Chapter 81: Faction Quest Progression
The mana knife buried itself deep into the monster’s hind leg. The hyena shrieked and crashed onto the ground before it could reach the others.
Alex was already upon it before it could stand again. As he noticed the knife beginning to disintegrate, he flooded his brain with highly compressed, unstable mana, sending his focus into overdrive and giving himself far greater mana control.
Using that burst of concentration, he created another mana dagger and drove it straight into the monster’s heart. The hyena convulsed once before going limp.
Alex immediately pulled the dagger back. This time it remained sharp and solid thanks to his improved mana control, but its outline flickered constantly. He knew the moment his concentration slipped, the mana would lose density, and his hand would simply pass through it.
The remaining two hyenas reached him together. They attacked from different directions, clearly working as a team, with one lunging toward his neck while the other aimed for his thigh.
Alex kicked the one targeting his leg before it could bite down. His foot slammed into its abdomen, cracking several ribs and launching it into the nearby wall.
He had deliberately held back. That one was for his friends.
The other hyena had been watching the dagger in Alex’s right hand as it lunged. Before it could react, Alex formed a second mana dagger in his left hand and thrust it upward into the monster’s jaw.
The beast still tried to continue its attack.
Before its jaws could close, Alex drove the dagger in his right hand into its temple. The life immediately disappeared from its eyes.
Three hyenas were dead. The last one slowly climbed back onto its feet, growling as it glared at Alex.
Ignoring it completely, Alex walked back toward the group. He stopped beside Rae, Sophia, and the two restaurant staff members before looking at Tina, Kevin, and Robert.
"The last one is yours," he said calmly.
Ophelia had just taken a step forward after leaving Charlotte with Sophia when Alex stopped her.
"Please stay back, Mrs. Ophelia. You’ll fight later. For now, let the three of them handle it. If too many people join in, the battle won’t teach anyone anything," he said.
Ophelia looked toward the injured hyena. Even wounded, it was still as large as an adult and could tear her apart with little effort. She nodded with a slight tremble before remaining beside Sophia and Charlotte.
Alex turned toward Tina, Kevin, and Robert.
"Fight the way I told you. Stay calm and don’t rush. I’ll step in if things become dangerous, but I’m standing too far away to guarantee I’ll reach you immediately if something unexpected happens, so take this seriously," he said.
The three exchanged quick glances before nodding. None of them looked completely confident, but they understood why Alex wanted them to fight.
While their attention remained on the hyena, Alex quietly formed a Mana Bullet above his shoulder. He attached it to an Elastic Thread and anchored the thread to the air itself, leaving the spell ready to fire at any moment.
Alex wasn’t worried about accidentally hitting his friends. Although he couldn’t properly manipulate mana beyond roughly sixteen inches, the Mana Bullet was still made from his own mana, allowing him to make slight adjustments to its path after firing.
That was one of the reasons he had rarely missed a target. As long as he fired generally toward the monster and it wasn’t moving too unpredictably, a small correction was enough to make the bullet strike exactly where he wanted.
That said, Alex had no intention of letting his friends know he could help them from a distance. That was why he had lied about not being able to reach them in time if the situation became dangerous.
...
Kevin’s heart pounded so hard that he could feel every beat in his chest. The hyena’s growls vibrated through his body, and each breath the monster released made him feel smaller.
Standing before it was completely different from looking at a monster from afar.
He tried to activate Body Reinforcement Spell again. Alex had said that spells improved faster in battle, but at this moment Kevin seriously wondered if that was actually true.
His fear, the adrenaline rushing through his body, and his own heavy breathing drowned out everything else.
His thoughts refused to settle long enough to focus to use the Spell, not that even under normal circumstances he could cast the spell.
That only made Alex seem even more unbelievable, since he could cast spells during battle and even improve them under that kind of pressure.
The hyena growled and suddenly charged. A gunshot echoed through the alley, and a bullet slammed into one of its front legs, making the monster stumble without stopping it completely.
"Thanks, Mrs. Rae!" Robert shouted as he glanced over his shoulder, likely seeing her aiming her rifle.
Kevin instinctively wanted to look back as well, but Alex spoke, "Don’t look away from the monster. Are you trying to die?"
Kevin grimaced and forced himself to face forward again. Before he could steady himself, the hyena climbed back to its feet as though the bullet had barely affected it. A chill ran down his spine. It had become slower, but it could still move.
’How was Alex killing these things with one hit?’ Kevin wondered as he tightened his grip around the iron rebar.
He pushed the thought aside almost immediately because comparing himself to Alex wouldn’t help anyone. If he wanted to protect his little sister, he needed to survive this fight first.
Tina planted the Crappy Crab Shield firmly in front of herself just as the monster reached them. The impact forced her backward several steps, but she managed to hold her ground, most likely because of her Aura and increased Strength.
Robert shouted to encourage himself as he rushed around Tina’s side with his spear. Unfortunately, his yell also warned the monster, which twisted away from the thrust before swinging one massive paw toward his chest.
Robert tried to dodge but reacted a little too slowly. Something invisible suddenly flashed past, and a hole exploded through the monster’s paw almost like a bullet wound, yet Kevin hadn’t heard Rae’s rifle fire.
’That had to be Alex,’ Kevin thought.
..
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