The guild members’ horses ran as fast as possible. Only the sound of hooves filled the artificial tunnel dug by the pathfinder. The horses gradually reached their limits as the cavalry continued forward.

Boooom!

An explosion shook the ground.

Rachel looked back and saw a reddish-black lump of mana extending like a tongue towards them. It tried to slurp up the guild members.

“Vice Leader!”

The lump of mana licked up and down while melting the ground and ceiling. The ground melted away like a stream and the guild members could feel the powerful surge of mana heating their skin.

“Our rear is in danger!” Marcus desperately shouted.

“Get down!”

Rachel pulled out Galatine and swung with all her might.

The wind spirit, combined with her sword, shot towards the lump of mana and pushed it back with a gust of wind. Then the spirit returned to Rachel and created a stream of wind that further propelled the horses.

They managed to exit the narrow path thanks to the wind spirit’s support, but the lump of mana continued chasing them and covered the sky. It turned into a huge tidal wave and refused to give up.

“Follow me!”

Rachel thought for a split second before pulling her reins. She decided it would be impossible to avoid the mana chasing them, so she gave up the vast plains for refuge between the cliffs.

“We’re going down!”

Her body suddenly leaned forward when the horse she rode spun and threw her into the air. Rachel looked down and saw complete darkness. The bottomless cliff descended into depths that nobody had probably ever seen.

“Windy!”

Rachel summoned her wind spirit, who shot a jet stream that slowed the guild members’ fall. This supernatural phenomenon defied the laws of physics.

However, their predicament didn’t end there.

Kwaaaa!

The wave of mana stubbornly chased them like a hungry predator and poured down the cliff from all sides. It looked like a tsunami falling from the heavens.

“—!”

The reddish-black storm could only be described as overwhelming, but Rachel didn’t give up. She squeezed every ounce of her strength to form a barrier made from wind and earth. She had never successfully combined two elements like this before.

Shin Yeohwa warned her once that forcing different elements together could cause them to clash and the elementalist could suffer from qi deviation. However, Rachel didn’t shy away from the risks. She had too many things to protect and too much to lose right now.

She gritted her teeth and fused her wind and earth spirits into Galatine.

Shwaaaa!

A powerful gust cut through the air as the two spirits successfully merged.

“

Ah…

”

Rachel muttered in surprise when the spirits reacted according to her desire. The wind and earth spirits formed a barrier as gentle as a breeze, yet sturdy as earth to block the incoming mana wave.

The mana wave came crashing down on the barrier, but the barrier remained steadfast without any signs of cracking.

An extremely bright light flashed after the mana wave clashed with the elemental barrier. The blinding light engulfed their entire surroundings. Everything briefly turned white and they couldn’t see. The elemental barrier continued protecting them as the tidal wave and the bright light subsided.

Rachel felt like her entire body would crumble into dust. Her consciousness slowly drifted away as she sunk into nothingness.

A hand suddenly appeared and gently grasped her in this nothingness. She could feel this hand pulling her into a warm embrace.

Rachel found herself simply accepting this embrace.

“Good job.”

The gentle voice said before she slowly lost consciousness.

***

Nothing had foreshadowed the ambush. More than twenty enemies had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

However, the situation remained favorable since only I could see the entire area covered by the mana storm.

— Sweep everything up. We just have to melt everything and they’ll be caught up in it.

The enemies gathered their mana and channeled it into the tunnel I created for Rachel and the guild members. They didn’t even bother to form a magic circle and simply shot their mana into the tunnel like a bulldozer. This primitive method worked quite well.

“Where did these crazy bastards come from?”

I immediately turned on my helicopter’s firearms. This helicopter was originally a combat model used by the military, so it featured all sorts of weapons like machine guns and missile systems with mana bullets and shells.

Wiiing! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

A barrage of mana bullets and shells rained down. The huge explosions formed craters on the ground and kicked up a dust storm.

The enemies only spotted me after I had reduced their numbers by half.

— Is that the mercenary they hired?

They properly cast black fireballs at me, unlike the mana wave they recklessly shot towards the English Royal Court members.

