Their faces drained of all color, hearts pounding like drums. Elias even felt his wound on the left arm throbbing, his thoughts racing with recollections of his encounter with his first Calamity Beast.
The feeling vanished as the chains' rattling stopped.
"It almost killed me," tears rolling down Sasha's pale face as she narrated. "It descended like the grim reaper, cold enveloped me and my skin developed an icy sheen, but I retaliated. Burst of lightning after burst of lightning. Its face was grinning, avoiding all attacks until I saw its maw by my face."
She grabbed Elias. "I thought I would die. I literally should have died. I didn't even know how I survived. All I remember was my brother saving me!"
They all scrambled back to where they had hidden from the Buddha boy.
They sat silently behind the rubble, hugging their thighs, eyes wide like owls, faces pale like the dead. Even their breathing was slow, afraid it would call upon the Calamity Beast.
"I think I know why they are upset about the fight…" Sasha whispered, making Elias startle.
'Really, your nervousness still makes you speak now?'
"...because they know they keep danger here. Those beasts and this one. If we fight among ourselves, we won't be able to face them."
She didn't even know that her whisper in the dead silence was very loud. Elias sighed as he shook his head. What she was saying was a no-brainer; even he had come to that conclusion.
'His Excellency Buddhist Heart is at the reception because of this too!' she added.
"Now… what?" Elias spoke with a normal voice, Sasha startled, she tackled his mouth to keep him quiet.
Elias wrestled her hand away and said, "Your whispers are loud too. Besides, the beast is contained."
His words made them fall silent for a few moments. An idea was blooming, but no one wanted to say it, let alone consider it.
Ten minutes in, Sasha's nature got the better of her; she couldn't keep quiet when she was nervous, and certainly not when this idea was trying to bore into her head.
"We can win!"
"Haha." Elias's shoulders shook as his voice grew loud. "Haha. Haha!" Sasha tackled him, closing his mouth, but he moved away.
"Stop it, please!" She whispered loudly.
"Why? I want to laugh." Elias's stump wiped away the tears that came out of his eyes. "Hilarious. Our situation is hilarious."
"Fight is never silent. Are we not going to hunt the Calamity Beast? Why be silent about it!"
Sasha stood inside the shadow of the rubble as the sun was going down, the light visibly shifting and reducing.
"What's so funny then?" Her hands were fidgeting, the idea had come out, but her body hadn't approved of it yet.
"We are funny. We are terrified but still harbor ideas of bravery that can cause our death!" Elias sighed. He was in the middle of the street, his heart pounding, but he battled that away.
His goal was clear: train his skills. What better way than now with a great opportunity? Before today, he had thought about calling home, afraid he was a dead weight to Sasha and her brother, but hearing about the bodyguard job, he was happy—at least he had something to do.
And now, he has to kill a Calamity Beast. What grander achievement than that?
He looked at Sasha, still unsure. 'She should be the one to do it. I'm here to make sure she is safe.'
"Are you chickening out?" He teased, but there was no reaction—her head down, face frowning, but deep in contemplation.
"I'm just a bodyguard. Whatever you choose, boss!" He added.
"We can kill it!"
"No. You will kill it. Let's go and do some survey."
If he had a hand, he would have grabbed her, but he walked away forward, pace fast and strong. The closer he got, though, the slower he became.
The street ended with two opposing roads, one left and the other right. He went left and kept pushing himself despite his body screaming in denial until he came to the place. On the right, among weathering buildings, was an alley, 75 meters long, 4 meters wide.
At the far end, on the wall, were black chains wrapped and looped tight around a dark, silent creature.
Gazing at it made Elias's body stiffen, eyes focused on it, unblinking with chaotic thoughts. Cold sweat rolled down his back, his hair stood on end, and his jaws clenched tight.
Elias stood rigid for several minutes before his body began to relax. The flight response to fear almost took over him, but he was tired, his legs numb for unknown reasons and a headache developing due to his teeth pressing against each other.
He didn't want to move; he wanted to fight that flight body response, but he was pulled away, dragged back to the road intersection.
The culprit fell down, panting as if she had been running for hours on end. Nose panting wasn't enough; her mouth took up that action to supplement more oxygen into her system.
Elias, too, slumped down, cold breeze washing over him, tired, even sleepy. To him, it was like a mental strain that he had managed to escape.
Sasha sat, brought out her book, and began to sketch and write something.
"So you followed me?"
"Of course. Our instinctual reaction is akin to a rat against a cat. But as SS-rank Talent wielders, we will get over it fast."
Elias nodded. They were basically sitting close to the place and feeling normal. If they hadn't faced it, they would have been trembling now with uncertainty.
Sasha's mind moved fast, making plans before she showed the book to Elias. "Impressive, actually nothing to improve here!" He commented.
"Look at you acting high and mighty as if you're my mentor." Sasha grumbles.
"Haha. Of course, since I'm your bodyguard," Elias said. "I can kill it with my talent!"
"I know. I also truly believe my Piercing Ring Lightning can kill it too."
Nerves relaxed, their focus became razor-sharp toward finalizing what they should do.
The Calamity Beast was tightly chained, and based on how the chains were arranged, the size of the beast, and also its proximity to the wall it was chained to, they concluded the beast only had around 40 to 50 meters of mobility distance.
Elias would attract its attention, and as it attacked, they would confirm their hypothesis about the movement limit. Then Elias would repeat that, with Sasha in place to release her lightning.