Spencer and Aaron ended up leaning on one another before coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Richard gritted his teeth when he was kicked from behind while fighting against two in front.
Preshea was breathing heavily, it was getting more and more difficult for her to support them. She can't heal them but she can give them boosts on their speed or their strength.
This battle is the complete contrast to their battle against the beasts on the day they met Kyle and the rest.
She could still fight while giving them support but this time, if she still tries to fight with them, it will just be a faster route to death for them. These people are knights and adventurers, what she can give better is support and not to fight with them.
"Pre... shea, stop it. It will only get dangerous to you," Spencer spit the blood remaining in his mouth, straightening up.
They have taken down half of the enemies while injuring the rest. But they are now reaching their limits.
They were not in their top condition in the first place, so, inevitably, they won't last long against all these enemies. They are all knights and adventurers who have different abilities.
Preshea sat on the ground as she felt her body going hot, she tried to stabilize her breathing but it was proven difficult as she had reached her limit moments ago, yet still tried to continue.
The remaining three could feel the beasts that were surrounding the place. They knew these people could leave with the numbers remaining but the five of them would be placed in danger instead.
Spencer brandished his sword, this is no time to be discouraged, they still have a whole load of things they needed to do. They cannot die here.
Just like how they have not yet died, despite everything, they still can't. They must survive and understand the reason they are here.
"I guess-"
Aaron coughed as he tried to speak.
"We can only rely on our swords for now," he added after a while.
He and Richard stepped closer to Spencer while Preshea sat near Luna.
Among the five of them, Luna was the only one left unscathed. Except for the slap she received a while ago, the other four had protected her.
"Why don't you all just drop dead already? The beasts are becoming more and more in numbers," Zedock was getting impatient.
He can tell despite their injuries, these people would still be able to get out of there alive despite the number of beasts surrounding them. That is why they are still trying to injure them as much as possible. But they are persistent and half of his troupe was already taken down.
He can tell that they are not dead but instead, they were simply rendered unconscious by these three with the support of the lady.
He did notice that they were trying to keep the other lady safe and tasked a few of his people to target her instead but their defense was tight.
And now, time passed and even he was worrying about the number of beasts surrounding them. They are not attacking because his team erected a barrier to stop them from entering. It was a strong barrier and the moment it was taken down, these beasts would rush up to them.
He was confident at the beginning but now? He is no longer as confident.
What he did not expect was the fact that these four are strong enough to keep up with them.
Aaron laughed at his words, "Why don't you drop dead with us? The beasts surrounding us are all from the inner area and a few from the center area. You will die anyway for being unable to fight since you only know how to command and stay behind your people."
Zedock glared at him before gesturing for the knights to attack them.
The three continued attacking while also defending but it was still proven difficult as they could no longer keep up with the numbers of their enemies.
Zedock laughed when all four were down.
"Remember this. Your arrogance is what brought you all to your demise."
Aaron had no strength to rebuke, but if he could he would have said that they are minding their own business when it was these people who wished for their downfall.
"Ouch."
All their movements stopped when another voice was suddenly heard.
In the Dark Forest, in the inner area where there were only the men with two ladies. One was Preshea whom they have heard the voice of and the other was Luna, who always had her eyes closed from the start, of Astral. Hearing the voice of a lady will make them all wonder where it came from.
The eyes of the enemies turned to the lady from behind the four of them as she slowly got up.
"This is painful. What the hell happened?"
Spencer, who was prepared to accept what was to come, slowly looked back.
Aaron, who was already closing his eyes, did the same.
Richard, who was being adamant about their situation, also looked back.
Preshea, who was close to falling unconscious, had her eyes widened as her head turned to the side.
All four of them were in complete shock at this moment.
Such timing.
For the very first time, Luna's eyes slowly opened.
She rubbed her swollen cheek while trying to understand what was going on.
Her eyes were silver blue, complimenting her hair perfectly.
She was in confusion but when the condition of the other four registered in her eyes, they turned sharp instantly.
She looked around and saw Zedock and the rest who were surrounding them.
"I don't get what is going on but I suppose I can take this situation as you guys being in danger?"
Aaron couldn't help but laugh at the sudden turn of events.
Richard finally relaxed as he sat on the ground and leaned back on the tree trunk that Luna and Preshea were leaning back on before Luna started speaking.
She looked at herself and realized that she has no sword on her, she frowned, "I have no sword?"
Spencer pointed in a direction and there lay on the ground a sword she presumes was what she was using.
She looked back at her group.
The closest one to her at the moment is Aaron, the same goes for his sword.
"Let me borrow this."
She picked up the sword.
Another frown appeared on her face, she didn't like it.
She brandished it and rotated her arm that was holding the sword.
*THUD*
Aaron, who had just seated, slowly turned his head to the back. Only to see his sword which Luna was holding a while ago, stuck in the tree trunk.
His face paled as he looked back at Luna.
"Don't go killing me when you just woke up," he cried.
Luna was looking at her hand, closing and opening her hand when she realized that the sword was no longer with her.
She then laughed and walked to get the sword back.
"I'm sorry, my senses aren't completely back it seems."
Spencer sighed in relief, he too was shocked when the sword suddenly flew back.
Richard shook his head as he helped Aaron towards the tree.
Preshea didn't know whether to laugh or cry at what had just happened.
"Wha- WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?" Zedock roared.
They were completely ignored the moment she opened her eyes and spoke.
The group was even joking around.
And if Aaron was to know that they thought of this as them joking around, then he would surely complain. He was a few inches away from dying and they think that they are joking?!?
Luna covered her ear with her hand, "Come on. I just woke and am still a bit disoriented, can't you tone it down? The beasts are noisy enough."
The people who are still awake became vigilant.
Among the forty-five of them, eight adventurers are still standing while there are seven knights.
Despite the number, when her eyes turned sharp moments ago, all of them could feel the killing intent in her.
"Don't kill them," Spencer spoke as she looked at each of them.
"Are we going to bring them out?" she frowned at him.
She meant that if they just left them unconscious, the beasts surrounding them would surely kill these people. If Spencer didn't want them to die, then are they going to bring all these people out of this place?
"He must have some kind of signal. Leave him awake," he pointed at Zedock.
Zedock laughed, "Stop bluffing."
"Why must we leave the noisy one, of all of them," Luna grumbled.
"Attack her!!"
Seeing as he was being ignored, Zedock chose to just command the remaining people standing.
"Luna, physical attack only," Spencer reminded her when she was about to make her move.
She looked at him and stopped for a bit to check on her body before raising an eyebrow.
"You must never turn your back on your enemies!!" one exclaimed as he pushed his sword toward her.
Luna twisted her body and made a spin clashing with his sword.
She used her free hand to push his arm up before kicking him in the stomach, causing him to fly back and hit the tree behind him.
The tree was half destroyed due to this.