Realm Wars - Chapter 205

“Hand over your valuables.”

Kai’s smile didn’t falter, and his eyes shot to Ric. “Old man. What’s this now? I know we haven’t been exactly on good terms, but I thought you don’t allow extortion and violence here.”

“Our rules don’t apply to you the moment you left,” an elf spat.

Ric’s wrinkly face remained serious as he looked at Kai and said with a solemn voice. “Sorry, Kai. But like they said, the moment you leave, you’re an outsider. And our rules don’t apply in your group anymore. If I were you, I’d hand over your food.”

“We’re not asking much,” another said in Ric’s’ group. “Just enough to feed five people from each one of you.”

Kai and the other’s faces turned grim. Not asking much? If they were in their real world where they had access to unlimited resources, it might not be much, but in this dimension that was overrun by the undead and where resources were depleting to nonexistent, every morsel of food counted.

Kai looked at his group and lingered an eye on Seraphina, who replied with a nod.

“A-are we going to be okay?” whispered Kelly, shaking behind Fjord for protection.

“If worse comes to worst, we’ll fight our way out of here,” Fjord whispered back, sweat dripping from his face while Myla’s grip on her hammer tightened.

Kai scratched his head. His grin never left his face. “Well . . . that is a bit of a pickle. We don’t have much, to begin with.”

“No worries, the others could vouch for you,” said a human in Ric’s group, and she nodded in Rosa’s direction. “It looks like one of you has an abundant meat to share with all of us.”

Rosa scoffed. “What do you think of me? Your personal meat supply?”

“We also accept items if you don’t have food,” another demon chimed in, eyes dilating. The demons and elves didn’t care about food. They wanted items just in case they needed them. Most of them stuck in the underground for months were just lower rank demons and elves, so venturing into the surface to find the exit was out of the question.

Higher rank demons and elves didn’t last even a day on the surface. What was more them?

Kai tilted his head, and the grin on his face widened. “Okay then . . . but first.” A dud appeared in his fingers with a flick of his hand, and he threw it on Ric’s group. “You have to catch us! Run!”

BoOoOmM!

A loud noise erupted and came with it was fine dust of smoke that enveloped the area in a hazy white mist.

“Egh?” Kelly was shocked at the turn of events before Rosa kicked her butt and growled.

“Move midget!”

Kai and the others immediately sprinted towards the exit while Seraphina snatched a seed from her traveler’s ring. She threw it on the ground, and vines erupted on the soil, coiling and restricting around Ric’s group.

It wasn’t strong like the vine in her spells, but it was enough to buy them time to escape. Tethy’s tiara was useless in this place since mana was nonexistence. But the anklet proved to be a god-tier item for its double physical and magical defense.

“Hurry up!”

“Don’t let them get away!”

“After them!”

“Which way do we go?” Fjord shouted amidst the chaos. There were many forks in the tunnel, but luckily, Kai and Seraphina already memorized the place.

“Just follow my lead and don’t lag behind!” Kai shouted back. He could only hope that no mutated monsters were waiting for them at the end of the exit.

“T-they’re gaining on us,” cried Kelly when she shot a look over her shoulder and saw Ric’s group who were hot on their tracks.

“Just don’t stop running! Once we reach the exit, those guys won’t follow us anymore!”

In the dark tunnel with nothing but flickering dim bulbs as their only source of light, Seraphina continued to hurl seeds after seeds on the ground in an attempt to stop their pursuers’ tracks.

Going in the very bottom of the reservoir and out of the tunnel roughly takes about an hour or so but climbing upwards towards the surface took much longer.

It wasn’t a problem for the others, but Fjord and Rosa were slowly lagging behind. They weren’t built for stamina and any rigorous physical activity.

“Kai, take care of Rosa. I’ll lead the group.” Seraphina dashed forward while Kai nodded at her words.

Kai appeared before Rosa and swept her in his arms while the latter resisted. She didn’t like anyone touching her, more so from a stranger.

Though Kai was with them ever since in Mother Skull’s ship, she never interacted with him on a deeper level. The only time she got to know him a little was that little escapade in Deadman’s Rock that warranted the Owner’s eerie.

“Let go, idiot! I don’t need your help!” Rosa huffed and panted for breath as she pressed her hands against Kai’s face.

“Shut up! Unless you don’t want to get mauled over by those guys, I suggest that you close your lips and enjoy the ride,” Kai said with a muffled voice.

Eventually, Rosa stopped struggling as she indeed needed to catch her breath. At the same time, Fjord hopped onto Myla’s back, and their group gained momentum.

Now that Rosa’s brain had enough oxygen, she couldn’t help but think how Seraphina could be so fast. She was human and a mage, but her stamina was like a fighter’s.

Not only her. Kai was the same too. There wasn’t even a sweat on his face as he sprinted nonstop without losing even a quarter of his speed. He was human, but it seemed like his stamina was more like a beast.

Even Lucian would show a slight panting and sweat, running a steep terrain nonstop.

“We’re almost there,” Seraphina announced, and the others breathed a big sigh of relief.

The path was also clear, and the maintenance hole cover emitted what little light from above. It was locked by a thick bolt that could only be opened with a key on the other side.

“Hurry!”

Just as Seraphina was about to climb, Rosa’s groan echoed in the tunnel. The group looked back and found that a whip had latched onto Kai’s leg. Both he and Rosa were on the ground, and footsteps from their pursuers were closing in.

“I got you! You won’t escape!”

Seraphina was about to go back when Kai shouted, “Go! I’ll hold them off.”

Seraphina hesitated.

“I said go!” Kai screamed and was dragged back into the darkness.

—-

A/N

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