Chapter 422 - Beetle Guest
Under the ground a fight was slolwy ensuing. Where Adventurers with earth affinity formed a cave big enough so they could hide on was, two forces were starting to collide.
Tanner scoffed and pushed Daniel away. He was glaring at the red-eyed man, his body trembling in anger as Daniel continued to provoke him.
"You got angry by mere words," Daniel chuckled. "What will happen if you see scenes in front of you? Will you break?"
It was like there was a shadow of pure darkness that was radiating from Daniel. He was so different from the boy they first met. His physique, his aura, even his face looked significantly different.
Tanner growled and pulled the younger man's collar. "Listen here, you little sh*t. Do you not understand how dangerous our position is right now? There are comrades here among us that has their families waiting for their return.
"Do you just expect us to fight a war that's not even ours, and die trying? You've seen their forces, and you've seen their capabilities. Even after that, you'd still want to wage war agaisnt them. Huh?" Tanner pushed Daniel, his eyes never leaving the boy. "You're selfish if you think like that–"
Before he could even finish his last word, a sharp sound of a palm grazing a face echoed. Elizabeth clicked her tongue and sighed. "Enough."
Everyone around them was silent. Among all the people around them, Elizabeth was the least person to break the fight. She was someone who often chooses to let things happen if she thinks it will not affect her in any way or if other people could handle it without her help.
But this time, Elizabeth was the one who initiated the end of the fight. She turned to Daniel and gave him a firm slap across his face too, the woman unapologetic not even a single bit.
"You two are such children," Elizabeth said. "We're here to rescue and fight, not destroy ourselves. What are you both thinking?"
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Tanner bowed. With one last glare at Daniel, he left to reunite with his group whom he whispered with. Everyone in their circle was glaring at Daniel, and they weren't afraid to show it.
"That man," Elizabeth sighed. "Are you okay, Daniel? I'm sorry I had to slap you. I had no other choice but to equalize it since you are also guilty."
"I'm okay," Daniel smiled. "I'm not that fragile. And besides, I know it was also my fault. I provoked him. He had every right to get mad."
"Such a sweetheart," Elizabeth chuckled and tapped the boy's head. She excused herself and went back to the area of the leaders to discuss their next plan of attack.
"This is going to be a tough ride," Frederick said. "Lance called and he said that there's zombies in the area they are. There's not a lot of them, but they still have to evacuate. Their location has been blown and it will take Licht a short time to send more armies."
"This fight is really something," Zeus sighed. He was the only Guardian to be sent to war. Apart from being the commander, he was the most capable Adventurer. The other Guardians formed the triad position, splitting Avancia into three and divided the domains.
This was also a rare occurrence. Usually, when a Guardian is absent, a substitute will take their place. The substitute was usually the Top 1 to 3 Adventurer.
Substitution was almost never like this that the next person from Guardianship was a lot of ranks away. Considering all the top Adventurers were being sent to the East, no one was credible enough. The duty was just too much that they have to settle in dividing the kingdom into three instead of finding a replacement.
Zeus sighed, "And here I thought the Armageddon was the strongest beast we'd face. Now we have to face a necromancer? From the words of someone who's been a teammate with one, necromancers are a pain in the *sshole."
"You know something about them?" Elizabeth asked. "Why don't you tell us more?"
"Necromancers have really high damage output," Zeus said. "They have undead soldiers whom they can control at their own will. Apart from that, they have strong individual magic that even if you get rid of the familiar, you'd still have a hard time with the caster."
Everyone was listening intently as to what Zeus had to say. The man was way more knowledgeable than them, and they all knew that. What they need to do was to learn about the undead as much as they can so they have the upper hand when battling with them.
The only problem left was for the Explorers. From their group, they knew little to nothing about how Explorers fight. What they do know was that these people were capable of harnessing something other than Mana Points, the rest was still blur.
Just when they finished their discussion, a hole was formed in the middle of the cave. Everyone took a couple of steps away from the hole, waiting for something to happen.
"Everyone, stand back," Zeus said. He conjured a blade made of lightning and was the first person to walk closer to the hole. He took a small peek and his eyes widened.
The man himself backed away, raising his lightning blade at the direction of the hole before something hopped out of it. It was a small child that had beetle-like features. The child had wings on his back that he used to fly through over the crowd.
"So you're all the ones from Avancia," the beetle smirked. "My name is Jon, and I'm here to help you."
Zeus snickered. His lighting rod extended to Jon's neck. "Tell us who you really are and I might spare your life."
"Brave child," the beetle chuckled. "He placed his hand on the lightning rod and gripped it, piercing it through his neck himself."
The action garnered gasps from the people around them, even Zeus himself was shocked. Jon then sighed and shrugged, holding the rod and cutting his neck off from the middle with it.
Zeus didn't flinch at this. He saw that the beetle boy didn't have his blood splattering all across the place. This made him knew that the beetle was just a puppet.
"What do you need, Jon?" Zeus asked.
The beetle shrugged, touching his neck and regenerating it. "I was one of the people who called you out for help. It would only be proper if I welcome you."
"Asked for help?" Frederick asked. "We didn't receive any message from the East for these past few years. What message did you relay? It didn't reach us."
"Oh," Jon pursed his lips. "Maybe it was those other guys. I couldn't really see since my role was just projectile showing."
"Those other guys?" Frederick walked up to him. "Where are they right now? We can contact them, but we don't know which way to go."
Jon sighed, "I can make you a tunnel as to where one of my comrade is. He should lead you to the rest of the Avancians. I'll scold my people for asking help from the wrong group."
"Wait," Zeus called out. "Who are you?"
Jon smirked, "I'm none other than the Earth Master."