A few hours earlier.
Clyde, Haru, and Kei were waiting for the party sent by Uriel to arrive in a state of anxiety. Clyde sat leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. While Haru and Kei sat side by side in front of him.
Clyde's eyes looked down at the sand-covered floor. His forehead creased indicating that he was thinking about something important.
"What are you thinking, Clyde?" Kei asked. Out of curiosity and because she wanted to get closer as a party member who would work together.
"It's nothing."
However, the answer that came out of Clyde's mouth sounded cold. Kei and Haru had expected that Clyde would answer in such a manner. They exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.
"You know you can share your worries with us," Haru said. "That way maybe all of us will be less burdened."
Upon hearing that Clyde lifted his face towards the both of them. He saw the two women looking at him sympathetically.
Clyde understood what their goal was. Yet he doesn't know what's the point of building a bond that is too deep with them. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, including their relationship which now looks like a relationship between real party members but actually not.
All that is temporary. And Clyde still couldn't trust anyone but himself and his private attribute -- or the being behind it.
"I'm fine. Let's just focus on the mission. I'm just thinking about how we should fight them when they come," said Clyde.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. We have you after all," said Kei with a smile.
Clyde stared at her. Clyde thought that Kei said that because she wanted to get his favor because she knew how strong he was.
Clyde let out a small snort. "I didn't think I could do it myself. So you guys have to help too."
Kei and Haru nodded. Stated that they would be happy to help. They both think that Clyde's words meant that he had accepted them as his comrades.
For the next few minutes, they fell into silence. Clyde returned to his contemplating position while Haru and Kei spoke in whispers.
Until finally Clyde's head shot up abruptly. Kei and Haru who saw it knew that Clyde had felt something.
"What is it?" Haru asked. By reflex her hand was already gripping the hilt of her dagger.
Clyde turned his head to the side and said. "They are coming."
'He can even sense their arrival?' Kei looked at Clyde in surprise.
In fact, even Clyde didn't know that he could feel anything when those people came. Suddenly, he just felt a strange wave from a certain direction.
Clyde stood and watched from the window. He could see that there was a golden portal that seemed to be a bit blurry with the sandy brown color around it, appearing not far from the portal they used to come here.
"Yes. They've come," Clyde said while looking at Kei and Haru.
The two women jumped to their feet and peered out the window. They saw four people dressed in white coming out of the portal.
Because they were still far away, they couldn't see the faces of the four people. But they were sure that they were the party sent by Archangel Uriel.
"Are Samuel and the others also aware of their arrival?" Kei asked in a worried tone.
"I'm sure they noticed." Clyde stared at the building in front of them. Samuel and Leyan had good senses so he was sure they were aware of it.
eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ "Let's wait until they take the artifacts first," Haru said.
So they wait for now. Clyde kept staring at the party while they chatted and dealt with the dry zombies that Kiara created with her illusions to fight them.
They were shocked when they saw only one person - the biggest among them - moving between them to kill those dozens of dry zombies. Others don't even seem to think of them as something worth their effort.
Until finally, Clyde saw her. Standing among the party, her appearance was still the same as the last time he saw her.
'Asqa?!'
Clyde almost let out a gasp when he saw Asqa there. His lips parted slightly and his eyes widened.
If Kei and Haru saw him showing that expression, they would also feel the same shock as when they saw the party coming. Perhaps the shock effect was even greater since they had never seen such an expression on Clyde's face before.
However, Kei and Haru didn't notice because their attention was fully focused on the party. Clyde pulled himself together before they both realized his shock.
'How did she get here?'
Many questions popped into Clyde's head. But he had to quickly organize his thoughts for now.
'Whatever it is, I have to separate her from the rest of her party first. I need to talk to her.'
The four people walked casually while exchanging chats and bickering. Clyde, Haru, and Kei followed them, moving sneakily between buildings until the party finally stopped at a spot.
"What are they doing?" Kei asked in a whisper.
"Of course taking the artifact," Clyde answered without looking at her.
The four of them entered the hole that had been dug. It took them a long time to retrieve the artifacts from the hole they dig, causing Kei and Haru to stand impatiently. But Clyde remained calm thinking about what he should do next.
When finally the four people climbed back up to the surface, the big man who looked the most excited among them came out carrying a large box on his back.
"That must be the artifact!" Kei said with restraint.
The artifact was quite large. But the man didn't seem to have any trouble holding it. He even walked as if he had nothing on his back. It showed how much strength the man really had.
'They will be quite troublesome.' Clyde gritted his teeth. 'The most important thing now is how I can separate Asqa from them.'
~~~
