"What are you idiots doing?!"
An unmasked raging voice spread throughout the place as the explosion of Spirit Energy started to bloom like a flower.
I've already prepared myself from that so before the shockwave from the explosion reached me, I already used Flash Step to appear in front of Jayna who was also frozen at the sight of that explosion. Grabbing her by the waist, the Aura of Concealment immediately covered us.
I lifted her up and moved us behind a structure that supports the former shrine. It's wide enough to cover two people and its foundation was deep, making it the perfect place for cover.
Jayna who was in a daze only came back to her senses when I covered her with my body.
"Shh."
Putting a finger on her lips, I stopped her from reacting at what I just did. Even if we're concealed, we're still bound to be affected by the shockwave. And with it being an explosion of Spirit Energy, it could distort the Aura of Concealment covering us.
"Once the shockwave subsided, follow me. We'll escape to the exit fast. They're not idiots. The Peak 4-leaf locked onto us before were concealed."
I slowly told her our next step while her eyes were staring directly at me. Due to me covering her, this is probably the closest we got so far.
Her disguise was dispelled when she transformed earlier and mine was blown away by the shockwave so we're currently in our original appearance.
She took my finger off her lips before nodding her head.
"If anything goes wrong, use this."
She took off one of her earrings before handing it to me. I already noticed how special those are but for her to take it off and give it to me. Is she worrying about me?
"No. That's what your father gave you, right? Keep it. I can at least defend against them."
She needed it better than me. I still have some tricks hidden that could let me dodge or live through an attack by the Peak 4-leaf Dark Elf.
"Just take it, okay? I will be restless if you don't."
When she saw me not taking it, she put the earring on my hand by herself.
After weighing the options and what she just said, if this can give her a peace of mind then…
"…Alright, I'll give it back to you if we escaped without using this."
"I didn't know you're this stubborn. I already gave that to you so do what you want with it."
Jayna said as she released a sigh.
I'm not an idiot.
I get it, she's worried about me. But how should I really react? Let nature take its course?
"Says the one who is stubbornly giving me one of her only two protective equipment."
Hearing my words, she puffed up her cheeks as she hit me on my head with her staff before turning around to peek behind our cover.
The shockwave from the explosion has already almost subsided so she pulled my arm as a way of telling me that we're now good to go. Instantly forgetting the fact that she had just hit me with her staff.
Ah. Let's not mull over it, it's not painful anyway.
I let myself be pulled by her and together, we saw the space where the breach was located earlier.
The crack in space was almost mended and back to its original state. The trace of the portal was also obliterated by that explosion.
At this moment. This shrine is now truly abandoned.
The days of work by the Dark Elves, gone in an instant.
I could see the three 4-leaf Dark Elves who attacked me from above staring speechless at the former location of the breach with disheveled appearances. They used their bodies to withstand the shockwave made by that explosion of Spirit Energy which blew away the aura that's obscuring their bodies.
The Dimension Breacher was also blown away by the shockwave along with the pods and whoever is inside it.
"Done! We're done here! The trace of the portal was completely obliterated. Hurry up and pack up, you idiots! And you three. Block off the entrances. Those flies who sabotaged us are still here. I saw them vanish using some sort of skill. They will soon show up so keep your eyes open!"
The Peak 4-leaf shouted again to give orders to the Dark Elves who were still in shock at what happened. Their days of effort gone just like that. As one of the leaders sent here, he's probably aching the most.
"""Yes, Marshall!"""
The three answered in unison as they separated into three directions.
Err… These guys. They had just told us that there's not only one entrance and exit. Are they dumb or what?
But this was to our favor. We only needed to avoid the gaze of that Peak 4-leaf and bypass one of the entrances to leave this place.
What we have to decide is which side should we choose?
Comparing the three, going up the same way we came from will expose us not only to the other two but also to the Peak 4-leaf who was currently checking every corner of the place. Through my Adaptability, I could clearly see how he's using his Dark Energy to scour every place. If it accidentally hits us, even if we're concealed, it will surely create a reaction.
So that left us with two choices. The Orb of Enhancement is currently on cooldown but the Orb of Ailment isn't.
Having decided on what to do, I pointed to Jayna the direction where we will go.
