It took a little while for the group to reconvene. Higgins and Damian had to wait for Alex and the rest to join them. It surprisingly didn't take long for Elaina to catch up, just a minute or two longer than Alex.

  "Wow! That was unbelievable! I'm not sure if I've ever seen a group of people combine their skills in such a way~. But it was effective! I think you shaved off an hour of walking."

  "We'll need to do that several more times to reach the nearest town. Although I don't think you'll have it in you to continue like this to the nearest city with a Valkyrie."

  They, in fact, did not have the strength to continue their crazy method of travel. After two more attempts, both Alex and Higgins had exhausted their mana pools. Instead of doping with potions, they decided to take a break.

  Their crazy travel method should make tracking them with skills much harder. However, tracking them with the naked eye would have been incredibly easy. One blue-winged individual was flying through the sky, while another five were being dragged by what seemed like ropes. Even if people reported this to the military, Damian had hoped they might dismiss it as a delusion.

  Hmm. Is that a valid method to confuse your enemy? Act so outrageous that they wouldn't believe it?... Don't let them know your next move? And if they know, they won't believe it. Ha! Crazy. An illusion specialist would benefit from this kind of thought, like Ms. Sanderson.

  I wonder what she's up to.

  When walking down the drainage tunnel, Damian and his group had discussed what might have happened. When he mentioned that she had covered up the scene of the royal castle destruction, it was clear that she did something similar to Captain Ender. She could have let them take the lead in clearing rooms while creating false tracks for them to follow.

  It was unclear, though, if she slipped past the undead who were on the 50th floor or took them out while they were distracted by the Commander and his men.

  Regardless, she wasn't going to be able to hand off the bodies to a Valkyrie. The only hope was if one of her commanding officers, a General or above, could override the orders given by General Oseers.

  But given the capital's chaotic state, that was wishful thinking. Plus, when they asked Higgins, they learned that Ms. Sanderson's former command is on the front lines with the Fire Empire—another barrier for aid.

  'sigh'

  "What's wrong now? Oh! Other than everything! Psh! Hahaha." It seemed that Frey had had a little too much stimulation from, well, everything.

  "Just thinking about the situation in the city and that Tier 7 wraith at the royal castle. Seeing it again, while flying, was something else. I was wondering how they would deal with it. Those nobles probably aren't happy that a wraith is using their seat of power for, well, a seat."

  "Psh! Hahaha" "Bahahaha" "Hehehe" "Psh! Hohoho" "Pft!" Damian didn't mean for his comment to get so many laughs. Even Fergus let out a quick chuckle, quite a rare sighting.

  "Ahh~ That's a fun way to look at things," Elaina commented. "But if I had to make a guess, they'll be hiring as many dismantlers as possible to get that thing wrapped up quickly. Then they'll have it converted into weapons and armor to support the war effort."

  "If what you said about those wraiths is true, and they were all created from imperial soldiers, the Union will probably publicize that information to outrage them."

  "Who would want to hear that your clansmen got turned into a wraith and are now being used to fuel the weapons fighting your own nation. That's pretty fucked up now that I say it out loud."

  Everyone looked down at their new armor and weapons. Oh...

  "Psh! Oh, don't worry about that. You don't even know what clan your wraith came from, or if it even came from an imperial soldier. I doubt anyone could tell where it really came from after getting processed like that~."

  "Do you think it's wrong?" Donna inquired.

  "Not at all, sweetie~. You'll need every advantage you can to get by in this world. Just don't feel too bad if it ever happens to you. I've always been a firm believer that whatever you do unto others, you have no right to complain if the same is done unto you."

  "... ..."

  How would I feel if I had to use a Frey-made weapon? Gastly! What about an Isaac-made armor that would protect Donna? That would be a little bit fitting, I think. Still messed up as all hell. Let's not think about this anymore.

  "If that ever happens to me... I want you all to use my wraith for the best equipment possible." Donna stated firmly. She was considering the situation far more seriously than the rest of the group.

  "Same here." "Me as well." "Yeah, just do whatever with my wraith." "Hm!" Everyone seemed to approve of the sentiment, even Higgins, with a grunt. They barely knew her, but she fit right in.

  "Yeah, sure. Why the hell not?" The group declaration swayed Damian.

  Elaina, meanwhile, remained silent, staring at her sister with worry.

  "Ok then, has everyone rested up enough? I think we can make it to a smaller town before the sun goes down. I personally wouldn't want to camp out tonight."

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  Everyone agreed with that.

  ***

  Damian was flying once again through the air, trailing behind everyone else. Looking down, he could see Elaina speedily running down the forest path. She was nearly as fast as their method of flight. The only reason she took a little bit to catch up last time was that she stood still to watch the spectacle.

  She has to have a speed enhancement as one of her skills. What else could she have? Why's she hiding them from us? Frey probably knows.

  ?! Where'd she go? Damian was watching her, but in a moment of spacing out, he had lost track of her.

  As he was spinning around to see where she had gone, he could see something glinting in the air off in the distance.

  "? ... !!!"

  Damian swiftly pulled his new sword out of its sheath and held it up. An arrow was trailing from a distance and was headed straight for him!

  "We're under attack! Archer!" Damian shouted, hoping that the rest of his group could hear him over the roaring wind.

