A Psychic’s Scarlet Dream - Chapter 167 Chapter 87

Confronted by three Hellfires at the same time, surprisingly, what Ethan suggests we should do is to split up.

I wish we had more time so I could ask why but we don’t, so, in the short window we have to answer, everyone lays their opinion out.

Gabriel: “Why? That would only be detrimental.”

Abgere: “…”

Sneha: “I am with Gabriel on this one, why should we split up?”

Sona: “Kinda does not make sense but I am not against it, I guess.”

Kais: “Yeah, I am not against it either.”

In addition, various Heise members show confusion and dilemma as to what to do, with the major consensus seeming to be on the side of not splitting up. However, Li Wei, the leader of Heise, doesn’t seem to be that much against it.

He looks to be seriously considering it.

Ethan: “Well,”

He says as he looks cautiously at the three Hellfires,

Ethan: “Everyone willing to split up, come with me. Everyone who is not, stay here and hold them back.”

Also probably because of the lack of time, Ethan does not do any usual mocking or make satirical comments, he just gets on with the business as he says that and starts running ahead.

Taken by surprise and not having time to think much about it, I, Sona, Li Wei as well as Sneha involuntarily start running after him as everyone else stays behind, all in a state of confusion.

However, the curious thing is that, as they see us run, the three Hellfires only look at us with smirking expressions and do nothing about it, as if they don’t care at all.

If I was going on pure logic here, I would think that they are saying that whatever we do doesn’t matter to them. And I mean, I guess if they came here for Abgere, it would make sense why they wouldn’t bother with us but still, is that all there is to it?

It seems like there’s more.

Looking at their smirks and condescending glares, it seems different than not caring, it seems like they are telling us what we are doing is futile.

Not noticing that,

Li Wei: “Keep them off us!”

He shouts to his subordinates as we run, who snap out of their confusion and nod dutifully to their leader.

Sona: “Gabriel, you better make sure that idiot doesn’t die or our deal is off.”

And Sona shouts to Gabriel as we run, reminding him of the deal we had about helping him take revenge of Vampire Kingdom and that it would be broken if Abgere, the idiot who wouldn’t come with us when he has the chance to fight three Hellfires at once, dies.

However, as I and her gaze back at Gabriel’s expression, he seems to be troubled about something else entirely, looking like he didn’t even hear Sona. And just then, Ethan stops in his tracks as well.

Sneha: “What now!?”

Ethan: “Tsk!”

Instead of answering though, he looks in the direction of the shrine with a cautious and troubled expression.

Ethan: “Those three … aren’t the only ones we need to face.”

Probably having picked that up because of his eyes, he says so, prompting me, Sneha and others to read our surrounding Auras and find out about the presence of supernaturals, or rather, Psychics.

They are all around us, leaving no corner unattended.

In extrapolation to that, some of them have a great deal of power and might be a real pain in the ass by themselves while the others, albeit not very powerful individually, have numbers on their side. I am guessing the former ones are the Volcanoes and the latter ones are the Embers and Flares.

Li Wei: “Guess we should have expected them to bring a little backup.”

He says with irritation, and as if on cue, the Volcanoes and the rest step out of their various hiding places and surrounds us from all the sides.

Their numbers do really surpass that of Heise and considering that they even have 5-6 Volcanoes on their side, we might be at a much greater disadvantage than we fathomed.

*******************************

Following their leader’s orders, the strongest army in the world reaches the outskirts of Kesley, with the mission to meet the Phoenix.

However,

Dyne: “What the heck is going on here?”

Instead of the large, developed city known for being an economical centre, they are met with a wasteland that looks devoid of life and seems like it just suffered from a bomb exploding.

In essence, it looks like a battlefield, set upon bloodshed, specifically for more bloodshed.

As one of the Spectres sees through a telescope, the rubble that the topmost quarters of Vermilion’s base tower have been reduced to, he warns Dyne about it, who gets more and more curious about what happened there.

Dyne: “Whatever the case may be, we probably should go in.”

Their mission is to meet the Phoenix and discuss some things with him. Surely they can’t let something like this stop them. If anything, they should hurry up even more as there is no guarantee if the Phoenix is even there, and they need to know it if that’s the case.

So, hoping that the division sent to ask the Dragons to come to the Ghost Nation is not in a similar crisis, Spectre Dyne orders his troops to march on.

Dyne: “However, we need to be cautious.”

At a time like this, the possibility of a battle is only growing more and more. Not to mention with how the sun is out and the night has just fallen, the Vampires would be out there, looking to strike at any moment they can.

One can even say that while going in to meet the Phoenix, the Spectre Army is making themselves vulnerable to any attack whatsoever.

Dyne: “Tsk!”

While knowing all that, still, programmed to be dutybound, the artificial Ghosts keep marching on.

*******************************

While we have a good amount of capable fighters on our side, our side is also joined by a few non-combatants like Trisha and medical experts who some of the fighters have the duty to protect. While those guys are well-equipped and a little behind us, it is a fact that even when they catch up to us, it’s not like they would be able to help much.

On the other hand, every single member of Vermilion has no other task but to fight us.

Kais: “Maybe we should try talking thing out. I mean, we all just basically jumped at each other guns blazing without even giving them a chance to say much.”

I make a pointless suggestion, more as a joke to calm my nerves than to actually suggest it.

Ethan: “Yeah, genius, that would work, especially when the first words out of those three Hellfires’ mouths were about fighting us.”

He mocks me as expected, probably knowing that even I wasn’t serious about that suggestion.

And then, one of the three Hellfires, a middle-aged brunette with bored eyes and with the name of Laurie Brown, states plainly.

Laurie: “I don’t have much interest in fighting you simpletons. I am just here to do my job, which is to kill that ugly bastard.”

She says as she points at the ‘ugly bastard’, Abgere, who is actually very high on my list of people that should never be called ugly because they are too beautiful.

Abgere: “I am fine with that. In fact, I would gladly take the opportunity to finish you bastards right here and right now.”

Of course, Abgere, whose primary objective has always been to kill the Hellfires and the Phoenix, appreciates wholeheartedly the opportunity to do so.

But,

Ethan: “This is bad. If we don’t do something, not only will that idiot get himself killed fighting three Hellfires, the entire purpose of joining up with Heise would be gone.”

Taken by curiosity as I hear him say that, I look at him with frowning eyes asking him to explain.

Ethan: “Well, I guess I didn’t mention, did I?”

With a slight grin, he says,

Ethan: “I have been after the ‘weapons’ Heise has stored away in their shrine. I didn’t stand much of a chance before at getting it forcefully and even with you guys around, it would have been a real problem if they became our enemy. That is why I tried to use the first opportunity I got to team up with them.”

Kais: “…”

Ethan: “Basically, getting those weapons is the entire reason I wanted this alliance.”