Looking at my wounds again, I was incredibly glad that Jiaxing Xia was a healing mage, but I couldn't ask for her help now. I had to treat them myself and also check if everything was okay with her. By the way, the sun had already risen; dawn had come. Glancing at the mountain of corpses, which I had intended to use to bribe the three-eyed wolf, I chuckled a little, but stopped when I felt pain. It turned out to be unnecessary; why had I even made it? I'm an idiot; how could I have lured a berserk beast to a small pile of food?
Groaning from pain, I headed towards the supermarket. On the way to the security room, I popped into the pharmacy on the first floor and grabbed a bunch of bandages with hydrogen peroxide and some painkillers, otherwise, I would die from the pain before Mo Fan arrived. In the security room, using the cameras, I made sure everything was okay and that the people hadn't left yet, so I still had time.
First, I injected myself with painkillers; it lessened the pain but also reduced my concentration and overall body awareness. Now casting magic would take at least two seconds. Then, I took off all my clothes, throwing them in a corner of the clothing store. It was especially painful to peel off the mask because it was plastic and had melted from the heat of the explosion. Why was I such a fool not to take it off before the fight?
After that, I began to treat the burns and wounds, disinfecting them with hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green, and also applied a special healing-accelerating cream to the wounds. Then, I bandaged the wounds; we were taught this in field first aid classes, although Mo Fan mostly slept through them. After finishing the process, I looked like a mummy. Well, that's okay; I'll have to deal with this somehow before returning to the safe zone. In the clothing store, I found good jeans, a t-shirt, and a sports jacket, as well as sneakers, so I was dressed in clean clothes again, almost, at least in whole ones. I also put on a black cap, and now my look was complete.
Returning to the security room, I noticed that people were gathering and opening the shelter doors. What? Had it already started? I thought I had more time, but oh well. Quickly cleaning up all traces of my presence in the security room, I left the door wide open. Taking one last look at the screens, I saw people leaving the shelter, leaving only Jiaxing Xia behind.
Heading to the roof of the building, I passed a small entertainment shop where I had taken the mask. I couldn't resist and grabbed one, hanging it around my neck. Climbing to the roof, I hid so that I could see what was happening on the street, but it was hard to see me from the street. I began to wait, restoring my magical energy and healing my wounds a little at the same time. I had to wait quite a long time, about half an hour, maybe an hour, no more.
Two people were walking towards the supermarket: a young guy and a girl. I immediately became wary of this combination; Mo Fan was supposed to come alone. Looking closer at the guy, I recognized Mo Fan. The girl turned out to be Lin Yu Jiaxing! Damn, what had I done to make her come here with Mo Fan!
"You shouldn't have come here with me," Mo Fan said, a little shyly. I could only hear them by straining my ears. "They are my sister and brother; I have to save them myself."
"It's okay, I promised to help you save your relatives. And although a lot of time has passed, I think they are both alive," Lin Yu Jiaxing replied in a rather cheerful voice. "We've already found out that your father, Mo Jiaxing, is at the hunter's base in the mountains and is fine. All that's left is to find your brother, Jiaxing Yun, who saved my sister and your sister, Jiaxing Xia. I can't sit in the safe zone while you risk your life."
"Thank you for this, but you also found out that your father died; you saw him. Did you still decide to help me after that?" Mo Fan asked with doubt, approaching the supermarket building.
"That's exactly why I decided to help you. I don't want you to lose anyone close to you too. I lost my father and almost lost my sister, twice! Your brother saved her; I'll repay him, as well as Aquilon, who saved me," Lin Yu Jiaxing said quite confidently and sincerely. A wave of laughter rose within me. The person she wanted to save and the one who saved her was me. So, she owed me three times? Ha. At that moment, Yu An entered the building from the black entrance with monsters; I was wondering where he was.
"What is that huge carcass over there?" Mo Fan asked, pointing at the remains of the three-eyed wolf I had killed.
"It looks like a three-eyed wolf, only it's already dead," Lin Yu Jiaxing said, looking closely. "We should be careful; only a mid-level mage who has mastered the stars could have done this," she said, approaching the supermarket doors. I went down the stairs into the supermarket and, climbing onto a metal structure under the roof, began to observe. Inside, Mo Fan and Lin Yu Jiaxing were already standing opposite Yu An and ten black monsters. Yu An's face was so disfigured that if I hadn't known it was him, I wouldn't have believed it.
"Who are you?" Mo Fan asked with undisguised anger. "You seem familiar to me."
"Hahahaha," Yu An burst into devilish laughter, throwing his head back. "You don't recognize me anymore? I lost my face because of you! You took everything from me! Vile boy! After I lost to you, the god of death Salan deprived me of my face with phantom acid and demoted me from priest to adept! And I was going to rise to deacon and pave my own way to a high level!"
"Ah, it's you, Yu An? Take off your mask; it's only good for scaring children," Mo Fan sneered, slightly feigning. A cold sweat broke out on me. Firstly, Yu An was supposed to have only half his face disfigured, not the whole thing! Secondly, as far as I remembered, he was supposed to become a priest after stealing the holy spring; did he become one earlier? Thirdly, there were too many differences from the original; perhaps I would have to intervene. Just in case, I put on my mask.
"Ah, you! I said it's not a mask, it's my face!" Yu An roared. "I'll kill you! Monsters, kill them!"
After his words, all ten monsters rushed at Mo Fan and Lin Yu Jiaxing. Fortunately, they managed to dodge and run towards the stairs to the second floor. Lin Yu Jiaxing stopped one monster with a water shield of the third stage, but it couldn't hold for long, and Mo Fan ignited fire in the path of the monsters.
