80 Assault Squad part 2 (1/2)

\”Ravenous!! Stop this madne-\” Olivia shouted when she saw Astrid running towards her, but before she finished her words, she had to dodge the great gauntlets of the agile manticore-woman.

\”Rav-\” Olivia was considered an S-rank adventurer, and her agility was also great, but Astrid was now on another level... Her body seemed as light and fast as the wind, and she could also predict Olivia's every move with her improved senses.

Olivia did not want to hurt Astrid because she thought Lucien could be a great ally. Right now, he was fighting Red Lady, and Olivia just wanted to join him to fight her arch-enemy.

But Astrid continued to attack her with quick punches and kicks. Olivia was getting really upset but tried to persuade Astrid once again.

Astrid was enjoying the fight more and more. She was moving quickly, but she felt she was not yet using her full potential. She didn't want to hurt Olivia, so she kept attacking at a pace that Olivia could handle.

But then Astrid saw that Olivia was going to say again a word that she didn't like anymore, and stopped her from speaking by hitting her stomach with a quick blow. \”You don't have to call me Ravenous anymore. I don't need to hide my true identity with hubby.\”

Olivia stepped back after receiving Astrid's fist punch. Olivia knew she had taken it easy and didn't hit her with any sharp parts of her claws so that the blow only caused pain and no severe injuries.

Still, Olivia was shocked that Astrid was faster than her now. This meant that Astrid was already in S-rank and more powerful than her... But the most surprising thing was that she was abandoning her secret identity so easily for Lucien.

She can't help but question Astrid. \”What? You must be kidding! What did he do to change you like that?\”

\”You wouldn't understand... I have a family now. People who trust me, and I trust them. This is different from how you do things, just thinking about your own benefits.\” Astrid did not attack Olivia again because she knew that Glen was about to fire arrows at her.

Olivia was perplexed. Astrid hadn't said anything that made sense, and she tried to make her \”friend\” realize the mistake she was making.

\”I won't understand if you don't explain. I know you and Lucien are together... But look. He's facing the mercenaries. Doesn't that make us allies? Why are you attacking me?\”

\”You don't always have everything under control, Olivia... I don't want to hurt you. Just stop resisting.\” Astrid looked at Olivia but was totally focused on Glen, who was aiming an arrow at her.

Olivia also knew that Glenn was ready to fire Astrid. She didn't want to be the enemy of manticore-woman, but she also didn't know what was going on...

\”Olivia, should i?\” Glen didn't want to have to fire the woman who was recently his comrade, but he would still follow Olivia's orders.

Olivia thought for a second, hoping to see Astrid's reaction, but she didn't show any change in her expression... She still had that confident sparkle in her eyes even though she faced two S-rank adventurers, and that made Olivia very curious.

\”Wait, Glen. What do you mean, Astrid?\” Glen, Jeanne, and Mason were very confused by everything that was going on. They heard Ravenous talk about her real name, and now Olivia was trying to negotiate with her, even though Olivia was the Guild's leader while Astrid was just one person.

Astrid pointed to the few adventurers still alive on the battlefield. \”See, your adventurers are almost all dead... You don't have to die here... Just retreat.\”

Olivia looked at Red Lady fighting Lucien and couldn't help but make a face. She really wanted to kill that woman, but Astrid was not giving her that option.

She thought that facing Astrid, Lucien, the white tigress, the earth mage, and possibly more allies he had would be impossible after losing more than half of her group, so she tried to do what was best for the adventurers who were still alive.

\”It is a mistake! But I agree. Let us go.\” Olivia couldn't understand what was going on, but at least they could survive.

She was going to call Klaus to retreat when she heard Astrid's stern voice. \”You didn't understand, Olivia. Although you attacked my husband after he joined the Guild, he is willing to let you go... But only you and Jeanne. The others must stay.\”

Astrid's words made the whole group very confused. Mason and Glen couldn't help being scared. After all, Astrid was saying that they would stay to die.

\”What nonsense is that? Why are you doing this? It does not make sense!!\” Olivia shouted at Astrid when she lost her temper. She couldn't believe how things were going because even though she was very smart, she couldn't see any sense in Astrid's words.

The tension brought Olivia's body into a state of maximum alertness. Her adrenaline went up when she forced her mind to look for any connection that would make any sense. For a second, she remembered how she met Astrid a year ago.

It was the night of the joint attack by the Guild and the mercenary groups led by Ivan. She was part of the groups that surrounded the castle to prevent anyone to escape.

She was patrolling alone when she found Astrid fighting mercenaries near the entrance of a cave. It was easy to conclude that the manticore-woman was part of the Queen's forces.

Olivia did not like the mercenaries but would not interfere with them by dealing with someone loyal to the Queen... But after watching Astrid fight for half an hour, even though she was severely injured, Olivia began to admire the powerful demi-human.

Ivan should have killed the Queen by then, so Olivia thought she could make Astrid loyal to her if she saved her life. Having a powerful demi-human in the Guild would be great in addition to the fact that Olivia could manipulate Astrid to discover the whereabouts of other people who are still loyal to the Queen.

So Olivia prevented the mercenaries from killing Astrid, saying that she would kill her after taking some information about the Queen's loyal people. After that night, the mercenaries wouldn't think about her anymore because everyone knew how brutal Olivia could be when it came to getting information.

Astrid was badly injured after having to fight so many mercenaries for Cassidy and Mia to escape, so she had to accept Olivia's help. For a year, she pretended to have nothing to do with Cassidy and just focused on being a normal adventurer. Her and Olivia became \”friends,\” and everything was going well...

But then, a mysterious man appeared, and Astrid started acting strangely. Then they started a conflict with mercenaries, and during an escape, a mysterious earth mage severely damaged the city...