Keng slashed at the Cerberus wolf. He watched as Hydrosphere had no effect against the hide of the wolf Cerberus swung its tail, hitting Keng and Evan and sending them backwards. Cerberus' left and middle heads released the flames from its mouth, burning everything in front of them.
A large rock exploded out of the ground, hitting the middle head. The flames flew upwards, burning Ritsuka as it howled in pain. More rocks flew up, hitting Cerberus' underside. The wolf whimpered in pain as it tried to dodge out of the way.
"Paralyze!" Olivia shouted. "Paralyze!" The middle and left heads froze, completely freezing its body as Olivia pushed her hands against the ground. The ground ripped to pieces and then regrew, pushing itself downwards as the earth underneath Cerberus pelted its underside. "Keng!"
A black wisp appeared beside Olivia as Keng flashed forward. He rushed over to Ritsuka, who screamed in pain as flames ate at him. Keng lifted Hydrosphere and watched as waters flew outwards, dousing Ritsuka.
"Heal." Keng whispered. Silver light wrapped around Ritsuka as Keng quickly pushed Ritsuka and the girl away from the fight.
Lee Seng found it hard to concentrate. The moment he had focused on the stars, everything grew blurry. The screams died down as Lee Seng watched a star fall in front of him. It hovered in front of him, pulsing. It drew him closer.
"Starfire…" A familiar voice whispered. "A powerful tool. A breath of creation. It seems the cosmos bends to you, but you haven't quite mastered all within it… Call upon the Starfire and let it fuel your power… Wield it well, Fox Spirit."
"Starfire." Lee Seng whispered, grabbing the star. The star's energy fused with Lee Seng, forcing his aura to come out. A cosmic landscape of stars flew outwards as the other stars glimmered within it. Teal flames erupted from Lee Seng's left hand, encasing the Sun blade in celestial dragon fire. Lee Seng felt his vision condense. The starry landscape was gone. Celestial fire burned along the Sun blade as stars twinkled.
Loud noises pulled Lee Seng towards the Cerberus. It was paralyzed and being continuously pelted by Olivia.
"Kinetic Blow!" Evan's shield dissolved into his body. The charge of kinetic energy sparked as Evan ran forward. Speed pushed him forward, collecting itself in his back as Evan slammed into the back of the Cerberus. Cerberus' backside flew upwards, flipping itself over as it slammed into the ground. Lee Seng rushed forward, jumping up into the air. Sun blade pointed itself downwards as its master wrapped both hands onto the hilt. Lee Seng fell straight onto Cerberus, sinking the Sun Blade into it. The hiss of fire and lava erupted from the three-headed wolf's wound. Celestial starfire erupted across the wolf's body, burning it in teal fire as Lee Seng pulled the sword out of its stomach and jumped to safety. Cerberus howled in pain as lava and flames began to spread.
Keng pointed Hydrosphere at Cerberus and encased it in water. The water hissed as it hardened against the lava. Lee Seng domed the Cerberus and let out a sigh of relief.
"Argh!" Ritsuka groaned.
"H-hey!" Manny stuttered as he scrambled to his feet. He ran over to Ritsuka and noticed the silver light slowly healing the burns. Manny lifted his hands over Ritsuka and began to heal him.
"Ah… Damn fire." Ritsuka groaned.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Why'd you do something so risky?"
"Protect her." Ritsuka slowly lifted his hand up and pointed at the unconscious timid girl. Manny turned to look at her as Olivia and the others moved to check on her.
"She's out." Olivia told them. "What should we do with her?"
"What if that thing's not dead?" Evan motioned to the Cerberus.
"We drown it." Keng suggested.
"Thank god its belly wasn't encased in that metallic fur." Olivia sighed. "If it wasn't, we would've definitely died." Manny finished healing Ritsuka and walked over to the unconscious girl to check her pulse. He let out a sigh of relief and looked at Liz, who was a bit worse for wear.
"Let me heal you." Manny stood up and walked over to Liz. He grabbed her hand and healed her. "There. All better." A loud thud came from the dome of rock.
"It's not dead?" Liz asked. The entire group turned to look at it. Keng scribbled in the air and then slashed at it. The sound of water grew within the dome. They listened as hissing noises grew. Fire and lava fought against water, eventually growing quiet.
"I think you just petrified a Cerberus." Evan pointed.
"Do we even try to loot that?" Lee Seng asked.
"We should head to New Angeles." Manny suggested. "We do have her now."
"You think she'll stay asleep for the rest of the flight?" Keng asked. "Wouldn't want her to wake up and freak out."
