Chapter 89: Synergy between the devils.

Chapter 89 - Synergy between the devils.The initial charge went well.

Thorax slammed the tortoise shell in two surprised beasts, and Arax immediately decapitated them after Lee commanded the group to turn left. But the cow sized porcupines were an annoying bunch. They didn't simply curl up and stay still, in hopes the attacker would retreat after realizing it was impossible to hurt them.

In a blink of an eye they surrounded the four, although didn't immediately attack.

In few moments it became clear why. The quills the beasts were covered in turned crimson, and even from several yards away Lee felt the heat coming from them.

"Fire sparks!" Thorax exclaimed, but Lee's shout to focus calmed him down a bit.

"Forward!" Lee commanded, seeing they had to take the initiative, and the devil holding the shell crashed into the beasts that were barring their way.

Lee heard Arax's happy cheer after chopping a beast at the right side, but two others that half-dashed, half-rolled at him and Jiraxa were the actual danger.

He shouted, "Left!"

Thorax's reaction was quick, and he managed to bock the two, but his advancement was stopped by the impact. But at this moment the two brothers showed why they were capable of surviving for so long.



The one holding the tortoise shell slightly turned more to the left, bending in knees and lowering the shell as if covering himself, Lee and Jiraxa, but the other took three steps out of formation, made a cleaving motion that afterwards transformed into another chop, and immediately returned to his previous spot.

"To the right!" Arax commanded, and his brother immediately turned, preventing another beast rolling in the group. But afterwards, without saying anything, he quickly returned to his earlier position, and Arax killed the dazed beast in one hit.

And then the real fight began.

The two brothers charged and turned, stopped and charged again, while the beasts got smacked with the tortoise shell and relieved of their dizziness by Arax's sword right after. Lee was speechless watching the two fight – the synergy they had was nothing he had seen in his lives.

Once upon the time he was incredibly proud of his and Lisa's ability to understand each other without words, but these guys were on a completely different level. In few moves they grasped Lee's idea and quickly adapted it to their own convenience. And that included the utilization of the heavy, burdensome item they had never used before.

As Arax took over the command, it became Lee's and Jiraxa's task to follow and not mess up. In fact, Lee wasn't certain whether the battle crazy devils would notice if they stepped out of formation and landed on the scorching quills. The pace of the fight was so quick, he barely managed to keep up.

Actually, this was Lee's first time fighting beasts – the animals he hunted in the previous life didn't count. The ferocious creatures capable of igniting an elemental spark were opponent anyone had to take seriously. In fact, it was hard to imagine how one could fight them without possessing their own spark.

The brothers did their best to follow Lee's advice, and used the powers sparingly. On the way to the valley he mentioned them that while the sparks made them strong and fast, by overusing them they might not live long enough to receive another item from Lunax.

The side effect the sparks had was the common knowledge, but while the members of vanguard were generally happy to extinguish their own lives in the name of the God, the regular treasure hunters were not as much.

Formally it was a norm, and everyone was expected to die for Lunax. Instinctively they knew their twilight years would be incredibly miserable – there were not that many old people in Ashland, and their lives weren't anything someone was jealous about.

The fight with beasts lasted a while and the longer it went, the more obvious it became Thorax had hard time moving around with the heavy shell and, probably, even holding it. Fortunately, with more beasts killed, the pressure lessened, and when the last beast fell, he slumped on the ground, panting, but loudly laughing.

"You're amazing, Leaxa!" He managed to say between bursts of laughter, "It was the most fun I had in years!"

Lee wasn't as happy, but felt relieved for sure. Obviously, he knew he had very little to do with the squad's success, but the higher opinion the devils had of him, the better the chances were to manipulate them in order to get back safely. In addition, currently he was more interested in the quality of water that was in the pond.

While his brother was resting, Arax already proceeded to split the corpses of the beasts open to gather the sparks. These seemed to be of a higher quality compared to the ones the lizards had, but Arax's dissatisfied expression was a sure sign they weren't good enough.

Nevertheless, they landed in the same wooden box to be delivered to the caretaker the next morning.

Meanwhile Jiraxa was still trying to process what just transpired. She was already tired, but all the constant dashing, stopping and turning made her nauseated.

Seeing her condition, Lee asked the brothers to lift up the tortoise shell, support it with the Arax's sword so Jiraxa could hide in the shadow. She fell asleep the moment she hid from the scorching rays of sun, and Lee heaved a sigh of relief – no one thought of requesting him to heal her, at least not yet.

The water in the pond was dark and hot. It wasn't at the boiling temperature, but Lee was certain he could make a coup of tee ... well ... if he had both – a cup and tea. The high temperature helped to resist the urge to jump in, but it didn't lessen the thirst.

For a while Lee stared at the water and weighted his options. Then said, "Arax, if I pass out, carry me and Jiraxa back to the rift, please!"



Before the guy could answer, Lee scooped a handful of water, and drank.

It was unexpectedly sweet, but he didn't swallow it right away. He closed his eyes and focused on the blue spark in his abdomen, and then began to guide the blue mist upwards, towards his mouth. His idea was that if there were any poisonous substances in it, the power of the spark might purify them.

Surprisingly there were no peculiar reactions, and wherever the blue mist went, it continuously fought with the filth that was already within his body. It was almost as if it ignored the water on purpose, and after few more tests, Lee finally swallowed it.

It was only a small mouthful, but to Lee it was the tastiest water he had ever drunk. While still hot, it was refreshing and sweet, and after a short consideration Lee decided to throw the cautiousness away.

With the words fuck it!, he took his empty waterskin bag, and began to fill it up while scooping the water with his free hand, and drinking it directly. The two brothers watched him in confusion, but then both nodded to each other, and also began to fill their waterskin bags.

"You witches are really experienced." Arax said with a sigh, watching the water fill up the waterskin, "I would've never imagined we could eat the stew this way. Obviously there are some leftovers in the bags, and while it will be watery, and not as good as the fresh stew we get at home, at least we can eat something. Two days of fighting on an empty stomach is tiring."

Thorax was nodding in agreement, but Lee was at loss of words, not certain how to comment on that. In the end he ignored them, drank some more water, and went over to fill Jiraxa's waterskin as well.

"I guess we shouldn't stay here." Lee said.

Contrary to what the devils thought, he wasn't particularly experienced, but it was obvious that the blood and dead bodies will soon attract more beasts. The two brothers expressed their agreement, but to Lee's despair it seemed they intended to proceed further in the hills.

His attention, though, was drawn by the peculiar plants growing around the pond. Earlier he didn't notice them because of how thirsty he was, but now when the long, thin leaves in the color of the ground caught his eye, they suddenly felt familiar.