Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 762: Night’s Not Yet Over

The night before the war, Raven watched Hilma teleport away after stepping out of her tent. She seemed devoid of all emotions and held within her arms two bags full of gore. One, her nephew and the other, his ex-girlfriend. Bound inside bags with their bodies held within bandages, the deceased were carried back to Asteradia to be buried in the land in which they were born.

But what surprised Raven more than the sudden departure was the fact that Hilma didn’t tell a soul that she was heading off; instead, she’d waited until late at night so she could get away undetected. Then why come out of the tent at all? That question roamed inside Raven’s head. Perhaps she subconsciously wanted to be seen and stopped, or maybe it was plain oversight on her part. But if she wants to be seen, then that means...

’She wants someone to come after her.’ That much was clear to the general, but with the mantle on his shoulders and the furry coat around his neck, Raven knew that he had bigger responsibilities to attend to. And yet at the same time, his mind kept going back to Hilma. ’Tch..I can’t send anyone either, we need all hands on deck–in just a few hours we’re gonna be facing the worst of the demon general’s force and possibly him as well.’

Turning on foot, Raven looked into the distance at the inferno that had been brought about by Arche’s torching of the brambles. The screams and screeches of horrors echoed in his head, and while many new soldiers were struggling, the veterans were helping them stay on their feet and also killing the burning horrors.

Guiding the elite and the holy order were Regalia and Erika, each supported by their underlings, with Choux riding overhead on her dragon and pointing out any loose horrors. As for the elven sisters and Amedith, as well as Liliyana, they remained in the middle of the chaos, aiding the group as was necessary. Raven, on the other hand, had his mind connected with far too many people for him to count, and through it, with the help of the glove made by Meimei–he was keeping an eye on sneaking monsters, horrors, as well as the demon general himself.

Split between two spaces, one the surveillance and the other issuing orders, Raven decided that it was time for him to join the fight. But before he could, he had to find out where everyone was.

’Aradin’s group, Shamisha, Frazer’s family, Rose and the others, Dandy too.’ Sensing them being correctly stationed at the very back of, Raven tried looking for Mono, but she always seemed to be off on her own kind of adventure. ’Whatever, where’s Flitza and the djinns?’

In just a moment, Raven found them arguing about something in the middle of the battle. Brushing them out of his head, he reminded himself of everything that had been left behind in the city of Eclanor. Maria, Hayley, Amelia, Ophelia and the trio of older women still living in that inn. The very last that came to his mind were Mercedes, the Twin, as well as Jess, Linkle, and Darius, all of whom were constantly working with a hefty number of workers, helping them. Linkle and Jess were on potion-making duty, while Darius was inscribing scrolls, and Mercedes and the Twin were responsible for logistics.

’Elana and the prince are in their ethereal form, so that should be everyone that I need to keep track of.’ Finally opening his eyes, Raven quickly teleported next to the elven sisters. Blocking a quick strike by what appeared to be a plant-type horror with rotting branches with eyes that had teeth at the eyelids, he wasn’t given even a second’s time to prepare himself any further.

"Quite the party, eh?" Slashing the horror with a monstrous dark arm appearing from his shadow, Raven spared a quick glance at his party members as they were surrounded by numerous horrors that had specifically decided to corner them.

"I thought you wouldn’t show up," Amedith complained, his eyes rolling over as a storm of silver blades tore through the ethereal monsters to his front. Phasing through the blades, however, many of the horrors charged at the party still, but with Aria’s necrotic magic, they were quickly stopped in their tracks by phantasmal flying hands of deep emerald, grabbing them by their very core.

"Talk later, we need to clear them for the rookies!" The dark elf exclaimed, all the while, Mel was the only one helping the rest of the surrounding army by standing in mid-air as if she were standing atop a flight of stairs.

With woodland magic and the burning vines, she orchestrated the perfect chaotic symphony for the slaughter of such horrors. Every time a rookie was about to be hurt, every time someone’s mind was about to be invaded, her senses connected to the very root of these plants, helped her slap it away with a burning hand.

Admittedly, having to keep her eyes closed to control every summon and vine was quite the toll, but since she loomed above the most capable in the army, and the holy order disarming most of the horrors that could get inside one’s head, she was safer than most people on the frontline.

"Something’s off..." Slashing through more and more of such horrors, Melicia began making some connection in her head. "These guys, they feel too easy to kill–it’s almost like none of the greater horrors even want to come out and face us."

Opening her eyes, Mel looked down at Raven momentarily.

"What’s going on? Where’s all the mind-fucking ones? The kind that turns your skin into wood or infests your insides with maggots and horrid dreams?"

"Ughh...Shut up, Mel!!" Aria yelled, shivering at the mere thought of maggots being under her skin for the hundredth time.

"She’s–" Turning just his arm into his fae form, Raven crushed the spiked head of a horror with finger–sized humans howling with cries. "She’s right, something’s off."

Jerking his hand to the side to clean it off, he couldn’t help but think back to the only person who could’ve been responsible for such help.

’Mono...What the fuck are you up to?’