The fireballs came at me like footballs.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

I immediately maneuvered the helicopter and hid inside the mana storm, which swept away the fireballs. I continued using the mana storm for cover and took out my Desert Eagle. The barrel grew longer and transformed into a sniper rifle.

I aimed at the enemies on the ground and pulled the trigger.

Clack—

A bullet infused with stigma pierced their barrier and went through an enemy’s heart.

Only nine remained.

Clack—

Then eight, seven, and six remained. The rest retreated after their comrades died one by one every time I pulled the trigger.

— Retreat for now!

They left almost immediately and disappeared as fast as they appeared.

I grew curious about what kind of trick they used. It seemed like they either turned into dust and scattered away or turned into the wind itself and disappeared. I didn’t have the luxury to ponder such things right now.

Kieeeeek!

The viper lurking in the sky spotted me and flew through the mana storm towards my helicopter.

I immediately grabbed the helicopter’s control stick and made a steep dive. However, the monster continued chasing me even as I almost crashed into the ground.

Rumble!

The ground trembled when we came within a hair's distance of each other.

Kyaruruk!

“

Ah

, this fucking snakehead…”

The viper kicked up some dust as it flapped its wings and smacked the helicopter.

I activated bullet time as the helicopter spun.

Dudududu! Dudu! Du… Du… Du—

The helicopter’s propeller slowed along with everything else.

I grabbed my Desert Eagle and transformed the sniper rifle into a shotgun. Then I opened the cockpit door and the viper’s wide-opened mouth appeared right in front of me. The bastard seemed to be spewing venom, but I attacked first by shoving a grenade down its throat followed by a blast from my shotgun.

Booom!

The viper flew back when the grenade exploded inside it. I infused stigma into my bullet and aimed as it grew further away.

This would be my last streak of stigma.

Clack— Tang!

The monster screeched in agony as its body exploded.

“

Hooo…

”

I deactivated bullet time and brought the helicopter to a higher altitude. Then I dusted my clothes off and flew towards the cliff where Rachel and her guild members fell.

The cliff appeared steeper than I thought. I began to worry, but soon spotted them. None of them had been severely wounded.

“

Hmm…

This is quite a surprise.”

Eleven individuals and their horses floated in the air. All of them seemed fast asleep as if stuck in a spider web.

I pressed a switch and the helicopter entered its hovering mode before I jumped out to their location.

“The wind is quite strong.”

It felt as if I landed on solid ground when I stepped on the wind that suspended the entire group. An impossible sight unfolded before me, but I already knew mystical beings like spirits could perform such miracles.

I slowly approached Rachel before flinching and quickly putting on the gas mask I usually wore around her in case she suddenly woke up.

“Looks like she overexerted herself this time.”

Rachel’s blood vessels protruded throughout her entire body. She suffered from mana exhaustion after pushing herself to the limits.

I carefully placed her in the helicopter.

“Good job,” I muttered.

She suddenly opened her eyes when those words escaped my lips.

“…”

Her slightly out-of-focus eyes glanced at me.

I went stiff and my heart wildly beat from her gaze, but that only briefly lasted.

It began raining all of a sudden.

I calmed my heart and took a few deep breaths. Then I checked my SP and system log to distract myself.

[You have shown remarkable piloting skills with Young Dwarf’s Dexterity!]

[Young Dwarf’s Dexterity has been affected by Master Sharpshooter!]

[A new synergy has occurred…]

[SP: 3305]

I gained quite a lot of SP and wondered if I should learn how to handle spirits like Rachel while staring at the other ten guild members sound asleep.

My beating heart calmed and turned cold again.

Someone among these ten had betrayed Rachel.

***

A child brightly smiled in my hazy memories. The child with chubby cheeks and long golden hair didn’t know the responsibility she carried.

All sorts of famous instructors visited London and news of a prodigy in England spread throughout Europe. Every person in England watched with anticipation at how the child prodigy would grow.

However, they all became naggers for the child. These mean adults forced her to do homework she didn’t want to do. They never let her play with friends or go out to ride a swing or seesaw.

Only one adult served as her refuge and sanctuary. Not the old butler assigned to her nor the nanny that raised her, but one of the knights tasked with protecting Buckingham Palace.

