'Is this his true strength?'
Marlene questioned as her eyes lighted up in interest of the desire to fight, while Catherine the one more thoughtful looked towards the carnage that happened in the blink of an eye, her eyes narrowed heavily as she understood a heavy truth,
'This isn't his true strength'
She knew because of the simple reason that Austin wasn't using the bow.....
The legends of Eleanor are far and wide, while Austin did say that he's using the sword to protect them and Catherine did agree with the notion, she knew that she has yet to find out all the secrets that this man in front of her held, just like Marlene, Catherine's eyes started to sparkle, a desire to know more about the person in front of her bloomed in her heart.
Mermaids by nature are extremely curious and crafty, it was the reason that most of the wealth and economy is handled by them and this curiosity is what leads the mermaids, its also a part of their doom too, once a mermaid gets extremely curious she will start to be obsessed with it, unable to give up till the end of their life.
From birth, every mermaid is taught to keep their 'interests' in another person in check and it wasn't hard for Catherine as she never felt any desire to unravel another person but now for the first time in her life, such a desire was blooming within her, once it starts there's no going back from it, the unraveling desires of mermaids are that unending.
There was a saying that was famous among all that desired a mermaid: 'Piquing the interest of a mermaid meant that she's yours'
+600 affection!
Seeing the sudden notice Austin who was staying silent smiled, this was what he had aimed from the beginning, not speaking about his power, hiding his strength, slowly but not greatly getting acquainted with Catherine, and showing his powers while hiding them, playing a very mysterious character with an unknown past.
This was all for this moment, to spark the interest within Catherine from there on, it would be a breeze to hold her heart in his hand,
"From now on...."
Austin's words started to be heard as he gave them his back, his hand holding his sword tight, while his gait was unhindered and unstoppable,
"I won't let a single one of you get hurt...."
The words hit Catherine hard, the effect of the poison taking place within her as she completely trusted the words that Austin spoke,
'Why am I seemingly trusting him so much? so curious~~'
The sparkle in Catherine's eyes only grew stronger, while the bubbling interest grew,
"Watch me as I protect, this time I won't lose anyone due to my mistakes....."
The quiet whisper of sadness pulled at Catherine's heart but the one that was affected the most was Marlene her pupils shrunk as her heart started to beat faster, the words he spoke of bringing about a memory from the past, the bitterness in his voice reminding her of the sin she still carries,
'Are you the same as me?'
Marlene asked to just herself, wanting to know more about this new friend of hers.
