Arpious of the Planes

(Ester POV)

WHOOSH

We were blasted back by a gust of wind. We quickly stumbled to our feet, confused out of our minds, but as we scanned our surroundings, we saw that the undead had backed away from us.

But we still didn't let our guard down…

I looked at the horseman whose smile was even wider than before. I gulped down a drop of saliva and suddenly heard the sound of rushing water from above us.

"Holy shit," I mutter.

A thick wave of purple liquid had formed over us, and it came crashing down. The wave was as big as the king's castle, making us gap in awe for a quick second.

After snapping out of it, we all immediately ran for our lives but seeing as how it was useless, Finn created a large earthen barrier that tried to shield us from the wave. As the wave came crashing down, Finn was immediately being pushed back.

If it weren't thanks to his berserk state, then he and we would've immediately been washed away.

"ARGHHHHH!" Finn roars, barely holding the rocky barrier up.

The purple liquid continues to crash down on the barrier, and the rest flow from the sides. Thankfully none of it actually came into the space below the shield but judging from how much rushing purple liquid is outside… We're fucked if Finn couldn't hold on.

"EEK!" I hear Eloise shout.

We all dart our heads towards her and saw that something had burned part of her robe.

"TED, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING! KEEP YOUR FIRE UNDER WRAPS!" Tayber shouts.

"THAT WASN'T ME!" Ted refutes.

"THEN WHAT THE HELL WAS IT!"

Wait… is it possible?

I held out part of the scarf wrapped around my mouth and let it touch the rushing purple liquid… it immediately disintegrated.

"THE LIQUID IS A HIGH LEVEL OF POISON! IT COULD EVEN BE ACID FOR ALL WE KNOW!" I shout, visibly shocking my party members.

We all immediately ready ourselves, and Eloise tries to push her skills even further, but…

"*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*,"

Eloise coughs up heaps of blood that splatters on her robe. The buffs that she placed on us waver, also greatly affecting Finn, who was barely keeping the earth shield up.

Damn, if it weren't for Finn's great control over his mind, he would've immediately been swallowed by the manipulating bloodlust that comes with [Berserk].

"*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*... I-I can't hold it anymore… I ran out of mana," Eloise mutters before flopping to the ground.

Her skills all deactivate, causing despair to drive down our throats. Eloise's buffs were the only things keeping our morale slightly up and our strength capable of defending against the undead…

Though the undead is gone, we still have the trouble of something even more dangerous.

Even as more time passes and Finn looks like he could collapse any second, the rush of poison continues to assault us. My breathing grew heavy, even if I wasn't moving at all.

It wasn't just me, but everyone else was panicking when not under the influence of Eloise's skill.

"TAYBER, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS!?" I shout.

"N-NO! WE NEED TO HOPE THAT FINN CAN KEEP THIS UP UNTIL THE HORSEMAN RUNS OUT OF MANA!" Tayber shouts back.

That's impossible… even Tayber knows that…

Suddenly a small hole in the rocky shield burst open, sending a gush of poison darting towards me.

I just barely moved out of the way with a large drop of sweat running down the back of my neck.

The stream of poison was so strong that it created a cut on my cheek, but the burning aspect instantly cauterized it.

I clicked my tongue and took glances at the still unconscious Eloise. I needed to dispel the poison from my body, but I can't squeeze it out; the poison had already cauterized the wound shut.

"DAMN IT! I shout in anger before feeling my consciousness already waver.

"WE NEED TO RETREAT! EVEN IF THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO, WE HAVE TO RETREAT SOMEWHERE!" Taber shouts, seeing my condition.

"AND HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!" Ted shouts.

"USE YOUR STRONGEST SKILLS AND TRY TO CREATE AN OPENING IN THE WAVE OF POISON! IT'S OUR ONLY HOPE DESPITE IT BEING STUPID AS HELL!" Tayber shouts, with Finn giving a slight nod.

Ted and I also nod in confirmation while we ready our highest damage-dealing spells.

"[Destroying Spear Swing],"

"[Destroying Sword Swing],"

I didn't have an all-powerful move like them, so I used [Wind Control] to gather a gust of air around my remaining dagger.

I kept building it up, and so did Tayber and Ted… but Finn looked to be trying to ready his greatsword, but defending us was already a troublesome task.

"FINN, FOCUS ON DEFENDING US! MORE HOLES ARE POPPING OUT EVERYWHERE!" Tayber shouts before releasing his built-up attack.

Ted and I do the same as we release our built-up attacks that rip through the poison. Though it wasn't intentional, the destructive swings that Ted and Tayber did were enhanced by my built-up gusts of wind that churned around my daggers.

Another squirt of poison bursts through the rocky shield and pierces my back… but I couldn't waver now as there was a massive hole in the wave of poison that was slowly closing.

"FINN! CARRY ELOISE OUT AND FOLLOW ME!" Tayber shouts as we all bend our legs and jump through the gaping hole that was slowly caving in.

Drops of acid rained on us, but it wasn't so bad that we would die instantly; it just burned our skin badly.

We started to close in on the exit, and we could see the bloody battlefield in front of us.

SWOOSH

The exit was suddenly gone.

It had closed.

We were trapped.

Despair sunk in once again.

I could hear my heart beating.

I could hear the breathing of my lungs.

I could hear the flow of my blood.

And then… images suddenly flashed through my mind.

They were images that I never wanted to see. It was my dark and torturous past. The images of my father beating me and my mother. My mother scraped money together in order to feed me, but my father kept taking it away to splurge on alcohol.

I hated it.

Though father was a terrible person, he still let us stay at his place for stress relief. That is why my mother and I never tried to run away because he was the one giving us shelter and the necessities to survive.

I hated it.

One day, my father died on the job. He was an adventurer, and one of his party members informed us about it. I was happy when I thought of the present but scared when I thought of the future.

I hated it.

My mom and I wandered the kingdom aimlessly until we were saved by my soon-to-be step-father, who took us in. Mom and step-father were on good terms, and eventually, step-father confessed to mother. She, of course, accepted.

I was happy.

Eventually, they got married, and my new father showed so much more love to me than my previous father. I was even able to go to school since my father paid for it. He even gave mother a spot in his own company to have pocket money to spend.

I was happy.

But only after a week of going to school… a great disaster befell the Uxtan Kingdom. The king of the [Mountain of Twilight] deemed our kingdom a threat, so he sent his army of drakes and dragons to destroy us.

I was scared.

At that time, the past king had just appointed our new king, and he was a once-in-a-lifetime genius who received mastery with the greatsword at such a young age. He stepped forward and led the army to push back against the monster horde.

There was hope.

The kingdom was able to push back against the massive army of dragons… but suddenly, the rest of the mountain guardians jumped in, sending thousands of their subordinates which were too overwhelming.

I was scared.

The kingdom was getting pushed back, and the king was helping out everybody as much as possible. Eventually, the king regretfully ordered forced recruitment for the army, causing step-father to leave, promising us he would come back… But he didn't.

I hated it.

The horde eventually raided our house later that week, crushing and crumbling all buildings in its path. In a stroke of luck they missed my room and when I went to find my mother… she was dead. She had been trampled to death by monsters with hooves.

My world shattered.

I could only curl up into a ball and give myself false hope by telling myself it was just a dream. I gave myself false hope by saying to myself that once I wake up, my mother and step-father would come back… but it didn't come.

I hated it.

And then suddenly, a hand reached out to me.

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