She glanced at Northern.
While Helena raised an eyebrow, then lowered both afterwards.
“Are you insane? Even Afkon wouldn’t dream of challenging a Maelstrom-rank monster, much less an apex danger level. Stop with all your nonsense. Raven, just leave.”
Raven shook her head.
“I am telling you, we three can kill that monster… hasn’t that always been your lifelong goal? To get back at it for all the cruel things it had made people do to each other.”
Helena stared at her as she continued.
“Northern here has resistance to mind attacks, and you also have your way of protecting yourself.”
“What about you?” Helena interrupted, “You are vulnerable to it and might end up blurting out all the cruel things you’ve got planned.”
Raven carved a pale smile.
“I’ll be fine, or so I believe. I’ll be sane enough to land meaningful attacks here and there.”
Northern, however, stepped forward. He looked at Helena, then at Raven, and then Helena again.
Both of them looked back, paused, and observed him.
Observing him closely.
He was barely five meters away from them, Reno was still standing back—eight meters.
“I have something that will protect you from mind attacks. So yes… it should be possible.”
Raven’s eyes widened.
“Oh… you do…”
Helena looked at him, looked at Raven who seemed stunned, and looked at him again.
‘What the hell is it with these two… seems so strange.’
Northern sighed.
“Look, I’m not a fan of whatever you have planned in your head. Neither do I reckon getting in trouble when it could be avoided. But if we can have a Sage among us, I’m sure it will go a long way. Plus, there would be a lady much more experienced and sane than you.”
Helena stared, dumbfounded.
Raven, by the way, glanced at Helena and returned her gaze to Northern.
“Don’t you feel like you might be overestimating her a little? I mean, she was practically my teacher.”
“Hey, you bitch! Do you realize I’m here?!”
“But you are right. Having her on our side would be a great addition.”
Helena looked at both of them.
“Aren’t you two missing a great detail here? The monster that you are talking about is a Maelstrom-rank, apex danger level. It’s probably the highest you both have ever faced.”
“You’re right. While I’ve faced a Maelstrom-rank before… I don’t think it was apex level.”
“Still, you have hunted a Maelstrom before, and you’ll have the chance to use your repertoire of abilities.”
Northern glared.
“My repertoire of abilities? Just how much do you know about me?”
“Not much actually. I just figured that your day-to-day fights are just a display of your physical skills, even when you fought with the Corpse Eater in the mansion. While it was indeed a commendable fight, I don’t think I saw what I expected of a Drifter that survived a tier V rift alone.”
Northern fumed.
“Mind I remind you that the rift was not tier V until the last moment when Night Terror, who was the core of the rift, was evolving.”
“All the same, a rift doesn’t just evolve. You must have contributed greatly to Night Terror, the rift core, overcoming the rift guardian… when a guardian is killed by anything besides the drifters, that thing has to become the next guardian. Which means an automatic update to another danger level… in Night Terror’s case, I think such tremendous power caused the circumstances of the rift to shift and tier to increase…”
“If you hadn’t defeated the rift quickly, it would have become much harder to do. But at the same time, it does not nullify the fact that you achieved such a formidable feat and began living below my expectations.” frёeωebɳovel.com
Northern felt like his head would burst, veins along his neck.
“You bitch, who are you to expect anything of me?”
“Call me a bitch one more time, and I will cut your throat.”
“I doubt you can even as much touch me… didn’t you need my help walking in darkness, your weakness amuses me.”
“And like you’re any better, you could be the best Drifter in this desolation, and yet you are full of flaws and are a Celestial Coward despite the amazing potential you hold. No passion, no conviction, no discipline… at this rate, your entire life is headed for ruin.”
While they continued bickering at each other’s necks with sharp words, glaring, Helena stared in stunned silence.
She couldn’t understand what was happening.
Both of them were going at each other’s throats with sharp words, glaring.
It was amazing to see that someone could stand his ground when opposed with Raven’s cockiness and arrogance.
But it was even more amazing and delicious to watch Raven subtly getting worked up by someone.
That girl had practically been an empty shell all this while. No one was even capable of getting her angry, sad, or happy.
And now… even though she looked so pissed, Helena couldn’t help but see some semblance of growth.
Raven wasn’t that girl she knew a couple of months ago.
Although she still had a long way to go, maybe with this guy beside her… just maybe, Raven would have a compass of common sense to direct them on their journey.
‘…Or maybe not.’
Helena raised her head, that was when she saw a white-haired girl coming towards them.
Her eyes grew wide.
“Huh? Isn’t that…”
Raven turned her head.
“What are you doing, Terence… you weren’t supposed to come out yet.”
Helena shifted her wide eyes to Raven.
“Huh? Terence… don’t tell me. The Oracle… the one Afkon tried to have…”
Raven facepalmed herself and sighed.
“Yes… this is Terence, I didn’t want to bring her in yet because I knew how freaked out you would be about me bringing such a person out. But she insisted she would go with me. She too, after all, needs to get stronger.”
She paused, eyes digging deep into Helena’s surprised stare. Then she added:
“Do you believe now that we can defeat the monster in the woods?”
Helena turned to her with a slight frown.
“No, I don’t.”
Then she turned her eyes to the Oracle.
“But I want to give it a try…”
She looked at Northern.
“There’s this guy who makes me very uncomfortable…” she looked at Raven, “there’s you… a stubborn bitch.” Then she looked at Terence.
“And you are carrying an embodiment of holiness; this young girl is the closest to the voice of Ul one can ever be.”
She paused and was silent for a couple of seconds. Then she smiled.
“Maybe… just maybe, we can really defeat the monster in the woods. If we do… I’ll go with you to the Sleeping Mountains, and if we don’t, if I see that we’ll be losing anyone, I’ll prioritize running away, and I will never see you again.”
Raven smiled and nodded, then she looked to the front.
“What about you?”
Reno, from the distance, let out a shy laughter.
“Me? I can’t possibly betray Afkon, and I’m not impressive on the battlefield; there’s no way I can be of significant help to you. I’ll just go back to Afkon and tell him I was not able to steal the map.”
Helena narrowed her eyes, lingered for a moment, and asked:
“Reno. Why did Afkon want the map? He isn’t even interested in going anywhere, for all I know.”
Reno was silent for a while, then he said:
“I don’t know either… Afkon just asked me to come get it… he had been monitoring you and knew when you took it from the ruins of Alcava. Also…”
He turned his eyes to Raven.
“I think you might have a traitor in your stronghold.”
With that, he turned.
“I sincerely hope you guys kill the monster in the woods and come back from the Sleeping Mountains. I too… would have loved to be ambitious, Raven…”
He was silent…
“…but you know, it isn’t just that simple for us…”
Then he sighed.
“Nevermind, the likes of you would never understand.”
He walked away.