Chương 57: Breakdown

The odd guy appeared and disappeared in a matter of seconds, taking with him the whole Jaylee's base. While this description was not the exact truth, most clues of what had truly occurred had vanished in the air.

After Rose finally cool down and let go of Apollo, Apollo remembered he was not exactly in the best position to be wasting time right now. Sure, the betrayer had been taken care of, but the original problem was still lurking a few kilometers distance from Negi's base.

Controlling his trembling body, Apollo stood straight once again and spoke with a voice full of confidence.

"Our business here is done. Let's get out of here!"

"Grrr!!!"

Apollo's stomach protested his lack of care, making Apollo wonder if any food was left along these ruins, but because there were still hours before dawn, everything was dark and it would be hard to search with only Apollo's bracer acting as a light source.

"M-master. Do you want to... eat something? Should I make something for you?"

Seeing Rose ask that question, Apollo couldn't help but remember Alice. Alice would always offer him food, no matter the time of the day. It was hard to get hungry with such a dedicated cook always at hand. But now that she was gone... While he didn't see her last moments, he knew she would never come back, that made him feel a void so strong inside of him that caused him to somehow appreciate the hunger he felt.

"There is no need. Let's not waste our time here. That idiot probably exploded even his own HQ, so anything that was the most precious has already been destroyed..."

As these reckless words escaped Apollo's mouth, he started walking through the way he came from, but just as he took a few steps back, someone called him again.

"M-master! I found...found...huh...quickly, come here right now!"

Apollo was unable to identify the trembling voice that was calling him. He didn't let his guard down and called back the soldiers to guard him before proceeding to investigate what was going on.

Once he arrived, he noticed the voice belonged to Mint, the only nurse still accompanying him. She was crouched on the ground right in front of what appeared to be a corpse.

"S-she is still alive! W-we got to save her!"

Apollo frowned his browns as he looked at her. He couldn't be sure as most servants had the same appearance but the one in front of him appeared to be exactly the one Jaylee had brought to the meeting one day ago.

"I think her name was... Tabita?"

She had red hair and pointy ears like all other servants created by Jaylee. Her legs were a bloody mess and she had lost one foot. And the only thing that exposed a hint of her identity were the maid clothes and the ponytail in her hair.

As Apollo said her name, Tabita twitched a little bit. She was at the death's door and had no strength to talk.

"Can you save her?"

"I need clean bandages, some alcohol, coagulation herbs would also help..."

"Coagulation herbs?"

"Yeah. Like Clover, Chamomile, or herbs with lots of K vitamin!"

"O-okay... Girls! Spread around, look for the herbs Mint is asking for!"

While Apollo doubted the herbs Mint said could be found that easily, he was no herb expert and a life was in line right now. After give minutes pass with no results, Mint got inpatient and decided to act herself.

"You guys are too slow! Why are you looking with your eyes!? Ask the plants where they are!!!!"

(Using her skill to communicate with the plants? I think that's something not described in the system menu!)

Apollo didn't have time to be surprised with the discovery as it didn't take more than a few seconds for Mint's voice to spread through the night again.

"20 meters Northeast! There! Another one 5 steps behind you! What are you doing!? There is a whole bunch right in front of you! And you, grab me some water! Not mud! Clean water! It's 100 meters south from here! Run quickly! GoGoGO!"

Apollo got a bit stunned by Mint's sudden change in personality, but still followed her commands along the other girls and as the sky started changing color, announcing the closing dawn, Tabita recovered conscience once again.

"Ugh! Why didn't you let me die?"

"Don't say that! Life is precious! You shouldn't think of dying! You should aim to survive!"

"Hypocrite! Master was right! You stole Master's dream! And now you are trying to steal what he left behind!"

"No, I-"

"I REFUSE TO SURRENDER!!!! MY HEART BELONGS TO MASTER AND NOBODY ELSE!!!!"

Tabita took out her hidden knife and tried to stab Apollo, but the girls were already prepared and held her down.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MASTER AWAY FROM ME! HOW DARE YOU TAKE OUR HAPINESS FROM US!!! HOW DARE YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING WE BUILT TOGETHER!!!!!"

Seeing the frenetic girl in front of him, fighting to free herself from his four soldier who were holding her down, Apollo felt some short of panic creeping out from deep inside his heart and taking over his mind.

"HOW DARE YOU!? HOW DARE YOU!? HOW DARE YOU!? HOW DARE YOU!?HOW DARE YOU!!!!!"

His heart started beating faster and faster and his body started trembling once again. His memories of the past weeks started surfacing on his head and he started to judge again and again if the words said to him made any sense at all.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! LET ME DIE!!!!"

Feeling the increasing pressure through the roaring of the crazy girl before him, his face got paler and paler until it was devoid of all color, and Rose, noticing something was wrong with him, decided to act before it was too late, striking the crazy girl in the back of the neck and making her faint on the spot.

"..."

"...Did you kill her?"

"No. She just fainted."

"I see..."

"..."

"...Let's... get out of here..."

"Yes!"

It was impossible to tell what was going on inside Apollo's head as all his expressions vanished from his face, making him appear closer to a dead person than someone alive. Turning his back to the sleeping Tabita without hesitation, he walked through the path he came in without anyone's help and disappeared into the forest.