"Haha!" Yu An laughed with some otherworldly laughter. "Your little fire can only hurt them on direct impact, idiot!"
After what I saw, I realized I had to intervene, or Mo Fan and Lin Yu Jiaxing would die! Jumping almost from the roof of the supermarket, I softened my landing with a step of wind, then, with a slight delay, created the wrath of lightning and directed it at one of the monsters, causing it to blow to pieces.
"Oh, and who is this?" Yu An asked, turning his attention to me.
"Aquilon?" Lin Yu Jiaxing was surprised. "No, he looks a little different."
"Kill him too," Yu An waved his hand, pointing at me, and five monsters immediately rushed in my direction.
"Run, the security room has a strong door!" I shouted, using a step of wind to get around the monsters and join Mo Fan and Lin Yu Jiaxing.
Mo Fan launched an explosive wave at one of the monsters, dealing serious damage. I barely managed to finish the wrath of lightning and kill another monster. The security room was right in front of us; a little more, and we would be safe. Lin Yu Jiaxing flew into it first, followed by Mo Fan. I stopped at the very door, launching another wrath of lightning at a monster, but it dodged, and the spell destroyed half the body of the one behind it. The first one almost crushed me; a stupid miscalculation, why was I making so many mistakes today, due to fatigue? Fortunately, Lin Yu Jiaxing created a water shield in front of me, saving me from the monster. Without thinking, I closed the door.
"What should we do? There are too many of them!" Lin Yu Jiaxing said anxiously.
"We need a mid-level mage who can cast magic, then it will be quite easy to kill them," I said dryly, and the speaker in the mask turned my words into soulless ones.
"But aren't you a mid-level mage? You have two elements, and you're Aquilon, aren't you?" Lin Yu Jiaxing asked, looking at me intently. As if Aquilon had cast mid-level magic before?
"No, I'm not him. My name is Auster. Yes, I'm a mid-level lightning element mage, but I can't fully cast mid-level magic yet," I replied in the same voice.
"I'll try to break through; you make sure they don't interfere," Mo Fan said, pointing at the door through which the monsters were breaking in.
"Oh, can you cast magic right after breaking through?" Lin Yu Jiaxing asked, not understanding Mo Fan.
"Yes, Teacher Tan Yue gave me some folios that will help me with that," Mo Fan said, and immediately after, he sat on the floor and began to break through.
"Do you happen to know Aquilon?" Lin Yu Jiaxing asked while Mo Fan was breaking through.
"Yes, he's my older brother," I dismissed her, looking at the camera feeds. A person in blue approached Yu An in the lobby; they talked and quickly left, leaving the monsters. Good, one less problem. But Jiaxing Xia was in the meat section, and somehow another black monster had ended up there, clearly looking for Jiaxing Xia! Damn!
"Boy, hurry up! Someone climbed into the refrigerator because of you to escape from a monster!" I said, urging him on. At that moment, powerful fire and lightning energy began to emanate from Mo Fan; sweat appeared on his face, and his expression distorted from pain; he was almost screaming. At the same time, monsters were banging on the metal door, trying to break it down, and I must say, they were doing a good job! I moved to the opposite wall, preparing the wrath of lightning, and at the same time blaming myself for all my actions that had led me here. Lin Yu Jiaxing also moved to the wall, preparing a water shield for defense.
"Ha..." Mo Fan sighed, getting to his feet. "I managed it. Get ready," he said, taking a scroll from his pocket, unrolling it, and channeling energy into it. Meanwhile, the monsters had broken down the door and were ready to rush at Mo Fan, but Lin Yu Jiaxing created a water shield, blocking their path, and I unleashed the wrath of lightning, killing the one closest to us. This was enough time; behind Mo Fan, a star map appeared. He pulled his arm back and punched the air. Energy from the star map flowed down his arm, turning into a fiery fist and incinerating all the monsters in its path.
"Quickly, there's a girl on the first floor, she looks like your sister by description; a black monster has driven her into the refrigerator!" Lin Yu Jiaxing said anxiously. After these words, Mo Fan's face changed, and he rushed down the stairs directly to Jiaxing Xia. Lin Yu Jiaxing followed closely behind him. I leisurely returned to my observation post. Soon, an explosion was heard, and a minute later, three figures appeared from the meat section. Mo Fan was rolling Jiaxing Xia, who was sitting in a wheelchair, and Lin Yu Jiaxing walked beside him.
"We need to hurry back to the safe zone," Lin Yu Jiaxing said in a serious tone.
"But what about brother Jiaxing Yun? Aren't you going to save him too?" Jiaxing Xia asked.
"Sorry, but we don't even know where to look for him, and soon there will be a huge crowd of monsters here, we should hurry," Lin Yu Jiaxing said. Jiaxing Xia looked at Mo Fan with teary eyes.
"I agree with her; first, we need to get you to a safe place. Maybe he's already arrived there. He's a wind mage, after all; he's not easy to kill," Mo Fan tried to calm her down. "And where is, uh, Auster, what a difficult name!"
"I don't know; he disappeared," Lin Yu Jiaxing said, looking around. "He's Aquilon's brother; I don't think he'll have any problems. Let's hurry."
After that, the three of them quickly left the supermarket and headed for the safe zone. I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Climbing to the roof, I took out a notebook that had miraculously survived and hadn't burned during the explosion, marking the seventh page as completed. Then, I quickly hid it and rushed to flee from here using the step of wind. As Lin Yu Jiaxing said, there would soon be a crowd of monsters here. I need to think about how to store information about the future more safely so as not to lose it or reveal it to anyone.