Chapter 169 The Price Of Failure
The soldiers that took the hero away from the fight were already on their way towards the kingdom in the wagons that they came here with! Quinn was lying down inside one of the agons and she groaned as another headache hit her head and made her skull pound! The headaches were getting worse and there was a serious fever running through her body as she started to shift and groan in pain. The lack of mana inside her body was starting to slowly make her nervous system break down and the healer sitting beside her knew that it was only a matter of time before the hero kicks the bucket! The healer put her head outside the front of the wagon and shouted to the man driving!
"Can't you go any faster!? She won't last long if we don't take her to an experienced healer!"
"Shut up! For the fifteenth time, I'm going as fast as I can! Or do you want to come up here and drive by yourself!?"
The man screamed back at her in anger as he urged the horses to go even faster! This wasn't the first time that the healer was telling him to go faster and it was starting to get on his nerves! Everyone was on edge because of all the problems happening at once and the rider didn't need some crazy woman shouting in his ear as well! If she keeps shouting like this then he might even crash the wagon by accident!
"Targaryen!!! Look out!"
The wagon rider was completely focused on the road ahead and he suddenly shot his head to the side when he heard his name being called by someone else! The person that called his name was a man inside a wagon beside him! Targaryen cursed as he saw a large wagon running right toward him!
BAM!!!
The wagon slammed into Targaryen's wagon and the two wagons tumbled off the road as the riders lost control! All the other wagons stopped and everyone wondered what happened! The wagon that hit Targaryen was driven by a soldier that everyone recognized as one of their best riders! There was no enemy around and they didn't see any reason for the soldier to suddenly lose control of his wagon! So why did he hit Targaryen!?
The soldier that hit Targaryen was the same soldier that Andromeda took control of in the last battle using her [Ragan]. Andromeda left a soldier on the battlefield after their battle with the small battalion that saved the slaves and she used that soldier to track the army wherever they went. Andromeda was still in control of the man and she commanded him to crash his wagon into the wagon in front of the army so that they would slow down.
Andromeda knew that Pyra would handle the Grand Commander easily now that they already cut down on the army so it was up to Andromeda to track and capture the hero.
A portal opened in front of the army and the remaining soldiers all moved back as they saw Andromeda slither out from the portal with a curious look. She looked around her and she hummed as she ignored the soldiers and looked for the hero. Pyra already told Andromeda what the hero looked like so it would be easy to spot the hero if Andromeda sees her. But the hero wasn't one of the people standing around. Was she inside a wagon?
Andromeda started to slither forward but a hand touched her tail from behind and she looked down in surprise to see the man that she controlled looking up at her with adoration. His gaze was intense as he spoke.
"M-Master. I did good, right?"
Andromeda smiled happily and she pet his head gently. Her voice was calm. Like that of a mother taking to her child.
"Yes, you did. You did very well. But what gives you the right to touch me, you disgusting pig? Kill yourself,"
Andromeda might be a very shy person and she didn't have many things that she hated, but the one thing that she could never tolerate was humans. And a human touching her was the most disgusting thing that she has ever felt! How dare this trash touch her? The man was under her control and he did a good job, but that gave him no right to put his hands on her.
There was absolutely no hesitation in the man's eyes as he happily took a sword and stabbed himself here and then! His entire existence was only to please her! He would do anything for her! If Andromeda wants his life then who is he to refuse!?
The other soldiers around could only watch as the man stabbed himself in shock. they had no idea that the man was under Andromeda's control so the sudden action was too shocking! Andromeda ignored the corpse and started to move around again! She just made a man commit suicide and she doesn't even look phased!
Andromeda pointed a finger out to one of the men standing there.
"You. Where is the hero?"
[Ragan] has been activated
The man's face became expressionless and calm as he answered.
"Over there, in the wagon lying on the ground,"
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing!? Why are you telling her where the hero is!? Attack her, you idiot!"
The person that shouted was one of the SS-class soldiers there and he drew his sword and shouted out for others to draw theirs as well! Why was everyone just standing around while a demon was right in front of them!?
He grabbed the man under Andromeda's control by the shoulder and forced him to turn around so he could shout at him!
Squelch!!
