I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 301: Hunted and Hunting
The woman in the green robe is surrounded by her pursuers. They have finally caught up to her and managed to encircle her.
But none of them move.
The woman smirks.
"If you think I will surrender like this, you’re wrong," she says, her tone mocking.
She moves her wrist elegantly.
"Look out!" one of them yells.
The men in similar robes scatter, as if facing a predator.
The woman stops, whatever she was about to do forgotten, and laughs.
Then she runs again.
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Alicia is outside the shield.
She checks her watch. In fifteen seconds, the next roar will erupt.
She rushes toward the trees. She wants to get behind the haelions, thinking the roar is directed at the camp. Behind them should be safer.
With that in mind, she moves to the side, trying to circle around them as quickly as she can.
One of the haelions slowly turns, facing her.
As she moves, they turn with her.
At the one-minute mark—
The roar erupts again.
The haelion in front of Alicia roars as well.
She doesn’t have time to dodge.
The full force hits her.
Instinctively, she shields herself with her Wind.
During her training with Theo, Alicia was taught one thing above all else: how to protect herself. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Theo had insisted on it before teaching her any attack magic.
She didn’t want to.
She wanted to learn how to fight.
Theo refused.
She eventually gave in.
And now—
She’s glad he did.
Her Wind cushions the impact of the roar.
It doesn’t block it completely, but it softens it.
Combined with the ear protection, the roar is no longer as destructive as before.
Alicia smiles in relief. Her movements grow faster. She needs to get out of the haelions’ range.
Once she reaches the trees, she climbs and hides high among the branches.
The haelion stops moving. Its tongue flicks out, scanning, searching.
Ugh. So that’s how they track us. With their tongues. Snakes do that too, right? They taste the air? Am I remembering it right? Or am I hallucinating from the damage to my ears?
Alicia breathes easier now.
The roar doesn’t do as much damage anymore. For her, that’s the biggest win.
She sets up her weapons at different spots. They will fire from multiple angles, distracting the ever-precise haelions.
Alicia moves quickly from one position to another. She’s sure she can do it fast enough without the haelions noticing.
She’s Wind, after all.
A rumble echoes in the distance.
She looks toward it and sees flashes of light.
Thea. She’s fighting too.
Alicia shifts her focus back to her situation.
I’ll kill you all.
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"Enough!" Theo roars.
His patience has run out.
The tongue that grabbed him refuses to let go. Theo has tried burning it, cutting it, even freezing it.
It heals faster than he can damage it.
Theo’s focus is not on this fight.
It’s on the camp.
He’s worried.
Very worried.
He thought he could end this quickly, but this haelion is stronger than he anticipated.
Theo is certain this is the King.
If I kill the King, will the dungeon clear immediately?
Then he realizes—
Killing it won’t be that simple.
The King itself hasn’t appeared.
So far, Theo has only been fighting a single forked tongue.
And he’s had enough.
He calls upon lightning.
That’s the rumble Alicia heard. The flashes she saw.
Theo summons lightning to strike the tongue—
Driving it all the way back to the King’s mouth.
That should force it out.
The tongue finally releases him and retracts swiftly, as if trying to escape.
Theo steadies himself mid-air and looks after it.
"Want to run? Not that easy!"
He surges forward, chasing it.
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"I’m in charge. You follow my orders. Only my orders. Understood?" Arthur says to Ethan and J.C.
He doesn’t have much of a choice. Things have escalated. Knowing how powerful Theo is, and even he couldn’t stop what happened, Arthur doesn’t want to take any chances.
He believes this is an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Ethan and J.C. nod.
Ever since they heard about Rhaenas, they have always seen them as rivals. But Ethan and J.C. also know this is not the time for rivalry.
Sentinels respect strength. That’s their language. And now, standing before them is Arthur Montrose, the legendary First Sentinel. His presence triggers a deep, instinctive respect.
And this is a perfect opportunity to see Rhaenas’ strength.
"Yes, we’ll follow your orders, Mr. Montrose," Ethan says.
"Call me Arthur," Arthur replies, extending his hand.
Ethan takes it. "Ethan Barlett. And this is my friend."
