Chapter 146: Rainas Reason (3)
"Huff... Puff..."
After witnessing the scene unfold, Almond ran for his life. He didn't even know where the base camp was, but he continued to run. He could instinctively feel that he saw something he wasn't supposed to.
"Huff... Puff..."
After he ran for a while, he could see the fire and quietly sat with the rest. It seemed like the other minions and soldiers didn't notice. Almond finally calmed himself and read the chat.
— That's so creepy.?
— What's going on?!
— This is LIL's story mode?!
— Damn, you must be on the path to three stars.
He privately talked to his viewers.
"No wonder the minion count didn't go down. I was curious where they were getting them."
— For real.
— I didn't think about it since it was a game, LOL
— I guess this is the real reason.
— So if you die in the red team, do you turn into the blue team?
From what he witnessed, minions resurrected in the other team every time they died. It wasn't like the team always respawned just because they changed sides. If the number of deaths didn't match up, they would likely have forced them into one team.
However, the number of minions dying in LIL was always similar because minions were always sacrificed whether a team won or lost.
"I don't think they're aware that they respawn back and forth. One thing is for sure. The corpses come back to life... And the summoners don't really care about the battles."
— Yeah, I think so too.
— These guys are just game addicts playing for fun.
— They didn't seem desperate and scolded Almond for doing well!?
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[Wow! This is so exciting! Raina's storyline was always boring, but seeing it like this is different!]
[RainbowBlunt has donated 10,000 won!]
[Since we have your attention, I'm slipping in a donation. Just wanted to tell you I'm having fun watching!]
[HwangGunDang has donated 5000 won.]
[Hey, minions! Let's just overthrow them!]
[ScrewKingdomFans has donated 1000 won.]
[Wow! It's better than Kingdom Age, right?]
As soon as he talked to his viewers, the donations swarmed in.
“Ah, thank you RubySword, RainbowBlunt, HwangGunDang, and ScrewKingdomFans. I'll focus on the game again.”
Right after Almond finished talking, the next scene appeared.
[Some time has passed.]
***
He was back on the battlefield. This time, instead of the soldiers, a summoner stood before them. It was Bart The Iron Monster who rescued Almond yesterday.
"Alright! We're about to beat the filthy enemy, Taran, thanks to you guys! Their nexus is in front of us!!"
As Bart said, Almond's team had already destroyed the enemy's top, mid, and bottom turrets. The nexus was the only thing remaining.
"If we destroy their nexus, the enemy summoners can't be resurrected anymore! Victory will be ours!" Bart shouted as he pounded on his chest.
"Today! We're going to share that victory!"
The minions raised their hands and cheered, "Yeaaaaaaaah!"
Almond played along, but studied the minions. He tried to find who was resurrected yesterday, but couldn't tell.
'I can't tell.'
The battle continued restlessly. He didn't have time to individually check the minion's faces.
'Wait, what about Raina?'
Maybe Raina could tell. Coincidentally, she was right beside him.
"Hey, Raina."
"... What?"
"Did you know that we got a lot of new minions on our team?"
.
"I'm not sure. I only know my squad well."
That was right. There were countless minions, so there was no way she would know them all. What happened to the minions who were close to Raina? All of Raina's squad members usually survived, but yesterday was a fierce battle resulting in the deaths of countless minions.
"Did your teammates from your squad yesterday get back safely?"
Raina paused for a second.
"... I don't know. Who cares."
Raina cut him off with the wave of a hand and resumed listening to Bart.
'What?'
Raina cared for the minions, but she was watching her words.
Just then, Raina grabbed Almond's hand. Almond looked up at her, but Raina was still cheering at Bart to the point where tears rolled down her eyes. She held his hand firmly as if to give him something. Raina's lips were saying something, but Almond couldn't decipher it.
'So there is something.'
He couldn't understand what she was saying, but understood her feelings.
'Raina knows.'
It seemed like Raina knew the gist of what was happening. Almond was starting to put the pieces together.
***
Two turrets guarded the nexus. Getting to this point took immense effort because the minions guarding the three lanes were all gathered here to defend it. It was triple the usual cavalry.
"Noooo!"
"Stop them!"
The enemy fought harder because they were backed into a corner. No matter how hard they fought, they couldn't stop the arrows landing on their foreheads.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Every time Almond flicked his bow, the minions fell.
"Kugh!"
"Urk...!"
Pung! Pung!
Raina continued to shoot beside him as well. Their allies were pushing back the enemy line little by little.
"The turret! We can see the turret!"
"The nexus is close!"
The two turrets guarding the nexus were now prone to attacks. The enemy line was quickly pushed back. However, that meant the two turrets could also attack them.
Crackle!!!
Unlike the other turrets, which were fired using a straight shot, these two turrets attacked all over the field like a thunderstorm. The attacks were fired like a messy drawing.
"Aaaargh!"
"Kuugh!"
The allied minions disintegrated, but that didn't stop the others because backing off wasn't an option. If they turned back now, they'd be killed by the allied summoners.
"Shoot them!"
"The end is near!"
"Victory will be ours!"
The minions threw their bodies at the turrets and attacked with all their might. The summoners didn't hold back either.
"Fight to the end!" a summoner said as they blew up.
