Chapter 148: Hunting Summoners (1)
"You... no, we have to kill a summoner," Raina said with a serious look on her face.
— Kill a summoner?
— Is that even possible?
— This is worse than Emilia, LOL
— LOL, how are you supposed to kill them?
— Damn... is he going to be able to clear the mission?
The viewers were upset at the difficulty of the story mode. She said we, but it was likely up to Almond to complete the task judging by how the story was progressing. Almond couldn't deny it and became speechless for a moment.
'A summoner...?'
From the perspective of a minion, they were god-like beings. Minions had very limited physical capabilities while the summoners could use abilities and skills beyond their power. Since they had a champion's blessing, it was hard to kill them even if they were repeatedly hit in the vitals. Minions, on the other hand, were lucky to survive if attacks slightly hit them. The difference in strength was like a human and an ant. Raina was suggesting that a fellow ant kill a human.
"Sure."
The allied ant, Almond, nodded and agreed to kill the human. Raina's eyes widened and she smiled.
"Alright, let's do it."
She put her hand out, offering to shake his hand.
— You were holding hands just a second ago...
— Please stop this romance...
— Stop it!
— She just can't keep her hands off of you.
Almond grabbed her hand.
Then Raina said, "I'm Raina Lusen."
Lusen was her last name. Almond also needed to tell her his last name, but he obviously didn't have one.
"I... can't remember mine."
"I see."
Raina didn't care because, in this world, forgetting was common.
"I'll try to make another map by tomorrow to give to you. Let's meet here again."
"But—"
"?"
"How did you draw this map? Because..."
'Because your memory doesn't go that far back.' He couldn't bear to finish his sentence.
"Ah, I didn't draw all of this."
"What?"
"When I picked it up, it was almost complete and I just finished it."
She picked that up?
Almond turned the map upside down, thinking it was odd. There was a tiny word written on the back in strange writing.
'De, no, is it du...? Hmm...'
It looked like an alphabet, but he couldn't make out the word because it was so messy. He just decided to go with the game's flow.
The two came out from the bushes and continued to clean the battlefield.
[Some time has passed.]
The scene cut to the next day.
Bling.
[Raina's Map]
After he acquired Raina's map, a minimap appeared on the bottom right of his screen just like in the game during an LIL match. Raina was in front of him.
"Alright, listen to me carefully. If we screw up even once, we're done for."
Raina pointed at a place on the map and started explaining.
"This is where we're at right now."
She continued to passionately explain how they were going to escape undetected and how they'd acquire weapons and…
"The summoner..."
How they were going to kill the summoner.
"Is here."
Her thumb trembled as she pointed at the map. Even the thought made her nervous.
"You really have to listen carefully for this part."
***
After the explanation was over, the plan was executed. Almond, Raina, and some minions she managed to convince gathered in the middle of the night.
Mott, Holy, Jay, etc…
It was the children who were often in Raina's squad. And Tom, Teo, Julia... they were here as well after resurrecting as the blue team. They couldn't remember, but it was easy to convince them to escape since they had no prior knowledge about the summoners. Everyone was eager to escape.
"Just follow me and don't forget to be quiet."
"Alright."
"Everyone remembers the plan, right?"
"Yes, you went over it a lot."
She went through it with Almond twice, but went through it multiple times for the other minions.
"Alright. There's going to be a way better world outside."
A better world...
It wasn't a guarantee, but Almond didn't speak up. No, he couldn't. He couldn't speak up even if what lay beyond the map was hell.
"Really, Almond?"
One of the minions grabbed Almond by his shirt and asked him. It was Mott, who followed Almond around more than anyone else. Mott also insisted on only using the bow.
"Yeah, of course."
As he replied with a smile, Mott copied him and smiled as well.
"Then, let's go."
***
It was a dark night. They couldn't see anything ahead of them. The moon was crescent as well. Even though this place had three moons, they were useless.
"There's nothing to see," one of the watch guards muttered.
He was sleepy. The warm torch and crackling flames tickling his ear didn't help either.
"You should take a nap."
"Hmm..."
A junior soldier told him to nap, so he leaned against the wall and couldn’t resist the urge.
"Should I?"
Since his bow was in the way, he removed it and closed his eyes. That was a mistake because he dropped his bow and became Almond's first target.
Swoosh.
The grass near them shook, but the other watch guard was counting the stars and didn't notice. It was thanks to the minions being so short as well.
Shiing.
Almond took the dagger from the watch guard lying down asleep.
"Huh...?"
The guard woke up to the moonlight, but his vision instantly turned upside down.
Splatter!
In this upside-down world, red blood flowed and he saw the crotch of a boy looking down at him.
Splatter...?
He shouted when he found out that the red blood gushing out was from his neck.
"...! ...!"
Only the wind filled his vocal cords. He tried to scream, but nothing could be heard. Instead, the guard beside him screamed.
"What... Urk!"
Thwack!
Almond's dagger struck his jaw-dropped chin. The dagger shattered his chin, piercing through his tongue and the top of his mouth.
