WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 27

I had Spiritual Power to spare, so I didn’t bother holding anything back. After activating the Flash Step Version 3: Lightning Step, I began mowing down every Demon Beast within the clearing, cleaving their bodies in half with the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, slicing their heads clean off, and removing limbs like it was going out of style. Blood traced arcs through the air as I raced across the clearing.

The first area I cleared out was the one around Kari, Fay, and Lin. I raced around the three like a bolt of lightning as I demolished the Demon Beasts surrounding them. Ligers lost their heads, Felinoids were slashed in half, and Greater Pythons were split down the middle. With so many enemies in the clearing, I had no idea how many I killed.

“Eryk!” Fay and Kari shouted while Lin cried out, “Darling!” at the same time.

“Help me clear the rest of these Demon Beasts out!” I called to them.

They didn’t say anything. Words weren’t needed. Despite their injuries, Kari, Fay, and Lin quickly raced into the defensive circle and began helping the others with defense while I continued to use the Flash Step Version 3: Lightning Step to move about the clearing so I could slice enemies apart.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the Demon Beasts attacking us eventually stopped, or rather, all the Demon Beasts that had been attacking were dead. Gazing around at the brutalized bodies for a moment, I looked back at the Spiritualists to see how they were holding up, though I had to withhold a grimace. None of them were dead. That was good. However, a few of them were in bad shape. All of them were injured to some degree, but I could tell from how some of them were on the verge of passing out that they’d depleted all of their Spiritual Power.

“Catalyna!” I shouted as I raced over to their group.

“You!” Catalyna shouted back, her face red. “Where have you been?! Those Demon Beasts attacked us without warning! You should have been here! Several of our people died because you weren’t there to warn us!”

Her words brought me up short, but I knew now wasn’t the time to lament. “I apologize. I sensed a strong Spiritual Power and went to follow it. I didn’t know this would happen in the time I was gone.”

“A strong Spiritual Power.” Catalyna furrowed her brow as I nodded. Kari, Lin, Fay, Finn, and Marko came up alongside us. “Well, whatever. What’s done is done. We need to regroup and salvage what we can. This expedition is a bust. We’re heading back to Nevaria.”

“I don’t think we can,” I said.

“Why not?” asked Marko.

“Which direction did those Demon Beasts come from?” I asked.

“Direction?” Catalyna frowned as though she couldn’t understand what I was getting at.

Lin was the one who answered me. “They came from the south.”

Her words were met with blank stares from some, but those who understood, like Catalyna and Marko, sucked in a deep breath. Kari and Fay closed their eyes. As we all stood there, several loud noises emerged from deeper in the jungle. The direction the sounds were coming from was south.

“They’re coming from the direction of Nevaria,” I stated. “Meaning we can’t go that way. What’s more, it sounds like there are more Demon Beasts heading toward us from that direction. Unless you’re willing to fight your way through however many Demon Beasts are between us and the city, then we have to go somewhere else.”

My words caused the remaining Spiritualists who survived alongside the rest of us to panic.

“W-we’re all gonna die here, aren’t we?”

“Is this the end? I don’t wanna die!”

“D-damn it! If I knew this was going to be my last day, I would have asked my girlfriend to marry me!”

“If we can’t go back to Nevaria, then what should we do?” asked Catalyna, speaking up over the rising tide of panicking voices.

“We’ll split up into two groups,” I began, “one group is going to act as a decoy to draw the Demon Beasts’ attention away from the other group. The decoy group will only consist of myself, while the rest of you—”

“Absolutely not,” Kari interrupted, putting her foot down before I could finish. “There’s no way we’re letting you go off on your own this time. Forget it. You are taking at least one of us with you.”

As she spoke, Fay and Lin nodded in agreement. I struggled for a moment, but I knew now wasn’t the time to argue, just as I also knew that Fay and Kari had been training for this very reason. Denying their help now would be like saying I didn’t trust them to watch my back.

“Okay. Me and one other person will be decoys to draw the Demon Beasts’ attention away from everyone else. Meanwhile, the larger group will head toward those ruins on your map. If they’re unexplored, then it means there should be a place where you can safely hide out until the Demon Beasts disperse.”

