CHAPTER 121: EMMA, OLIVIA, AND ANA

Emma, Olivia, and Ana

"Come on, just a bit further!" Three girls ran frantically downhill. Behind them, rocks and boulders were sent flying as something big scrambled after them.

The girls looked the same, with the only difference being their hairstyles. The one on the left had pigtails, the one on the right had a ponytail, and the one in the center had her hair fall back without anything holding it. They were—naturally—triplets.

As they ran, the thing that chased them moved under the ground, which was evident in the way the ground bulged as something moved through it with a concerning amount of speed.

"Guh. Guys! My leg!" The girl on the left exclaimed with a strained breath. Her sisters glanced to see a gash on her thigh which no doubt made running like this far more difficult.

"Just hold on! We’re almost there!" The middle sister said reassuringly.

As for where they were going? Well, they didn’t know, but they just kept telling themselves that they would soon reach their destination.

However, their running was inevitably cut short as their pursuer caught up to them.

The ground exploded beneath their feet, and the trio was sent flying in different directions as whether chased them emerged from the ground.

A horrid shriek sounded as a large mole emerged from the ground, its black eyes immediately locking onto the three girls who immediately scrambled together.

Seeing as running was no longer an option, the three of them summoned their beasts and got ready to fight.

The triplets were named Emma, Olivia, and Ana, with Emma being the oldest and Ana the youngest. The three of them were lucky enough to be sent into this exam together, meaning they didn’t need to go through the stress of finding each other like a lot of other people did.

Moreover, being triplets, the three girls were extremely close, which translated into them having incredible synergy. The Beasts they hatched helped prove this fact further as the affinities they possessed complemented each other well.

The three of them were a force to be reckoned with when they fought together, however, they had met their match in the mole.

It had attacked the group they were in earlier, and it seemed determined to chase the three of them the most for some reason.

Despite their synergy, the three of them were still at the novice rank, compared to the beast that was near the peak of the Apprentice rank. Each time it caught up to them, they were only able to hold it off for a short time before they needed to run away again.

This game of cat and mouse had gone on for nearly two hours, but it was a losing battle. Not only were their injuries healing more slowly and Mana regenerating more slowly due to the Corrupt Mana that was also slowly poisoning them, but the Mole had been empowered by the corrupt Mana, so its injuries healed faster and its Mana barely took a hit.

With each exchange, the damage they dealt lessened, and their running speed reduced, making the Mole closer and closer to its goal of devouring them.

As soon as it moved to attack, so did the beasts of the girls.

The three of them had hatched three falcon-type beasts which seemed to be siblings as well. One possessed the ice Affinity, another possessed the water Affinity, and the last possessed the mist Affinity.

As soon as the Mole appeared a mist blanketed around the creature to make it harder for it to move and see while ice shards and sharp water droplets rained on it.

The attacks weren’t that potent individually, but the damage could mount if it went on for long enough. However, the constant fighting had strained the Mana pool of the girls and their beasts, so their energy output had reduced significantly. As such, their efforts amounted to a particularly annoying distraction at best for the large creature which shrieked and writhed as it tried to catch the birds that moved within the mist.

The girls also made sure to stand back, avoiding the Mole’s control over the surrounding soil and dirt.

The battle continued for a little less than five minutes when something bad happened. One of the Falcons, perhaps due to exhaustion, was a touch too slow at dodging one of the Mole’s attacks, causing a large rock to smash into it and throw its body dozens of meters away.

"Gimi!" Ana shouted as the mist that had been obscuring the Mole dissipated.

"Damnit." Emma cursed as Ana rushed to her beast.

"Look out!" Olivia tackled Emma to the ground, narrowly avoiding a long blade of stone that would have taken her head off.

Their birds were forced to retreat as the Mole could focus on them properly, making attacking it significantly harder.

The Falcon that used ice managed to get close and blast frost into the face of the Mole, making it screech as the cold covered its face.

"Run!" The girls got up and started running again, with Ana cradling her Falcon in her arms, looking like she was about the cry.

They didn’t make it far before the Mole once more entered the ground and started chasing after them.

’Come on! There has to be something we can do!’ Emma looked around frantically as she searched for a possible solution to their predicament. A quick trap or escape route. Something to stall the Mole. Anything.

