Chapter 344: Safe Hunting
"This is not supposed to happen," shouted the lanky guildman. "Quick, try to connect with the guild..."
"I'm trying..." said the other guy, a longread in hand. "It's just not working, damnit!"
"You don't have to connect to the guildmaster, anyone would do..."
"I'm trying..."
Gale shook his head and turned his attention to his companions. "Before we try anything, I would like to know how you two fare in a battle?" he asked, eyes flashing towards Jenni.
He didn't believe she was much of a fighter, but she probably could handle herself well against a single foe of similar power.
"I went through the military training," she said, sounding a little embarrassed. "The bare minimum military training."
Well, if there is any issue, I'll simply store her in the soul domain, he thought and turned his attention to Dawn.
"I..." Dawn opened her mouth to answer but didn't find the right words to explain herself. Jenni caught her arm, snuggling closer, as though finding companionship in their common weakness. "I can withdraw from any dangers without an issue."
Gale nodded.
"What do we do about these two clowns?" Jenni asked, pointing towards the junior guildmen.
"Ma'am, please wait a moment," said one of them, sounding panicked. "As soon as we hear from the headquarters, we'll lead you to safety."
Jenni clicked her tongue and left them to their panic, as they moved out from there. The enforcers already had most of the people handled and locked them in buildings for their safety so that they would not make a mess of the situation.
A group of enforcers were coming their way on patrol, rounding the stray people into safety. They would have also created a scene of stuffing them together with the rest of the rescued. So before they could locate them, Gale surrounded Dawn and Jenni under his cloak and activated its Veil.
The enforcers ignored them and ran straight to the two idiots trying to connect with the higher-ups in the middle of the road. The enforcers didn't listen to them at all, and literally dragged them within the line of safety. Only then did those two notice the girl they were trying to protect was nowhere to be seen.
"Those two dumbos got what they dese—" Jenni clucked, but before she could finish Gale raised his palm over her mouth, gesturing to keep silent.
They moved away from there to a more abandoned part of the city, and closer to higher chaos intensity.
"If you feel uncomfortable, I can take you to complete safety," Gale assured.
"I'm fine," Jenni said, while Dawn nodded in agreement.
Just then a horrifying scream resounded in their ears, causing Jenni to jump to her feet and clutch his arm. Her heart pounded in her chest, remembering her experience in the dungeon.
Soon, a huge eight-foot-tall lizard appeared on the pathway. It screeched, noticing their presence. A fiend, and seemed to be still in the dormant state, though powerful enough to give any silver rank a run for their money.
"Stand behind me," Gale told them.
Jenni remained clutching his right arm, while Dawn stayed on her right, much more clear-minded than her. She was looking around and assessing their situation cool-headedly.
The draconic lizard screeched and bolted at them. Gale raised his left arm, as [The Divider] manifested, as long as two metres, beaming with sharp purple light. He swung the blade, getting a full view of the monster. A purple sword beam flashed over and dissected the monster in two.
"Woooh!" Jenni let out a heavy breath and finally freed his right arm. "That looked stupidly easy... I was scared for no reason..."
"There's no cowardice in admitting your weakness," Dawn reassured her, patting her on the shoulders.
Jenni nodded and moved a couple of feet forward closer to the dead creature. "That was a clean swing, though I didn't see the sword connecting with it."
"This one seems to be a stray," Gale said, looking towards the roof of a side building. "Let's go there... We can see clearer from there."
"Aren't you going to collect the loot?" Jenni asked, pointing at the corpse.
Gale shook his head as though it didn't matter. He drew his arm wide. "Hold on to me, I'll carry you there..."
Jenni gave him a pointed look. "Are you sure?"
Gale nodded. Dawn was quick to clutch his right side, completely trusting his abilities. He slid his arm on her back to under her shoulders, leaving the other side open for Jenni.
She came in and clutched the other side, expression a little nervous and flustered.
"Everyone ready?" he asked.
Getting their approval, Gale levitated in the air slowly, not trying any of his wild abilities. Slow and steadily, he flew up towards the half-a-dozen-storied building and landed on the roof.
Jenni quickly ran to the edge of the roof to look down. "Hey, there's more of them..."
They joined her to find a couple more of those lizard creatures bolting towards their fallen brethren. But instead of looking for its assailant, the monsters began feasting on the fallen creature without any care of the world.
"Hey, you two wanna earn easy essence?" Gale asked as an idea struck him.
"Thank you, but even under your protective presence, I would rather not fight those enormous lizards," Jenni bowed out without even listening to him.
"I said, easily," Gale snorted and brought out a longbow and arrows.
Jenni's expression changed, but it returned to solemnity once more, recognising she was nowhere near killing a fiend with just one shot. Or two, three, or a dozen.
Gale didn't say anything, instead under their watchful gazes, charged an arrow with golden essence. Within seconds, the arrow shimmered in a bright golden colour...
Gale smiled at them. "Who wants to go first?"
"Me! Me!! Me!!" Jenni was the first one to shout, as she took the bow and charged arrow from Gale. She looked apologetically towards Dawn. "Sorry, you can take the next turn..." She turned to Gale. "You prepare the next shot..."
"As you wish, Ma'am..." Gale acquiesced.