While Rosaline's group was fleeing for their lives, Charlwind and Alka were facing their own crisis.
The yellowish-brown insects were swarming the plastic tent. Their four-lobed mandibles tore at the special sheeting with savage intent, their legs scrabbling to shred the transparent curtain.
"Why so suddenly...?" Alka gasped.
"...Someone must have poked the hornet's nest," Charlwind remarked calmly. He finished slicing a specimen of excess tissue from the unconscious Malloch's head, sealed it in a research tube, locked it in a metal case, and stashed it in his inventory.
"In the middle of a life-or-death situation?!" Alka's jaw dropped. "Do you... actually have a plan, or are you just that insane?"
"I have one, but the signal hasn't—"
VROOOM!
Before Charlwind could finish, a blinding flash of light erupted from far behind them. The faint scent of a sea breeze and salt spray reached them, causing the Professor's lips to curl into a reptilian grin as he saw the beacon of The Lost Alexandria.
"When Grey Hood deploys her Domain, it means it's time to regroup," Charlwind announced. "Let's move. There's no longer any need for 'silence'."
"But... How are we moving Malloch?" Alka asked.
"With your wind skill. You can handle that, right?" Charlwind asked, his eyes narrowing. "Besides, you're an Artifact Hunter, aren't you?"
Alka froze at the revelation. "Professor... you truly are a cunning man."
…
…
As the insects finally breached the plastic curtain, a powerful gale erupted from within the tent, blasting them backward.
His black cloak billowed as Alka held his staff—a long shaft formed from pure, swirling blue water.
"That staff... an artifact, I presume?" Charlwind noted.
"Valaris," Alka replied shortly.
Charlwind recognized it immediately. Valaris—an artifact from the 'The Lake' Dungeon, a breach where the boss was a water-elemental maiden of the same name. It had been purchased by a billionaire nearly ninety years ago and lost to the black market. Now, it stood before him.
"Artifact Hunters never cease to impress me," Charlwind admired.
"And you? Why aren't you using one?" Alka countered.
"My artifacts aren't suited for a place filled with flammable gas," Charlwind said, closing Malloch's eyes and using a skill to force him into a deeper sleep. "Besides... I'm just a simple Dungeon Gate expert."
Alka remained silent, his gaze fixed on the insects struggling against his storm-like winds. On his arm, a second silver bracer materialized.
"That is..." Charlwind's eyes widened in disbelief.
Alka said nothing as water surged from the bracer. The blue gem embedded in its metal flared with light. The water coalesced into the form of a woman—regal and arrogant, like a queen. Her hair was a cascading wave of water reaching her heels, and her slender form was draped in a slit-skirt and bodice. Her wrists and ankles were adorned with gold and silver bangles inscribed with strange De-von runes, each trailing short golden chains.
"Exotia," Charlwind whispered. "How did you get your hands on that? Two High-Rank artifacts without the Union's knowledge... We have a long talk ahead of us."
Exotia was a legendary artifact from 'The Mirror' Dungeon—a labyrinthine water temple that had shattered the minds of countless Hunters. It transformed a portion of the user's mana into a Guardian that reflected their power and spirit. It had been stolen during the chaotic wars with De-vons over a century ago.
Alka sighed. He had hoped to save his trump cards, but the situation was deteriorating by the second.
"Kill them," Alka commanded.
The beautiful water spirit lunged forward, hands on her hips as swarms of insects converged on the tent. She raised her arms, and a massive wall of water—two stories high—encircled the tent like a tsunami.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Charlwind exclaimed, his face alight with excitement.
"Go!" Alka ordered.
The spirit thrust her arms forward, and the tidal wave crashed down, sweeping the insects away. Alka then intensified his wind skill, shredding the plastic tent and flash-cooling the water. The torrential wave turned to sleet, then snow, and finally, a solid wall of ice. In seconds, the swarm was frozen solid.
Alka panted, drained. Using two High-Rank artifacts was a massive toll for a B-Rank Hunter. The water spirit floated back, resting a hand on his shoulder. Though he knew she was just mana, he sometimes felt she possessed a soul of her own.
"I'll use wind to move Malloch," Alka began.
"Oh, I have a much better idea," Charlwind interrupted. Alka's eyelid twitched; he had a very bad feeling about this.
…
…
On the other side, Amalin's group was fleeing, having left Rosaline behind to face the swarm. Edgar was struggling, his clay body flagging under the weight of his burdens.
"Edgar's tired! I want snacks!" Edgar, in Adrian's form, began to whine. Despite Adrian's incredible physical strength, carrying two wounded men and an ice box for this long was exhausting. The light of Alexandria was fading in the distance.
Amalin ignored him, sprinting with the armless Eugene in her arms. Eugene's blue blood was beginning to seep through the gel-coated wounds.
"Amalin... straight ahead," Eugene whispered, his face ghostly pale. His shaking hand still gripped Charlwind's knife. Even at death's door, he was tracking the Professor.
"Hang in there. You're our only hope," Amalin urged, while Edgar's sobbing grew louder. "Shut up! You want them all to find us?!"
Edgar went quiet for a second before wailing even louder. "Waaaah! Why are you so mean?! Why are you shouting at me!"
Amalin panicked, frustrated and unable to put Eugene down. She snatched a box of cereal from her inventory and shoved it at him.
"Eat this and shut up!" she snapped.
Edgar poked at the box with his head-mounted flashlight and pouted. "It's plain cereal! No chocolate! No honey! I don't want it! Waaaah!"
"Gah! I'll burn you myself if you don't be quiet!" Amalin yelled. Suddenly, the faint buzzing of wings returned. "Oh no!"
"Ms.Amalin... the Professor is coming," Eugene whispered. "He's coming... very... fast."
"Where?!"
Eugene pointed ahead with his good arm. A faint, upbeat trumpet fanfare drifted toward them, and the air turned suddenly frigid.
"What in the world is that?!" Amalin shouted.
Professor Charlwind was sitting atop a metal surgical bed near Malloch's head, playing a trumpet. He was blasting a cowboy-style 'reveille' march from the pre-collapse era. Alka was hovering alongside him using wind, while his water spirit laid down a track of ice for the metal bed to slide across like a high-speed bobsled.
"Oh! There you are! Found you at last," Charlwind greeted them cheerfully, breaking the metal bed to a halt in front of Amalin.
"Professor Charlwind," Eugene wheezed.
"Hey there, young Eugene. That looks like quite a nasty wound," Charlwind said, hopping off and pulling another surgical bed from his inventory. "Let's patch you up first, then we'll go help Grey Hood."