Catalyna bit her lip as her light blue eyes flickered with indecision. “But… the ruins are still at least four days away. Several of us are injured and all of us are exhausted. We’ll never make it like this.”

“You will,” I declared. “I have several bags of alchemy pills in my tent. Among those pills are the Tender Healing Pill, Spiritual Booster Pill, Temporary Enhancement Pill, Endurance Pill, and Blood Clotting Pill. There should be about fifty of each pill. If you take an Endurance Pill now, and then take another one every time you get tired, you should be able to cut the time down to reach those ruins by about half the time it normally takes.”

What I was suggesting was a reckless charge day and night without resting through the Demon Beast Mountain Range, using pills to keep them going until they reached safety. It was basically a suicide run. However, it was also the greatest chance our group had for survival, and Catalyna had to know that. If we couldn’t return to Nevaria, then we could only press onward.

“Yes…” Catalyna sighed. “Yes, you are right. This really is the only option we have right now. Okay! That’s what we’ll do.”

“Now all I need to do is decide who should remain with me to draw off the Demon Beasts,” I said. “I can only take one person. We’ll cause a huge ruckus and then run away from the direction you guys are heading.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Fay hedged.

I shrugged. “We’re already in danger.”

Fay could say nothing to argue with that, and so I quickly thought about who among this group should stay with me. Of course, there were only three people I’d accept. Kari, Lin, or Fay. Kari and Fay were both incredibly strong, while Lin had the benefit of her Lamia given strength, which included unnaturally large reserves of Spiritual Power. Two of them would have to remain with this group to protect them in the event they ran into Demon Beasts during their travels, so only one could come with me.

“I think Fay should remain with you,” Kari said, causing everyone, even Fay, to stare at her in shock. She gave me a helpless smile at me like she was struggling with something. “As much as I would like to volunteer myself, I know that Fay is currently stronger than me, so she won’t drag you down as much.”

We didn’t really have time to argue, so I accepted her explanation and agreed that Fay was the best choice. For her part, Fay confessed she wasn’t sure about how much help she’d be, stating, “I don’t think I’m strong enough to protect you,” but I placed my hand on her shoulders and stared into her eyes as I tried to convey my confidence in her.

“You are. I know you are.”

Fay’s lips trembled a little. After several seconds had passed, she nodded. “O-okay. I’ll do my best.”

“That will be enough.” I smiled reassuringly.

There was no more time to dally after the decision had been made. I could hear the howls and growls of more Demon Beasts coming closer, and some of them were the familiar, air-rending shrieks of Pteranodons, which meant we’d have to deal with attacks from the air if we didn’t move soon.

After salvaging through our tent, I found that the alchemy pills had been spared its destruction. It looked like the large pack where I carried everything had been kicked away but not trampled. The alchemy pills were inside.

I had everyone, including myself, take one of each pill, and then I handed more than half of them to Catalyna and told her to hand them out whenever someone needed one. There were enough that they could afford to be wasteful. Catalyna nodded and wished us good luck, and then she and everyone else began to move.

As Fay and I watched Kari and Lin head off with the others, my partner turned to me.

“Are you sure this was wise? Splitting up like this, I mean.”

“It isn’t.” I gave her a helpless smile. “But it’s also the only choice we have. Out of everyone here, I’m the most likely to survive against a horde of Demon Beasts, so I was the obvious choice. And Kari was right about you. You’ve trained with me longer than anyone else. Not only are you stronger from a purely physical standpoint, but you know how I fight better than anyone. I think we can survive this so long as we’re together.”

Fay was only wearing one gauntlet now, her left gauntlet having been crushed at some point during the fight. The wound was healed already. I had used the water element to heal it. She reached out with this now healed hand, and I reached back, gripping her hand tightly. There was no embarrassment or hesitation in her actions just then.

“Eryk,” she said in a serious voice. “If… if we don’t make this out, I want you to know that I really, truly love you.”