“I see that you’re hiding again,” the man said with a gentle smile.

The child in the bushes flinched and trembled before slowly coming out. She crossed her arms to make herself look as haughty and confident as possible.

“Yeah, I ran away because I didn’t want to study.”

The man shook his head at her brazen words, but smiled nonetheless.

“Is that true?” he asked her.

“Yes, I don’t lie. I ran away,” the little girl confidently replied.

“You’re quite honest, Your Highness. Alright, why don’t you continue on your way? Shall we see where you want to go?”

The child beamed with a smile before shuffling her small feet. The man quietly followed.

Pat… Pat… Pat… Pat…

The little girl bravely ventured into the woods and used what she learned from her training and magic lessons.

A small hill appeared once they exited the forest.

She plopped down on the hill while the man stood behind her.

“Isn’t it pretty? I really like this place.”

She looked over the horizon with a huge smile.

The man looked at the same horizon filled with flowers. Small flowers peeked out from the shrubs with bees and butterflies busily hovering about.

The man felt somewhat peaceful while looking at this scenery.

“Indeed, it is.”

“Right? I want to live in a place like this when I grow up! A place with lots of flowers and trees! I want to grow them myself and…

Ah!

I also want to raise a kitten!” she excitedly exclaimed.

“That doesn’t sound bad at all,” he briefly replied with a smile.

“

Ah!

Look! Look at that!”

The little girl pointed somewhere else.

How much pride would this lovely little princess bring to our nation in the future? How much responsibility and burden would she have to bear alone?

“Look over there! There’s a squirrel! Look, look! A squirrel!”

She squealed with joy while pointing at a squirrel running around.

The knight, Alex Edmund Lancaster, warmly looked at the adorable princess.

May God save the princess.

***

Rachel opened her eyes. She could see the half-covered sky above and a crescent moon peeking from behind the clouds. It seemed she hadn’t died yet.

She slowly raised her body and checked her surroundings. The ten guild members accompanying her all seemed sound asleep.

She looked at them for a while before sighing.

“Was this your doing?”

No response came, but Rachel already knew the answer. She recalled the mercenary’s faint silhouette before passing out.

“You don’t have to tell me if you do not want to.”

Rachel grumbled before looking down at her sword and saw the spirits still residing within Galatine.

She couldn’t recall what she did when they fell down the cliff.

Did I save my comrades with this? But how? What did I do?

— An ordinary wind and a spirit’s wind are completely different. A spirit can control the elements much stronger than nature itself. Their wind can become hard as the ground when fused with an earth spirit. A wind formed from such harmony can block anything.

A voice came from the communication crystal and gave her a hint.

Rachel didn’t respond with,

What do you know about spirits?

She felt certain that Xtra knew about spirits quite well and might even possess such skills. He could be another elementalist that the public didn’t know about.

— You’ll reach the general assembly in roughly two days. How do you feel right now?

Rachel checked herself and couldn’t feel her mana as if it froze at the source. Her body didn’t have an ounce of strength left. She didn’t suffer from anything critical, but had been completely exhausted.

“I’ll recover in time.”

— I’ll get you some medicinal herbs.

Rachel blinked a few times. She wasn’t used to receiving help, but didn’t refuse.

She sat on the ground as if she just committed a serious offense. A thought suddenly flashed across her mind.

“

Ah

, what happened to the attackers? Who were they?”

— Half of them died and the rest ran away. I think you already know who they are without me telling you.

“Yes…” she muttered with a nod.

“Thank you.”

— No need to thank me. I just did it since… never mind.

He deeply contemplated who the traitor might be and planned on getting rid of them immediately regardless of Rachel’s feelings.

— Get some rest.

The way Xtra spoke had changed and he sounded like an old master or something.

Rachel found it awkward, but it somewhat put her at ease.

“You too.”

She replied before lying down again.

Her body became a mess, but her heart felt light. She felt more proud of herself than ever. The fact that she protected her guild members with her own strength brought her great joy.

“

Hehe…

”

Rachel looked at each of her guild members as the moonlight shone on them. Everyone looked so peaceful while sleeping.

“What a relief.”

She smiled after saving every single one of them.