Extra's Descent-Chapter 202: His Fate [3]

The moon was high up in the sky.

They had cleared the entire forest mostly but there was no sign of the man.

Then was the route they had followed wrong?

It seemed most likely.

When they took the cleared pathway, they stumbled upon the forest. It took at least six hours for the entire journey.

By now, the sun was about to rise.

With such thoughts, they decided to set up camp.

They sat around by a campfire. Its flames crackled, casting a warm glow on their features.

"You've been looking uneasy this whole time, General. What's on your mind?"

The one who posed the question was Belle's assistant, Ray.

Belle stared at the campfire and hugged her legs.

"I just can't shake off this bad feeling."

"Don't worry, General."

Ray consoled her.

"Everyone here is strong. We even have Sir Ivan with us. Just focus on protecting yourself."

"....You're right."

But that wasn't what Belle was actually worried about. She knew everyone in the task force was strong.

What she was worried about was the premonition she had about Brandon.

As if something bad was about to happen.

With such thoughts, she pulled out her phone once again.

"...."

There was no reply, and the message wasn't read.

***

"What's taking them so long?"

"I don't know."

Carl asked as Aurelia poked the campfire with a stick.

On his hand was a phone.

It was Brandon's phone.

Being inexperienced with technology, Carl didn't know what to do.

Just that, there was a message.

[Belle Locke: Take care always, Brandon]

It must've been his sister.

Carl was worried.

It has been thirty minutes now, and no sign of Brandon or Amelia.

But it was then.

Whiii—

A strange sound echoed through the forest, reaching Carl and Aurelia's ears.

"....!"

"....!"

They had to check it out.

"Aurelia, wear your hood."

"Un."

That reply from Aurelia.

It somehow resonated with Carl.

***

Inside the zone.

Clang—! Clang—!

Time and time again, Lumian was able to repel most of their attacks.

But he knew he couldn't keep this up for long.

His soulflame was starting to get to him.

His body started heating up.

But regardless, throughout the entire fight, he had barely suffered any damage.

The same couldn't be said for his two opponents.

They were severely wounded, especially Cid.

Cid.

He was quite surprised by the new appearance that Cid took.

Ink–black hair and ink–black eyes.

But as he recalled Cid's previous appearance, there was a sense of familiarity that washed over Lumian.

His looks, especially his face.

It was familiar.

As if he had seen it before.

Which is why he was so adamant to talk to Cid.

But seeing Amelia Constantine, one of his targets, Lumian immediately knew.

Cid was working for the government.

Unfortunately he had to kill him.

He was instructed to stir up trouble within the Holy Britannian continent.

But now, they call themselves the human domain.

Clang—!

Lumian parried each attack from Amelia and would immediately switch his focus towards Cid.

The two were absurdly coordinated.

As if they had been fighting together for a long time.

Lumian could tell they were way weaker than him.

In fact, if it was a one–on–one, he could easily wipe the floor with them.

But this duo in front of him…

Clang—! Clang—!

They made things quite difficult.

Not just difficult, but insanely difficult.

By the Holy Britannian standards, he would be on the S rank.

But the two's coordinations had bridged the gap between the ranks.

Especially Cid.

He was a lunatic

"A fucking lunatic."

The entire time, Cid would attack him with his bare knuckles, wrapped around what seemed to be dark flames.

Whenever the flames struck him, Lumian could feel a bit of his strength sapping away.

But it still wasn't enough for him to slow down.

Next were the chains.

Claka! Claka!

Chains sprouted from the ground and would wrap themselves around Lumian's legs.

At that, he felt his strength sapping away even more.

Crazy.

This was the [Curse] affinity Lumian had heard about.

There was no doubt.

But…

'How is he doing all this?'

From what he knew, [Curse] affinity users attacks varied.

They could mostly only do one.

Either flames, chains, or threads.

But Cid could do them all.

Not only that, but he had way too many affinities in his arsenal.

But regardless of that thought, he was weak.

His combat style was way too convoluted, as if he hadn't learned how to fight at all.

The real threat was Amelia Constantine.

She couldn't keep up with his swordsmanship. But with the swords floating around her, it made up for her lack of expertise.

Lumian knew he couldn't keep this up for long.

The longer usage of his soulflame would burn his inside sooner or later.

It was the drawback that came from the power bestowed upon him by Lord Ezekiel.

Clang—! Clang—!

Lumian leapt back and distanced himself from the two. Extending his hand forward, his odachi was wrapped around the crackling soulflames.

But it was then.

Tzz—

A fist suddenly flashed in front of him. But reacting at the exact same second, Lumian twisted his body sideways and dodged Cid's fist.

Swoosh—!

An opportunity presented itself before Lumian.

He swung his blade horizontally, aiming at Cid's exposed torso.

Bang! Bang!

"Tsk."

A banging sound echoed and Lumian was suddenly pushed backwards.

It was annoying.

Whenever he got close to Cid, Amelia would shoot her gun. Since she seemed to be aiming for the ground, Lumian couldn't deflect the bullet in time and was pushed back by an unseemingly invisible force.

The same went for Cid was pushed sideways, giving himself distance away from Lumian.

Annoying.

This duo was annoying.

He had to end this fight.

One decisive move.

One that would catch them off guard.

With such thoughts, Lumian closed his eyes, feeling the mana around him.

Soulflames suddenly materialized in the air.

Inside the zone, soulflames served to boost Lumian's strength and speed.

But due to the nature of soulflames, excess use of the ability burnt his core.

After all, he was still human.

Feeling the mana in the atmosphere, there, Lumian could feel Cid heading close to him.

It was that moment.

He opened his eyes.

Swoosh—!

He quickly disappeared, leaving trails of soulflames in his wake. Cid brushed past where he once was.

His target?

Amelia Constantine.

His blade swung forward, and Amelia reacted in time to repel his attack with her own blade.

There.

It was the same pattern.

Cid was close.

Lumian didn't exert enough force in his swing so he could quickly swing the blade in a different direction.

The real target.

It was Cid.

Tzz—

At the right time, Cid appeared before him, black flames crackled in the air.

Swoosh—!

Lumian smirked, twisted his body, and swung his blade diagonally.

Cid's eyes widened and blood splattered in the air.

Thud!

"Aghkkk…!"

Cid screamed and Lumian thrusted his blade forward.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh–!

But before his blade impaled Cid's chest, magic swords rained down where Lumian stood. With bated breaths, Lumian narrowly dodged the blade.

But it wasn't enough as a blade pierced right through his thigh.

"Kh…!"

Distancing himself, Lumian took in the sight before him as he clenched his wounded thigh.

An arm was down on the ground, and Cid was clutching his shoulder tightly. Blood profusely splattered from where his arm once was.

Cid's arm.

He had managed to cleanly sever it.