Hundreds of stone monsters rose from the ground,
as if replacing all the trees that were burned, destroyed,
or consumed by the mysterious purple lightning.
I noticed that all of the newly arrived monsters weren't focused on us.
It looked like they had no idea why they were there.
However, as soon as my partners started to set up another attack,
it felt like all the humanoid stone figures activated
and started to run towards them,
as if they were brainless.
The flying one started to fire his purple attacks everywhere,
and it was obvious that these two things were restricting our movements quite a lot.
I couldn't believe how stubborn the two other guys were,
trying to do everything by themselves and ignoring me.
It looked like all the attacks were focused on Juta and Hboy,
but they seemed to be able to dodge them.
I had to think of something.
But I couldn't.
It was already hard to dodge everything
and be careful not to engage the monsters.
We stood no chance the way we were.
We had to work as a team.
I even had an idea, seeing how they fought.
But I was sure they wouldn't listen to me
unless they had no other option.
I wanted to just wait,
but I couldn't risk any of us dying.
I got closer to them,
trying to avoid bumping into a stone monster,
when suddenly, out of desperation,
Juta created a strong wind,
blowing away the monsters—
and me and Hboy.
I landed in a nearby tree,
and I could see Hboy climbing to a higher branch of the tree next to me.
The monsters were falling down from the sky as if it was raining.
I looked at my partner, who was panicked.
I made him a sign to jump to my tree.
The distance wasn't big,
so he easily did it.
"You know, I'm surprised you actually came here," I said,
barely able to contain my anger.
He looked at me, seemingly frustrated.
I couldn't hold it anymore,
and I punched him—
as hard as I could,
without enhancing my fist.
Just as he was about to fall,
I caught him by his shirt
and pulled his face close to mine.
"Listen, you motherfucker," I hissed,
letting all my frustration out.
His round face pissed me off even more.
It made me want to let him fall
and break a leg or something.
"I don't give a shit about what you want—
a higher rank, money, fame—
I don't care.
But I cannot afford to die here because of your incompetence.
Now don't try and tell me
that what you've been doing isn't called incompetence.
We are supposed to form a team,
so you will fucking listen to me now,
or I'll let your round dumb face drop
and get killed by these guys."
He quickly nodded,
and I pulled him back.
He signaled Juta,
who ran towards the tree we were in
and started to climb it.
Hboy helped him,
and as soon as we were at a safe distance from the ground,
I turned towards them.
"What elements do you use the best?"
As I suspected,
they were pretty much the same as me.
They were good only with one element.
Juta excelled in air,
while Hboy in fire.
"Look, we need to get rid of these guys the monster summoned."
I could see the monster casting the purple attack
that would drain the life out of us if it hit.
I turned to Hboy.
"Your fire seems to be more efficient for splash attacks,
rather than one strong hit,
so you're going to blow them up
while we two wait somewhere further.
It doesn't matter if you blow a few trees up."
I pointed towards the monsters,
who looked like mindless ants.
"Then Juta and I will come back,
and he will launch me using his air.
The monster seems to be able to shoot all those attacks using that star of his,
so I will use my earth to shatter it,
as it doesn't look too durable.
Now go."
I didn't wait for his answer
and jumped a few trees further,
with Juta behind me.
Soon, there was a big explosion,
caused by Hboy.
"Come on."
Unlike Hboy,
Juta didn't look like he was rejecting me.
No—
it felt like he understood me…
in a weird way.
Why was I even thinking about that in the middle of a fight?
Luckily, I was right,
as Hboy was able to eliminate all those nuisances.
Just as planned,
Juta launched me towards the monster,
which caught his attention.
Before he managed to fire another attack,
I punched his star,
shattering it to pieces.
The monster let out some sort of loud scream,
which pushed me to the ground.
The force was so big
that I felt one of my ribs cracking from the impact.
However, I was so filled with adrenaline
that I could barely feel it.
I watched as the monster started twitching aggressively,
but it wasn't over yet.
It started to turn yellow, as if…
"It's going to explode!" yelled Hboy
as he turned to run,
urging Juta to follow him.
I tried standing up,
but just then the pain from my cracked rib hit me.
It hurt like hell.
Shit, he was going to leave me behind.
However, unexpectedly,
Juta turned back
and helped me run.
I turned my head.
The monster was about to explode at any moment.
We wouldn't make it in time.
Hboy turned back towards us.
"Huh?"
"Tsk, what now?
You said you can't afford to die,"
he said as he also began helping me.
The next moment,
I heard another explosion—
so loud it could have rendered me deaf.
Instantly, I could feel my back being burned by the fire.
It was a pain
that could be compared to when I fought the blond guy.
All three of us screamed in pain
as we fell to the ground.
The last thing I could remember
was that I had some dirt in my mouth
before passing out.