Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 177: Star Players, Part Six

The old barn stood weathered and old up ahead.

Lianna, Enverna, Mel, and Zura arrived at this distant location, their footsteps echoing softly in the quiet surroundings.

Lianna took charge. Using {Reconnaissance}, she looked through and past the walls, searching for enemies and the people they were here to save.

Lianna’s eyes widened when she spotted a few silhouettes.

"There are people inside," she relayed to her companions, her voice a blend of concern and resolve. "We should check if they’re injured before we do anything else."

Enverna nodded, her grip tightening on her spear.

"Let’s move."

With that, the four of them entered the dilapidated farmhouse connected to the barn, their senses on high alert for any signs of danger.

The creaking floorboards beneath their feet made things feel quite eerie, but their focus remained steadfast on the task at hand.

Upon reaching the main living area, they found the inhabitants they had come to rescue.

Men and women of varying ages, their faces etched with weariness and relief at the sight of their unexpected saviors.

Lianna perked up a bit.

One of them was a Child of Mana.

One by one, she checked them through {Target Analysis}

[... This guy’s kinda strong. This lady’s stats aren’t bad. This guy’s pretty strong too... Wait,] Lianna pulled back a bit. [They’re all pretty decent.]

The Child of Mana was no exception. While she wasn’t quite the same level of talent as Mel, she still had enough mana to qualify as a talented mage.

MP: 200/200

She set that aside briefly, though.

[Maybe them being this strong is the only reason they’re still alive right now.]

Lianna wasted no time in approaching one of the women, her expression a mix of empathy and determination.

"What happened here?" she inquired gently, her eyes scanning the room for any immediate threats.

The woman, her arm bandaged from a recent injury, met Lianna’s gaze with a mixture of gratitude and desperation.

"Fiends. They attacked us in the night. Every time we’ve tried to leave," she began, her voice tinged with fear, "they appear again, out of nowhere, blocking our path."

Immediately, Lianna raised a brow.

[But... There weren’t any Fiends around.]

{Reconnaisance} had let her know that much. Beyond that, however, there was little evidence of a struggle against Fiends. No Fiendish blood, no dissipated piles of flesh like Fiends were known to leave.

The only signs of fighting were the blood on these people’s clothes and the weapons lying around them on the floor.

[Something’s not right,] Lianna nodded to herself. [Something’s not right at all.]

Turning her attention to the group they had rescued, Lianna posed a simple yet crucial question.

"Where did the Fiends come from? How did they attack you?"

The room fell silent for a moment, tension coiling like a tightly wound spring as the survivors exchanged uncertain glances.

It was a man among them who spoke up, his voice laced with unease.

"They... they appeared out of nowhere. One moment everything was quiet, and the next they were inside our house!"

Lianna’s brow furrowed in concern.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looked back at the man, confused.

"That’s not possible. Fiends appearing out of nowhere could only happen due to a Mana Storm. And, I mean, if a Mana Storm was happening, first of all, we’d know, second of all, this house would be way more of a mess," Lianna stated.

Another voice chimed in, a young woman stepping forward with a troubled expression.

"They came from the south. I saw them. That’s where they appeared."

Lianna’s eyes widened slightly in realization, but her confusion only deepened.

"But we just came from that direction," she pointed out, her voice laced with growing concern. "We didn’t encounter any Fiends on our way here." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"We didn’t see any signs of Fiends either," Mel said. "The mana in the air felt normal too. I didn’t notice anything odd."

Things just weren’t adding up.

Before anyone could process the implications of these revelations, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

The group in front of them picked those weapons up and attacked.

Lianna flinched.

Enverna reacted swiftly. Her spear stopped a dagger that was about to reach Lianna’s chest, slapping the blade out of its user’s hands. Then, she buried that same spear tip into the lady’s neck. One man to the right went to help, swinging his axe at Enverna.

Eyes narrowed, Enverna severed his arms and cut his head off in two quick motions.

The attackers had a mage among them. That Child of Mana. She launched a flaming sphere at the girls but Zura stepped forward.

Zura raised her shield in a reflexive motion, blocking that surge of hostile magic aimed their way.

Mel’s response was equally swift and decisive, unleashing a torrent of electric energy that obliterated the opposing mage, turning her upper body into tiny bits of red flying in different directions.

Lianna herself, snapping out of her daze, carried out the final kill, pulling back and nocking an arrow at the same time, letting it loose and putting it between a man’s eyes.

The skirmish, intense yet fleeting, ended almost as quickly as it had begun.

Nothing could be heard but the girls breathing heavily for a time.

Lianna stood frozen for a moment, her mind racing to process the betrayal and the sudden violence that had unfolded.

"What the...?" she whispered, her voice carrying a mix of disbelief and disappointment.

Enverna’s gaze hardened as she surveyed their surroundings, her spear at the ready should more threats emerge.

"Evidently, it was a trap," she stated grimly.

Mel stepped forward, looking at the body of the Child of Mana she’d torn apart.

"Do you think that was the girl? The one who’d killed Xi? Was this her group?"

"No," Lianna shook her head. "I checked her Status beforehand. She was nowhere near strong enough. But," she said, her eyes roaming the bodies, "no doubt these people are with the group that’s been attacking the Watchful lately. We probably weren’t their specific targets. They were just hoping to take out any Watchful members in general, and then we showed up."

"Damn..." Zura said. "Serves them right, I guess."

"Yeah," Lianna agreed. "Still... I wonder why they’d do such a thing."

"Let’s check their bodies," Enverna suggested. "Maybe they’ll have something on them that lets us know. Then, we go back, report this, and see what Miss Taylor has to say."

"Agreed."