"Kugh...! Urghh...!"
The guard backed off. He glared at Almond with rage and pain as he swung his sword at him. Almond raised his dagger and softly brushed the blade away.
Kagagang...!
Almond managed to brush it off, but his dagger shook because of the difference in strength. The guard, sure of his victory, lifted his blade again.
"Die...!"
Kang! Kang!
As the clash of blades continued, Almond's disadvantage grew. Then, Almond threw the other guard's long sword between his thighs.
Swoosh.
Raina emerged from the bush behind them and grabbed the long sword.
"Huh...?!"
When the guard turned around and discovered her, Raina's blue eyes glimmered to the left. The reflection of the moonlight against her blonde hair and the blade could be seen as she spun and cut the guard's body in half.
Slice!
Despite being minions, the guard's body was cut in half thanks to the momentum of the spin. The torso slowly slipped off and fell to the ground, making a pool of blood in the grass.
— Damn, look at their teamwork.
— Now she can say 'we.'
— These are the teammates we want!
— So cool...
— Almond's good with a sword too!
— Raina is so cool holy!
— I just want to watch Raina on repeat.
The viewers and the minions were surprised to see Raina and Almond's teamwork.
"Wow."
"D-Damn."
"Urgh... huh?"
The minions covered each other's mouths and stared at the corpses of the guards.
“Phew…”
Almond and Raina took a light breath, but nothing more. Raina raised her long sword and struck down on the lock.
Slam!!
The lock shattered as the mana-filled sword struck it.
"Here, everyone grab a weapon."
***
Raina and Almond filled their quivers with arrows. They also carried an extra dagger and long sword because arrows were limited.
'I hope that situation doesn't come...'
Raina and Almond didn't want to imagine such a situation, but they had no choice. Almond even tried to pack small shurikens as well. Raina checked everything, starting from the most important items.
"The crossbow for capture?"
"Got it."
The minions replied in unison.
"Good. What about shurikens?"
"Got it."
After confirming they had the necessary items for the plan, Raina left the storage.
"We can't drag this on for too long. Despite how useless these guards are, they keep a strict schedule."
Raina even knew the watch guard's schedules. She had been planning this for a long time. Raina opened the map, pointed somewhere, and then looked up at the stars and moon to figure out the time.
"Right now, they're patrolling here and the least amount of people are here."
Her fingers scattered all over the map as she spoke. Almond didn't understand immediately, but her routes appeared on the minimap.
"Let's go."
Raina, Almond, and the minions closed the arsenal and took off.
***
How much time had passed?
Almond felt like he was walking for thirty minutes. Walking for thirty minutes wasn't tiring, but the added element of staying undetected and hiding as they went consumed more stamina than usual.
'I'm starting to get tired.'
They arrived at their destination after evading all the patrol routes, crawling, running, and climbing through trees.
'Is it there?'
He could barely see because it was so far, but two torches were beside what looked like a door...
— Is it that?
— Oh! It's a door!
— Minions, a little more…
Gulp.
Almond waited for Raina's next orders.
"Outside the door is a summoner. There's always one guarding the door to the battlefield."
The one guarding the most important place was not soldiers, but a summoner.
"R-Raina... will we really be able to do it?"
"I-If we go back now..."
"Huff... puff... I-I'm tired."
The smaller minions were exhausted.
"Be quiet, you guys. Raina did everything up until now," Mott scolded them.
"Let's push a little more." Holly, the minion slightly more mature than the others, massaged their shoulders and reassured them.
Raina stared at them for a moment and turned towards Almond.
"Almond."
"?"
"... I've never gone past this."
Raina firmly held Almond's hand.
"This could be the last time."
Her blue eyes shined more than usual like an ocean at a resort.
"So I want to tell you now."
The ocean approached him closer. The ocean was deep enough to drown anyone who fell into it, but no one could resist it. Anyone would be curious to see what was below those deep, sparkling eyes.
"I won't forget."
Raina's lips covered Almond's lips.
In his head, he could hear something. Almond didn't know what it was because the intense, wet, and warm sensation clouded his thoughts. If her eyes were like the blue ocean, her lips were like the warm sun.
But the promise she said was...
"Even if I lose my memory, I won't forget."
It was a promise she couldn't keep. Almond wanted to say something in reply.
"Oh my, so scandalous. Why don't you guys just do it?"
White light shined and passed them.
Kwaaang!
Suddenly, everything in his sight disintegrated into white. Screams could be heard.
BEEP—?
The deafening sound in his head covered the screams. His body burned as if his whole body was on fire. Almond threw himself on the ground and started rolling.
Beep...
As the sound in his head died down, he started to see again.
"A-Almond..."
He first saw a large arrow pierced through Mott's head.
"It's Yu… ria... run..."
***
[Beginner's Tip: A minion will not attack a summoner first. They will prioritize the enemy minions and the turret next. Minions will only start attacking if there is nothing else to attack or the enemy summoner is attacking an ally summoner.]