The Author's POV

Not far from them was another group of lower ranked members scouting the area ahead. They were the main force in charge of the operation. On the other hand, Amber and she were merely there to ensure that nothing occurred to them. Somewhat like bodyguards in disguise.

Their presence shouldn't be out of the Monolith's calculation.

"That's good."

Amber responded, her tone sounding rather low. It was her attempt at hiding her nervousness.

"Don't worry."

Her nervousness didn't slip past Donna. She placed her hand on her shoulder and reassured.

"We've got the upper hand. We may be walking towards a trap, but the fact that we know that should already be enough of an indication that we aren't going there without a plan. Have faith in the Alliance Master."

"You're right."

Amber took a deep breath and stabilized her heartbeat.

She looked at Donna and asked.

"...Is he trustworthy?"

"The Alliance leader?"

"Yeah..."

Amber bit her bottom lip.

"He seems rather young, and there's not much that I know about him. It'd be a lie if I said I wasn't worried."

"..."

Donna wordlessly stared at Amber.

'Is he trustworthy?'

Donna's mind was just now starting to wrap around how far Kevin had come in such a short amount of time compared to when they first met. From having a rank of around a to now being on par with her.

...Then there was Ren as well. Nothing needed to be said about his accomplishments, which surprisingly overshadowed Kevin's already absurd ones.

'Now that I think about it... what kind of monsters did I train? Is my teaching that effective?'

She shuddered at the thought.

Perhaps she was a way better instructor than she had expected.

"We're here."

her out of her delusions. Raising her head, Donna's eyes focused on an enormous beacon that was deeply

out from the beacon, directly shooting into the sky and absorbing the mana around it, releasing small threads

"Mana Compressor."

excursion. As long as they destroyed

It was just that...

appear to be

...It was completely deserted.

no one

feel several presences beneath the ground.

found her body tensing. A subtle hue spread from her

you tell

"No."

with a tense look. With thin vines secretly spreading from her

auras. About seven of them

"That many?"

The

ground and cast a solemn

we do

"I don't know."

lips while staring at the attack force ahead of her. They were currently pretending to scout the location

furrowed her brows as she turned to face Amber. She finally took a deep breath, and then her eyes grew

exact location of all those that

"More or less."

all of the individuals hiding in the ambush. Her vines might not have been able to extend to the spot where a being

She looked at Donna.

what do you want me to

"Start a direct attack."

colored eyes shone brighter than before, slowly extending to the area around

for us. It's best if we attack directly to have the

down at her

let the

"Got it."

force that was off in the distance. Seeing their bodies tense, she knew that they'd received the direct orders from

of her opponents. She couldn't help but feel rather tense at the moment. The feedback she was receiving

I didn't miss

locked on all the auras, she

"I'm ready."

her gaze toward the distance.

"Okay, get them out."

"You got it."

mana into the vines, which burst

Rumble―! Rumble―!

ground began to shake violently, and out of the ground came thick vines that were about the size of three tree trunks. The very tip of them was extremely sharp, and following their appearance, several figures emerged

"We have been discovered!"

"Engage with the enem―"

the Monolith

"Stop."

quietly spread across the entire battlefield, and the figures that emerged

Click―!

at her step, and she brushed her

her eyes wide, the world took on a purplish hue, and her voice took on an extremely

favor and

couple of words, but the

her voice, and they brought their weapons directly

trickled down the

Boom―! Boom―!

everything they got. Blood sprayed all over the ground as limbs fell to the

Boom―!

sound of explosions reverberated throughout, drowning out the cries of desperation coming from

of those who emerged were gone, leaving behind only those that held a considerable amount of power. As they

you

only for a moment, but it was sufficient for Amber to intervene as thick vines sprouted behind

"How dare you!?"