But the more she looked, the colder she felt. There was nothing.

She looked at her sisters who looked as frantically as she felt. Ana with tears streaming down her face as her battered beast lay in her arms, and Olivia looking panicked and distraught as she too was no doubt trying to find a way out of this situation.

Seeing her sisters like this broke her heart, and her heart broke even more when she thought about their reactions to what she was about to do.

’Remi...’ She said through her bond, and her beast that had been flying next to her head perked up. She relayed her intentions to the beast, and she was met with a wave of sorrow, but also determination.

Steeling herself, she stopped running.

It took Olivia and Ana a moment to realize what had just happened, but before they could stop to exclaim, Emma shouted.

"Olivia! Don’t let Ana stop running!" Her voice was filled with firm authority, something she only did whenever the two girls started to act out.

"Emma what are you—!" Ana started to say, but Olivia grabbed her arm and forced her to move.

"OLIVIA! LET GO!" Ana shouted and tried to free herself from her sister’s grasp, but when she looked at her, her following protest died on her tongue. Olivia’s face was covered in tears, twisted in a way that made it look like she was in physical pain.

Ana spared a glance back and saw her eldest sister standing in the way of the Mole that sought to kill them. She felt her vision blur as hot tears started to stream down her face.

"EMMAA!"

Emma took a deep breath and cleared her mind.

She didn’t let the heart-wrenching cry her sister gave out reach her. She had one goal: buy time. And she couldn’t allow any distractions.

’Stall for as long as possible. Let them get as far away as possible. Last as long as possible.’ She repeated in her mind as she opened her eyes wide. She held up her hands which were covered in a pair of gloves that served as her primary weapons. The knuckles had spikes on them which, upon entering their target, would inject ice Mana into their body.

Her beast Remi, readies itself as well, and they didn’t need to wait for long either.

After being chased for so long Emma had gotten a feel for the Mole somewhat, so just as it was about to emerge from the ground beneath her, she jumped out of the way just as its head emerged with another horrid shriek.

The Bird and Girl didn’t waste time. Remi flew forward and coated its talons in Ice as it swiped them across the face of the Mole, making it screech in pain as blood was drawn.

At the same time, Emma stepped forward and punched the side of the Mole several times, making sure to inject a good dose of Ice Mana before the thing screeched again and sent her flying back by blasting her away with dirt.

She felt something warm pool in her mouth, and she coughed up blood. But instead of feeling scared or wary, she actually grinned, her teeth a gruesome red as she spread her arms.

"Come at me, you big oaf!" She yelled and smashed her fists together.

The Mole seemed to understand her as it screeched and charged forward, Remi and Emma getting ready to meet it head-on.

’Even if I die, I’m gonna fuck you up!’ She shouted inwardly as she prepared for a gruesome battle.

She would ignore all defenses and just focus on dealing as much damage to the thing as possible. If she died, then she’d make sure it was too injured to continue chasing her sisters. She would—

SPURT

Her eyes widened as something suddenly embedded itself into the neck of the Mole, causing blood to spray. The creature let out a gurgling screech as it tumbled from the force of the projectile.

Emma was stunned frozen as she looked on with shock. She looked at Mole which seemed like an insurmountable enemy just a few seconds earlier, suddenly writhing on the ground as it tried to pull out what looked like a spear made of crystals from its neck.

Before she could do anything, though, another one appeared, this time striking the Mole through the head and destroying its brain.

Just like that, it died.

She stared at the corpse for a few seconds, her brain short-circuiting as she tried to reconcile the image of the fearsome monster with the creature that had just gotten fodderized in front of her.

She was only snapped out of her shock when she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly got ready to fight, her heart beating.

’For something to kill that Mole so quickly. What is it? An Adept rank beast, maybe?’ The thought was more than a bit terrifying, but she was determined to fulfill her goal of buying time for her sisters. However...

"Phew, got here just in time." Her eyes widened when she saw who it was, or rather, who they were.

"Wha-! O-Osho and Eleanor?!" She exclaimed as the group came through the trees.

"That’s us," Osho said and glanced at the corpse of the Mole before asking.

"Where are your sisters."