Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 78 - Susie

Jin took a step forward. Visually, he was walking in slow motion. Yet in effect, he had traversed several meters with a single step, lightning trailing behind him.

"Hah!" He exhaled as he punched, a wave of electrified water flowing with the hit.

Boom!

The hit had shattered a hole in the middle of the monster, and the wave carried it off, leaving it limp on the ground.

"These things are tough!" Jin commented, noting that he hadn’t achieved an instant kill. He stepped forward and finished it off with a second hit. "It’s like punching a rock!"

"You ARE punching a rock, idiot!." Elara scolded, while her arrows found gaps where ice met bone. Each arrow would fling limbs of several monsters at once. She then added playfully, "The binding points are weakest, if any of you care~"

[EXP +44]

[EXP +41]

[EXP +48]

The messages flowed steadily as the Knights maintained their pattern. The monsters kept flowing in, but fifty enemies against five elite Knights and a capable mage wasn’t truly a challenge.

It was a systematic elimination. Within a mere few minutes, the ground was littered with the remains of the monsters.

[EXP +51]

"Ah, there were fifty three." Jin spoke, kicking at a skull. "I was counting. Good workout, even if it was quick!"

"Incredible," Mickey breathed, peering out from where he’d taken shelter. "I’ve never seen such martial prowess! You destroyed dozens of them!"

"The question is why they attacked now." Lumi noted, while his eyes flashed. "Your presence here, Mickey, does it threaten someone?"

"My research!" Mickey exclaimed. "I’ve been getting close to proving the witch’s involvement! She must have sensed it and sent these creatures to silence me!"

Lumi had to admire the situation. While it was not at all what was happening, Mickey’s theory was the obvious assumption. There was no reason to not suspect the witch. Further revelations would come later.

"We should investigate these other sites." he suggested, egging on a request that may be recognized as a ’quest’. "Let’s see if there’s a pattern to the attacks."

Mickey eagerly provided a list of locations where similar creatures had been spotted. As they prepared to leave, a scream echoed from the island’s eastern shore, distinctly human and definitely distressed.

"What?" Lumi spoke out in surprise. It was the first unexpected event, but he quickly calmed himself. Someone was in danger. That happened frequently, it wasn’t truly a deviation. Not to mention, he never got to know the exact details of everything going on. By involving himself, everything was already different, regardless.

They rushed toward the sound, finding a young woman surrounded by monsters.

[Corrupted Fossil II - Level 37]

She fought desperately with a staff, launching magic, but she was clearly overwhelmed. Her movements were sluggish, and one could see an unnatural pallor to her skin.

"Help her!" Lumi ordered, and the Knights moved forward.

Valeria ran through all the monsters, ignoring their attacks and arriving at the woman directly, taking a defensive position around her. They carved through the enemies quickly, going all out, annihilating the monsters in just a minute or two.

As the last one fell, the woman collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily. Visually, she was in her mid-twenties, with white-blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her robes were torn and stained, and a nasty wound on her arm wept black fluid.

"Thank you," she gasped. "I thought... I was certain I would die here."

"You’re safe now," Lumi assured her, already pulling out healing potions. "What happened? Why were you fighting alone?"

The woman accepted the potion gratefully, color slowly returning to her face as it took effect. "My name is Susie. I’m a researcher. I was studying the glacier formations when a robed man approached. I thought he was another researcher, but he... he attacked me. It was swift, he poisoned me with something that sapped my strength."

She showed them the wound. It was a deep piercing injury, the flesh around necrotic. "I managed to injure him badly enough that he fled, but the poison did this to me. Normally I could handle creatures like these easily, but weakened as I am, I can’t do much."

Lumi discretely used his system scan.

[Susie - Level 55]

Lumi raised an eyebrow.

Level 55 is impressive for this area.

This is no ordinary researcher. In addition, her young age indicates talent.

"Did you see the attacker’s face?" Elara asked, examining the wound and checking her bags.

"No, he kept his hood up. But he moved strangely, like his body wasn’t quite right. And the poison," Susie shuddered. "It’s not magical, I already checked. It must be some sort of chemical."

"Interesting." Marcus mused. "This matches up with the modus operandi of the Wings of Darkness."

"Wings of... Darkness?" Susie shifted her gaze to Marcus. "Do you know who is behind my attack?!"

Lumi stepped forward and interjected. "Yes, the Wings of Darkness. They are a global organization primarily based in Entei. They have been behind the recent corruption here on Mora."

Susie stood up straighter, despite her injuries. Her gaze was intense. "Please tell me more about them! There’s no way I can let them continue what they’ve been doing! And my attacker..." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I’m going to kill him."

Lumi stepped to the side, and gestured to the others. "They are the Aria Knights. For classified reasons, I temporarily serve as the leader of this squad. We’re here to save Mora."

Her gaze shifted to the Aria Knights, now analyzing them closer. She had a moment of surprise, but she controlled her expression. I see..." She gave a 90-degree bow suddenly. "Thank you! Thank you, Aria Knights, for saving my life, and for providing salvation to Mora!"

Lumi gave her a nod. "Rise." He spoke from a position of authority despite being massively lower level than Susie.

Susie rose, looking to him for direction.

He gave her a gentle smile. "We do not need your submission. We only wish to help. Tell me, what have you been doing here?"