(Ez!)
Laura's voice sounded like thunder as it rang in Ezekiel's ear, jolting him awake and into a battle stance, his Battlesuit booting up from its standby mode.
His eyes were a bit unfocused as he glanced about vigilantly, noting only the still resting Vahn and Yuri but the fatigue in his eyes finally dissipated as he felt the earth trembling beneath his feet. "What's going on, Laura?"
(There must be several awakened having a battle. It has actually gone on for a while, but the battle site is quite far and didn't affect us so I didn't wake you up. Problem is, the shockwaves are getting stronger and closer. I didn't want to risk the possibility of the cave collapsing on your heads.)
By now, Vahn and Yuri—who were more sensitive to mana—had already woken up, their expressions cold as they stared at the passage that led deeper into the cave. The mechanic was unable to do this, as he was a rare individual without a strand of mana in his body, so he always made sure to keep the Mana sensor on his suit running, uncaring of the Psion energy it consumed—which actually wasn't much.
As for how other people had moved into the cave? The three didn't dwell on it. There was always more than one entrance to a hidden and unclaimed ore mine.
Ezekiel quickly packed up his tent and moved about to grab some low quality ores that were around them before turning to leave. The golden lines streaming down by the edges of his Battlesuit brightened up, an indication that his suit had fully booted up from its standby mode. Same for Vahn and Yuri.
Whatever power struggle was happening deep within the ore mine, the three wanted no part of it. They had just escaped a precarious battle with an unknown organization after all. Nobody would sensibly want to add to their list of troubles.
Unfortunately, it seemed as though fate had other plans. The moment their feet had left the ground, three figures burst out from the cave passage, one evidently chasing after the other two. Seeing this, the mechanic inwardly cursed. 'The mana waves from that fight are affecting my device's readings!'
Seeing the three, the man who was chasing from behind frowned deeply, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
Ezekiel and his friends also displayed guarded expressions as they realized the situation had quickly turned ugly. The mechanic straightforwardly spoke while gesturing at his friends to retreat slowly. "We have nothing to do with them."
Between the two individuals being chased, the lithe looking figure—obviously a young girl—smiled bitterly as she heard this, knowing that the three people before wished to have nothing to do with them. This made sense, from their senses they could easily note the E rank aura the two at the back displayed and the absence of aura coming from the teen who spoke. Such a weak group of people couldn't help them anyways.
Unexpectedly though, the man beside her sneered as he heard this. A hint of viciousness appeared in his eyes before he revealed an enraged expression as he yelled out. "You worthless mercs! You promised to protect us so now earn your pay!"
The expression of all those who heard his yell changed. Ezekiel, Vahn and Yuri all displayed shock and frustrated expressions, knowing that, now, the man before them would not let them walk away. He might not believe what he had heard but he would rather risk killing innocents than letting his enemies walk away harm free, after all, he didn't seem like someone who would be bothered by the innocent blood in his hands.
The girl beside him displayed shock and a slight disgust which appeared in her eyes as she stared at him, as well as a deep sense of helplessness and guilt. Before she could admonish his behavior, the man beside her had already dashed forward, keen on using the distraction he had created to escape from the mine.
"Young miss, I'll pave the way for you!"
The man's shout reverberated within the cave walls, causing a deathly pale color to panic the girl's face. That bastard!
He might have sounded like a loyal servant aiming to scout the way forward while his previous actions would make the killer behind them focus on the three people who had been dragged into the situation as supposed 'mercs' but he was actually laying a death trap for her! After all, he had directly revealed her status as the young miss of a noble home!
No matter how dumb the killer was, he would never allow her out of his sights. Even going as far as ignoring the 'mercs' before him.
A "dutiful" servant indeed. He had betrayed her! And with barely any guilt appearing across his face!
The man burst into a dash, aiming straight for the exit of the cave when a grey beam of light smashed against his body. He felt no pain and laughed maliciously, assuming the power of the hesitantly cast spell to be weak, after all, he had heard no chant. But the next moment his expression faltered as he felt a sudden weakness pervade his body, reducing his speed by at least a quarter.
By the time he reacted to this sudden change in speed, a thin amethyst line shot forward and pierced into his conjured mana shield, cleanly striking into his brain and coming out the other end. His body twitched slightly, before falling to the ground with a thud sound unmoving.
Ezekiel stared at his corpse, his lips curling in disgust and annoyance. He placed his gun back in its holster and glanced at the girl with the same amount of vigilance obvious within his eyes. She stepped back in fear as she saw this, shocked at how easily a mortal had been able to kill her servant with the help of a mere weirdly shaped artifact.
The mechanic snorted, then turned his back to the man who had stood unmoving while he watched the entire process happen. "I'm guessing you're not going to believe we're not with her."
The man chuckled. "Even if I did, I would still have to kill you all to get rid of every evidence. Not to mention…" His gaze grew more intense as he focused on Yuri who glared back, her hands reaching for her holster. "…What a rare magic you got there."
Ezekiel looked down at his battered Battlesuit and sighed before his eyes grew cold and he calmly unsheathed his short swords. "Let's get this over with then."