Chapter 674: A Bizzarre Rescue Squad
Oren opened his mouth to call for his brother after a grin appeared on his face. As he raised his hand and stepped forward, Julia covered his mouth and pulled him back. Selena was about to attack her, thinking that Julia was harming him.
"Do not call for him, younger brother," frowned Julia as he raised her hand toward Selena. "If the enemy realizes we are here, we could be used as hostages. Our mission is to find your mother, right?"
After considering it, Oren nodded, and Julia let go of him. The fight between Arthur and Amelio started as well; Oren stared at them silently. Even Oren can tell that his strength was too lacking for him to have a foothold in that fight.
"I thought that I could be of use to him," said Oren with a sigh. "However, as long as we find my mom, then I don"t mind. We defeated the soldiers, but… that imposter s.n.a.t.c.hed her again. How would we find him?"
"Well, he said that he would use your mom to threaten Arthur," said Julia with a pondering expression. "He must be meaning to do this to win the fight against Amelio, but why would he need to do that? Does he think that Amelio would lose?"
"It might be the opposite. He knows that Oren"s brother will win, so he intends to traumatize him further. However, for what reason, I wonder?" said Selena while helping Oren sit down. As for Julia, she started healing Mr. Tate, who was still unconscious. Li and Kody were standing to the side, listening quietly.
Oren was silent as he considered it. For some reason, that man looked like his father. Of course, he knew that his father would never do such a thing, but it made him uneasy for someone to impersonate him after so long.
"Is it to kidnap my mother and fool us?" wondered Oren while frowning from his wounds. If not for Selena turning ethereal and slipping into the cloud, he would have been bled to death inside that s.p.a.ce.
"I don"t know the meaning of this, but Arthur was also targeted in Runera. He was framed and attacked, and we lost many comrades in that incident. It has yet to be resolved as well. This is to say that many people target Arthur. Do you know why, Oren?"
Oren said nothing in response to Julia"s question because he could think of a reason. It was the same thing that gave Oren more than one ability: Arthur was capable of granting other people abilities. However, he can also use them, making him even more targeted.
"My brother is a runic genius with no backing," smiled Oren. "Although I knew he did not die, I always feared something like this would happen. He got involved in a great conspiracy during the Runes Apprentice Cup."
"The Betrayal of Prince Alfred Yalen," nodded Julia. "Even now, it is considered a stain to the Yalen Family. Arthur antagonized the fallen beings and the Yalen during that incident."
Oren nodded in response, feeling like this incident had happened long ago. It seems that everything was connected on the surface, but there was something that they did not know about Arthur. After all, he was labeled a hero and a genius in the light.
"In any case, we need to find my mother. Unfortunately, the only exit out of these tunnels is this gaping hole, as the destruction blocks the other one," said Selena.
"I can clear away the destruction with my ability," said Kody as he tried to get up. "We can follow after Aunty Sarah instead of wasting time talking about things, right?"
"I"m indebted to you, Kody," said Oren with slight guilt after seeing his wounds. "I must rely on you again even though you did so much for us."
"Your family is our family, Oren," said Selena while resting her hand on his shoulder. "Aunty Sarah also saved me when we were fighting alone. So this is only natural for us to save her."
Oren was mesmerized while staring at her blue eyes and red hair. It was always a wonder how he managed to land her, despite her thousands of suiters. After all, she liked him even before his awakening.
"Thank you, everyone," said Oren with a slightly cracking voice. "I talked to my mother on the way here, and she said that we are a family of liars who do that to protect each other. However, even a family of liars can have friends who risk their lives to save us, right?"
"We like you the way you are," grinned Selena, and Oren couldn"t help but tear up. "That is why we will do everything to make sure you three can keep lying to each other from now. Thus, older brother, please," said Selena toward him.
"Are you not going to check on my wounds? It hurts, you know? I fought against an insanely strong person and came out alive. I was like, bam! I will not let you chase after them! And he was trembling in fear, but I was too kind and…."
Kody mumbled exaggerated lies and truths as his sister sighed while staring at him. It seems he wanted her to care about him the same she cares about Oren after seeing how she supported him.
"I was worried sick about you, idiot," said Selena with a smile, and Kody blanked for a second before giving a sheepish grin. "Can you turn the stones into ethers? Unfortunately, I can"t turn more than one person. However, if you are too tired…."
"I am not!" said Kody before he stood up and left the healing bubble. "This thing healed most of my serious wounds since earlier. I can easily take care of this!"
Kody touched the stony fragments and turned them into ethers before he threw them out of the hole. The path cleared, but the destruction was clear. However, this path would lead them deeper into the ruins.
"There is someone there," said Oren with a frown as he saw someone through the darkness. "Are there soldiers left?" he was about to stand when the newcomers revealed themselves. It was a group of dark creatures and monsters.
"Greetings," bowed the dark armored creature toward them. "My name is Marvi, a subordinate of Queen Ruki, who serves Lord Arthur directly. These fellows are the same, a shadow warrior and a gobkin," said the man while gesturing toward another shadow and green creature.
"Lord Arthur?" asked Oren with a frown. "Are you saying that Arthur sent you?"
"Indeed," nodded Marvi. "We managed to aid Madam Sarah and another woman who arrived to save her, but we failed to find them after that. Are you perhaps aware of their whereabouts or safety, Sir Oren?"
"You know me?"
"Lord Arthur has shown us your face and your mother"s, but we don"t have a method of finding the two of you. So we followed disturbances created by an explosion, hoping to find you."
"It must have been the motorcycle," said Selena. "However, can we trust them to be allies? These are monsters, right?"
"Please refrain from using that term," said Marvi with a frown. "We are a different species, but we are not mindless monsters. We were given life by Lord Arthur and chose to serve him."
"I understand," nodded Oren. "However, my mother and Master Melania were taken away a few minutes earlier. Have you seen anyone on the other end of your path?"
"We have not," said Marvi while shaking his head. "There are no exits from this way, either."
"…it seems they left using a teleport artifact," said Julia. "This is what I feared." She sighed. "But I also hoped they would underestimate me enough to do that."
"What do you mean, Miss Julia?" asked Kody while going back into the bubble and resting. Julia glanced at his behavior before shaking her head.
"Never underestimate how prepared a runemaster is, especially one from Runera. I am a famous genius! I have been targeted most of my life!"
"Please get to the point, as there is no time." Oren interrupted as he felt like he was about to have a headache. Julia cut her bragging short before taking a runic card from her storage ring.
"This teleport card can detect the weakest point in s.p.a.ce and use it. The mechanism behind it is quite simple: simply a.s.sign less energy to it, making it unable to manipulate the normal fabric. Therefore, we cannot use this card in a place that hasn"t been used to teleport."
"That means we don"t have much time," nodded Oren before standing from his seat. "We need to follow my mother. What about the three of you?" asked Oren.
"We still have the mission to protect her," said Marvi while nodding toward him. "Is that man also one of us?" said the shadow warrior while pointing at Mr. Tate. "I can carry him myself since most of you are wounded."
"Thank you," nodded Oren. "I know this is all too hasty, but please, let us save my mother and bring her home."