Chapter 273: Mission Failed
Eric took a deep breath.
The four enemies charged at the same time.
"Back!" Auric shouted while jumping back. Eric did the same after hearing his command.
This small leap gave Auric the precious time he needed to unleash his power. A massive metal wall emerged from the ground, stopping the two people on the right.
They looked at each other before circling the wall in different directions.
One of them ended up joining the other two enemies, while the other one was isolated.
Eric immediately intercepted the isolated guy with his scythe.
"Don’t underestimate me." The guy unleashed his power and blasted Eric back.
"Gah!" Eric spat blood, but he managed to land smoothly on his feet. At the very least, his enemy stopped for two seconds.
Auric used that time to launch a bolt of lightning.
Forced by Eric to unleash his power earlier, the guy had no choice but to avoid it, but Auric followed up by summoning roots from the ground, circling around his wrists and ankles. The roots were covered with the wind element, which produced a burst that tried to shred his legs and arms.
The wind blast didn’t manage to tear apart his limbs, but it certainly left a lot of smaller cuts.
"Haaaa!" The guy gathered his energy to neutralize Auric’s power, but Eric had already recovered and rushed toward him again.
"!!!" The guy was startled and threw himself to the side, but it was one step too late. Eric’s scythe cut his arm.
’Kh. This guy... He might not stand out, but he’s so annoying. If he were a rank 3 human, I would have died.’
The enemies didn’t expect Auric’s group to be this strong.
Eric harrumphed and leaped back to regroup with Auric because he noticed that the three other people were about to catch up.
Auric and Eric leaped in the same direction. They moved in sync as though they had been fighting together for decades.
While it was true that they hadn’t known each other for that long, they were rivals who had learned from each other.
That was why they knew each other’s movements.
Auric raised his hand and formed a massive fireball before tossing it toward the three people.
One of them leaped into the air and cut the fireball in two, allowing the other two to rush toward Eric.
Eric scooped up the ground, which turned into a blood wave, trying to stop them.
Unfortunately, Eric had used a bit too much of his power, so there wasn’t much energy left in his body. He couldn’t put the normal amount of energy into this blood wave.
As a result, the enemies cut through it and continued as if nothing had happened.
However, both Eric and Auric knew how much energy had been put into this blood wave.
That was why both of them actually leaped to the side, using the blood wave as a smokescreen.
By the time the enemies cut through the blood wave, Auric and Eric were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are they?"
They looked around, and one of them pointed to the left. "There they are!"
"Chase them!"
"So annoying!"
They never thought catching two rank 2 humans would be so hard.
’How can this be? How are they able to fight like this?’
...
The same question crossed in the extraction team leader’s head.
’What is going on? How did the situation end up like this?’ He gritted his teeth. He was having a hard time against Gloria, who had spent a lot of energy from the previous fight.
’This unknown woman... How can she be so strong? How about the others? Team 2 has been eliminated. Team 1 and Team 3 are about to be eliminated as well. In addition, our plan of using the beasts to weaken them didn’t seem to work. Judging from the traces, they had used these beasts to their advantage.
Their plan was rather simple. Because of the small turbulence, a small beast outbreak would occur.
They would use this outbreak to waste the energy of Auric’s team. In addition, this outbreak would prevent the military from reaching this place as they had a lot more places to handle.
That was why the time limit was ten minutes. Five minutes would be used to let the beasts force Auric and his team to spend thirty to fifty percent of their energy. The other five minutes would be used to capture Auric with their own hands.
After capturing Auric, they would call the extraction team and leave this place. This would be the best scenario.
Yet, they were on the verge of losing.
The beast outbreak managed to drain their energy, but it wasn’t as much as they had expected. In addition, Auric actually used the beast outbreak to his own advantage.
He sealed Team 1’s movements. In this scenario, Team 2 and Team 3 were still more than enough to handle Auric’s team.
After all, Auric was forced to ask his teammates to stop the beasts while the others focused on Team 2 and Team 3.
Yet, the Shadow Guards appeared out of nowhere, eliminating Team 3 upon arrival.
The Shadow Guards managed to help Auric’s team and turned the tide.
There were two variables that they didn’t expect. The first was Gloria.
They never thought Gloria would be so strong that she could ruin their plan. Gloria had killed a few of their members and skillfully completed the task. If not for her having crippled Team 1 before the extraction team arrived, the battle situation would have been much different.
The second was Auric. He had seen Auric’s combat ability, but Auric was actually much stronger than what had been shown. He had also unleashed both the fire element and the unique element.
Still, the biggest variable was his commanding ability. If not for him controlling the battlefield, they wouldn’t be in such a miserable position.
He stopped the sneak attack and even knew where they were coming from.
Of course, the rest of the team was exceptional as well.
Katarina was the most stable. She enabled Auric to make crazy plans because she would be there to stop any variables. If she hadn’t stopped Team 2, Auric’s plan would have failed from the start.
Vera was versatile and could be positioned everywhere. She didn’t stand out too much in this battle, but she had stopped a rank 4 human and even fought a few rank 3 enemies.
Ellia also used her unique vision as well as Void Step to position herself in the perfect space, which covered the holes in Auric’s plan. Without her, they could take advantage of a few holes in Auric’s plan.
But their achievement paled in comparison to Eric’s. Eric fought as if he were a beast and eliminated the first group of beasts with his physical strength alone. He conserved that energy to kill the rest of the beasts before helping Auric flee from the enemy.
’This doesn’t look good. Can we still turn the situation around?’ The leader of the extraction team examined the battlefield.
In just a single glance, he already had his answer. ’It’s impossible. Should we retreat? Retreat is good, but in this scenario... I guess this is the end for me. If I return, I will be executed for failing this mission. In that case, it’s better to drag at least this woman with me.’
He took a deep breath before taking out a radio. "Mission failed. I repeat, mission failed! Auric Elfe has shown his fire and unique elements. He may also have water, light, and dark elements hidden. Bew—"
Gloria’s body shook when her opponent took out the radio and started blabbering everything.
She increased her intensity and cut down the arm holding the radio.
"Hahaha! I’m taking you with me!" The guy suddenly stopped and opened his coat, showing the bomb strapped to his body.
"!!!" Gloria was startled. She thought they had used all the bombs they had to cause the previous explosion, but it looked like they hadn’t.
This was an extraction team. If necessary, they would sacrifice their lives to stop any pursuers.
In other words, the leader was ready to sacrifice himself in case a strong person from the military came.
And this time, he used this bomb to drag Gloria down with him.
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred in the area.
"!!!" Everyone was quite shocked. They couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward that direction, trying to figure out what happened.
Suddenly, a silhouette emerged from the smoke.
"Tsk. I guess this shield has just saved my life." Gloria let out a breath of relief and dropped the shield to the ground. Massive cracks spread across on its surface, so it was obvious she couldn’t use it anymore.
But it was still the shield that protected her life from the bomb.
Gloria looked around and shouted, "Watch out! They might have a bomb!"
The Shadow Guards turned grim and became even more cautious.
After assessing the situation, Gloria knew what she needed to do next. She immediately rushed toward Auric.
Auric noticed her movement thanks to the God Mode. He released his own explosion and amplified it using his wind element, blinding the four enemies.
"Khhh!" They covered their bodies with barriers, while Auric and Eric halted their steps. Eric didn’t know why Auric chose to stand his ground here, but the answer came a moment later.
As the four people emerged from the explosion, Gloria appeared from the right and stabbed one of them, destroying his body.
"Huuu..." Gloria let out a breath of relief. She smiled. "You guys are next!"
Auric couldn’t help but smile and mutter, "We won."