  The arrow was speeding up and headed right for his head. In practiced movement, Damian slashed at the arrow. As his sword was just about to make contact with the point of the arrow, he could feel it shifting ever so slightly to go around his blade.

  Shit!

  Damian immediately turned ethereal, and the arrow passed through his form. As it was in the center of his being, he focused and reemerged from his wind form. In a split second, he realized that if it went through him, it would hit someone else.

  By reforming as the arrow was still passing through him, his reemerging form would shift the arrow considerably. As it turned out, as some weird side effect of his skill, almost all of the momentum of the attack was lost.

  Unfortunately, Damian not only dodged the arrow, but he also broke the tether that Alex had connected to him. He quickly started to plummet toward the treeline below.

  "Shiiiiiiittttttt!"

  Damian spun through the air and shifted into his wind form before slamming into the ground. He was now in the middle of a dirt road with trees lining both sides.

  Looking up toward his party, they, too, were now plummeting down toward the ground. Instead of Frey disconnecting from Alex and being used as a tether point, they were starting to use their plan B for a landing.

  Donna was summoning all the water she had stored from the reservoir, and it surrounded the group. As they got closer to the ground, she channeled her power upward with all her might to slow their speed. Damian could even see an ice platform within the bubble they were now standing on. They were going to land well ahead of him.

  "!!!" He could feel another arrow enter his sensing range.

  Damian started to dodge, but as his form was leaning to one side, he could feel the arrow readjust to hit him.

  Damn fucking archers!

  Instead, Damian started to switch his momentum to swing his saber at the arrow, but this time, he held it sideways. Hopefully, the bastard controlling this thing couldn't change its direction by too much.

  *CLANG* Damian's arm was pushed back by the large force he met. He was able to stop the arrow, but his arm was numb from the exchange.

  "Take cover in the tree line! This bastard has tracking arrows!" Again, Damian screamed at the top of his lungs in hopes his party could hear him.

  In a dash, he jumped into the tree line and used the trees as cover. His senses were running at their maximum, trying to figure out where his enemy was.

  Where the hell did Elaina go? Hopefully, she'll take this bastard out.

  From the exchange Damian had with the arrow, he felt that this opponent could be at an upper tier 5 or even tier 6.

  Best to regroup.

  Damian rushed through the trees like a gust. Again, his senses could feel an arrow carving its way through the middle of the road. And once again, it took a sharp turn and started to head straight for him.

  Mother Fucker!

  Again, he swung his sword to meet the arrow, but this time, when the side of his blade met it, he was pushed back. The force behind the arrow was two or three times as great.

  Damian was actually lifted off his feet and slammed into a tree behind him. Not only did the arrow push him into the tree, but it was suspending him off the ground with a constant force.

  I'm pinned!

  Instead of becoming too reliant on his Wind Form, to conserve mana, Damian started to push wind blades out of his sword. The blades quickly danced to the arrow and spun around its shaft, quickly cutting it to shreds. With that, he fell back to the ground.

  This guy is dangerous... Could there be more? Shit!

  He quickly got up and continued his mad dash to his allies. If he instead turned to chase down the archer, even if he was successful, he didn't think Frey would let him off the hook so easily another time.

  As he sprinted, he could see that his friends were fine. Higgins was with them, holding up her shield, ready to face any threat. With a hop, he made his way in between them all.

  "Are you ok?!" Frey worriedly questioned.

  "Yeah, the arrows this person shoots can change direction and are very powerful. One of them pinned me against a tree while my blade blocked it."

  "!" Everyone was already alert and on the lookout for danger, but this information doubled their efforts.

  "Above!" Fergus cried out.

  In the sky were five floating arrows. They hovered above, unmoving. Then a sixth one shot out from down the road and joined the others. All of the arrows immediately made a sharp turn toward the party and shot forth—each one, aiming for a different member.

  Damian jumped in front of Frey, and the arrow tagged onto him shifted slightly to follow him.

  "Everyone in a line!"

  Damian lined up behind Higgins, followed by the rest of his party. Frey and Donna shot out spells at the arrows in hopes of destroying them, but the arrows penetrated their attacks. Their lightning-enhanced spells did nothing to slow their speed.

  Alex stomped on the ground, and a large chunk of earth shot up to meet the speeding arrows. They collided midair, and her attack was burst apart. But it wasn't for not, three of the arrows lost their momentum.

  An ethereal shield was summoned before Higgins and caught the last three. The arrows were stopped, but they were still trying to bore through her shield. Damian stepped out, cut the shafts, and they fell to the ground, powerless.

  "Any ideas?!" Damian asked in a slight panic. What the hell has Elaina been so occupied with? There's no way she would abandon her sister.

  "If we can get a visual, I can use my new spell!" Frey answered.

  As it was, Alex didn't have any more javelins; the last of them were destroyed at the Spire. Her control over her new sword's attack wasn't very precise either. Frey was their main firepower and had a near-instantaneous skill that should be able to take down the archer.

  Donna also had range, but her skills were too slow. There was also Fergus's rebound, but Damian would have preferred to save that as a trump card.

  "Move into the road!" Damian ordered. They kept their formation behind Higgins and peered down the road. They didn't see anyone. Just the empty path.

  As Damian kept his eyes peeled, he could see an arrow launched from the forest and into the open sky. It hovered, waiting for a command.