Chương 9: The Duty of the Strong

The strike had occurred beyond the reach of the cave's sparse light. From where Bar and Rali stood, Gloria was little more than a silhouette, and because she neither cried out nor so much as flinched, neither man realized that the sword had actually struck her. Gloria spoke so quietly that only the Archer could hear her, even as the argument continued around them.

"It is the simple duty of those who are strong to protect the ones beneath them. As one who stands among the mighty, it is therefore my obligation to remove the infection that threatens those who cannot defend themselves, and to cut its stem before it spreads any further." She continued tracing the circle, the lines forming in the air while her thoughts tumbled over each other in a messy rush. The Archer's entire body went rigid the moment the pattern began taking shape.

Terror flashed through them so clearly that Gloria could almost feel it radiating off their frame. The hooded figure stared at the forming circle with wide, panicked eyes, their mind racing with the sudden certainty that if Gloria unleashed something even greater than the force she had used on the wolf, there would be no safe place in this tunnel for anyone, including themselves. Worse still were Gloria's eyes.

In that moment they held almost nothing—no anger nor hesitation, only a cold and absolute resolve that looked far too much like the gaze of a monster. Without thinking they lunged forward and seized Gloria's wrist with both hands, trying to force her arm down… But the grip had barely slowed her at all. Gloria's strength made the attempt feel almost weightless, yet the sudden contact was enough to make her pause.

"Why?" Gloria asked, her voice lacking any emotion.

'Why are you stopping me? You're not an idiot! That was no accident and you know it!' The Archer's voice came urgently as they kept their hold on her wrist.

"If those two simply die here, the Guild will investigate. Gold ranks are not treated like Bronze. They are valuable, and the Guild will demand answers. When they examine the scene and find nothing that could have caused such deaths, both of us will be questioned. You are clearly walking under some form of cover with that name and that rank, and I do not believe you would want that kind of attention. Plus, they could not do any damage to you, and I'm more then used to Rali's game."

They were doing everything they could to pull the situation back from the edge, speaking quickly while still gripping Gloria's arm as if letting go might restart the spell. Bar, of course, could not leave it well enough alone. He leaned against his axe, adding fuel to the fire.

"Ooooh, look at that. Is the little mage getting ready to throw a spell at her own comrades after we already introduced ourselves? How cute. Go on then, girlie. But I'll let ya know that I will consider that an invitation for a duel!" Gloria clicked her tongue and wrenched her arm free with a swift pull that sent the Archer stumbling forward a step. Without another word she turned and continued deeper into the tunnel ahead of everyone, taking the lead.

The Archer let out a shaky breath as the immediate threat passed. The circle had looked completely different from the one Gloria had used earlier, its lines glowing a deep, ominous red. They knew enough about magical circles to recognize its rarity, but not nearly enough to understand what the color meant or what kind of power it could unleash. Bar had clearly noticed, and Rali likely had as well that some sort of spell was being cast, but neither appeared to understand anything more than that.

The darkness was so great that it had hidden even the sword's impact from them, leaving them unaware of just how close their actions had brought them to death. Speaking of the two, they had soon closed the distance, Rali slipping ahead while Bar let out a loud cheer the moment he spotted the remains of the wolves.

"Oh sweet! You left some presents for us, I assume! How good of you to respect your seniors!" He jogged forward and began hacking off the ears of the fallen beasts, tossing them into a leather pouch at his hip. Rali himself paused for a moment, glancing back at them.

"Your skills with the bow are quite something, Archer. I would expect nothing less. You are even carrying the newbie along with you—how nice of you." He stopped walking just long enough to add, "We took a different route earlier and ran into a dead end, but I must say we had quite a yield on the way back here." Bar, still crouched over one of the carcasses, opened the pouch wider and dropped another pair of bloody ears inside.

The bag was already bulging, heavy with what must have been nearly twenty trophies by now, and the Archer could not help but acknowledge, however grudgingly, that the two were genuinely strong. Their power was respectable. It was just the way they chose to use it that turned the Archer's stomach. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

The Archer fell into step beside Rali, the surprise clear in the way the other man glanced sideways at them, though the Archer pressed on without waiting for pleasantries.

"Listen, Rali. It is no secret that I despise you, and that the feeling is mutual." Rali tried to brush it off with an easy laugh.

"Oh please don't think that my comrade! I told you, it was a simple accident. I hold you in quite a high regard!" But the Archer cut him short.