Well, just considering where the biggest threat was currently focused, we took the one directly opposite to him, the direction which somehow leads to some kind of mansion. Just like Harlan's mansion at Edo City. The only difference is, it's also ascending stairs.
Jayna ran side by side with me. This time, I'll have her use her disabling skill like the vines from earlier to stop the 4-leaf Dark Elf guarding it.
I already clutched the Orb of Ailment in my hand, filling it with Flux Energy as we climbed the stairs. This way, I could activate it instantly when the situation calls for it.
Looking up ahead, the 4-leaf Dark Elf was already standing there with eyes wide open.
His distorted aura earlier was already repaired. In his hands was a pair of purple-colored daggers. It's currently covered by a clump of dark energy which somehow created an extension to it.
Because of the aura obscuring him, I couldn't see where his feet were pointing which made it hard to guess where he would dodge once he detected the danger.
At that stage, anyone will already have developed a natural instinct to detect danger so even if we're concealed, the chance of landing a surprise attack is lower than surprise attacking a 3-leaf Dark Elf.
When we reached a certain distance, I gestured to Jayna to start while I quietly raised my sheathed sword.
As soon as she willed for her Rivers to materialize, the concealment aura covering her was dispelled.
Her 4 Rivers all transformed into 4 different types of vines.
The first one being the sparkling green vine from earlier which aimed at the 4-leaf Dark Elf's arms.
The second one transformed into illusory vines which spewed out smoke behind us, covering the vision of whoever would be looking at this direction.
The third one transformed into blazing red vines which seethed with fire as it slowly crawled from the ground encircling the space around him.
Lastly, The fourth one transformed into dark thorny vines which aimed to lash at the enemy.
Watching all of those happening at the side, her control over Spirit Energy and her connection to the Spirit Ocean were phenomenal. Maybe that's why her disguises were hard to detect.
Also, let's not compare it to mine, I'm a cheat after all.
From that, I confirmed that this girl is another main-character type. The same as Zerina and Avelin.
Ah. Erin also has a main-character trait, her genius which came from the Old Man.
Leaving my thoughts at that, I activated the Blessing embedded on my sword. It's not that grand of a Blessing, it's a Level 3 Haste which boosted my mobility by 30%. Adding onto that was the Spiritual Twin Phantom that I haven't used yet, with three Streams of Connection, I got another 30% of my base stats which might probably let me bridge the gap between a Transformed Spirit and Noble Spirit albeit barely.
For a mere Fused Spirit, no other Fused Spirit could ever accomplish the same feat. If someone knew of this, it will probably be put on another page of 'The Legend of Ember'.
Channeling Flux Energy to my sword, my mind recalled the Sword Skill that I acquired upon reaching Intermediate Sword Mastery.
Flash Draw!
Like a movement that I've already done countless times before, and even before Jayna's vines reached the 4-leaf Dark Elf who was blocking our exit, I went past him in a blink while leaving a delayed sword cut on his body.
Only when the clinking sound of my sword being sheathed once more did a scream escape the Dark Elf's mouth as the sword cut opened a gaping wound from his chest down.
He could've defended against it but his mind was occupied by the vines sent hurtling to him by Jayna.
And well, the Blessing provided the necessary boost in mobility to successfully land this surprise attack.
I turned around and saw Jayna's vines as it finally reached him. Along with the sparkling green vines which immediately coiled and restrained his arms, the dark thorny vines delivered another set of wounds to him as it lashed out for at least 5 times.
Without wasting any more time, before the Dark Elf could even recover from all that, I'm already set to finish him.
Drawing out my sword again, I unhesitatingly stabbed his back with it while pouring in enough Flux Energy to trigger a simultaneous Energy Explosion.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Sounds of muffled explosion rang out from inside his body as he started twitching uncontrollably while coughing out huge mouthfuls of blood. The Dark Phantom that was about to be formed behind him stopped and dispersed unwillingly.
During all that, Jayna willed for the vines she conjured to vanish along with its effects before making her way towards me.
"Nooo!"
That's all the flying Peak 4-leaf Dark Elf could ever scream before the guy I stabbed fell face-first on the ground, lifeless.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om