Renma made a grave mistake.

Right after he died because Slicer threw him off the cliff, he decided to resurrect from the spirit guide not far from the location he died. His resurrection was quickly noticed by Slicer and Lyra who swiftly ran towards his location.

Incoming whisper from Flick.

[Run to the post, they’re looking for you!]

Just after Flick warned him, Renma heard commotion from the direction of the cliff where Lyra and Slicer were supposed to be. He quickly jumped on his mount and dashed along the cliff towards the post.

“Command on: reply. How did you stay alive by the way?”

[I went stealth after warning you, but you ain’t hearing me, mate, haha!]

“Ah, well.” Renma was a bit irked but realised that was not entirely Flick’s fault. At least now he would try his best to avoid being caught by Lyra.

However, not long after, there was a gunshot heard from afar. Renma was struck on his back, causing him to fall from his mount.

“[Flash Mend],” Renma groaned. His already sore body felt more heavy due to the crash.

He stood up and tried to continue his run despite being shot again and again. At least in terms of HP, he could still manage to heal and shield himself though not as much. However, there was clearly something amiss about his attacker.

The attack was not in rapid succession like how people who would want to take him down as fast as possible would do. But, it was rather deliberately paced to keep Renma’s HP at a certain range as if the hunter attacking him was just toying with his life.

There was also the problem with clear usage of [Ankle Break] that either made Renma trip or slowed him down significantly. Significant enough for Slicer to finally catch up with him.

“You’re not going anywhere, thrash!”

The yelling from Slicer was enough to make Renma know he would die yet another ridiculous death again. So he just ran as fast as he could while bracing himself for the imminent strike.

The attack never came, a loud clang was heard instead.

“You show off,” Slicer grunted, his dagger parried by none other than Flick’s axe.

“At least I’m handsome,” Flick retorted when he parried yet another attack. Renma quickly casted [Fearless Shield of Faith] at him to help blind Slicer.

“Your cheap tricks won’t work!”

Slicer raged as he kept attacking Flick. Skill wise, the fight seemed to run in quite a balanced manner. However, with the help of the constant shooting from the mysterious hunter and Slicer’s clearly superior agility stats, it was really a miracle how Flick could still survive for so long as they slowly advanced towards the post. The only help Renma gave him was rather healing due to resurrection sickness.

However, Slicer seemed to get anggrier the longer Flick resisted him.

“Poison resistance? You really are a trash player!”

Flick grinned. He kicked Slicer using [Backpace] drawing more distance between the two. Now Renma finally realised what was off during the whole fight. Unlike Rushvatte, Flick was not slowed much even after being the victim of Slicer’s attack several times.

Did he take the talent because of Rushvatte’s constant rambling about being poisoned?

“Who hurt you?”

Flick snickered, causing Slicer to lunge angrily.

“It was all because of noobs like you all, [Murderous Slice]!”

Loud clangs were heard as Flick managed to parry a lot of Slicer's attack, the rakhs even managed to parry the last stab from the attack.

Raging even more, Slicer kicked Flick to break his guard and continued with two swift slashes.

“Well, that’s a room for improvement,” Flick chuckled to himself.

“Piece of thrash like you kids won’t improve!”

Realising Flick’s weakness to such blunt attack, Slicer feinted a slice then attacked with a roundhouse kick that forced Flick tumbling towards the cliff’s edge. Renma tried to heal him, but if Flick fell down the cliff then there is no heal that can save him from that. Not to mention he already lost a lot of HP to diminish the damage done by the mysterious hunter.

Then, Renma heard the cry of an eagle far deep in the forest.

“Arrggh!”

Slicer fumed in pain when a spear struck him square on the chest and pinned him to the ground.

There, among the darkness of the ill forest, Renma saw glitters of stardust moving swiftly. It was akin to a small glimpse of hope in this condition.

Renma shuddered. He felt another thing from the dark forest. Some unseen rage, an aura like those of a raging rhino.

“[Justice Wrath].”

Manna jumped forward with her stardust lance shone brightly. A blinding flash of light covered the area as her spear met with Lyra’s axe who interrupted the attack. The momentum forced Lyra to take 2 steps back while Manna was thrown quite far away.

Slicer took the chance to release himself from Mana’s spear and lunged at the paladin. However, Flick was quick enough and took the chance to throw his axe to hinder Slicer.

The axe was clearly blocked, but Slicer didn’t know Flick’s signature move. The handsome rakhs grabbed his axe mid-air and performed a spinning slash, knocking Slicer back.

“You are too reckless Slicer,” Lyra sighed. Lunging at Manna, she shouted, “And I know you will definitely come here!”

“[Guarding Radiance]!”

Renma didn’t exactly know who the target was, so he just casted the shield right in front of Lyra when she swung her axe. This caused the blocking to not complete, Lyra was stopped, but the lightning from her strike managed to push both Flick and Manna away.

“Both of you, run, the post is near.”

“How about you?”

Just as Flick and Renma sounded their protest, two bullets shot them and forced them to their knees. Both puked blood as they started bleeding HP.

“[Soul Saving Arc].”

