Chương 79: One Step Away

From a significant distance down below the heavy canopy, a familiar, exceptionally loud shout suddenly echoed through the trees to intercept my train of thought.

"The moment has arrived for us to execute a strategic retreat, my brave friend Aiko!" Dimitri screamed at the absolute top of his lungs, his thick, booming Russian accent vibrating with an incredible amount of pure kindness despite the absolute chaos unfolding around his position. The exact millisecond after his warning left the air, a deafening, ear-splitting roar of combustion violently ripped through the forest as June officially unleashed the cataclysmic payload of her Nova Volley.

Even though Fiona and I were currently perched a safe distance away up in the higher branches, the sheer physical scale of the thermal explosion still managed to reach our elevated coordinates. Fortunately for our remaining layers of skin, we only had to deal with a blinding wave of suffocatingly hot friction wind and the occasional flying piece of burning forest debris that zipped past our ears like flaming shrapnel.

The blistering, apocalyptic calamity rumbled through the wilderness for a few agonizing seconds, painting our wooden hiding spot in a fierce orange glow before the intense pressure finally began to recede into nothing but crackling embers. I let out a long, ragged exhale that sounded less like a battle-hardened warrior and more like a deflating balloon, trying my absolute best to rid my lungs of the lingering charcoal flavor.

Right before my eyes, the massive, muscle-bound structure of the giant crimson predator began to dissolve and twist in midair, shifting fluidly as Fiona returned to her usual human form. I have to admit, even in a chaotic place like this, there was something genuinely enchanting and bordering on a fairy tale about watching a terrifying red bear shrink down to reveal a beautiful girl with long, vibrant, curly red hair bouncing around her shoulders.

Fiona flashed a bright, wholesome smile right through the lingering smog and enthusiastically hoisted her thumb up in my direction to let me know we were officially victorious.

"Our little team is a literal, certified suicide squad," I muttered, shaking my head in total disbelief as I brushed a stray flake of ash off my palm wraps.

"I am honestly profoundly surprised that this entire collective group of absolute idiots, very much including my own magnificent self, has somehow managed to survive this long without getting our internal organs thoroughly roasted by our own friendly fire." With the canopy threat officially deleted, Fiona and I carefully scrambled down the rough bark, dodging the sticky purple sludge on the trunk, and began to make our way toward the newly created clearing on the forest floor.

When we finally stepped into the open space, the entire landscape was a masterpiece of total ecological devastation, completely charred pitch black from root to leaf because June's latest catastrophic fireworks display had finished vaporizing every single piece of nature in our coordinate sector.

June smoothly emerged from behind the protective trunk of a massive, soot-stained tree, executing a dramatic flip of her pristine locks with a thoroughly insufferable expression of pure, unadulterated triumph plastered right across her features. Her posture practically screamed that she had single-handedly delivered us from evil, entirely ignoring the fact that her atomic fireworks show had almost turned her own front line into a collection of well-done barbecue sausages.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A moment later, the heavy foliage rustled on the opposite side of the clearing as Dimitri and Aiko cautiously stepped out from behind their own wooden blast shield.

The two melee fighters were currently sporting a matching fashion statement consisting of thick, chaotic streaks of black ash smeared completely across their faces, making them look like a pair of very confused coal miners who had accidentally wandered into a fantasy world. I immediately let out a loud, thoroughly amused laugh at the ridiculous sight, unable to control my vocal department after surviving such a close call.

Dimitri did not take offense for even a fraction of a second, his massive face stretching into a giant grin as he let out a booming laugh of his own that echoed through the ruined clearing. Aiko blushed a deep crimson beneath her smoky makeup, dropping her gaze down to her boots while her fingers nervously and shyly played with her messy dark bangs to hide her face from the group.

Fiona, having just walked into the center of the blackened dirt beside me, began to rapidly clap her hands together in a celebratory rhythm while offering a wholesome, face-stretching smile that radiated pure, unfiltered kindness right through the hazy atmosphere.

"I honestly cannot believe that unhinged sequence of events actually worked out in our favor," I announced, throwing my hands up in a gesture of pure, comical disbelief as I looked around at our soot-covered caravan.

"That was easily one of the most reckless, incredibly stupid tactical plans we have ever thrown together, but against all mathematical odds, we somehow managed to completely pull it off." Dimitri immediately stepped forward and placed a massive, comforting hand near my shoulder, his thick, booming Russian accent rumbled through the quiet woods with a spectacular tide of real warmth.

"That is simply because you possess an extraordinarily bright, highly luminous mind, my fantastic young companion!" Dimitri declared, his voice vibrating with absolute kindness as if he were currently reading the most inspiring passage from a legendary warrior text.

"A true strategist always finds the light of victory hidden deep within the dark shadow of danger!"

"It just happens that our current roster of enemies is remarkably more stupid than our own dysfunctional caravan," I remarked, flashing a thoroughly amused grin at the group.

"Which, if you really stop to think about it for a second, says an absolute mountain of unflattering things about their collective cognitive functions." June instantly shot a pair of sharply narrowed eyes directly at my face, her pristine features tightening with immediate royal irritation as she adjusted her posture in the soot.

"You should try speaking strictly for your own uncultured self, you absolute simpleton," June snapped back, her thick British accent swelling with an incredible peak of majestic grandeur and narcissistic pride.

"I am a literal paradigm of flawless tactical excellence, and I refuse to be grouped in with your mediocre mental calculations." I simply threw my hands up in a dramatic surrender and gave her a theatrical little bow to match her massive ego.

"Yeah, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, princess," I shot right back at her, keeping my tone perfectly dry. Before she could even launch into a full-scale verbal retaliation, the absolute nothingness remains of our recently deleted enemies decided to pay out our hard-earned dividends.

A sudden, blinding eruption of exactly forty-five glowing orbs burst out from the residual smoke, rocketing into the air before splitting into five perfectly equal clusters of nine spheres that flew toward each member of our party. My personal payload of nine radiant bubbles drifted through the hazy atmosphere and hovered directly in front of my face in a tidy, bobbing formation. [Loot distribution finalized. Individual spoils allocated to party members.] Right on cue, my floating orbs began to rapidly materialize, shedding their radiant digital shells to reveal the tangible spoils of our double ambush. The first four spheres cracked open with a soft, watery pop to manifest four Pulsing Ichor-Blooms, looking just as gross and rhythmic as the ones we harvested earlier.

The remaining five spheres simultaneously fractured to reveal five Fungal Carapace Fragments, which were the exact palm-sized, crescent-shaped pieces of petrified wood covered in charcoal-grey shelf fungi and pulsing neon-green moss. The exact microsecond my fingers made physical contact with the glowing materials, the entire batch of items instantly dissolved into a beautiful shower of bright blue particles, streaming straight into my digital pockets to update my personal inventory storage.