As everyone on the carriage witnessed what happened (except Tom who was currently repeating the line ‘no place like home’ on repeat while staring at the road ahead) they all had about the exact same reaction; urging Tom to go faster. Soon the three mammalian party members used just about every boosting skill they could upon the poor horse that pulled them.
“Can we not ditch whatever is inside this carriage?!” <Fuka>
“No? I really need to get this thing to Moolesh Mountain town.” <Tom>
“Surprisingly calm…” <Lyada>
“No… I’m pretty sure he’s in denial.” <Fuka>
“Just bring this stuff to Moolesh then return home and everything will be fine; no everything is already fine…” <Tom>
With that the two mature loves looked at each other for a second before continuing to their buffs over and over again on the pack-horse. Lyada had learnt some basic self-enhancements to increase Dex which she used on the horse and Fuka’s Paladin advantages literally shined again as she cast holy magic to enhance the horse’s recovery. Holy magic was the peak of support but Fuka’s mostly focused on her role (a tank) so were recovery and defensive… They didn’t need to worry about that though as Emily was there to fill that very role.
The little cow raised her hands to the sky as a purplish glow surrounded her; at this point she wasn’t just using her own mana but calling upon her patron god to give them support. Emily believed her barriers would do nothing against such a creature either – the dreaded feeling stored in those flames spoke to her bloodline. They spoke of nothing but death and despair. An endless compounded pain that had been building up on a weary soul which was the colour of the deepest shadows despite once being the brightest light.
She believed the monster to be none other than Jeeves.
Based on what she’s heard from Eel he has already appeared in front of her twice which left her with an unsettling thought in the back of her head. He wasn’t just around for no reason but rather came with a purpose; whatever that purpose was it required checking in on Elizabeth Jr and likely ended with her death. That was under the assumption that this evil monster was indeed {Pillar of The Rouge – Jeeves The Bastard} but a voice entered her head to confirm her thoughts.
| He indeed has something planned – Zandman was supposed to take action to prevent him from moving freely but it seems something has happened to them – luckily this Jeeves seems far weaker than he ought to be. Would be way easier if that fool didn’t insult Violet, causing Mrs.Stormbringer back there to go all yandere, though~♡ |<Dreamer>
She didn’t even care to think about what she was being informed about at the moment and even with her demonic blood she doubted she could share it with anyone outside of Beth. This information felt so ancient yet forbidden she was sure the majority of demons didn’t know about the possibility of it… Plus the last part was kind of just weird and seemed a bit personal.
Moving back to the looming threat again; she doubted few would come across this monster and get away with it. As it were – few actually had the opportunity to catch a glimmer of the monster (they either were killed viciously in it’s grasp or instantly from a certain knightess) other than them however she wasn’t confident with their chances of escape…
| Don’t worry, just help me to help the Hero and I’ll take care of the rest so he won’t bother you any longer~♡ | <Dreamer>
With that a look of determination formed on Emily’s face as she finished her casting to bless the horses – turning around she looked towards Eel. She trusted the person who gave her a new outlook on life. Giving her, a weak short cow, the chance to support the very person who brought her out of the darkness of her life. Power, knowledge and the ability to live alongside the one she loved for all eternity; how could she not devote herself?
Eel was different and in some regards had fallen back into old habits.
Her thoughts also differed despite the bloodlines in her body iterating that she should have great caution towards the monster – well except for one part of her demonic bloodline. If she were to give this bloodline a name it would be violence incarnate and it’s message was clear. Running was pointless from this beast and she didn’t want it to attack her friends so there was only one thing to do in this situation… Punch it.
She felt that wasn’t the best idea so she wasn’t ready to go hand in hand to hang with the monster but she agreed that the slower members wouldn’t escape just relying on the horse & cart. She couldn’t accept this so she would have to do something about it herself; she already ran once. Plus, this monster must’ve been after her anyway!
Her gaze studiously studied the entire area for any movement – only with maximum focus did she manage to see a few signs of the monster’s movements. However, it was always something like a broken branch that had broken a few seconds earlier so offered her no actual clue on his current location. Just that he was catching up on them… Then she suddenly sensed something shooting towards her and the cart thus drew her sword out of nowhere with her left hand to slash at the air.
A loud *clang* made it clear she had connected with something as she felt the bones in her hands creak while the skin between thumb and finger tore. Gritting her teeth she stepped backwards as soon as she never intended to defend – simply hoping to adjust the angle – as it shot over her right shoulder. It looked like a whip for a moment but she didn’t even require a second to figure out what it was; a vine with viscous brambles all the way up it’s length.
Although she deflected it with her blade it was obvious that it’s power was far greater tld handle even with the brief contact so was forced to roll off the carriage to the left. Her landing wasn’t exactly the best as even the ride on the carriage was best described as ‘unpleasant’ so landing on the path filled with pits, gnarled roots and dirt mounds… Well it left her muddy but thanks to her durability that was about all that happened.
Quelling her momentum she went to rise only to feel a heavy shadow cast overherself – looking upwards she saw a black skill with a familiar ‘face’ that had what appeared to be a mask of flesh slapped over the top in a slapdash manner. The face was of course that of ‘Navy Indigo’ down to the ‘makeup’ upon the face.
“Well hello there~!” <’Navy Indigo’>
With that she felt a heavy foot on her chest before she could fully process what was going on, sending her shooting backwards. With a hefty *Thud* she collided with the back of Tom’s carriage sending the horse into a panic; the loudest thing of all was of course Emily’s shout.
“Beth, are you okay?!” <Emily>
Eel was currently stuck in the back door of the carriage – the door half collapsed but somehow managed to still remain relatively stable enough to not expose what was inside, showing that this wasn’t made from cheap materials. Reaching out to grip what was left of the back wall to pull herself out onto the back lip of the vehicle. Resting her left hand on the side of the carriage she looked up to the worried Emily that was hanging over the ‘ceiling’ and offered her a smile.
After doing that she regretted it a bit as she hurriedly turned away to hold her mouth with her right hand as she coughed up blood. Emily hurriedly reached her arm over as a stream of purple allowed Eel’s already ridiculous regeneration to quickly heal up any damage she had taken. Now she could look up without throwing up her insides!
“Perfectly peachy; it looked worse than it was.” <Eel>
Emily was silent for a second while nervously fidgeting about – thinking for a second she finally spoke.
“My god said she can help us deal with Jeeves but it may make things more difficult in the future…” <Emily>
Tilting her head to the side, Eel’s big eyes blinked a few times as she enquired about Emily’s strange reactions.
“More difficult, how? Not like it could be worse like another Jeeves right?” <Eel>
“You… You’ll feel more exhausted while she’ll take some backlash. She says she’ll help you fully utilise your abilities for a while but due to the seals on her…” <Emily>
To that Eel went silent for a second – it may seem like much of a problem. Being able to use your abilities to their maximum level with the only effect being the need to sleep in a little tomorrow. But she was a dragon. Dragons slept for a LONG time. This also didn’t mention issues that could occur from {The Dreamer} resisting the seals upon her. In other words, it indeed could be worse than another Jeeves showing up. But it didn’t take Eel long to make a decision; she didn’t have the passive nature of a human that caused them to constantly worry about the future. Instead she was determined to first solve the trouble that was in front of her.
