"Huh, I must say, your healing capabilities seem to have no limit whatsoever." Said Sash lightly as she looked at Alexander while a large gaping hole where his heart should be was slowly healing.
"Fuck you too." Stated Alexander weakly as he glared at Sash, causing the shadowy tendrils that bound his limbs to tighten.
"Tsk, where the hell is he? Did he really fail to finish off the Saintess? Hmph, I knew I should've bought a more competent team instead of picking the weakest of the bunch." Asked Sash in annoyance as she folded her arms and deeply frowned while gazing behind Alexander, only to scoff before shaking her head.
Smirking, I internally hoped Jasmine managed to make it to her Kingdom; even if she didn't return with help, so long as she saved herself, I would be satisfied.
'Haa, besides, I can probably make this whole church thing work out; it might take some time, but I should be able to escape eventually.' Thought Alexander wryly as he weakly gazed at Sash before heaving a sigh of relief while closing his eyes.
"Whatever, I'll go and do it myself." Muttered Sash in annoyance with a scoff as she glanced at Alexander, only to pass him, walking further down the dirt trail while melding seamlessly into the darkness.
Watching Sash quickly disappear into the distance, I used this chance to try and free myself, though it was a wasted effort; even when not near her spell, the shadowy tendrils still felt like indestructible vices clamping my limbs.
'I can't even cut off my limbs… Huh, maybe I could kill myself? That might work.' Thought Alexander with a frown as he gazed at his limbs before furrowing his brows with a thoughtful expression.
Just as I was preparing to boldly kill myself in a fiery explosion in hopes it would blow my limbs off, something was suddenly thrown through the forest, destroying hundreds of trees, akin to a blast, while a loud boom followed soon afterward.
"T-The hell just happened?" Muttered Alexander in confusion as he stared into the forest while gazing at the clear path of destruction that saw no end or start.
As I tried to figure out what had just happened, a woman donned in armor suddenly appeared in front of me, causing me to tilt my head in confusion, though when I saw Jasmine in her arms, my eyes widened in concern when I saw the state she was in.
"Jasmine!" Yelled Alexander in concern as he leaned forward while gazing at Jasmine, trying once more to free himself, to no avail.
Suddenly falling to the ground, I slowly sat upright while glancing at the tendrils holding me, only to see that they were cut cleanly, freeing me. However, I was broken out of my confusion when I felt that uncomfortable feeling once more, prompting me to eye the woman donned in armor, who suddenly handed me, Jasmine.
"Heal her, Alex." Stated Justina sternly as she eyed Alexander, who nodded, only for the ground to tremble while the darkness surrounding them seemingly came to life.
"Did a filthy creature just touch me!?" Exclaimed Sash furiously from every direction as the darkness grew in size before forming a sphere, trapping the three within true darkness, preventing even Alexander from seeing beyond the sphere.
Yet, just as the sphere of darkness consumed us, the woman, who must've been Captain Justina Jasmine had mentioned, suddenly unsheathed her sword; though, my hopes were quickly dashed as she suddenly tossed it to the side while her arms and legs transformed, turning into the limbs of a bear with large paws and equally large claws.
With a mighty swipe that nearly threatened to push me backward, Justina cut the sphere of darkness in half, causing it to fall to pieces as the usual darkness of night returned overhead.
"Once you heal her, take her back to the Crestfallen Kingdom. I shall regroup once I've dealt with her." Stated Justina as she glanced at Alexander, who quickly nodded before lunging into the distance, swiftly engaging Sash in battle.
Heaving a sigh, I looked down at Jasmine, who, while conscious, could barely seem to comprehend what was happening, which prompted me to summon Zartha as I quickly made a deep incision on my wrist, pouring my blood into Jasmine's mouth and onto her wounds, requiring several incisions as they would heal within a second.
While Jasmine was healing, it wasn't as quick or as potent as it was for me, but after a little over a minute, her wounds had healed; only a gaping hole in her outfit remained, which was something I had to avoid looking at now that she was healed.
"Jasmine? Jasmine?" Asked Alexander anxiously as he looked down at Jasmine, who regained her bearings before sitting upright on his lap.
"A-Alex? A-ALEX!?" Exclaimed Jasmine softly as she gazed at Alexander, only to shout in joy as he embraced him, prompting him to do the same.
"I'm so so glad you're okay, Alex." Muttered Jasmine softly as she tightly hugged Alexander, who lightly nodded with a faint smile.
