The appearance of monster trees was swerving towards the area that Agila and Esperers were unable to mitigate. The pouring of rain made it tough for them to counter the attacks and shoot the bearing. Cherish fought with Larch and Flora, eradicating the showering debris away from them. Hanaele carried Sophia with her bare arms that Sophia's weight was not a matter for her.
The rest of the Agila squad members and Esperers helped each other in escaping away from the disastrous scene. It was risky to fight anymore. The monster trees increased their number from three to more than a five, appearing randomly below the land.
"Retreat!" Cassius, running with his horse together with his comrade and Nover, arrived.
Cherish used her umbrella to protect Larch and Flora when these two can no longer sustain their strength. Their bodies were wet and shivering in coldness as they ran away from the falling debris towards Cassius' current location. The clinging of woods bumping to Cherish's weapon collided with the rain's roar.
"Does anyone of you seen Sophia?" Larch asked amidst wrapping himself with his arms, glancing at those two women at his right. Flora faced his shrinking eyes and quivering lips while Cherish didn't mind focusing on his question. She was still distracted by Vince's death.
"I only roamed the quarter of the area, and I haven't spotted her," Flora answered. Her words were shuddering like broken glasses.
Hearing Flora's unfortunate response, Larch felt fidget. He has already seen enough squadmates died at this expedition, and he can't afford to dwell if Sophia ended up the same thing.
When large debris hit Cherish's shield, they almost fell on the muddy soil. "That was close!" Flora reacted. The rain became stronger. The sound it made brought their ears like a deaf. It gave them enough sensation of disorganized thoughts and failed mission, even if they were not legally called soldiers yet.
Cherish kept looking at her back to see where Cassius waited for them. Cassius cannot move to help them since the rain made the surroundings blurry, and he also needs to take an eye towards his comrade and Nover. As soon as Cherish spotted them hiding behind a towering tree with a wide trunk, she asked Larch and Flora to ran in that direction.
When they arrived, the debris can no longer reach them. The huge leaves of the tree, where they rested, served as their temporary shelter in the middle of calling for backups.
Cassius went off his horse and ran towards them, "Larch and Flora, let us wait here for the others." His worried eyes roamed between these two future heroes. Larch was catching his breath while looking down, holding two of his knees while Flora dropped her body in the wet grasses, sitting down with her heavy shoulders and dizziness due to performing her skill.
When Cassius' eyes went to Cherish, he wondered upon not seeing Vince at her side. Cassius was fully aware that Vince has always been following her, so seeing Cherish alone disturbed him. He also felt indifferent towards how Cherish quickly looked away when he looked at her. It made Cassius felt that there was something wrong. Cherish was not like this before.
"W-Where is Vince?" he calmly asked in a whisper. Cherish took a snap to look at him and eventually avoided. Some tears fell from her eyes. Cherish bit her lower lips, pretending not to get affected by Vince's death. She was also trying to produce only a minimal sound of her crying in front of them. Everyone knows she was a person whose heart can't easily get shattered, and Cassius was aware of that.
Even though Cassius didn't receive a direct answer from her, he already sensed what happened to Vince. Cherish wiped her tears, breathed several times, and forced a smile.
"I survived without giving importance to him," she said, looking down as she tried to avoid this new feeling she felt. "I survived," she paused for a while as she spotted Larch and Flora listening to her.
"Without having him," she continued, and tears began to flow continuously on her cheeks. Her heart tightened.
'Vince is dead', Larch said to himself. It made him felt a useless leader losing a squad member. A tear went out from his eye, but he refused to let it fall. He breathed so loud that Flora even noticed him. He turned his back away, facing the tree, and punched it with his minimal strength.
Flora stared at nowhere, realizing that they were just fighting for nothing. 'Compared to Anito's strength, we are nothing but useless creatures trained to die,' she thought. She laughed in bitterness, "What are we fighting for?" Flora's jolly and childish expression faded. It alarmed them, especially Cassius.
Cassius' comrade made the horse moved closer to them. Right now, Nover can hear their wailing. He was still holding his finger while listening to them. Like Larch, Sophia, and Cherish, Nover felt the same. They felt powerless, useless, and hopeless.
"What are you saying?" Cassius asked Flora with the authority he was holding. Every one of them in this area sensed the stern part of Cassius' response.
Flora didn't look at him, not even bothering to stand up and face him, even if Cassius stood beside her. "Can't you see? We ended up losing almost half of Agila without killing half of the monster trees yet. I guess if Ox and Sabahi squads were here, including their official soldiers, we are still won't be able to defeat those creatures," Flora said in a monotone, staring at the wilderness without blinking her eyes. This made Cassius upset.
"Are you distrusting us?" he asked, Flora did not respond. When Cassius observed her stone attitude, he continued, "I see. You are questioning our capabilities without questioning yours. You're being unfaithful, and impatient."
Nover looked down and pondered about Cassius' words. Cherish sneezed in silence, listening to the rain's pattering sound it made to her shoes. Cassius' comrade did not react and show any form of disagreement to him. He is also an Esperer, so there is no need to question.
Larch, on the other side, released his fist, greeted his teeth, faced them back, and argued, "You and your higher officials allow the expedition to continue despite having all of us not well prepared! We haven't even mastered our assigned and chosen skills yet!" He can no longer contain the anger and despair his heartfelt.
Cassius was about to counter Larch, but Flora immediately intervened. "There's no need to master it. Why master something for the sake of nothing? We don't even know what we are aiming for. A what? To extirpate the monster trees? Aren't they already been part of this planet even before we were born? Aegir allowed them to exist so why not dwell with it?" Flora showered him these heavy questions. At this point, she already stood up, facing them. Her entire change of aura made them surprised. She wasn't the happy and playful woman that they knew anymore.
Larch nodded his head after hearing Flora as a sign of agreeing to her. He suddenly realized that the Esperers didn't set other goals for them aside from exterminating those monster trees to avoid the production of Anitos. They were only given the background that monster trees are moving giant plants. They are only called Anitos once they have eaten a person inside their trunk. Nothing more, nothing less.
"What if," in the brink of the meantime silence, Nover spoke while still staring at his finger. Their heads turned at him. "What if we are born to be like them?" he asked like he was asking it for himself. This made Flora, Larch, and Cherish raised their heads.
Despite the tension that Flora, Larch, and Nover gave to Cassius, he remained calm and as dogmatic as possible. He sighed, making sure that no one would see it as obvious.
"The problem with you is that you are expecting an immediate improvement to your skills that's why I told you that you are all impatient," he stole a glance at Flora. She courageously stared back, but Cassius wasn't bothered, he looked at each of them. "There are times in our life that we don't need to be prepared in order to struggle at something. Why Because it is unpredictable. We can't predict destiny," he continued, emphasizing every word that he was conveying to them.
Flora shook her head. She got disappointed hearing their senior's response. He didn't even answer her question. She got the point but, 'what are we fighting for?'.
The scourging attacks of the monster trees, the roaring of the strong rain, and the splashing of winds were the only things they hear in the middle of their silent voices. It broke when Larch fueled back the fire.
"Aegir made all of these."
Cassius shook his head, "It was because of his wife's sin that made his daughter suffer in our world, living in different identities that her daughter has no full consciousness about." His statement made them attentive. They didn't understand what he was talking about.
Larch asked in confusion, "And his daughter's name is?"
"Snaedis, the goddess of water."