Almond didn't feel a hint of desperation or soul in the line because they would resurrect in the nexus again anyways, but that was just Almond's thinking. The minions, touched by the summoner's words, charged in even quicker.
"The summoner gave us a path!"
"Make a path using his sacrifice!"
"Graaaaawr!"
"Aaaaaargh!"
Countless minions died just because the summoner died, but nobody had the leisure to mourn because victory was before them and defeat was imminent for the enemy. The two sides glared at each other as they charged.
"Stop them!"
"If we stop them once, we have a chance!"
A couple of brave minions from the enemy's first row ran out.
"Die, you bastards!"
"Get out of Taran's territory!"
Standing on the first row, Raina pulled her bowstring at the minions holding sharp axes and spears running toward them. Archers were normally in danger in close combat, but the enemy's charge was simple. For Raina, it'd be no problem taking them down.
But then...
"...!"
Raina's arm started trembling. The enemy was getting near, but she couldn't shoot at them. One of the minions was three steps away and raised their axe—
Swoosh!
The axe aimed for Raina's neck. Even then, Raina couldn't react. She was just staring at the minion's face.
"Raina!"
Pung!!
A blue arrow flew from the left and killed the minion swinging the axe.
"Raina, pay attention!" Almond shouted and ran towards her.
Another minion was swinging a flail toward Raina.
“Charrrge!”
Almond ran in between them, grabbed Raina, and fell back.
Slam!
The murderous flail struck where she once stood. The rocky ground was splattered with dirt everywhere. The swing was so strong that anyone hit would turn to dust.
"Ah, ah..."
Despite almost dying twice, Raina was lying down speechless and unable to do anything. She had her mouth open, trying to say something.
“Charrrrge!”
The enemy minion readied their flail again, ready to strike. The enemy was smaller than the other minions. Almond could tell who it was.
'I knew it.'
It was the minion Raina always gave her blanket to. The minion Raina always advised to fight in the back was now in the red team in the first row. The minion didn't have any memory of Raina.
Swoosh!
"Die, bitch!"
"Tom! Sniffle...!"
His name was Tom. Almond muttered the name while pulling on his bow. Even though he fired quickly while lying down, the arrow hit Tom's right hand.
Thud!
The flail fell and another arrow struck Tom's forehead.
"Kugh...!"
Blood bled out from Tom's eyes.
"Tom! Tom! Tooom!"
Raina, whether it was because she didn't care or was unable to, couldn't hide her tears anymore and started bawling.
"Julia...! Tom!"
The minion with the axe from earlier was named Julia. With that thought, Almond covered Raina's mouth. Raina's shocked, confused, and sad eyes looked up at Almond. It was more like a glare.
"We can't get caught."
"Sniffle... Sniffle...!"
Raina nodded. She clenched her teeth to try and stop her tears. Her teeth dug into his hands, but it didn't hurt because this was a video game.
Her tears and saliva rolled down his left hand. The sight was more painful, but there was no time to console her.
"You motherfuckers! Dieeee!"
Because the next minion running at them was also another familiar face.
'Teo...'
This time, Almond recognized the minion's face. It was the minion who chanted Almond's name.
Teo pointed his knife at where Almond and Raina were lying. Almond couldn't shoot because he covered Raina's mouth with his hands. Almond rolled to the side, holding Raina, and grabbed Tom's flail.
Swoosh!
He spun around, swinging the flail. Teo was a terrible fighter. His sword swing left too many openings. The flail made a fearsome noise as it landed perfectly on Teo.
Slam!
"Kugh!"
Teo was squashed and Almond used this opportunity to get up.
He muttered as he looked down at Teo,?'You should've just stuck with a bow... Why did you pick the sword, Teo?'
He thought for a moment that he could hear Teo's voice.
‘Wow! Almond. Do you think I can ever shoot like you?’
Almond's gaze turned to the ground. His quiver was scattered all over.
"Dieeee!"
An enemy minion used this opportunity and ran toward him. Even though Almond couldn't use his bow, the minion was no match for him.
Swoosh.
Almond slightly bent his body and dodged the blade ever so slightly. It missed by just a hair. After he dodged it, he used the opening to grab the minion by the neck and pulled him in.
"Urgh!?"
The enemy lost their balance and was dangling in Almond's grip. Almond pointed at the minion with the one arrow he managed to pick up.
"You're a face I don't recognize."
Relieved, he punched the minion's neck three times.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The enemy minion collapsed like a puppet without strings. Almond looked back at Raina. She was trembling on the ground, trying her best to stop crying and not get caught.
'If I get caught, I’ll get erased.'
A minion who knew the secrets couldn't fight and had their memory erased. Raina knew she didn't want her memory erased. Therefore, she always stayed low and pretended not to care for other minions. However, she couldn't bring herself to attack the reincarnated children on the other team. Raina probably had her memory erased every time this happened because killing her teammates was where she drew the line.
'As expected, Raina did care for her teammates.'
Now he understood everything. All of Raina's actions and her reasons. Why Raina fought in the first row, used up her mana, and gave it her all. And why... she had to call the children she loved pathetic.
He finally figured out Raina's reason.
"The reason is... comradery."
The love and friendship she felt toward her comrades. This was the reason for all of her actions.
Bling.
[Raina's Reason (★★★) clear route has been discovered.]
[Help Raina escape this battle!]