Arthur extends his hand to J.C.
J.C. takes it. "Everyone calls me J.C."
Ethan then extends his hand to Maeve. "Pleasure, Ms. Collins."
Maeve gives a faint smirk. "Please, call me Maeve."
"Alright, now that we know each other’s names, let’s go," Arthur says, impatient.
He turns and heads toward the gate.
Julian and Liam are already there, carrying two large boxes.
When Julian sees Arthur approaching with Ethan and J.C., he frowns, but only for a moment.
"This is Ethan and J.C. They’re coming with us," Arthur says as they stop in front of him.
Liam steps forward and extends his hand, shaking Ethan’s, then J.C.’s.
"It’s been a while, J.C. I hope you still remember me."
J.C. rolls his eyes inwardly. Of course I remember you. You broke my nose.
Instead, he takes Liam’s hand and says, "Yes. It’s been a while, Liam. You look good."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Julian hands them heartstone weapons.
Arthur looks at the rifle, then at Julian.
What is this?
Julian widens his eyes.
Your weapons. What else?
Arthur frowns slightly.
What are these for? Since when do we use weapons in the dungeon?
Julian scoffs.
Since you decided to bring strangers into the dungeon with us!
Arthur rolls his eyes.
I have a plan, you know.
The others glance between Arthur and Julian. It’s oddly amusing to watch the silent exchange between the brothers.
Liam clears his throat. "So, are you guys familiar with the guns?"
Ethan and J.C. nod.
"Yes. Even though they’re not the same as the standard issue for Montrose Sentinels, the principles are the same. We’ll be fine," J.C. says.
"Alright," Arthur says. "We need a briefing first. Liam, can you ask Lieutenant Cole to gather all able-bodied officers here? We’ll brief in five minutes."
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Five minutes later, around thirteen DEU officers gather around Arthur. They all look tired, but not lifeless.
They have a feeling they’re about to hear good news.
"Everyone, I know we are all tired and devastated. The casualty count is high, and it may seem like we are powerless," Arthur begins.
"But listen..." He gestures toward the gate, where the roar is muffled.
"We’ve managed to block part of the sound. And now it’s time for us to fight back. There are civilians in the dungeon. They are experiencing much stronger roars than we are. We need to get them out as fast as possible."
"As you’ve probably guessed, Julian has managed to bypass the gate. It is open, and we’re going in."
The officers glance at one another, nodding. They’ve been waiting for a chance to fight back. Now it’s here.
"Not all of you will be going in. We still need people out here for search and rescue."
"Lieutenant Cole will be in charge while I’m gone."
He turns to her. "Go. Take some of the officers with you."
"Liam, these two gentlemen, and I will be the first team to enter the dungeon. The rest of you wait here for further instructions."
"You and you," he points at two officers, "will be our messengers. Gear up."
He turns to Julian.
"I’ll stay out here, making sure the gate stays open," Julian says. "And remember, out here, the roars are no longer a threat. But once you’re inside..."
He pauses.
"And I suggest you don’t enter on foot," he adds quickly.
Arthur frowns. "What do you mean?"
"Regular ear protection can’t block or weaken the roar’s effect. I suggest you enter the dungeon using your Pods."
"You and Liam take yours. The rest, I’ll lend them Aegis. I’ll tune it to weaken the roar, so you can reduce the risk."
Everyone listening looks at Julian in awe.
Especially Ethan and J.C.
They’ve never known the full extent of Julian’s brilliance.
Arthur only nods and pats Julian’s upper arm, then turns to Maeve.
"Please organize a place for the civilians when we bring them out. Just like we did at St. Lucas. Getting them out is our priority."
Maeve nods. "Understood."
Arthur looks at all of them, his gaze steady.
"Let’s move."
------------------------------
A few minutes later, a team of four is ready to go.
Two mono Pods stand by, engines humming low. Arthur and Liam take the front, each in control of one Pod. Behind them, Ethan, J.C., and two DEU officers stand ready, protected by their personal Aegis fields.
The air is tense, but focused.
No hesitation.
No second thoughts.
"You guys ready?" Arthur asks from inside his Pod.
"Yes, sir!"
