CHAPTER 174: FOUR OF THEM.

In a certain part of the Edenmont Dungeon.

A group of many outlaws separated themselves into two forces of units, moving in opposite directions after a careful amount of planning.

"Dealer, are you sure we don’t need to be together?", Oberon asked worriedly as he glanced at the other unit getting farther away from them.

"Yeah, it’s not a problem. You have to know it’s Graham and Shura who are leading that group.", Mr. Dealer replied as he glanced at his silver pocket watch.

"Well yeah, I’m not scared of anything happening to them but...", Oberon thought for a few seconds and then sighed.

"Whatever, you’re the smart guy. I’m sure you’ve thought of a plan."

Mr. Dealer smiled, "Something like that."

The Underworld force that had infiltrated the dungeon with the help of Howard Ryeagon had separated into two groups now.

The first group was led by Graham and Shura, who were tasked with finding the two guilds and delivering a letter that Mr. Dealer had himself written.

The second group was led by Mr. Dealer, Oberon and Viona, who were on their way to look for the dark guilds’ location and find out their motive.

"I should’ve gone with them too, you know.", Viona said with a hint of hate in her words.

"No. You’re required here more than there.", Mr. Dealer stated firmly, without giving her any notion to oppose his plan.

Viona turned silent for a few seconds as she narrowed her eyes on him, before she muttered with slight anger in her voice.

"I hope you haven’t forgotten why I agreed to join all this in the first place."

Mr. Dealer chuckled, a flash of dangerous light flashing through his eyes as he replied.

"I remember it well, Viona. And believe me....", he dragged his lips to the side, "We’re all gonna get what we’re here for. No matter what, I’ll make sure of that...."

*****

After a short break of rest, both the small patrol group and the traitors’ group got up to continue making their way back.

Felix hoisted Steve up once more, but this time he tried a different approach. The last position hadn’t managed to wake him, so Roven suggested a new one.

According to him, since people usually sleep lying on their backs, carrying Steve in a similar posture might do the trick.

So, the two of them worked together: Felix lifted Steve by the legs, raising them above his head, while Roven supported the boy’s back, keeping him steady in midair as though they were hauling around a makeshift boat.

But unlike carrying something solid like a boat, hauling Steve in this position was far from easy.

They had to walk in perfect sync just to keep his body from sagging awkwardly, and to make matters worse, Steve’s dangling arms kept smacking Roven in the face with every step.

"Eric, are you sure there’s no rope in that bag? Maybe you could ask others too...", Roven awkwardly asked as he dodged Steve’s hands.

"I checked it like three times now, Roven. We have no rope.", Eric glanced pitifully at his two teammates and shrugged.

"Who would even carry ropes around with them during a war? This isn’t some... You know... that...", he paused before turning silent.

"Some that what? I don’t know.", Roven asked curiously to distract himself from the hand that was now lying on his head.

Eric looked around suspiciously, making sure nobody was listening before he muttered near Roven’s ear.

"The ropes... They’re also used during those things. The thing that starts with a s..."

"Starts with a s? What’s that?"

Now Roven was truly curious, not knowing what Eric was talking about, while Felix who was listening to their conversation from the front started sweating as he understood what Eric was trying to say.

’No way he’s talking about that.... And Roven, just how dense can you be...’

Eric gulped hard as he took another glance around, before saying one word to the innocent-eyed Roven.

"Sex."

The moment Roven heard that word, he froze in place.

Unfortunately, stopping dead while carrying someone together and keeping in sync was the worst thing he could’ve done.

Felix, still moving forward with Steve’s legs hoisted above his head, suddenly felt the boy’s entire upper body slip away as Roven’s support vanished.

Steve’s back bent like a collapsing bridge, his arms flailing and smacking Roven in the face again before gravity took over.

"Wait-! No, no, no-!"

Felix yelped, staggering under the sudden shift, while Roven woke up and reached out.

As fate would have it, they were a bit too late.

BAM!

Steve’s head and torso hit the ground with a heavy thud, leaving his legs still firm in Felix’s grip.

"Oh no, Steve!", Roven called out in panic as he bent down to check on the boy.

"Fuck!"

Felix cursed as he let go of Steve’s legs and moved to check him too.

Eric hurriedly covered his face in embarrassment and slowly stepped away, knowing the entire group had stopped their procession to watch their ultimate fail.

"Ughh..."

Amidst their mess and while Roven and Felix were looking for any injuries on Steve’s body, the boy suddenly let out a groan.

"Steve! You’re awake!"

"Finally...."

Roven and Felix smiled at the boy who had no idea what was happening except for the weird mental and physical pain that was stinging his head.

A few seconds of twitching later, Steve narrowed his eyes to concentrate his vision and looked around properly.

"What happe-", he stopped when he saw Felix kneeling beside him and called out in surprise.

"Felix! You’re here!"

A sudden burst of energy rose within him as he jumped onto Felix and weakly hugged him.

"Damn dude, why the hell did you leave us all and put yourself in danger?!", Steve cried out in slight anger as he pulled away.

"Umm there was this situation...", Felix awkwardly explained why he had left the group.

"Forget about that, Steve. How are you feeling now? Do you have any pain anywhere?", Roven interjected and asked in worry.

"Uhh there’s like a weird headache, but other than that, everything’s fine.", Steve groaned.

"So, I heard you risked your life to come help me... Why did you do that?", Felix asked as he stared at Steve with a frown.

"Why? What why?", Steve frowned in return as he retorted.

"Do you think I need a reason to come help you when you’re in trouble? We’re friends, right? Maybe also teammates, or partners? We ought to help each other without even a reason. That’s what friends are for."

Roven smiled wryly as Felix shook his head, it seems Steve was still the same even after taking a direct hit to his head. They were relieved.

"Boys, what are you doing?! We can’t stay here fore- Oh, you woke up?", Keliot arrived beside them and looked at Steve.

"Guess we don’t need a medic now... Come on, get up. We have to keep moving."

He didn’t say anything more and quickly began instructing others to get back to moving forward.

"Here, take my hand."

"Yeah, come on. We have to get back to the base."

As Steve got up with the help of Roven and Felix, Eric came towards them with a huge grin on his face.

"Whoa, our baby finally woke up. Did you have sweet dreams, my darling?", he teased the moment he saw Steve awake.

"Yeah, I did have a good dream, Eric.", surprisingly Steve didn’t get ticked off or retort back this time, well he at least he tried not to.

"I dreamt of shoving a huge fireball up your ass. Then you flew away and exploded into tiny little fireballs that glittered in the night sky. It was a beautiful dream, Eric. Wish you could’ve seen it."

Roven and Felix held back their laughter as Eric’s face turned red, and before he could say anything, a voice called out from the front.

"Monsters incoming, prepare for battle!"

The group got busy again, grabbing onto their weapons as they fought to make their way back.

The team of four boys stood together, while always keeping each other’s back and fighting with a sense of camaraderie that strengthened their friednship.