Eliona's War 1: Hesitant Healer

Chapter 40

"Ah, there you are."

At the sound of a woman's crooning voice, Severance jerked upright in alarm. There, in front of him, were the two people he had just deserted. They stood, arm in arm, smiling like they were the best of friends.

The sight of it gave Severance a headache. Why did they have to follow him?

"Why'd you leave?" Orion asked. "There isn't much time."

"For what?" Severance muttered, just as a distant "Seeeeeeev~" drifted from above the trenches. He cringed. The rogue wasn't running around the entire Fort, was he?

"For the next wave, of course." Subella smiled at Orion. There was a hint of something in her expression that made Severance uneasy. "This was just a warm up. They'll be going all night long, I'm sure."

Orion's eye twitched. He placed a hand on Subella's face and pushed her away with all the grace he could muster. "You are a menace and a barbarian. Leave us alone, woman."

She smirked. "I don't want to."

"Don't you have your own flock of Outsiders to look after?"

"I suppose." Subella tilted her head, her gaze finding Severance. "Oh, I have an idea."

"No," Orion immediately refused.

"Relax, fleabag. Both of us need a break. We've been going for two days straight. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"I said no, Subella. You can't gamble on—"

"Shush." She pressed two fingers against Orion's lips. Then she gave Severance a wicked smile. "Outsider. You handled yourself well out there. Why don't you take the others out to play when the Chosen come back?"

Orion swatted her hand away. "Subella! You can't do that!"

But it was too late. The System chimed. And Severance got a new notification, one that completely frightened him.

Quest Received: Lead the Outsiders against the next Chosen attack. You will receive an additional reward if you successfully drive them away.

Battle Commencing: 14:00 minutes

13:59

13:58

13:57

Very slowly, Severance turned horrified eyes toward the Elionans.

***

This had to be illegal.

That was the thought Severance had while he paced back and forth in the trenches. He chewed on his thumbnail, half his attention glued to the obnoxious little countdown.

Battle commencing: 03:32

"This is so cool! I can't believe you actually got such a cool quest! Sev, you're amazing!"

Awesome Dude followed him like a puppy, not seeming to notice that he was doing so. The two of them walked back and forth, dodging the occasional warrior who passed by.

"We're going to die," Severance flatly said. "The Fort will fall, and we'll destroy all of Two Bridges. This is a terrible quest."

"It's an awesome quest. To think we get to follow you into battle, hehe!"

Ugh. Severance couldn't understand what Subella was thinking. Was she mad? He stopped, and shoved a hand through his hair. "Does it really say that?"

"Well, it said 'Defend Fort Valkyrie with Outsider Severance.'" Another player called out. He leaned against the trench's wall, a long spear leaning beside him. His name was Sylvestar, and he had piercing blue eyes and light blue hair to match.