Soon, Sheele and Mine had already taken down seven or eight guards consecutively. However, they were now completely surrounded.
Sheele, due to being shot, combined with her high-intensity attacks and defense, was now panting heavily.
Mine wasn't doing much better either. Though her condition was slightly better than Sheele's, the injury to her arm made it difficult for her to attack.
"Mine, I'll stay behind to hold them off. You get out of here quickly!" Sensing that her current physical state likely couldn't hold on much longer, Sheele decisively said.
"No, Sheele, hang in there! Takeru will definitely come to save us. He said he would definitely protect me!" Hearing Sheele's words, Mine gritted her teeth and said.
"Takeru..." Hearing Mine's words, Sheele was also stunned. Seeing the firm resolve in Mine's eyes, Sheele nodded, then sidestepped to dodge an incoming attack while simultaneously using her Extase to tear the assailant in half.
Quickly, the two held on for over another minute. However, their conditions were worsening, and the guards' attacks were becoming more cautious and fierce.
"Takeru..." Yet, facing such a desperate situation, Mine still tightly clenched her Pumpkin, firmly believing in Takeru's arrival.
Then, suddenly, just as Mine took down another guard, one of the guards used a comrade's corpse as cover to launch an attack from Mine and Sheele's blind spot.
By the time they noticed the attack coming, it was too late to react.
'Takeru, you still didn't come after all? Damn it, I'm really not willing to accept this!' Seeing this scene, Mine pursed her lips, tears involuntarily streaming down, and she couldn't help but close her eyes.
Squelch!
The sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh rang in everyone's ears, but the guard who was about to rejoice showed an expression of disbelief.
A weapon had somehow pierced through his chest. And his attack had been blocked by a strange figure. He didn't even know when the figure had appeared in front of him.
"Sorry, I'm late." Seeing the tearful Mine and Sheele, whose blood was still flowing, Takeru spoke gently to the two of them.
"Takeru!" Without the imagined pain, and hearing Takeru's familiar, gentle voice in her ears, Mine, who opened her eyes, pursed her lips and threw herself at Takeru.
"Light, in the name of Lumiris, bestow protection! Heal." Chanting softly, Takeru used the staff in his hand to cast a healing spell on both of them.
Feeling enveloped by warm light, Mine felt the pain fading and her wounds quickly healing.
Sheele too… the bullet wound that had pierced through her was rapidly healing, and her whole body was quickly recovering as well.
The guards surrounding Takeru and the others stared in shock. Out of fear and wariness, they didn't dare make a move while Takeru was doing all this.
"Alright, Mine, Sheele, the hunt begins." Takeru's gaze coldly swept over these guards. He didn't have much personal enmity with them, but their current positions were opposed, and since these people had seen Mine and his own appearances, Takeru couldn't let them leave.
Actually, there was one thing Takeru somewhat couldn't understand. Since they were afraid of exposure, wouldn't it be better to wear a mask while on missions?
Although there was still a chance of exposure, the risk would be significantly lower.
"Okay!" Hearing Takeru's words, Mine quickly reacted, adjusted her mindset, and began sweeping Pumpkin's fire across the guards.
Sheele's movements regained their agility as well. With each swing of her scissor-blade, a guard member fell.
"Koro, tear them to shreds!" On the other side, Seryu, seeing the invisible person suppressing Koro had disappeared and witnessing Mine and Sheele continuously killing her comrades, angrily commanded Koro.
However, Takeru coldly glanced at Koro, threw out a punch with his fist, and Koro was sent flying in an instant.
Seeing Takeru's simple punch send the massive, sturdy Koro flying twenty to thirty meters away, Seryu was stunned.
As for Takeru's side, if he hadn't held back slightly just now, Koro would have already been blown to pieces.
Then, Takeru directly leaped, suddenly appearing before Seryu, and directly grabbed her by the neck with one hand.
At that moment, the sky began to drizzle, as if mourning for these guards.
