"Noooo! Big brother!" Hope scread as she ran towards the place Muku crashed on. The others scread too and were also running toward him. But her voice was so loud she covered up everyone else's.
Her body was already glowing a gentle green as she prepared to heal him instantly. She was so scared she'd be too late that she was finding it hard to breathe. Yet that didn't affect her spell casting.
She suddenly felt soone lift her up. Which turned out to be Audrey, who was just as worried as her and felt she wasn't running fast enough. Which, of course, she wasn't opposed to. The quicker she reached him the better.
"Hallowed Ground! Overcharge!" Hope imdiately cast her best healing spell with all of her remaining mana. She wasn't even sure if it would be strong enough since she had already used a significant amount of her mana.
An overwhelming magic presence exploded out of her. She used every ounce of power she had. She had only taken a glance at Muku's state and she was horrified.
His armour was completely gone on his chest. His skin wasn't spared either. His chest was so injured that his ribs were faintly visible behind the flesh. There was a semi-visible red mist coming out of his chest area, which seed to be fighting back the healing power of her spell.
The others just stood around him with worried expressions and tears in their eyes. They felt so powerless and useless for not being able to react in ti.
The emotion that stood out most in all of them was fear. Muku's breath was faint and it seed like he could die at any ti. His situation seed to be even worse than the ti he suffered a backlash from his bloodline.
"Ares that bastard! One day I will make him pay..." Layla, who was the last one to arrive on the scene, spoke to herself.
Her body was still weak from having used her best spell recently. So even if she had managed to see Ares' avatar before he attacked, she still wouldn't have been able to do anything. Despite knowing that she still blad herself just as much as the others.
"Let's go. We can't stay here anymore," Audrey, who was trying to stay calm for the sake of the whole group, spoke.
She then corrupted a few of the Half-step R2 Ants that had survived. Which beca their transport since Muku was out of commission. The ants didn't even resist. They had long been stunned stiff by all the strong auras around them to the point that they couldn't move their limps.
Soon everyone was on the backs of crimson ants heading back. While Muku's group were afraid for his life. The stadium won were scared for their lives.
They just realised that even soone as strong as Muku wasn't safe in the apocalypse. Which pretty much shuttered all the confidence they were slowly building up.
The ride back to the stadium was a very gloomy one. Completely different from the morning before when they went for the hunt. The few unlucky rank-one beasts they t on the way were killed off in the most horrifying ways.
One had half of its body burned off and left to die. Another one, which was a LR1, had a bolt strong enough to strike down a peak. Half-step R2 struck it down. Another one had its blood drained out of its body through its pores while still alive.
The girls were trying to vent their emotions on the poor beasts. Which didn't even know what was happening. Layla, Hope and Jade would have probably tried sothing, too, if one wasn't completely out of mana and the other two were unconscious.
That's right, Hope had used all her power to the point that she fainted. The worst part, it didn't seem to have done anything to improve Muku's state. The red mist was a lot stronger than they all thought.
What was surprising was how they couldn't tell what kind of energy it was. They knew for certain that it was different from their mana or Jade's Beast Aura. But other than that, nothing.
All this suggested that Ares was a creature they shouldn't ss with. But after what he did, they will definitely have their revenge, or die trying.
....
At Ares' residence...
"Hmm? It seems that the attack did not kill that human. How comndable. But he will die soon enough. There's nothing they can do to fight against my power after all. Sadly, I can't find another suitable host in such a short ti, or I would have gone to finish them off" Ares' main body, which had just taken its focus back from the human world, spoke to itself.
He had actually been lucky to find the little ape so soon. Beings of his strength level have issues finding compatible hosts for their imnse power. Even if it's only a little of it. Its quality was not sothing any average body could take.
While he could adjust humans to his preference in so cases. He couldn't do the sa with beasts. And even the humans he adjusts couldn't take it for long.
As for waiting for the world to evolve a bit more, giving him more leeway to do what he wants. That seed too long for him. Even if ti was inconsequential to him, he still wanted to get it done as soon as possible. And what if the humans died before the world evolved enough? Wouldn't he be left with a lot of regrets then?
"Maybe I can get soone to help with their avatar or servants" Ares spoke to himself again. Thinking of who he should ask for the favour from.
"Damn! I don't think anyone would be willing. And I would also practically be revealing my failure to deal with those ants myself. Those humans should count themselves lucky to be able to live a little longer. The death of their leader should be enough for now" Ares continued for a while before closing his eyes and returning to his resting state.
...
The next morning at the mansion...
"How is his condition?" Emily asked Audrey who had been the one taking care of Muku all night.
"His condition has not changed. Which is more good than bad if you look at the situation. After all, there's nothing we can do if the situation gets worse," Audrey, who had cald down more after a whole night, spoke.
"Oh okay... Can I go see him?" Emily asked Audrey for permission.
"Sure, no need to ask . You can go whenever you want. Also, how are the other two?" Audrey replied naturally, not seeing any reason to stop her. She then proceeded to ask about Hope and Jade who also had yet to wake up.
"Jade's condition is improving. But very slowly. I don't know when she will wake up. As for Hope, you will have to ask Chloe" Emily replied, giving Audrey an update on Jade.
The green veins that had popped out of Jade's body were still there. Just that they seed to have receded a little. Making Emily hopeful that she was getting better.
"Hope is also getting better. Her breathing is less laboured now. But tears co out of her eyes every now and then" Chloe spoke sadly, not waiting to be asked.
She could, after all, understand the pain Hope was going through. She had lost all her family at once. Finally got a new family. But now it seed like that family was going to leave her as well. The worst part, her power, which she was so proud of, couldn't do anything to improve the situation.
So for her to cry even while unconscious was understandable. Muku situation likely hurt her more than anyone else. Even if they were all hurt terribly.
"Oh okay. At least the situation isn't getting any worse" Audrey accepted the situation for what it was. They do say that misfortune cos in groups after all... Or sothing like that.
"So what now?" Emily asked, not having an idea of what they should do next.
"Nothing. For now, we can only wait for Hope and Jade to wake up before deciding on what to do next. And without Muku, we can't move the mansion, so we're basically grounded here," Layla replied before Audrey could.
She had been quieter than usual since they returned. In fact, that was the first ti she spoke since the previous evening.
"Yes, what Layla said makes sense. We'll do that" Audrey supported her. She was thinking of sothing along those lines anyway.
"I guess we can use this ti to catch up on our ditation... If we can manage to focus" Chloe spoke, suggesting sothing they could do while they wait. If they did nothing, they would probably be crushed under the weight of their own thoughts.
"Yeah, we'll do that" Emily agreed. And Layla imdiately walked away, going toward her room. So it was safe to say she agreed too and was going to do the sa.
And so, the usually jolly mansion suddenly beca gloomy and serious.
Even little Elsa joined in the ditation. Of course, her reason was different. She was doing it to realise so of her potential. Hopefully, it would work...
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