Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Aside from Rain, who used himself as bait, they were crossing the underground tunnel that was half filled with water by using the golems that now had taken the shape of small boats. They invaded the enemies' camp to attack and steal most of the supplies that the enemies had.

Thanks to the diversion, Roan, Jori, and Reca used Limit Breaker and Magic Boost and defeated the guards in no time, so they were in a good mood, but soon they began to worry when that tremor reached them, and part of the tunnel began to collapse.

"... What was that?" Terra asked while showing a worried expression.

Roan jumped from the boat and then used Magic Boost and limit breaker to leave the tunnel as soon as possible. When that happened, and he approached the waterway, he found Seadir giving a shoulder to Rain, and a shiver ran down his spine when he saw Rain's condition… While conscious, most of his skin was burned, and his right arm was barely connecting his upper side with the forearm.

He only didn't lose his right arm because of his forearm guard.

"Dad… keep Mom and the girls away. They can't see me like this," Rain said while he was trembling and fighting to stay conscious.

Roan felt a cold hand smashing his heart… It was a very cruel one since it didn't kill him immediately and made him suffer in shock for a while. That plan was his, and he blamed himself for the aftermath. He assumed that Rain would be fine no matter what, but he failed to grasp the real possibilities.

In the end, Rain took a deep breath and then told Seadir to stop the others and only bring Terra to help him heal faster. Fortunately, the explosion burned all the powder that prevented him from using magic, so he was healing himself, but at that rate, it would take days before that could happen.

"Listen, Dad… this isn't your fault. I messed up," Rain said when he sat nearby and began to heal himself and meditate at the same time. "I didn't consider that the enemy would sacrifice himself like that… It seemed that they had a magic bomb installed inside of them that would blow up if they died and didn't revive after a short window of time. I learned my lesson, so don't worry.

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This will only make me stronger."

Roan nodded once, but he still looked shocked… his plan almost cost the life of his son, and that was the only thing in his head. He didn't want to cause needless killing, and that was the price of such a goal…

When everyone left the tunnel, they tried to approach, but Seadir stopped with his spear in hand. He was severe, and that made everyone raise their guard.

"Only Terra can see Rain. That was his order," Seadir declared. "Please understand that I can't explain anymore than this."

Everyone immediately understood that it seemed that Rain was hit by the attack that made the entire area tremble… and that he was in a state that he didn't want to show to anyone. Although she was prepared to use her magic, Terra still hesitated in approaching. Still, she soon began to move when she realized that Rain truly needed help.

In the end, Terra was also left paralyzed by what she saw. Truth be told, Rain didn't think that it was so bad, but he still couldn't help but sigh. If people keep looking at him like that, he will get some mental damage.

"Sorry for being such a sorry figure," Rain said and then shrugged. "I will try to do better and care more about my appearance."

Terra began to heal Rain without wasting time, and before long, she began to cry endlessly. Rain almost looked like a dead body. It was amazing that he could stay conscious in that state.

Seadir came to bring some potions now and then, but he mainly focused on keeping the others away. Despite all that hard work, when morning came, Rain's arm barely had healed enough for the bones and muscles to be covered, and that was despite the fact that Terra focused on healing that area first.

"... You probably will heal faster if you sleep a little," Seadir said. "I want to scare the opponents a bit like this to see what kind of determination they are going to face by keeping going. Besides, I can't go before her."

Terra stopped crying a while ago, but her eyes were bloodshot. While Rain was out of danger, she wanted to keep going. At that rate, she will be the one who will collapse, but Rain will be sure that it won't happen.

As for Roan, he recovered a bit and was standing guard to fight in Rain's place if the enemies decided to do something, but he still was having a hard time preventing his guilt from eating him from the inside out.

Although Rain suffered a lot of damage, the operation had been a success. The goal was to steal as many resources as possible from the enemies, and that is why they used the golems that Rain created as boats. Adding to the fact that  Rain made a bunch of the enemy's weapons sink on the ground, they weren't showing any signs of movement.

When night came, Rain noticed that things were starting to get noisy behind. Everyone was starting to get pissed at Seadir for preventing them from coming to see Rain. He checked his body and still could see a bunch of flesh missing, but he was able to cover most of it by creating something like an earth armor that had no practical use.

"It is alright, they can come. Sorry for bothering you until now," Rain said while looking at Seadir. "You also need to rest."

"All right," Seadir said and then took a deep breath since he was also tired of the eyes on him.