"How pitiful. Your eyes are blinded, and you still cling to that ridiculous Absolute Justice. By the way, that great evil Ogre? I was the one who killed him. Since you respected him so much, I'll send you down to find him!" Looking at Seryu, Takeru said with faint mockery.
Takeru naturally knew Seryu very well… a pitiable, tragic, and detestable woman. Seemingly just, but after the teachings of her father and Ogre, she was already terminally ill, unable to see the world's true nature. How could she talk about justice?
Takeru didn't plan to waste time listening to her either. With a forceful twist, her neck was directly snapped by Takeru. The Koro that had run back to attack Takeru instantly shrank in size, reverting to its initial form.
Then, Takeru collected the core of the control-type Teigu: Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires. After Takeru took the controller, Koro also woke up and looked at Takeru with an ingratiating expression.
Takeru frowned as he looked at this dog-type Teigu that had almost eaten Sheele. However, Takeru also understood that a Teigu's actions were solely due to its original master.
"Koro, go ahead and devour them." Seeing this, Takeru directly commanded Koro.
Hearing Takeru's words, Koro instantly grew in size, opened its large mouth, and began devouring the guard members one by one.
In less than three minutes, Takeru and the others had completely ended the battle. Koro also returned to its small dog form.
"Takeru, are you okay?" Seeing Takeru had a staff but still continued to command Koro, Mine worriedly ran over and said.
"I'm fine. What about you two?" Gently shaking his head, Takeru also looked at the two with concern.
Although their injuries were mostly healed, after losing so much blood and going through such a difficult fight, their condition couldn't be said to be good.
"We're mostly fine now." Seeing Takeru's concerned gaze, Mine softly shook her head.
"That's good. Alright, then let's head back now." Seeing their condition, Takeru also let out a sigh of relief.
Naturally, neither of them had any objections to Takeru's words. They quickly nodded and began running towards Night Raid's secret base.
"Takeru, how did you know about our situation? And when Sheele was in danger earlier, was that you who intervened?" Along the way, Mine finally couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked Takeru.
"Mm, that's my special ability. It's also because of it that I knew you were in danger." Seeing Mine's gaze, Takeru didn't hide it and gently nodded.
After spending some time together, everyone had long since come to regard each other as true comrades. So, it was fine to let them know about some of his abilities.
"I see. Thank you." After hearing Takeru's words, Mine didn't press further, just spoke softly.
Only Sheele, having left the combat state, reverted to her usual dazed personality and didn't pay attention to Takeru and Mine's conversation.
"So, do you need me to carry you?" Seeing the two seemed in a somewhat bad state, Takeru spoke up again.
"You carry Sheele. She lost a lot of blood earlier." Though Mine wanted Takeru to carry her, it was clear Sheele's condition was worse at the moment.
Seeing this, Takeru also nodded, then directly went in front of Sheele. Sheele didn't stand on ceremony either. After simply saying thank you, she affectionately wrapped her arms around Takeru's back, letting him carry her as he ran.
Leaning against Takeru's back, feeling the warmth emanating from him, Sheele quickly fell into a sleep state.
Another half an hour or so later, Takeru saw Najenda and the others waiting in the rain.
"Takeru! Mine! Sheele!" Seeing Takeru and the others return, everyone quickly ran up, all collectively letting out a sigh of relief.
"Is Sheele okay?" Looking at Sheele asleep on Takeru's back, everyone asked with concern again.
"Don't worry, her wounds have been healed. She just needs to rest a bit to recover. Mine too. Have them wash up and get some rest, that's all they need." Seeing everyone's concerned looks, Takeru quickly said.
"Good. As for the mission, we'll talk about it after everyone's better." Hearing Takeru's words, Najenda also quickly said.
Then Leone quickly took Sheele from Takeru's back, and Akame also pulled Mine along. Several of them went to the bathhouse together.
After all, the two were somewhat weak now, and with the heavy rain, they needed a good hot bath to avoid catching a cold or something.