Title: Rough Start
The massive figure was on the brink of collapse, swaying a few times before crashing to the ground, kicking up countless grains of sand.
Is it over?
This question was quickly answered as the Red Orc, having fallen due to imbalance, stood back up amidst a cloud of wind and sand, his pupil-less eyes brimming with overflowing anger.
“ROARRR!” His rage-filled roar came like a hurricane, the immense wind pressure blowing Dillin away, the deafening sound causing unbearable headaches.
Princess Filisia summoned a crystal wall to block the sound waves, but it was shattered into pieces. In a rush, Aistride once again unleashed three star constellations, the second meteor arrow coalescing on her silver-patterned bow. It shot forth like a falling star, striking the Red Orc directly on the crown.
The Red Orc’s lone tuft of hair was blown into a bird’s nest, leaving him entirely bald.
Infuriated by this, the towering Orc, ignoring the pain, swung his enormous axe and charged towards Aistride.
Seeing this, Dillin started firing continuously at the Red Orc. However, the bullets seemed to have no effect on him. In his crazed state, the Red Orc forgot the pain, even disregarding the effects of the Divine Authority’s assault on his brain, as he continued to charge towards his prey.
“Aistride, run!” Dillin shouted, but Aistride had already moved. With a light tap of her moon-silver heels, her black-silk-covered legs drew a graceful arc in the air, vaulting over the vicious Orc. In the air, she pulled out her short bow from her back and fired several arrows at the Orc.
Unlike Tillysha’s longbow, Aistride was skilled with a short bow. Although less powerful than a longbow, the short bow offered flexibility, which unfortunately was insufficient against the Red Orc’s rough hide.
The Red Orc, brushing aside the arrow shafts on his back, turned around, slamming his axe into the ground, producing a shockwave that struck Aistride, throwing her backwards.
As the Red Orc was about to chase after Aistride, he was attacked again by Princess Filisia, countless crystal shards embedding themselves in his back.
This time, the Orc paid no heed to Filisia’s attacks; even if his brain weren’t sharp, he could tell which targets were easier to take down.
Ignoring Filisia’s interference, he focused on Aistride.
In mid-air, Aistride unleashed two enhanced Silver Flame Slashes, both of which were shattered by the Red Orc’s brute force. Aistride’s lips tightened in response.
She had already used six star constellations; if she couldn’t handle the situation, her only option was to activate the second Divine Authority.
Aistride didn’t retreat but moved toward the towering red Orc. The two figures, vastly different in size, evoked worry that Aistride might simply be crushed under the Orc’s weight.
The Red Orc lifted his axe and struck it downward. Aistride seemed to be waiting for this, sidestepping and dodging the axe with the accompanying wind. She then stepped on the axe, climbing up its arm onto the Orc’s shoulder.
The Orc tried to grab Aistride but was too slow compared to her. Fuming, he turned his head.
Aistride had been waiting for this moment, releasing the final constellation wrapped around her body. She threw a silver starlight that struck the Orc’s eye socket and used the recoil force to break free. However, due to the height, she started to plummet.
Dillin, noticing this, ran toward Aistride who was falling. A quick dash allowed him to catch her in his arms.
The delicate floral fragrance filled his embrace; since Aistride’s transformation into a Divine Maiden, Dillin hadn’t held her this way.
Her divine form was surprisingly light, only slightly heavier than her previous loli form. Even with his weak human body, Dillin could fully support her.
“Are you alright?” Dillin asked.
Aistride shook her head, suddenly realizing she was in Dillin’s arms. Her cheeks, which hadn’t changed during the battle, now flushed an enticing red.
Dillin lifted Aistride, his arms brushing against the silk encircling her knee, producing a soft friction sound. Silken strands of silver hair fell, sticking to his face with a faint cold rose scent. Her body was as light and soft as a doll, irresistible.
Now wasn’t the time to lose focus. Dillin lowered Aistride and looked toward Filisia, who was bombarding the Red Orc with countless crystal crystals.
“Filisia, we need to retreat!”
Their first confrontation hadn’t gone well. The Red Orc showed no signs of fatigue, despite being wounded. Who knows how long this brutish creature could last?
If they wore him down, they would likely be worn out too.
If things didn’t go well, retreating was the best option—better to live and fight another day.
Filisia didn’t look back, completely ignoring Dillin’s command as if determined to settle this with the Red Orc today.
“Trouble,” Dillin muttered.
Leaving Filisia behind was out of the question.
“Aistride, we need to drag Filisia away.”
“Alright,” Aistride agreed.
Even though Filisia’s judgment was impaired, she retained a bit of her rationality, at least enough to not attack her teammates. Dillin and Aistride each grabbed one of Filisia’s arms and began to retreat.
“Venfu! Run, let’s retreat!” Dillin suddenly remembered and shouted, grabbing Filisia and running away, although most of the effort was from Aistride as Dillin couldn’t contribute much.
However, the Orc behind them showed no intention of letting them go. Like a gorilla, he pounded his chest and chased after them.
“Sweetie, here’s a light show for you!” Dillin unhooked a flash potion from his waist and hurled it at the Orc.
“BANG!” The flash potion exploded in front of the Red Orc, blinding him. The Orc ran blindly, gradually veering off his original path and smashing into several rocks along the way.
Tsk, tsk…
Dillin silently acknowledged the destructive force of the Red Orc. Though lacking Divine Authority himself, if hit by such a beast, his bones would likely shatter into several pieces.
Not reassured, Dillin tossed another flash potion behind him before continuing to drag Filisia.
“Dillin…”
“What’s wrong?” Hearing Aistride call him, Dillin turned back to find her breathing uneven, clearly exhausted.
