The Author's Playground-Chapter 25: Bucking Bronco Mate (1)

Chapter 25: Bucking Bronco Mate (1)

"Are you okay?"

Victoria's head turned around worriedly to Lucian, who seems badly hurt.

But instead of gratitude or even a nod of acknowledgment, Lucian's glare cut through her like a dagger.

"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped.

"Huh?" Victoria blinked, confused.

"I said, what are you doing?! I don't need help!"

For a moment, silence lingered between them. Then, a vein popped visibly on Victoria's forehead. Her grip on her weapon tightened, feeling suddenly pissed.

"What did you say?"

Before Lucian could bark back, the nightmare, indifferent to their squabble, took the opportunity to strike. Its clawed hand swiped through the air with a deafening roar, aimed at both of them.

'Clang!'

The attack was stopped mid-swing, parried with ease by Elijah, who stepped between them. His sword glinted in the moonlight as he pushed the creature back with a casual shove.

"Princess," Elijah drawled. "antagonists don't wait for your conversations to finish."

The nightmare lunged again. Elijah sighed and, in one swift motion, severed its massive clawed hand with a clean cut.

But before anyone could celebrate, Lucian's voice rang out in panic.

"That nightmare is immune to physical damage!"

Elijah's eyes widened as the severed hand began to reform, the writhing shadows reconstructing the limb in seconds.

"Don't you guys understand?!" Lucian snapped. "You should've run and called for backup if you had the chance!"

Victoria's cheeks flushed red in fury. "How rude! We're trying to save you, you know!"

"I don't need saving!"

"You were about to die a moment ago!" Victoria whirled around to Elijah, gesturing wildly for support. "Hey! Back me up here! I'm losing this argument!"

But Elijah was nowhere near them. Instead, he had retreated to a corner of the battlefield, calmly unwrapping his lunchbox.

"What the fuck—" Victoria's voice cracked with disbelief. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Elijah didn't even look up. "Language, princess," he replied coolly, taking a bite of rice. "Since I'm completely useless against this thing, I figured I'd save my energy. You know, for moral support and uh... as a cheerleader"

Her fists clenched as she pointed a trembling finger at him. "You—YOU TRAITOR!"

Lucian let out a long, weary sigh, running a hand through his disheveled silver hair. His frosty demeanor softened just a fraction as he looked at Victoria and Elijah.

"Fine. I do want to thank you. You saved my life back there."

Victoria blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "..."

"But," Lucian continued. "since the three of us are stuck here, we need to focus on finding a solution."

"Wait." Victoria's brow furrowed, her voice rising slightly. "Stuck? What do you mean, stuck?"

Lucian gestured to the faint, glowing ring of light encircling the battlefield. "You didn't notice? Once you step into the light, you can't leave. It's a barrier. We're trapped here until that thing is defeated."

Victoria froze, her mouth falling open. "What?!"

"You didn't know?"

Victoria's face twisted in a mix of realization and rage. She slowly turned toward Elijah, with menacing expression. "You knew, didn't you?"

Elijah, still chewing on a piece of fried chicken from his lunchbox, shrugged nonchalantly. "No I didn't."

"Ughhh!"

"You... done...?" The nightmare who is unimpressed on their bickering, suddenly spoke.

Lucian's head snapped up, shock flashing across his face.

The nightmare lunged, its massive claws tearing through the air with devastating speed.

Before it could reach him, a wall of cutting winds erupted between them, halting the monster's advance. The storm roared violently, forcing the creature to stagger back as a protective dome of swirling air surrounded Lucian.

Victoria stood in front of him, her hands extended as the tempest swirled around her fingers. Her blonde hair whipped around her face.

"Damn... that's a talking nightmare" Victoria jests. "Definitely not just an A rank."

"It is... but it seems to haven't recovered its full strength yet." Lucian groaned, leaning heavily against his blade. "I just need time to recover," he muttered. "I'm… deeply wounded."

Victoria glanced back at him, her teeth clenched. "You better hurry up!"

The nightmare roared in frustration, its claws slashing at the air. Dark energy surged around it, forming tendrils that lashed out in every direction. One of them barreled toward Victoria like a speeding bullet.

With a sharp pivot, she extended her hand, summoning a whirlwind that caught the tendril mid-flight and shredded it to pieces.

The winds howled around her, slicing through the creature's shadowy limbs like invisible blades.

The monster's eyes flared brighter, and it unleashed a barrage of shadowy spikes from its body, each one aimed directly at them. Victoria gritted her teeth and raised both arms, creating an invisible kind of barrier.

The air around her became a cyclone of razor-sharp gales, catching the spikes and deflecting them in all directions.

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She stumbled slightly, the sheer force of the attack pushing her back, but she dug her heels into the ground, refusing to yield.

"How much longer?!" she panicked.

Yet it seems Lucian simply sat in his position, meditating, and remained unbothered.

"Fuck sake!" Victoria cursed out loud.

Far off at the edge of the battlefield, Elijah sat cross-legged on a smooth rock.

His arms rested on his knees, and he leaned slightly forward, feeling all satisfied upon the meal he had a while ago.

"Interesting," he muttered under his breath, as he watched everything unfold in his very eyes.

Elijah rarely pays much attention to Victoria's capabilities on the battlefield when he is writing the novel.

Though he'd written her strength to be quick with her spell casting, he never thought she could catch up through the nightmare's relentless attacks.

It was then that he realized he'd underestimated her.

'Perhaps I've been too dismissive,' he thought, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Each burst of mana was perfectly timed. Victoria wasn't just quick; she had an almost preternatural sense for predicting the enemy's movements.

'Truly a wonderful piece,' he mused, his admiration growing with every passing moment. She was holding her ground against a higher A-rank nightmare—an achievement most would consider impossible.

Yet his expression darkened slightly.

"Though if this keeps up much longer, they'll die,"

"I wonder..."

"What will they do next?"

"I don't really want to turn my chapter 1 into a mess."