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The commander wasn’t the only one to say their thanks; a few more hunters who participated in the attack thanked Anlesa before they moved off elsewhere.

Some offered to take or direct Anlesa to an emergency point, but Luna denied it and told them that she knew where it was–which was a lie–that she was fine, and that they should go where they were immediately needed. Even though she said she knew, people still told her about evacuation points; the eastern side of Third Seventh Street, the north side end of the main street, the Leaf Leave hunting guild which had a bunker and tunnel, and the government hall which had reinforced building and fence around it. They were asking out of concern, currently she looked like a civilian who just tried to help out, one that they all believed would be exhausted after what happened and how much mana they were forced to use. Even if she had some spare, if you weren’t used to using large amounts it didn’t matter if a person had some remaining in the tank, they would still be exhausted.

The widespread preconception was that any Space magic was expensive, and the knowledge of the extra details about what makes teleportation more or less costly was not known, so everyone just assumed that the helpful civilian was spent.

To be fair, it still cost Luna ten-percent of their combined mana, which for an ordinary person would be a lot.

[Okay, now it's time for the next location.] (Syrus)

Syrus, like everyone else, had moved on, and at the moment they had moved into another for quiet and potentially to change clothes.

[Where to next?] (Luna)

[Reinforcing the western edge is likely the best option.] (Eva)

Anlesa looked over towards the western side of the city.

[Let’s go–] Syrus stumbled forward as she then stamped the ground, threw her hand to her hand, and pushed herself up onto the wall she stood beside.

“Arrghh…” Anlesa groaned.

[What…] (Luna)

[I feel sick…] (Eva)

It was sudden, but an intense dizziness flooded Anlesa’s mind. Tingles within their muscles and a bit of pain in their mana flow.

[Give me a moment.] Syrus withstood the main fog and began to diagnose their body.

Anlesa’s body was not at 100%, Syrus had made that known many times, but all the improvements they made, the time they rested, the potions Eva made, and just how good their body felt, it was easy for the mind to wander away from the fact.

[I… think I’ve found the issue.] (Syrus)

The simple truth was that even if they still had most of their mana tank remaining, their body was exhausted.

They fought that advance party from the church, then immediately went on for bandits, only to come back to the city and within the same day have it attacked on all sides. The one good thing was there was enough time to regenerate their mana back to full thanks to their efficient usage over the bandits' fights and the time required to return home.

Maybe their body would have handled it when it was fully recovered.

But today was not that day.

[Bloody shit-stirring donkey.] (Syrus)

Syrus explained their body wasn’t keeping up, and she was mostly blaming herself for it. Strengthening herself with Blood attribute was within what seemed deemed safe behaviour, for the short term, but it has been a constant requirement.

[No… don’t blame yourself we have done multiple high-cost mana-requiring actions. Mine would’ve taken its toll the most.] (Luna)

Luna couldn’t comment on the strain Syrus did on the body with what in her mind was necessary use of Syrus’ Blood attribute, but the other burdens, all the mana intense spells they cast, Luna believed she could carry the blame for that. Syrus might’ve done the firewall, but her teleportation, and, more importantly, the massive mana drain that was her Moonlight ramage for sure caused issues within their body.

[No… my constant strain was for sure worse.] (Syrus)

Luna had an understanding of the human body, but only Syrus had the knowledge and ability to understand the current inner workings thanks to her Blood attribute. Luna and Eva could feel what she was doing, but they weren’t able to understand what it was supposed to feel like.

[So, all our faults?] Eva suggested, and then she asked a question in a childish and cuteish tone. [Can we blow up more mutated creatures now?]

[Poof! Haha. What is with that?] (Syrus)

[I… didn’t expect that.] (Luna)

[Well..! I was learning from you!] (Eva)

“Haha.” Anlesa let out a small, quiet laugh, which made them a little lightheaded.

“Yeah, feeling better now.”

Syrus pulled themselves up the wall.

[I’ll keep the Blood use to a minimum now.] (Syrus)

[So time for fireball chuck time?] (Eva)

[Haha, maybe.] (Syrus)

With their bag and weapon not on them, they dropped the dress onto the ground and lit it ablaze. Syrus created a strong fire to remove a large trace of the shirt in a moment before she started stamping out the remaining flames, which she then threw the corpse of a shirt in a nearby bin. With the outer layer removed, Eva had already switched them back to the Syrus disguise. The horn retracted, but the reddish-brown eyes and crimson-red hair emerged.

[Where shall we go first?] (Luna)

[Let’s observe, but realistically probably back to the west side.] (Syrus)

[That would be for the best.] (Eva)

[For the best?] (Luna)

[Oh just referring to if the only place we need to go to is the west side. That means no more creatures attacking from anywhere else.] (Eva)

[Yeah… that would be good.] (Luna)

She walked back towards the main street, and standing by the corner edge she examined the noise and commotion around the city.

“Haha…” [Of course, they must’ve been close.] (Syrus)

Anlesa had been looking down the street where a small group of civilians had exited a house on the main street near the southern side. A fair and reasonable action to take, escape from the danger and head towards safety. However, they chose to leave now, after most of the hunters moved out, after the construct was destroyed, and not before when it was actively destroying houses and moved towards the south exit, which wasn’t listed as one of the main escape points.

Of course, it was literally the closest exit, but the complete lack of civilian panic and professionalism this group maintained was ridiculous. They all appeared to be adults, and they left with a quick wind in their step.

[Are you sure..?] (Luna)

[What I am sure of... is that I can kill humans easier in our current state than those mutated beasts on the western edge.] (Syrus)

[But what if they are just civilians?] (Eva)

[Then we can lend a hand by ensuring that a number of civilians have made it out of the city unharmed.] (Syrus)

[Ummm…] (Eva)

[...] Syrus paused. [Actually, you know what, let’s go help defend against the mutated creatures.]

Immediately, Syrus began to turn away.

[Please, don’t worry about me.] Eva nervously said. [We… should stop the people who caused this mess.]