But the SS-class soldier didn't expect the sword that suddenly slid into his stomach and he just looked down in shock before he fell to his knees! Did he just stab me?
Andromeda sighed in annoyance as she spoke.
"Kill each other,"
[Ragan] has been activated.
More than half of the soldiers were immediately under her control and they all drew their swords as they charged against each other! Andromeda didn't have time to handle these many people, so she just made them fight each other. Andromeda turned towards the wagon wheel the hero was and she saw a healer and another soldier that was trying to hide behind the wagon from her. Andromeda ignored them because she knew that the soldiers under her control would eventually find and kill them. Andromeda just looked down and inspected the hero closely.
Her brows knitted in curiosity and her heart rate picked up as she noticed that there was something very wrong with the hero! Andromeda wasn't a healer and she only learned the basics of healing from Rosavellt. But Andromeda was still capable of recognizing the symptoms of Mana depletion immediately! There was no mana inside the hero!
"N-No, no! No! What happened to her!?"
Andromeda turned to one of the men she was controlling and shouted out this question and the man shrugged to tell Andromeda that he did not know! He told Andromeda that they were on their way back to the kingdom to try and find out exactly what was wrong with her!
Squelch!
Once the man finished talking, another man stabbed him in the back and the two of them started to fight! Andromeda ignored the fools and she bent down and started to run her hand over the hero's body! She couldn't let this happen! The hero cannot die like this! The demon lord would not be happy if we let her die! Our mission was to bring the hero back without any injury at all! Doesn't this mean that we failed? Tears were gathering at the edge of Andromeda's eyes as she thought about what punishment the demon lord might give them. Wouldn't he just kill them for this?
A portal opened up beside Andromeda and Andromeda turned to face Pyra with a scared look on her face. Immediately Pyra saw Andromeda's face, Pyra knew what happened. Pyra already suspected that there would be a problem with the hero, but Pyra was hoping that she was wrong! She hoped that maybe the hero was just sick or tired and that was the reason why her mana was so low. But it seems that Pyra was right after all. The hero's mana was missing. What was the use of a hero without Mana? We cant present this to our lord.
"W-We failed,"
Andromeda's quiet voice reached Pyra and Pyra grit her teeth before turning away and opening a communication circle. She understands why Andromeda was so nervous and Pyra was also feeling the same level of nervousness, but she still had to report this. The person she called was Rosavellt and Rosavellt answered immediately after the call came through.
[What is it this time? Can you not finish a simple mission without this much help?]
Rosavellts annoyed voice reached Pyra from the other side of the communication circle and Pyra released a silent sigh. She seemed so calm on the outside, but Pyra was feeling extremely nervous. She was angry, sad, and disappointed in herself. To think that she failed the first mission that the demon lord ever sent her on! Would she ever be able to live this down? No, Pyra knew she probably won't. This is a stain on my record for the rest of my life.
Pyra gathered herself properly and she only said two words to Rosavellt.
"We failed,"
The silence on the other side of the call showed Pyra just how shocked Rosavellt was! Pyra realized that for the first time in her life, Rosavellt had no idea what to say. Rosavellt was always the calmest and most mature out of all of them and Rosavellt always had something to say, but now Rosavellt was truly speechless. Pyra hoped that Rosavellt would say something soon because the silence was too much. This was a very serious situation and Pyra was looking for some advice.
Rosavellt was in the middle of looking through some important documents when Pyra called her and Rosavellt had to stop flipping through the papers once she heard what Pyra said and she immediately stood up. She spoke in a low, intense tone.
[You fools. Do you have any idea how important this mission was to our lord!? What sort of excuse could you give for your failure!? This might mark the end of your life!]
Rosavellt didn't even bother asking them how they failed. It didn't matter if it was a small or a big failure, all that mattered was that they failed. Rosavellt's words sent a jolt of electricity up Pyra's spine and she squeezed her hand into a fist at her side and bowed her head. Pyra gave Rosavellt a full report of their mission and waited for more instructions from Rosavellt. After a few minutes of silence, Rosavellt finally spoke again.
[Our lord will be back from his victory in Trad by today. I will give a report of your mission to him and he will decide how to deal with your failure. Pyra, I pray he forgives you for this. We both know the lord is not the forgiving type.]
And Rosavellt ended the call immediately.