The princess had now fully focused her bl**d-shot and determined eyes on a far distance, revealing a strong will to survive.
“Let go of me. I’m going to take him down!”
“I will defeat him!”
“Princess, can we not?” Dillin sighed.
“I will take him down, crush him…”
“Alright, alright. I believe you’ll achieve that someday,” Dillin said, letting Aistride support Filisia, covering Filisia’s eyes as he reassured, “Everyone’s in bad shape. Continuing to fight will jeopardize everyone’s safety.”
“…” Hearing this, Filisia’s shoulders trembled briefly, then she stopped speaking and struggling.
Eventually, after running for who knows how long, and no longer seeing the Orc chasing them, they stopped to rest next to a rock.
Aistride crouched down, sweat dripping from her forehead. She had been supporting Filisia the entire way, combined with the physical toll of the battle against the Orc.
Filisia, having been carried for some distance, had calmed down a bit but appeared to be in worse condition than Aistride. She couldn’t even hold her giant sword and sat limply on the ground, her amber double buns dangling by her feet.
Among the three, Dillin seemed the best off. Aside from being blown away by the Orc once, he was otherwise unharmed, with little physical exhaustion, aside from running a bit and firing some bullets.
As he reloaded his g*n, observing his weary teammates, Dillin began to feel an uneasy premonition.
Isn’t someone missing?
cr*p!
“Oh no, Venfu has disappeared…” Dillin slapped his forehead, searching around but finding no sign of Venfu. The vast wilderness seemed to have swallowed her.
Maybe she didn’t catch up?
“…Venfu, lost,” Filisia seemed to have recovered somewhat, looking at her surroundings with some confusion. Her hair was drenched with sweat, her pale, voluptuous thighs covered with mud and sand. Though uninjured, she was clearly exhausted.
“Looks that way,” Dillin confirmed grimly after calling out a few times with no response.
Upon entering Ruglien, they were driven away by the Red Orc, losing not only one teammate during the escape but also suffering a significant blow to moral. The Brilliant Sun and Moon seemed to have encountered their first challenge.
“…” Filisia lowered her head, silent. Calm enough to realize everything had happened because of her, without her recklessness, Brilliant Sun and Moon wouldn’t have ventured to Ruglien and Venfu wouldn’t have been lost…
No one knew what could happen to a shamanic goddess without the ability to protect herself when separated from her crew.
Seeing the weary Aistride and anxious Dillin, Filisia supported herself with her sword, struggling to stand on shaky legs.
She must clean up this mess…
“Filisia, what are you going to do?”
“I am going to bring Venfu back.”
“You’ll only get yourself hurt if you do that.” Dillin’s expression hardened.
Filisia clenched her jaw slightly. Dillin was right; in her current state, she couldn’t help but hinder her teammates.
Leaning against her giant sword, she lowered her head again. At this moment, the confident and regal princess was nowhere to be seen, instead looking disheveled and heartbroken, like a lost kitten.
“Pull yourself together princess; this is not the time for self-pity.” Dillin activated the Divine Analysis Technique, stroking his chin as he analyzed the earlier scenario. “This is not like you, Filisia.”
Filisia glanced up, watching Dillin with his gaze turned aside, deep in thought. Dillin’s calm demeanor amidst dire straits impressed her, reminding her of someone.
Tillysha…
Filisia’s eyes lost focus as she stared at Dillin.
… If Tillysha were here, what decisions would she make? Perhaps the previous crisis would have been avoided.
Filisia didn’t know why she thought of the golden-haired girl, not of the kingdom’s elite troops or her own father, as soon as she encountered danger.
“Venfu should be safe for now.”
“Why do you say that?”
Aistride also looked at Dillin questioningly.
“Earlier, I remember calling out to Venfu, telling her to retreat with us. Logically, she had no burden or anyone to carry, so she might have moved faster than us. We haven’t seen her or heard her response since then.”
“I think she was not in the original location by the time we decided to retreat.”
“Venfu left ahead of us?”
“Possible, but I don’t think Venfu is someone who would abandon teammates.”
Dillin furrowed his brow, a possibility crossed his mind but he couldn’t pin it down.
“In any case, let’s head back and see, find her first.”
Concerned about Venfu’s safety, the three helped each other up from the ground to search her.
By now, they had no intention of exploring the map further; Dillin had underestimated the dangers of Ruglien. He hadn’t expected that even with first-year top-tier abilities, they weren’t strong enough to handle the dangers near the border of Ruglien, where even a random Orc could chase them around.
Dillin activated the Divine Analysis Technique and walked ahead; both of his teammates behind were significantly drained. He had to activate his extensive perception ability to detect if any creatures had passed by.
They arrived back at the battlefield where they had fought the Orc. Thankfully, the Orc was gone, but unfortunately, there was no sign of Venfu.
Dillin crouched down using Divine Analysis Technique to analyze the footprints on the rock formation they had been hiding behind. Filisia and Aistride, having somewhat recovered their strength, were on guard around them.
The smallest footprint should be Venfu’s; judging by the depth, indeed she had been standing there at the start of the battle. In her footprints, their footprints as they moved could be seen, and a trail leading away in the opposite direction was also evident.
They were Venfu’s, extending far away in the opposite direction of their own.
“Any news?” Filisia asked when Dillin stared at the ground for a long time without speaking.
“Temporary confirmation: Venfu wasn’t affected by the Orc.” Dillin stood up. “She left around the middle of our fight, heading in the opposite direction.”
Due to their previous struggle, everyone was too focused on the Red Orc to notice the catgirl suddenly leave.
