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Chapter 107: The Final Decision

Hearing Clay’s question, Ashura nodded with a grave expression.

He immediately pulled back and told Clay, “That one-eyed brute is the Red-Lotus Serpent King, and if I am not mistaken the other Beast is a level-6 Lightning Leopard!”

Clay sucked in a sharp breath; he had never seen the Red-Lotus Serpent King, but a level-6 Lightning Leopard was the mount knights dreamed of, and if that Leopard set its sights on them, none of them could possibly escape.

Clay’s complexion changed; he stared hard at Ashura, afraid the fellow would suddenly charge out and challenge both Beasts, and if Ashura so much as twitched he was ready to leap in and knock the black-haired youth unconscious.

Ashura seemed to notice Clay’s odd behavior, and when he saw those blood-shot eyes he jumped, then sheepishly retreated with Clay to the team a short distance behind.

Clay described what he had seen to the others, leaving the whole squad speechless with shock, and Ashura could see clear thoughts of withdrawal in their eyes.

Ashura sighed helplessly and said, “Since you’ve lost your nerve, leave now; I’ll give you 1 hour to retreat. Also, my share of the spoils goes to Rock.” With that he turned, intending to return to the boulder.

Rock rumbled, “Young master, Rock will not leave; Rock wishes to stay by your side!”

Ashura replied calmly, “Big guy, go out with them; your Warrior rank is too low and I would have to watch out for you.”

Anxious, Rock was about to blurt out that he could enter Rage mode and help the young master kill the Beast, but Ashura’s sharp glare made him swallow the words.

He looked at Ashura with deep grievance, the haft of his giant axe creaking under his grip.

The others remained silently motionless; Ashura cast a glance around and was about to step forward when two jade-like hands caught his sleeves, and he stared in confusion at the two girls behind him.

Luna, the girl with the wooden bow, whispered, “I won’t go. I’ll go with you,” then lowered her flushed face, yet her small hands did not let go of his sleeve.

Frowning, Ashura knew he would get nothing coherent from this shy girl and could not fathom why she wanted to share the risk, so he turned to the wavy-haired blonde on his other side.

Christine, perhaps aware that her behavior was inappropriate, blushed slightly, yet still held his sleeve as she asked a simple question, “How much chance do you have?”

Ashura curled his lip and said, “Do I look like an idiot?” He truly could not understand why they had so many misgivings; it was not as if he would rush in and get himself killed.

What puzzled Ashura most was still the little wallflower beside him, who had always been taciturn and could hardly speak two sentences to him without blushing and fleeing.

Yet now she dared meet his eyes, making Ashura himself feel a bit embarrassed to look at her.

Why on earth was that? Ever since she had watched him shoot that arrow she seemed like a different person, and Ashura even wondered whether she had been charmed and controlled by the nine-tailed spirit fox Beast.

This was not the time to dwell on it, but once the current matter was settled Ashura meant to have a proper talk with her.

Seeing that the two girls intended to fight alongside Ashura, Clay clenched his teeth, drew his knight’s spear from his spatial ring, and silently walked to his sister Christine; he could not rest easy letting his own sister take such a risk.

Jella gazed at Ashura with grievance and murmured, “Someone promised to protect me before; I wonder if that promise still counts now?”

Ashura shrugged helplessly, let his eyes rake greedily across Jella’s ample chest, then pulled several Wind-Power runes from his storage and handed them to her, making her eyes light up.

The Wind-Power runes could boost the user’s speed for a period; Ashura had inscribed them in his spare time, and because they were single-use their effect was directly tied to the engraver’s skill.

Jella gripped the runes; as a mage she could sense the power stored within them, and with their aid her speed would rise sharply, giving her at least some confidence of escape.

Smiling bewitchingly, Jella wrapped herself around Ashura’s right arm and cooed, “You should have given me these treasures earlier. Do you have anything else I can use?”

Ashura felt his arm sink into a sea of softness and could not help a slight shiver.

He then answered casually, “I already gave you the Fire Dragon Spell magic scroll; what more do you want?”

Jella noticed that faint tremor and felt secretly pleased, and she was about to continue her coy act when an exasperated voice shouted, “What are you two doing? Let him go!”

They turned to see Gais gnashing his teeth at them, the fire elements around his body churning violently, his anger like that of a man who had just been cuckolded by Jella.

Ashura frowned, but before he could speak Jella snapped, “Why should you control me? Who are you to me? Stop pointing fingers here; I’ve tolerated you long enough!”

Her words completely enraged Gais; he glared ferociously at Jella… since becoming a fire-element Magician no one had ever dared humiliate him by pointing at his nose.

When Ashura had forced him to hand over the magic scroll and then given it to Jella, he had not felt much resentment, viewing it as giving something to his own woman.

But lately Jella had shown no intention of siding with him in her decisions, and the intimate way she now clung to Ashura’s arm made Gais lose all reason.

He was just about to speak when he saw Ashura’s irritating smile, and he swallowed his words; the shadow of death from being lifted by the throat still lingered.

Gais opened his mouth several times only to close it again, then finally said gloomily, “If you insist on dying, go ahead. I won’t accompany you,” and with that he turned and walked into the thin mist behind them.

Ashura’s mouth twitched and he started to follow Gais, but Jella grabbed his arm.

Jella coaxed, “Forget it, let him go.”

Ashura frowned and glanced once more toward Gais’s departure, but then Clay stepped forward and said, “Let him go; we’ve traveled together long enough as it is.”

Ashura looked at everyone with interest; though the others stayed silent they apparently meant to let Gais leave as well, and Ashura sighed inwardly, feeling as if he alone were the bad guy.

He then gave an indifferent smile and turned to face the battlefield that still rumbled with roars ahead.

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