"Yeah, I'm happy you're alive as well." Said Alexander while glancing at Jasmine, who flashed a beautiful smile, only for the ground to shake violently while a massive explosion of wind uprooted every nearby tree.
Protecting Jasmine from the violent winds, we were forced through the sky for hundreds of meters before I finally landed on the ground nearly a kilometer away from where we had previously been standing.
"My goodness, those two, they're extremely strong; just being somewhat near them is dangerous." Muttered Alexander with a gulp of fear while gazing into the distance with awe, his mind wandering to Lavender.
'Master was an SS-Class Adventurer, so just how strong was she?' Thought Alexnder with a curious expression as he stared into the distance, only to shake his head while glancing at Jasmine.
"I assume that's Captain Justina?" "Yes. She's been with the Royal family for a long time, several hundred years, so she's really strong." Remarked Alexander and Jasmine, respectively, as the former curiously eyes the latter, who nods before gazing into the distance, observing the violent and destructive battle.
"C'mon, let's get moving. The last thing I want is to be reprimanded by her; she'd beat my ass." Said Alexander lightly in slight fear as he ran across the dirt trail, heading towards the Crestfallen Kingdom while Jasmine chuckled.
"Hehe, don't worry, she's sweet; she used to play with me when I was little, and she even taught me how to defend myself a little." Said Jasmine with a faint smile as she leaned into Alexander's embrace while looking at him, though all he gave her was a skeptical gaze.
"Oh, something I want to ask, but what happened to your shirt?" Asked Jasmine as she glanced at Alexander, who awkwardly averted his gaze with a faint blush.
"Um, well, first off, it's not just my shirt. Secondly, the person I was dealing with was to blame." Replied Alexander lightly as he refused to glance at Jasmine, who furrowed her brows before gazing downwards, only to deeply blush when she saw his manhood.
"D-D-Do y-you h-have a-any e-extra c-c-clothes?" Asked Jasmine nervously as she glanced at Alexander's face, prompting him to nod.
"Yes, in my space pouch." Said Alexander lightly, only for Jasmine to quickly hand him his space pouch, prompting them to stop.
Setting Jasmine down, I backed away and searched through my space pouch before grabbing a pair of pants; although she covered her eyes with her hands, she occasionally peeked through her fingers.
Putting my pants on, I attached my space pouch to my waist and picked up Jasmine, who had possibly the deepest blush I'd ever seen on someone.
"T-That was my f-first t-time ever s-seing a mans, t-thing." Muttered Jasmine softly with a crimson blush while stuffing her head into Alexnader's neck, too embarrassed to face him.
"Um, please don't tell anyone… I don't want to become enemies with your father." Asked Alexander softly as he glanced at Jasmine, who faintly nodded, causing him to sigh in relief.
___
___
After non-stop running for nearly an hour, we'd entered the Crestfallen Kingdom and continued on the dirt trail, which hopefully led to somewhere, but that wasn't needed as Justina suddenly appeared in front of us, causing me to barely stop in time.
"U-Um, Captain Justina! D-Did you win?" Asked Alexander respectfully as he stood straight while looking at Justina, who suddenly opened her mouth, revealing a bloody and crushed hand.
"I failed to kill her, but I took a prize." Said Justina lightly as she glanced at Alexander while spitting the disfigured hand onto the ground, causing him to gulp.
Before I could say anything else, Jasmine was suddenly in her arms, causing my expression to twitch, though I didn't dare say a thing to her.
"I shall return her to the Palace. Thank you for your help, Alex." Said Justina lightly as she looked at Alexander before slightly bowing, causing him to quickly stop her.
"P-Please, t-that's not needed. I-I just did what I would always do." Remarked Alexander as he quickly shook his hands while faintly smiling, causing Justina to nod.
"Wait, Alex, aren't you coming? Y-You'll be greatly rewarded." Said Jasmine with wide eyes as she looked at Alexander, who wryly smiled, before averting his gaze.
"I would like to, but I've got a group of people to return to; I've already been gone for a few days, so I hope to return soon." Replied Alexander softly as he looked at Jasmine, who suddenly grabbed his hand, refusing to let go.
"T-That's fine, bring them too. J-Just promise me you'll return." Asked Jasmine pleadingly as she looked at Alexander, who winced before eventually nodding while deeply sighing.
"Haa, okay, I'll return, though it may take a day or two." Said Alexander as he glanced at Jasmine, who smiled in joy.
Justina looked me up and down, only to flash a faint smirk before nodding, confusing me, though I could not question her as she suddenly dashed away, moving so fast I could hardly see a blur.