章 30: Voting.
After the chaotic battle, the boat's deck was strewn with the remnants of the aquatic clash – scattered fish corpses and the lingering aftermath of illuminated bullets.
Alex, now freed from the fish that had attached themselves to him, helped in the removal of the corpses from the scene with Ragna at his side.
The boat was suspended without any movement, still recovering from the aftermath. Grabbing some fish, Alex, along with Steve and Ragna, collected them in a large net.
"How was that, Alex?" Steve addressed him, putting a net in a large container.
"Dangerous!" The events were indeed risky; not only did Alex encounter the wave attack, but the encounter with the EviL spirit was also perilous.
Ragna joined in while putting more collected corpses tainted with blue liquid and said, "There will be more danger. We were prepared for stage 5 EVOLved creatures, but not for upcoming threats."
"Oh, come on, how bad can it be? It's just one stage, isn't it? We already dealt with stage 5; that gap can't be so much, right?"
Ragna was about to answer Steve's questions, but before he could, team leader Seth's voice echoed, "Gather up, everyone. We need to assess the aftermath and discuss our next move."
In just a few minutes, every member circled around the deck, even two sailors from inside were out. Steve leaning against the boat's wall, Alex standing beside him, Rin and Seth just a step away in the center, and the rest of the members scattered around Seth.
Chatter filled the place – talk of anomalies, the lack of detail, and what would be the best course of action.
Normally, a raid into the Blessed Land was prepared and carefully planned. In the case of the Allwater mission, the goal was to learn about the reason for the Surge, which could only be discovered by approaching the center.
The journey from port to center was carefully planned, appropriate equipment provided, means to fight danger established, and equipment for surviving the poisonous miasma ensured. That was the only reason why the party survived the attack of the stage 5 EVOLved creature. But further journeys might be uncertain.
Nevertheless,
"Everyone, I have already informed headquarters about the anomaly. They will send backup and a higher enlightenment Invocar."
"Currently, we all know that a boss was meant to stay in the center has appeared in a miasma, a place just outside the center. Not only one, but two. There is no need for me to tell what this conveys; however, I will do so."
Seth took a pause, letting the words sink into the hearts of the people, and continued, "All of these mean there are stage 4 EVOLved creatures in the center."
The rest of the party members were shocked; some took a step back while some gasped. Although they already knew about this, hearing it from their team leader affected them more deeply.
Steve was standing away, "Come on, how bad can it be? You easily dealt with stage 5, right? If you struggle a little more, I am sure you can deal with stage 4 too."
"Sigh," doing that, a party member said, "It's not that simple. The gap between 5 and 4 seems like a single step, but it isn't."
"At stage 4, individuals gain abilities of manipulating and manifestation,."
"But still, it can be a chance. Remember, opportunity is often accompanied by danger."
"Let's just assume Seth and Rin can deal with danger. What about the other threat? We already encountered stage 5 here. It's a matter of fact there are more in the center."
"Enough!" Seth's commanding voice echoed, "Quarreling over will lead us nowhere. Let's vote. Those who want to continue, raise your hands."
A silence started to spread around, each breath increasing the tension and weight. The members were thrown into choice, a choice that would determine their future – a question of life and death.
A hand was up, agreeing with the suggestion to continue. It was none other than Seth.
"I am just feeling like going, as our sailor said, opportunity is often associated with danger."
Seeing the leader agreeing, more and more hands were up, a total of 6 raised, pointing toward the sky Three were down – Alex, Ragna
Alex obviously didn't want to put his finger in the beehive. His only intention was to learn the technique that he would do in a matter of time, but to shoulder unnecessary risk.
"Sorry, but I am out of it," he declared, not caring about what anyone would think.
But there was one person that was unexpected to agree with Alex. Her hands were down. Of all the people here, nobody guessed that she would be the one to take a step back. She was none other than Rin, the magical girl gunslinger.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that? I just want to wait for more reinforcement. There are something that's out of reach for me."
Alas Whether she liked it or not, the decision was already in favor of marching forward, with 6 people agreeing and 3 not, while one went with the flow. It was none other than Steve, who didn't take part in voting.
Still, whichever he chooses, the result wouldn't have changed.
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