lightsnοvεl Kary imagined the worst momentarily until she faintly heard some coughing through the ringing of her ears.
'They probably can't hear me… Let's hope the Raijū are gone…'
She waited for the ringing to calm down before calling out to her team again. And this time, there were answers.
"I'm okay!" *Cough cough*
This voice came from near her, and she saw Jack getting out from behind a shattered tree, which he had most likely been hiding behind until the attack vaporized it.
He was covered with pieces of blown-out wood of various sizes, and his face had a few cuts on it as well.
Other replies came soon after, coming from around the valley, and Kary mentally counted them.
She got to seven, including herself, and her heart froze.
"Where are Cory, Alex and Violette?! Has anyone seen them?!"
The dust was settling back in the valley, and Kary finally saw the aftermath of the two Raijū's attacks. And it was terrifying.
In a straight line toward where Cory had been standing, nothing remained. What little grass had been there amidst the overturned dirt was gone.
The dirt itself had calcified, and the rock under it was exposed.
Only a single circle, no larger than a few feet wide, was left intact, and in its center, the crumpled body of Cory.
"Cory!" Kary screamed in panic.
She ran toward him, as much as her exhausted body allowed her, and dropped to his side.
Leaning close to him, she could hear breathing and exhaled in relief.
The others reached her, and she nodded her head.
"He's ok. Just unconscious. He must have used a powerful protection spell to keep himself safe and drained all his mana."
She felt a part of the tension release around her as the others sighed in relief.
Their worst fear was to lose someone on this mission, after all.
"Now, where are Alex and Violette? I'm sure they are safe somewhere. Have you seen them?" she asked, her heart feeling lighter.
But then she noticed Jack's dark gaze as he looked upward past her. Margarett was also looking there before looking at Kary, her eyes heavy with empathy.
Kary turned her head toward where Jack was looking, and her heart dropped.
Where there once had been a cornice, from which Violette had rained death upon the wolves, was now a crater extending to the top of the valley. The top was still molten, indicating the extreme force that had destroyed the rock.
"No…" Kary said, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.
Her body filled with adrenaline as her fears ate at her mind.
She was already seeing flashes of finding Violette and Alex's corpses, half incinerated, with looks of terror on their faces.
"No… No, no, no, no!" she shouted in despair, jumping up and running to the wall.
Her inhuman body carried her up the valley wall faster than anything she had ever climbed, and she reached where the crater began. There were no signs of anyone there.
Snapping her head in every direction, Kary tried to find a clue of what might have happened. Maybe they managed to escape the blast.
But try as she may, all she saw was molten rock, already eating at the soles of her shoes.
Jack managed to climb there second, as he was the least tired, and looked at the devastation. He sighed heavily.
But as his head drooped, shaking it, he noticed something at his feet.
A part of a leather armour was burning up on the ground in the molten rock. But the edges of it were fine, like it had been torn, not burnt off.
He angled himself in the approximate direction of the lightning bolt and stood before the piece of armour. The angle made him lift his head, and he could clearly see the sky.
"Get up, young woman. Don't give in to despair yet," Jack said, walking past her and up the crater.
"I believe they escaped a part of the blast. I doubt he died that easily."
Kary's eyes lit up with hope.
"I doubt that," David said, landing near them.
"I've seen what that attack can do. Not even a full tank class, at level seventy, could take this on and live. At best, he survived the initial blast and was flung away, where he bled out."
Kary's hope was replaced with anger, and her hands lit on fire.
"Shut up! Why are you always so negative?! I should burn your face off just for talking about him like this!" she shouted, the flames on her hands becoming brighter.
They flashed blue briefly before she winced in pain, releasing the spell. Her hands were seared.
"You can't even control your power correctly yet. What makes you believe he can? I know he's strong in New Eden. But that's not enough. Those monsters were dangerous.
"I wasn't even sure they could use that attack, given how weakened they were supposed to be. Had I known they could, I would have asked that we gather more people. Villagers be damned if they chose to stay. You don't realize what they are capable of."
"Enough!" Jack scolded.
"If you are right, then there is still a chance that he is alive. Now stop tormenting her and get to searching!"
"Tch!"
David gave up on convincing them and figured showing them a corpse would be better. He hated to think about it, as he had grown to appreciate Alexander, but life was never fair.
Kary spat at David's feet before spinning on her heels and climbing out of the crater.
The others were still taking a breather in the valley, and no one could blame them.
As she reached the valley's top, she noticed the storm had shifted further north, and the lightning was still intense.
'They're still alive… I hope we didn't lose people in vain…'
But the moment she thought this, lightning flashed in the distance, thunder rumbling, followed by an ungodly screech that pulled at their chest, like something was rending their souls from their bodies.
"What in the name of god made that sound?" Jack asked, turning to David.
He was the most knowledgeable about monsters, so he should know.
"I… I have no idea…" David dropped, holding his chest.
He'd never heard such a screech. And he wasn't even sure he wanted to find out what it was.
The trio kept looking for a few minutes, constantly going further from the crater and plateau as they started going uphill a bit.
"Violette!" Kary suddenly screamed.
She ran forward, throwing herself to her knees, and picked up the little girl, whose hair was singed but otherwise unharmed. She looked like she had passed out and was slowly waking up.
"Where's Alex?" Kary asked, hope reigniting in her heart.
The girl's eyelids fluttered for a moment before tears filled them.
"Alex…"
Kary looked at her, her eyes turning back to panic.
"Where is he? Was he with you?"
"He's *Sob* Alex's… he's gone…" Violette said, starting to cry.
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