Chapter 9: The Clowns (Part 2)
Rinar:
The moment that huge man appeared it was as if time stopped. Everyone froze in front of his overwhelming aura. My body shivered from him.
Who is this?! A boss for these scum? From his aura he looks very strong, somehow I feel like I know him. A smoky arrow and an overpowering aura and charisma. A gang that overruns a whole village without fear of consequences — where are the village guards? Are they dead? Smoky arrow... smoky arrow... smoke?!... Don't tell me this is Boss Grong. The boss of the criminal gang, a smoky nightmare.
I began to feel my guts knot, and my face turned a deep bluish color, thinking we are in big trouble, that he's opening a gate of hell for us. Ah... ah... we wanted some favor and a bag of coins, it wasn't just a dinner party, it would have been enough in exchange for saving the village. To end up facing a monster in human form, that's too much. We won't live to see dinner.
My head engine started to emit smoke, thinking of a solution. Which took the form of fleeing, as one solution. But while I was thinking, there was someone who did not recognize the type of monster they faced. That person dared, from one of the rooftops, to target Boss Grong with his bow loaded with an arrow, and release it.
"Haah…" at that moment, but I was late. "Nooooo… Dia!!!!" By the time I finished my word, the arrow had already been launched toward Boss Grong.
"Hmm.... I was about to speak. Why did you dare interrupt me? Ability [Smoke Control] – Compressed Smoke Plate." The smoke that formed his scarf moved and took the shape of a thin smoke plate, stopping the arrow that was glowing a pale green.
—---
Dia:
Damn, I can't change the arrow's direction, despite using my ability. Some drops of sweat appeared on my pale face. My arrow is sinking into the smoke plate. My mana is depleted... ugh. With that, the green glow of the arrow disappeared and it stopped moving.
"Annoying... you interrupted me. And you did not even give up and tried to target me by moving your arrow. Let me show you... I don't even need to control the arrow."
The huge man raised his hand and said: "Ability [Smoke Control] – Hellish Smoke Arrow." with an expressionless face. The smoke responded to his command, dispersing from the plate's form to shape into a bow loaded with an arrow. It was an arrow different from ordinary arrows; it was very thin and long, made of smoke. The man drew the string.
"Boss, are you sure you'll kill her? She's Elif. If we sell her we'll get a lot of money, especially to Nabil from a big family." advised the one standing beside the man.
"Hmph… I don't care. No one dares interrupt me and live… farewell."
Cold sweat appeared on my neck when I saw him aim at me with his arrow. My head told me to run immediately. But as soon as he finished speaking I heard Rinar's scream.
"Nooooo… Dia, run!" Rinar ran toward that huge man like a madman trying to stop him, wanting to save me. But unfortunately, the arrow traveled faster than the speed of sound, and pierced my forehead right in the middle. It didn't give me a chance to flee.
I stopped moving immediately. I moved my lips trying to speak as I watched my most beautiful memories pass quickly. In a faint voice I said: "Leader... glory." Tears fell on my face, and I fell from the roof.
—-
Rinar:
"Diaaa…. No... ah.. ah.. ah." I fell to my knees and drowned myself in bitter crying. I am the leader they trusted and relied on in critical times. I looked at Boss Grong with burning red eyes and anger that could burn an entire forest.
Dia and I had agreed to retire from adventuring and get married, to live in bliss and happiness. We didn't expect an invasion on this village that we were only passing through. Who would have expected everything to be destroyed because of you... because of you...
I stood up and began running with an angry face, imagining myself cutting Boss Grong to pieces. "Don't forget I exist.. hehe." Scott appeared beside me with his fist reddened.
But before Scott's fist reached me, someone pushed me back, so I fell on my butt, closing my eyes from the pain. "Spike... why did you stop me... let me cut that bastard…"
But in shock I stopped speaking, because I didn't find Spike in front of me as I expected. Just dust where he had been, he had disappeared strangely.
I looked at Scott standing before me. "An impressive move. But it's weak against me." Scott indicated Spike with his words, who is the team's tank, and who stood in his way now.
He spoke and his skin was light red, steam coming off it. The only strange thing about his body apart from the redness was his huge hand with interesting muscular curves, which contracted and returned to size as it clamped the other. "My ability [Body Control] allows me to control my body as I want. Like now I slammed armor with my muscles boosted to the maximum my body can actually bear. I bet I punctured his stomach... hehe." Scott said with a wide evil grin from ear to ear.
