693 The green star

“Run!” Vincent ordered again. He looked away from the colossal bear and started running from the ruined Dullahan village.

The colossal bear’s nose twitched. Its eyes shone yellow, and they moved on to Vincent. Its face contorted as if Vincent had become the next target to devour.

[Vincent... it is staring at you, and it does not look good one bit. Its eyes are following you. Every step you are taking is being monitored.]

“Damn it! Is it also another mutated bear? Does it also want to mutate further than it is?” Vincent complained as he ran.

“Please heal yourself. You can not run well in your current state. Your legs will start bleeding again.” Awa begged. Her body shivered, and her lips moved. “My parents’ life is what matters most to me. Please use me as bait...”

“Don’t spout nonsense, foolish woman.” Vincent interrupted. “Hold the child firmly and keep your mouth shut unless you want to bite your tongue.”

“Huh?” Awa questioned before Vincent abruptly stopped running. He turned around and passed her to two Dullahans.

[Vincent. What are you going to do?] Curiously questioned Kazumi.

“I have a lot to lose. That is why I will become the bait.” Vincent looked at Awa, the child, Zero, and Plow. He smiled reassuringly and said, “I will meet with all of you outside this destroyed village.”

.....

Vincent turned around and ran toward the colossal bear.

“Vincent!” Excaliamed Awa while with her arm extended as if she wanted to grab and stop him.

“Vincent Vincent. Plow does not want to lose bed.” *Pho!* Plow said in a saddened voice. Plow sounded as if she was about to cry.

“Master. Zero. Help.” Zero said while trying to move Plow and jump down.

“Clan leader!” A lot of the Dullahans exclaimed.

“I heard your words loud and clear, and I will repeat the order. Keep running, and do not stop!” Vincent ordered.

[Damn. Again!]

Vincent looked at the darkened sky. His hand started to shine green. The summoning of the broken boulder he previously-stored had been initiated.

During the process of materializing, the materializing object starts as light as a feather, and as the process reaches its completion, the weight returns to normal.

Vincent started to throw a rock-sized green light, and as his hand reached the point of throwing, the rock-sized green light became three times larger than an ostrich egg.

Shortly the broken green boulder Vincent had stored was moving in mid-air.

It traveled in the air until *Boom* both small and large boulders crashed with one another, causing a lot of rock fragments to shoot randomly and the large falling boulder to slow down.

The large damaged bounder fell, yet the momentum to move wasn’t completely lost. The large damaged boulder started rolling toward Vincent and the Dullahans behind him.

“Not on my watch!” Vincent shouted.

Green light appeared, and two tall beams started to form. Vincent shoved the beams into the ground and slanted them.

Vincent threw something into the ground and prepared for impact. The green beams of light materialized. They were the two logs from the log wall.

Soon, the boulder reached the log ramp. As the momentum was still going strong, the damaged boulder climbed the long ramp and was about to get flung at the escaping Dullahans.

Vincent grunted while using every fiber in his being to push the boulder away like the flipper of a pinball machine. However, with his current power and condition, it was a futile effort.

Regardless, Vincent had already known his current power was not enough. The ground trembled before a thick and short Limb Seed tendril emerged.

The large damaged boulder was hit with great force. The impact was powerful enough for the large damaged boulder to get flung back at the colossal bear.

*Boom* The large damaged boulder landed on the colossal bear and broke instantly.

Regardless of how loud the impact sounded, no one heard the colossal bear grunt or make a sound to indicate being hurt. Furthermore, the collision between the large damaged boulder and the colossal bear sounded similar to a rock hitting a wall.

Previously, the Dullahans feared they were going to die a shameful death by getting crushed. The moment they saw the large damaged boulder get shot back at the colossal bear, their eyes couldn’t believe if their minds were playing mind tricks or not.

What Vincent accomplished caused their legs to stop moving and their eyes to remain on Vincent.

Even Awa, the Dullahan in charge of leading her people outside of the ruined village, couldn’t help but be amazed.

“Is this a dream, or did the large boulder get sent back?”

“Astonishing! I never thought a person could bend nature to their will.”

“Our lives were saved again from a shameful death, but... do we need our clan leader to keep protecting our lives?...”