"Let's just go." Manny motioned.
"Hey, what's that?" Evan pointed. A small blinking container sat on the ground, unharmed from the fight. Evan walked over and picked it up. "Dunno what this is, but maybe it's hers? There's also a large ass sword ove there, too. What should we do with these?"
"Hide it for now." Lee Seng suggested. "If it's of importance to her, we'll give it to her. Let's get her to a hospital quickly."
An hour later, the group found themselves at their destination. New Angeles stood proudly with large walls and mounted technology everywhere. Military personnel walked the walls and trails. Lee seng and Keng landed the group away from prying eyes. The group walked the rest of the way with a floating girl and chest in tow. Soldiers gave them odd looks as they noticed the girl.
"Halt!" A soldier ordered, sticking her arm out. She and her partner grew curious about the floating girl and chest. "Is she alright? Does she need medical attention?"
"Unconscious." Manny replied. "I stabilized her, but someone should look at her."
"Come with us." The guard motioned. Team Zephyr followed after the two soldiers. Two more soldiers flanked the back following them all the way to the border of New Angeles. The soldiers noticed the soldiers in front and saluted as they all came to a stop. "I need medical personnel. We got an unconscious traveler." The guard nodded as his eyes shimmered.
"They're coming. Let's bring the patient over to the side." The guard motioned. Keng stepped over and motioned at the unconscious body. He pulled her to the side where it was safe. "You can set her down here."
"Alright, sir." Keng nodded. He set down the girl and returned back to his group.
"Travelers coming here at this time?" The female soldier asked. "Don't you know there's high ranking monsters?"
"Yeah, we heard." Lee Seng replied. "We needed to deliver this chest."
"Can I see forms of ID for all of you? Do you have any paperwork for the chest? Who's it going to?" The male soldier next to the female asked. The group plucked their forged IDs out and handed it over.
"These IDs are going out of fashion." The female soldier told the group. "They're quite old and they seem like they're expiring soon. You should get your stuff digitized." She collected each ID while Lee Seng handed the note to the male soldier.
"An old man wanted this delivered to Mr. Wolkwitz. Said he'd know what to do with it." Lee Seng explained. The soldier read the note and nodded.
"You have the fee?"
Ritsuka moved up to the front and handed the card to the soldier. The soldier took it and watched the card light up, disappearing.
"Correct amount." The soldier nodded. "It seems like the man you're running this errand for does this alot." The male soldier looked to the female who checked each person's ID.
"Alright. Everything checks out. I would get these dealt with before it becomes a problem. You're free to go in. Once you come out, you'll need to get rescanned back in." The Female soldier explained.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Is there anywhere affordable to stay here?" Manny asked. "We could use the rest."
"And a shower." Liz grumbled.
"There's plenty of places you can stay. There's a board through those gates that will tell you where to go." The woman replied. She divvied out the cards and stood next to the male soldier. Sirens grew loud as medical personnel flew through on hoverboards. They landed on the ground, grabbing their hoverboards.
"Where's the patient?" Medic one asked. The third soldier motioned at the girl on the ground. The medics moved over and set their hoverboards aside. They pulled out a pole and linked the poles together, watching it grow into a stretcher. They slid the stretcher underneath the girl and lifted her up. They pulled their hoverboards over, getting on them and zipping away.
"Whoa, hoverboard medics." Manny geeked out. "I want one of those."
"Do you know where we could get creds for a monster?" Lee Seng asked the male soldier.
"The nearest one or the one that'll give you a bang for your buck?" The male soldier asked.
"Anything that would take a stoned Cerberus."
The nearby soldiers all looked at each other and then to the group.
"You killed… an A-rank Cerberus?" The female soldier asked. Lee Seng and the group nodded.
"Barely." Ritsuka answered.
"You're going towards the Farago Guild anyways. If you follow the main road for six blocks, you'll see the Farago Guild. It's in the center of the city. You can get it deposited there and see Mr. Wolkwitz."
"Good luck trying to get him, though." the female soldier said. "He's a busy man."
"Mmm, an S-ranker like him is always busy with helping that Guild out." The male soldier nodded.
"If you guys killed an A-rank monster, you could probably help with the monster infestation problem." The third soldier spoke up. "It's been a pain keeping the monsters at bay at night." The soldiers all agreed.
"What's… wrong?" Keng asked. "At night?"
"Yeah…" The female soldier cleared her throat. "There's been waves of monsters at night."
"Ask the Guild about that when you go see them." The third soldier told them. "I'm sure they would pay a premium price for your services."