LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 19
During the quiet hours when most guild members were out on quests, Cassian was lounging on a sofa inside the guild.He idly tossed and caught the scroll he had taken from Elsez, passing the time without a care.Two figures approached him, their footsteps breaking the silence.“Well, aren’t you living the high life,” one of them quipped.Without opening his eyes, Cassian responded, “Got a problem with that?”“No, sir! Our esteemed master, who has spread the fame of our guild far and wide, deserves some rest after such heroic deeds!”Jack joked, plopping into a chair near Cassian.Meanwhile, Perse looked at Cassian with a serious expression and asked, “Cassian, do you really need to work this hard?”“Exactly,” Jack added, seizing the moment. “You’re a hero—a legendary hero who defeated the Demon King. You may not be filthy rich, but I know the Holy Kingdom gives you a stipend, don’t they?”This was a question everyone who knew Cassian, the hero, had wondered at some point.Why, after defeating the Demon King, had he chosen the path of a busy guild master instead of enjoying a peaceful life?At this, Cassian finally opened his eyes.Still casually tossing and catching the scroll, he answered indifferently, “I gave the stipend away.”“What? To who?”“To someone who’d know how to pass it on to people in need.”Jack raised a brow, easily guessing. “The Cardinal?”Cassian didn’t confirm, instead continuing with an offhanded comment.“Spending what you’re given is boring anyway. And…”He paused, the image of someone flashing through his mind—a person who had pushed him toward the path of heroism when he had wanted no part of it.“…that glory isn’t mine.”The rewards he had received after the final battle—glory, honor, and praise—weren’t truly his to claim.All of it, including the peace the world now enjoyed, rightfully belonged to someone else.Lowering his gaze with a heavy heart, Cassian threw the scroll into the air again.Watching it float, he thought of its original owner—a face reminiscent of the one who deserved this peace.Then, Jack snatched the scroll mid-air.“Wait a minute. Isn’t this Elsez’ scroll? Why do you have it?”“I took it. That rookie was about to tackle a dangerous high-tier quest, so I gave her an easier one instead.”“You’re underestimating Elsez again, huh? Don’t forget Perse and I vetted her ourselves!”“It was me who evaluated her,” Perse corrected firmly, his face unusually serious.Jack awkwardly coughed and handed the scroll back to Cassian.“Anyway, you’d better stop underestimating her. She just finished a quest yesterday, killing ten Kiru in two hours.”“Really? Well, I’m looking forward to seeing if she can live up to my expectations,” Cassian replied with a smirk, tossing the scroll into the air again.The peaceful atmosphere in the guild was shattered by the sound of the front door being thrown open.A guild member burst in, panting and wide-eyed.“Something terrible happened!”All eyes turned to him, but Cassian’s hand continued its habitual motion, catching the scroll and tossing it again.The guild member, still catching his breath, finally managed to get the words out.“A magic beast… appeared in the Starting Forest!”At that moment, Cassian’s eyes widened sharply, and the scroll slipped from his hand, grazing the back of it before falling to the ground.“Some of our people have been captured…”The guild member continued speaking, but Cassian couldn’t hear him anymore.Instead, Elsez’ voice echoed in his mind:“Those with power have a duty to protect the weak, and I will fulfill that duty. If it’s something I can handle, even if it’s dangerous, I will do it.”He also recalled her unwavering amber eyes as they met his, shining with steadfast determination.“…Damn it.”Grinding his teeth, Cassian shot to his feet, grabbed his gear, and stormed out of the guild without another word. ****** As the guild members exchanged hesitant glances, one of them finally broke the silence.“So, what do we do?”Once the first question was asked, others followed.“We understand your point, but if we go in like this, we’ll just get ourselves killed.”“Do you even have a plan?”Now that the group was curious about her strategy, a smile spread across Elsez’ face. She had succeeded in getting them on board.She scanned the six guild members one by one before asking, “What’s everyone’s position?”In the game, strategic positioning based on roles often determined victory, and the same principle applied here.The guild members quickly shared their roles.With a clearer sense of their collective strengths, Elsez began explaining her plan.