The Dullahans were amazed after witnessing what Vincent did. However, one Dullahan pointed out that their clan leader was protecting them instead of the other way around.

The Dullahans realized how shameful it was to let Vincent do everything by himself. They prided themselves as people with the Dullahan warrior’s blood in their bodies, yet they were running and letting a person who wasn’t a Dullahan fight in their place.

Vincent pushed the log away. He turned around and shouted, “Don’t look at me! Run!”

However, what happened next made Vincent frown. Eight Dullahans didn’t listen to his words. They approached him while holding a spear with a firm grip.

“We will go to Valhalla today while we will stall as much as we can. The rest of our people can visit us another day.” One of the Dullahans told Vincent.

“...” Vincent didn’t know what to do with the courageous Dullahans behind him anymore.

After Vincent told them many times, the eight Dullahans still chose to stand by his side and fight together. The determination to exchange their lives for others to have more time to escape was all written on their faces.

“O proud Dullahans! We need to trust them even if we fear the worst. We... we must not think of their deaths. We... we must think of the time they return to use safe and sound.” Awa said while her voice wavered from time to time.

Awa wanted to stand proudly beside Vincent, but she could barely run. Furthermore, after watching Vincent try his best to shoot the boulder back, Awa knew she was going to be a hindrance.

historical

All Awa could do now was to trust Vincent and make sure the Dullahans beside her, her parents, Plow, and Zero got to escape.

The Dullahans who remained, mostly because they were holding an injured person, chose to listen to Awa and trust Vincent and their fellow Dullahans. They trusted to see them again.

[Phew. At least Awa managed to convince the other Dullahans to escape. Plow, and Zero are in safe hands.]

-Yes, but it isn’t over yet.-

The colossal bear raised its head, and its mouth started ripping from the sides. Yellow steam exited from the wounds, yet the bear did not grunt once. The yellow blood dripping on the ground bubbled, and any wood or corpse began to melt.

[I can see a large accumulation of mana. That monster is about to shoot a larger boulder at us. We might not be able to take this one.]

*Tsk* Vincent clicked his tongue. He moved quickly and looked around him. They were a hundred or so Cefeye running towards the cave. The Dullahans Awa was in charge of were still not too far from escaping the village.

“I will take this one. ” Vincent said before flicking his finger at the ground and planting a limb seed.

The eight spearmen could not question Vincent because the moment their mouths opened, the ground shook, and a thin tendril shot from the ground. Vincent grabbed the tendril and rose to the sky.

“Vincent Vincent is flying.” *Pho* Plow said while looking at the green light illuminating the darkness of the evening.

Awa and the child on top of her raised her gaze. “A rising star.” Both muttered at the same time.

Before the five seconds passed and the tendril stopped growing, Vincent released his hold and speeded for the colossal bear.

Vincent summoned mutated ash in one hand and snapped his fingers. The spark caused a short small blast. It was enough to force Vincent’s body to alter his trajectory and move away from the Dullahans and the log wall.

*Boom, boom, boom, boom* After moving his body farther from the Dullahans, the time was up. A gigantic boulder shot toward Vincent.

“NO!” Awa shouted while Plow was out of words, and Zero remained obeying Vincent’s order.

The Dullahans stopped running. They moved their heads and saw a small dot of green light disappearing and a gigantic boulder crashing into the destroyed cave.

The ground trembled from the destructive impact, and the ears of everyone rang from the loud noise. The possibility of anyone surviving such a devasting attack would be mostly impossible.

“Is that a star?”

“Is that a green flame?”

“Is that...”

“Vincent Vincent!” *Pho* Plow exclaimed, overjoyed to see Vincent using small explosions to traverse the sky.

Awa wiped her eye before tears formed, and the child above her noticed. She smiled and said, “Vincent promised to return. He does not lie. Right, little fox?”

“Yep. Vincent Vincent does not lie.” *Pho*

*Boom* Vincent caused an explosion behind him to move forward. The closer he approached, the more he could clearly see the colossal bear.

The more Vincent approached, the more he could see a bear that didn’t grunt or moan in pain while the sides of its mouth were ripped up to its throat. Not only that but also remain alive.