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Pay waded through another wave of smoke, shooting down two unsuspecting sohees as the same time. The battle with these cave spawns kept him occupied, the hunter totally forgetting about his mother until he saw a neighbour dodging a pursuing zombie. The whereabouts or even the condition of his mother brought forth a concerned countenance. He hoped and prayed that she managed to run off to safety just like most of the townsmen did.
The "mad" falcon flew away from its master, swooping down to the aid of Pay's neighbour. It dived right into the zombie's face, stunning the foul undead upon the hard collision. Pay let loose an arrow, burying it deep into the side of its head.
"Thank you, Pay! I make sure you get a big discount whenever you patronize my shop!" the hunter's tool dealer neighbour called out.
"Where's my mother? Did you see her?" Pay replied frantically while taking down two bonguns.
"Oh, she was trapped in your house earlier, but a group of –"
"Quit telling stories and tell me where she is now!"
"She's outside with other townsmen."
Taking a moment to let his breath out of both relieve and exhaustion, a sohee from behind floated silently, driving a dagger into his upper back. A shout escaped his lips, the hunter now had to worry about himself more than his mother. His right shoulder had yet to heal completely, and now there was a new addition to his injuries.
His white tights underneath his hunter attire stained of red as blood continued flowing freely. The sohee shot her hands down for another stab, the dagger shimmering as it reflected the fire. Pay gave it a boot to the stomach in desperation, struggling to pull an arrow out of the quiver attached to his back. The injury made the turning of his arm backwards very painful, but he gritted his teeth as he pulled an arrow out, fitting it to his Arbalest.
Due to the close distance between them, the sohee was blasted backwards a considerable distance when the arrow flew. However, that was not over for him just yet. Another group of two sohees and a munak came for him with hands outstretched in an incoming attack. Despite his strong firepower, he was not able to take out all three at once. They were too close to him, and too fast……
He decided to take out the sohees first, since getting stabbed by their daggers prove more fatal than a backhand from the munak, though it was still powerful enough to knock someone out cold. A choice had to be made, after all. He let fly an arrow which went through the head of the nearest sohee.
Suddenly, try as he might, the injury in his back was too painful to take it. Each time he took out an arrow, the pain increased. He wanted to pull the quiver off his back, but by the time the sohee's dagger would have introduced another grave injury to his body. He shouted out for help, from the nearby defenders or anyone who could help. As if answering his pleas, two bolts whizzed past his head and struck the munak and sohee in the head.
"Now we're quits."
The hunter turned his head and saw Elemire standing before him gleefully, her head raised in a cocky manner. The hunter gathered himself back to his feet, muttering a thanks her way. He felt kind of weird to be saved by the opposing guild, by a huntress of all people. He wanted to ask her why did not leave him to die instead, but what she told him said it all. He kept her out of harm's way earlier at the entrance, and in return its right that she save him in his injured state.
"Are you leaving or something? Gosh, did someone punch five pairs of chopsticks into your back? Looks real… bad" Elemire asked when she saw the red stained tights.
"Leave me alone," Pay replied when he thought she was going to offer him assistance again. He did not want any help in the form of the Overlords, what was important now was to find his mother and kill off the remaining demons.
The fire that broke out at several places was under control by the more courageous townsmen who decided to stay and help rather than escaping. Pay was glad that there would not be a third round of constructions. The fact that Moonlight was not in sight somehow made Pay worry; this meant that this was just a trial attack by her, and many more attacks of such would continue to occur. The defenders were already fast dwindling, let alone handling more of these cave demons resurfacing sooner than the time taken to finish their dinner.
Pay tried his best to stay away from the demons. He was in no condition to fight, so that left him the option of looking for his mother, who was said to be among the townsmen near the Payon woods.
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As he sat near the cave Tien had flashes of his guild mates who died in Geffen. He then thought about the future; what was going to happen to him? How would he proceed to destroy the Avenger? He thought of recruiting new members into his guild, training them, increasing their committee slowly along the way. But all these looked empty to him, looked pointless to him.
The monk could not bring himself to accept new members, since he had shared a bond with the dead members, even though he had been a tyrant. Moreover, the standard of people's way of combating was inferior as compared to his guild mates. Tien punched his fist onto the grass, recalling how they were killed. The four, especially the Doppelganger, was the main culprit. He had participated in the battle, taking it upon himself to kill relentlessly, his guild mates being his victims. His intentions of slaying the Avenger one by one was suddenly flung to the back of his mind. A fresh, new fury surged through his body while he vowed the elimination of Doppelganger. What must truly be avenged and destroyed right now, was the Doppelganger, the phantom swordsman…
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"Mother! Did anything happen to you?"
"No, son, I escaped without a scratch. See? Nothing, no injuries," a woman in her forties reassured.
The crowd was easy to spot. Pay walked out of Payon, and a commotion already greeted him not far away to the woods. The injured lay in pain, the more medically inclined folks began administering potions and salves to ease their sufferings. Groups of people were scattered; the elderly chatted among themselves, arguing about how they should work the talisman charms to stop the demons, hunter associations organizing temporary shelters and coming up with strategies to overcome the cavern spawns.
"Mother, this place is not safe. I will take you west to Comodo, for that place is not under any form of threats for now. I wanted to take you to Prontera, but I fear the four might attack again," Pay suggested.
"You worry too much for me Pay, in fact I know what's best for me. Your father died defending this city, everybody here should contribute something to defend against these demons. Not excluding me."
"But Mother –"
"It's final,' she interrupted firmly. "Son, I always wanted you to stop wasting your time in your little guild and waste your youth away. You should join the Elite Hunter forces. This way you can protect me, and everyone else."
Pay slapped his hand against his forehead.
"I can't, Mother. You don't expect me to leave them just like that! Besides… besides… my stay here is temporary. Some time later I would be returning to Prontera."
"You're already twenty-one, son! What can you hope to achieve in a guild? Spare a thought for your future!"
Pay hung his head down in frustration. He did not like the way his mother force him out of the Avenger, but he had devoted so much into the guild, he could not leave just because his mother told him so.
"Sulking are you? You might not have a chance to even sulk when the Lord of Death tramples you to death!" Pay's mother continued on.
"Mother," he began. "I will only help the Elite Hunter forces, but joining them, is out of the question. I'm taking my leave."
After he turned to leave, he heard his mother shout out to him, something about his back injury. He took his quiver off his back with much effort, hanging it on his belt for easier withdrawal. He walked briskly while biting his lower lip to bear with the pain that coursed through his back. The smoke had thinned from the extinguishing of all the fire, providing him with better vision to work his Arbalest.
A few townsmen cheered after the fire was put out. Seeing the last score of demons remaining, he shot down one bongun, followed by a munak. Each shot thereafter became weaker gradually, for when he pulled the bowstring back, that certain angle still affected his back.
The hunter could not hold on any longer. He had to stop his attacks and look for treatment. Another wave of pain hit him, causing him to fall on his knees. Whatever movements he made had the pain acting up, his body sagging with weakness. Sounds of battle continued filling his ears; humming of bowstrings, whistling of arrows, an assortment of everything.
Cheers erupted in Payon when the Elite Hunter forces eliminated the final score of demons. But Pay did not witness the celebration, nor did he hear the excited conversations and shouts. He collapsed into a delirium.