"Enough. I wish to speak like adults. You've never been so blatant about trying to kill me out in the open before—not with witnesses standing right there. So don't insult me by pretending it was carelessness. I know you're not a fool, so tell me: what exactly are you planning?" Rali's posture shifted ever so slightly while his face remained perfectly pleasant. He quickened his pace and the Archer followed, refusing to let the distance grow.

"I would be a fool to share my plans with an enemy, would I not?" he replied smoothly.

"For now, consider that I simply wish to slay as many beasts as possible and walk out of this cave alive. I apologize if I seem a little jumpy, so please watch your head." The veiled threat was obvious, and the Archer felt a strong urge to put distance between themselves and the pair, to simply let Gloria handle things her way. Yet they could not. They had their own reasons for needing Gloria free and alive now, and that need kept them trapped in this miserable balancing act.

A short way ahead, Gloria had dropped into a low crouch beside a large, dark puddle spreading across the tunnel floor. Rali's voice drifted forward as he had seen the quick change in pace.

"Hmm? Friend Gloria, what are you doing down there on the ground?" She did not answer right away, her mind still racing.

'Alright, Gloria, breathe. Thank the gods the Archer stopped me earlier. I'm way too emotional for this kind of power. One wrong move and I could have made everything really bad…' Even after everything they had done, taking the lives of actual people… of people who would never respawn was not a decision she could make lightly. She studied the puddle more closely, sensing the thin layer of illusion magic stretched over what she knew was a hidden passage leading toward Echidna's true domain.

The illusion was clever, but it had to go. Bar's booming voice shattered the quiet.

"What is happening? Why is the little lizard squatting? Are we stopping for a piss break or something?" Gloria felt a flicker of irritation at the crude insult, and her tail gave a single lash before she caught herself. She rose smoothly from her crouch and turned toward the group, keeping her voice calm and regal despite the annoyance simmering beneath the surface.

"There is a hidden passageway here. Does anyone among you know a spell for releasing illusions?" Rali tilted his head slightly.

"You are looking at two warriors and an archer, my dear. Besides the most basic utility spells, we know almost nothing of such matters, so that should be your specialty, my friend mag—" He stopped mid-word, his mouth falling slightly agape as his eyes widened. Neither he nor Bar were looking at her anymore. Their gazes were fixed on something just behind her, their expressions shifting rapidly into open horror as the dark puddle at her feet suddenly rippled with violent force.

A cold splash of water struck her shoulder in the same instant that a massive worm-like creature erupted from the liquid, its long segmented body glistening while its circular maw stretched wide, lined with rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. Bar stumbled back a step, eyes wide.

"Gods-damned son of a— That's a Red Willow! What in the blasted depths is that thing doing crawling around up here?!" Rali's usual calm finally cracked, his thin smile disappearing completely as he stared at the monster.

"What is a Gold-ranked beast doing this far from the deeper layers?" The creature lunged straight at the closest target, which just so happened to be Gloria, its enormous circular mouth opening impossibly wide as it tried to engulf her upper body. Instead of flesh giving way, every tooth shattered against her scales with a sickening crunch.

Seizing the brief opening, Gloria forced herself to focus on her speed, while her hand moved to draw the fastest circle she could manage, keeping the glowing lines partially shielded from the others' view. [Flama] The completed pattern flared to life and the air itself began to sing, the sound rising from a low whistle into a piercing, high-pitched keen.

A blinding beam of white-hot plasma tore forward from her hand, striking the massive worm dead center and erasing the front half of its body in a single devastating instant. The beam continued onward without slowing, reducing the rest of the creature to drifting ash before slamming into the far wall and melting straight through solid stone as if it were nothing more than wax.

Superheated steam exploded violently outward from the spot where the illusionary puddle had been, mixing with the deafening roar and searing light until the whole group was forced to shield their eyes, grunting in pain as the tunnel trembled from the sheer backlash of the spell. Gloria let the circle fade away and rose smoothly to her feet, a satisfied smile touching her lips while her thoughts bubbled with delight.

'Sooo cool! The last spell I used was one of the weakest ones I could think of, so I'm really glad to see the others hit this hard.' It had still been just an elementary spell, the same kind the Archer had cast earlier, but the difference in casting speed, control, and raw mana behind it had turned the result into something night and day apart. Even though part of her worried it might have been too much, she knew she could not have held back any further at that speed.

The illusion covering the hidden passage had been completely shattered by raw force as well, leaving a newly opened path framed by glowing, molten rock that led deeper. Wanting to do things properly, the way real adventurers were supposed to, she crouched down once more and gathered the only parts of the worm that had survived intact — four large, razor-sharp teeth that had broken off during its failed bite. She slipped them into one of the inner pockets of her robes.