“Let’s be realistic. We can’t kill that thing with our current power. Our goal is to keep it contained here until reinforcements arrive.”She assumed that some of the people who had fled earlier would report the situation, and help would eventually come.Of course, defeating the beast before reinforcements arrived would be ideal, but among them, only Elsez had the firepower to deal significant damage to the creature.Unfortunately, with her body gradually succumbing to paralysis, even that wasn’t feasible for long.“That magic beast doesn’t have eyes or ears, but it uses its roots to sense its surroundings. So, we’ll stay hidden in the forest and focus solely on preventing its movement.”Shane, puzzled by how a rookie like Elsez knew so much about a lower-class magic beast, momentarily questioned her knowledge but quickly refocused on her instructions.“You’re injured, so don’t try to attack. Just focus on distracting it. Spirit mage, stay in the back and focus on maintaining shield buffs.”The injured guild member and the spirit mage nodded at her commands.“The rest of you, hide behind the trees. When its roots come close, attack them to keep it contained.”Shane, still unsure, asked, “And you?”“I’ll hit it every time it grabs me.”Shane glanced at her paralyzed legs, clearly worried, but followed her lead along with the others, scattering to their positions.As expected, the beast ignored the guild members darting around and instead focused on the stationary Elsez, wrapping her in its roots and pulling her toward its center.Each time it grabbed her, Elsez delivered a powerful strike before being thrown aside.But after the process repeated twice, the beast adjusted its strategy.Rather than pulling her in again, it began thrashing its roots indiscriminately through the forest, launching a series of unpredictable attacks.BOOM!Watching the roots crashing down around her, Elsez flexed her stiffening arm, testing her range of motion.She could still move, but her movements were slower, and her senses were dulling. Landing a precise strike seemed almost impossible now.Someone should’ve arrived by now…As Elsez prepared to retreat to a safer position, a massive root burst through the dense trees and hurtled toward her.The shield should absorb most of the damage.With her body too sluggish to dodge, Elsez braced herself and closed her eyes.But to her surprise, another layer of shielding enveloped her.Thud!The root struck, dissipating both shields but leaving her unharmed.Startled, Elsez turned to see the spirit mage standing nearby, her face filled with concern.“Are you okay?”“Thanks—” Elsez began, but her gratitude was cut short.A root shot out from behind the spirit mage, coiling around her.“Ahhh!”Did it change its strategy again?Other roots, which had been flailing wildly, now retracted, leaving only the one holding the spirit mage.Elsez quickly realized what was happening.It’s learned to target weaker prey!Grinding her teeth, she latched onto the root dragging the spirit mage and shouted to the other guild members, “Stay in position! Don’t come here!”If the group panicked, the situation would spiral out of control. Elsez couldn’t let that happen.Hanging onto the root with one arm, she tried to strike it with the other, but her paralyzed limbs could barely muster any strength.Gathering the last of her mana, she managed a single powerful blow.CRACK!The impact rippled through the beast’s body, causing it to thrash violently.The shockwave weakened its grip, freeing the spirit mage.But Elsez, unable to hold on any longer, was flung into the air.If I could just land one more hit…Pouring all her remaining mana into her arm, Elsez ignored the burning pain. As she fell toward the beast’s core, she unleashed a final strike.BOOM!The force of the attack sent shockwaves across the forest, momentarily stunning the beast and loosening its grip on everything.Exhausted and paralyzed, Elsez plummeted to the ground.“Is it… dead?” someone whispered.Before the question could be answered, the beast’s roots twitched. One lashed out, aiming directly at Elsez.Oh, right. The second phase…Crap.With no energy left to defend herself, Elsez braced for impact.Suddenly, a surge of mana filled the air, slicing through the tension.In an instant, the magic beast was cleaved in two. Its massive form collapsed with a deafening crash.Standing atop its now-lifeless body was a familiar figure.“Cassian?”Effortlessly leaping from the beast’s remains, Cassian caught the falling Elsez in his arms.As he exhaled a long-held sigh of relief, his voice, low and laden with suppressed emotion, reached her ears.“I sent you to catch crows.”Dazed, Elsez looked up at him. His steady gaze met hers, his golden eyes clouded with a mix of frustration, concern, and something deeper she couldn’t quite place.