"You're next…" he pointed at me with murderous intent.
"Hmm…" but before he could take a step, he froze and vanished from where he had been, as if he had teleported instantly. But I think it was his speed enhanced by his body-control ability that he used on his legs.
"He's not dead... great, this is getting more fun." he said to Spike with a smile on his face as I watched them from afar.
Without waiting, Spike grabbed his spiked hammer and swung it at the one who suddenly appeared in front of him. But Scott easily dodged it.
He wasn't holding his shield in his hand, because it was broken from the force of the blow. And there was a fist-sized hole in his shield, showing his hairy stomach.
"Thanks for not killing me yet… all credit goes to someone." He glanced after saying that toward their trusted healer. "Leader, go and avenge her... I know we won't succeed, but doing something is better than dying doing nothing."
"Alright." I charged again toward Boss Grong with all the confidence in his death. Dia... dear, to die like this. It's unforgivable, I will never forgive him... don't worry, I'll follow you.
"Ability [Light Fire] – Fiery Body." My red hair turned into blazing orange fire with red edges, and flames began to come out from the gaps of my red armor. I swung my sword, whose blade was covered in deep red fire, and when I swung it left a red crescent.
"How dare you kill my beloved? Take this!" The slash of my sword went straight toward Boss Grong's neck. The smoke moved to form a thicker and smaller smoke plate. It blocked the sword, causing a collision that made the plate wobble a little.
"Good. Ability [Light Fire] — its usage is similar to the first generation. How wonderful, I envy you truly. I have [Smoke Control] generation three. I cannot summon smoke out of nothing."
"But unfortunately, the efficiency of your ability is very low. You cannot summon large amounts of fire. For example: if your ability efficiency were better, you could form a fire field of about 10 meters that would carbonize everything, or an explosion that wipes out an entire village."
"What's it to you?! Shut up and die." I managed to pull my sword out of the plate that tried to swallow it, and swung again.
"What I'm trying to say..." Boss Grong inhaled from his cigar and exhaled onto my face. "Regarding the efficiency of my ability... hehe, you will see."
I stopped my sword swing, and began to cough after inhaling the smoke. "What is this?!... ugh." Before I finished speaking I started vomiting blood like a waterfall. "Arghhhh…. arghgh... I can't breathe… arghg... arghg." I fell to the ground and began writhing left and right.
"Of course you can't breathe, I've punctured your lungs." Boss Grong looked with eyes that emitted a gray aura, with an evil smile on his face.
"Ah... ah." I began to suffocate.
Suddenly, at that moment, my body began to glow a pale green, my expression calmed and my breathing returned to normal.
"Hah... really. True words, the healer must be killed first. Why don't you waste your mana and keep it? The reason you're not killed yet is because we need you." Boss Grong looked at the healer with meanings in his eyes.
"Don't think he'll ever betray you. He prefers death over that, right?!" I kneeled waiting for the opportunity. "Really? It doesn't look like it to me. Look at him, he's so scared he will piss himself."
"Opportunity." When Boss Grong looked toward the healer, I seized that opportunity to lift my sword attempting to target him. "Ah... boring. Sit in your place and stop moving." Very quickly the smoke moved to form a smoke sword. With cold eyes Boss Grong swung it at me.
"Arghghghghgaaa…" without any warning, my severed hand, which was holding the sword, flew into the air, falling to the ground. On the other hand, the place of the cut began to scatter blood everywhere.
"Like this, good." Boss Grong smiled.
"Arghgh... Ranox.. heal... Ranox... Ranox." I began screaming while covering my wounded hand. "Stop the howling, he won't dare heal you now…. hahaha."
"What do you mean?! Ugh…" I looked in the direction of Ranox, and thus answered myself. There were many smoke arrows targeting Ranox's head. "Ah... the end.." Despair completely invaded my face, and tears of misery.
"Boss, I'm done on my side. That was fun." Scott walked toward Boss Grong covered in blood everywhere. "Really, so slow…" Boss Grong mocked Scott. "He wasn't the problem, it was the healer." "No excuse, you'll buy me a drink on your tab.. haha." Boss Grong rubbed his hands. "So what happened to him?" "A sight not pleasing." "That's enough to explain everything." "What do we do with this hopeless one?" bloody Scott said as he looked at me.