Manna blocked some additional projectiles, which then abruptly stopped coming. Did Tier performed something that stopped the gunner?

However, the light wall didn't stand long as Lyra quickly destroyed it with her lightning enhanced axe. Slicer tried to use the opening, but he got tripped by an accurate shot to his ankle.

Manna took the chance to step backward, preparing for the next incoming attacks. It was a clear stance that she will stand her ground for her friends.

Understanding her resolve, Flick and Renma started to run. Manna on the other hand fought valiantly against the attacks of Lyra and Slicer with the help of arrows that were definitely released by Tier. It was not long after that the mysterious hunter’s shot started to barrage them again, causing Flick and Renma to be slowed and further damaging Manna.

Eerily, Manna was completely silent during the whole fight. Not even the slightest groan nor sigh heard from her. As if the pain she received didn’t bother her focus in the least.

“Give it up, girl,” Lyra mocked while performing a cross slash with her lightning and fire axes.

“Stop befriending trash.” Slicer stabbed Manna’s stomach before kicking her hard. “Did Rosdan tell you to do this? To help these trashes? Are you that eager for him to let you suck his di….”

A cry of an eagle was heard once more. An arrow struck right at Slicer’s mouth, stopped his sentence, and pushed him towards the edge of the cliff.

Despite all that, Manna kept her mouth shut. She stood up on her spear. Her body was bruised and battered due to the constant attacks she had received.

While running, Renma tried to heal her, but it did not matter much to her already dangerously low HP. Renma saw Flick was hesitant to keep running and in a full dilemma between abandoning their friend or keep running towards the post which was already within their sight. From the forest, a barrage of arrows was shot desperately to stop Lyra’s advance.

Amidst the whole commotion, Manna mumbled softly, “[You Will Pay….]”

“I won’t pay for anything!”

“[... for Your Transgression].”

As Lyra charged forward, Manna’s body glowed especially on her left hand. With blinding speed she charged forward to choke Lyra with her left hand. A pair of birdlike wings of light appeared on her back.

“What are you….”

Manna didn’t answer but choked harder to stop Lyra from spouting another word. Then, she dragged the bigger orc to the sky.

There, she was radiant in the middle of the dark sky like a lonely star. Manna then descended towards the seas, bringing her adversary with her. The wave roared and the ground shook as the two smashed into the waters.

There was a moment of silence as everyone was aware that Lyra had been taken down by a paladin almost half her level. The first noise that broke it was the sound of a gun whose bullet pierced through Flick’s chest.

“Go, Ega. The post is just a few meters away.”

“But you?”

“I haven’t died, but you died twice, mate, Go!”

Flick tried to grip a stance despite his body shaking badly due to the damage. Before him, Slicer was already lunging forward and Renma was sure the next shot was being prepared by the mysterious hunter.

“Don’t play the hero, both of you will die!”

A shot was heard accompanying Slicer’s curses. However, there was another noise heard. The sound of a cheetah. Tier suddenly burst forth from the forest. He pushed Flick away, taking the shot and Slicer’s attack for himself.

And then, Renma couldn’t believe his eyes. After receiving the attack, Tier moved at lightning speed to strangle Slicer and dragged the undead rogue towards the cliff to their demise. Only Slicer’s furious cursing was heard howling their fall.

How on earth could a hunter move that fast?

Another shot was heard. For the first time it missed. Perhaps they are finally outside the mysterious hunter’s range?

“Now, [Sprint]!” Flick exclaimed as he rose and dashed towards the post. Some orcist guards were looking in their direction.

Renma tried to run, but another shot pierced through his ankle, crippling him down.

“Our brothers are in dire need!”

One of the guards shouted, and they scrambled towards Renma and Flick. Another guard, posted on top of a small watchtower, looked towards the forest. There was an eagle silhouette above him.

That guard then shouted, “An elf, an elf is hurting our brothers.”

“Akh!”

Another shot pierced Renma’s body. He casted a [Guarding Radiance] to block another shot. But after that, he felt a sickening killing intent coming from the direction of his attacker.

Renma knew the next shot would be fatal.

“[Sleek Strike]! Over here.”

Just before another shot was heard, Flick threw his axes and appeared next to Renma.

“Ain’t it lousy if only that lovely couple were the only one with the spotlight, mate?” he said with a confident grin, as another shot was heard.

Flick threw Renma away, taking the shot to himself. The orcish NPCs screamed in anger when they saw his lifeless body fall on the dry land.

“The elves must pay!” They shouted and rode their wolves toward the forest. Two of them stood guard near Renma, one was a shaman.

“Stay with us brother, ancestors forbid me from letting you die because of such treachery,” said the shaman. He casted healing spells that quickly restored Renma.

“Thanks,” Renma said to the NPC who solemnly nodded.

“Ancestors be with you, my brother.”

Renma didn’t think whether the NPCs were sentient or not, he was really saved by them. He was indeed saved by his friends.

Renma sat down on the dry land, catching his breath as he watched the shaman NPC tried to resurrect Flick.

Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, Renma snorted. Being the one who was the priority of being protected during the whole ordeal had made him question himself, “I’m a priest, shouldn’t I be the one making sure they won’t die? Damnit….”