I could have said something cool during this moment like, “There’s no way we’ll die!” or, “Even if I die, I’ll make sure you live!”, but honestly, I found such lines to be stupid. They wouldn’t help us here. What’s more, even if I had confidence in myself, there was still a very real possibility that one or both of us would die.

So what I said instead was…

“I love you too, Fay.”

Fay smiled at me.

***

A Demon Beast appeared to bar their path. It appeared from around a slope, its rugged paws digging gouges into the ground as it moved forward on four muscular limbs covered in fur. Werecat. A C-rank Demon Beast with a feline muzzle, long tusks jutting from its mouth, and a long tail with a barbed tip.

Before the others could respond, Kari darted up the dirt-covered slope, skimming over the ground on light feet. She met the Werecat head on, thrusting her spear forward. Her relentless and maybe even reckless attack was rewarded. This Werecat’s forward momentum kept it from being able to change directions, and as the Demon Beast impaled itself on her ranseur, she used the strength she had acquired from training with Eryk and Fay to lift the now dead creature up and toss it over the side of the mountain.

The others caught up to her by this point. All of them stared at her in astonishment, but she felt they should have been used to this by now.

As she began running again, Catalyna rushed up to her side.

“Excellent work. Do you need any alchemy pills?”

Kari shook her head. “Not right now. Thanks, though.”

It had been two days since they split up with Eryk and Fay and began running toward the ruins located on Catalyna’s map. They made it out of the jungle in about half a day. Beyond the jungle had been a mostly deserted mountain pass with a lot of boulders strewn about the ground. Of course, it had looked deserted, but there had been plenty of D-rank Demon Beasts lurking around to cause trouble.

One day had been required to pass through the desert region. They trekked through the area covered in boulders four or even five times larger than they were, on the lookout for Demon Beast attacks. As the two strongest members in their group, Kari and Lin were the ones who took on the bulk of the work, fighting against any Demon Beast that tried to attack them with ranseur, whips, and tail.

After traveling through the desert region, they came upon the slope of a mountain trail, which Catalyna said would lead to the ruins. Kari wasn’t sure how long they had been traveling. She wasn’t sure how far they had traveled either. All she knew was that her ranseur felt heavy in her hands.

The mountain pass they were on wound around the mountainside as it traveled up. The pass was steep in some areas and almost flat in others. There were occasions where everyone was forced to climb up rocky cliffs to reach the next stage. Quite a few of these cliff faces looked like they might have once been stairs, but they’d fallen into such disrepair that it was hard to figure out whether they really were stairs or just looked like them.

Kari and Lin were no longer at the rear. Since they were running, their strength was needed to push through enemies in the front rather than protect everyone against enemies from the back. Marko and Finn were in the back to protect their flanks.

Everyone had been affected by the chase through the jungle, the desert, and now the mountain path. When she looked at her group of companions, she could see the bags under their eyes. Shoulders drooped as though a weight was pushing down on them, faces appeared gaunt and starving from lack of food and energy, and many people were beginning to lag.

They had been relying on Eryk’s alchemy pills to keep them going. It was true these pills gave them endurance, clarity, and boosted their Spiritual Power, but not even the most potent pill could completely negate a lack of sleep and food. The most they had been able to eat were some rations that Catalyna had the foresight to bring with her. It wasn’t enough to fill them up.

“This princess sees something!” Lin suddenly exclaimed. Kari shook the cobwebs from her head and looked at where Lin was pointing.

A pair of large columns stood on either side of the pass, broken and desolate, but definitely not something nature could create. Kari quickened her pace and stopped beside one of the columns. It towered over her. This pillar was so much larger than anything she had ever seen that it made even the rampart surrounding Nevaria seems small. She pressed her hand against it. The stone used to create this structure was worn, but she could make out Runes that had been etched into the surface.

“This definitely belongs to a ruin of some kind,” she said. “Only the ruins could have something like this marking the way.” She turned to Catalyna. “How much further?”

“Not far now,” Catalyna said. “We should reach it in less than a day.”

While less than a day didn’t sound bad, everyone there felt like complaining, evident from the way they groaned. They had been running nonstop for so long now. The human body was not made to move without eating and sleeping for so long, pills or no pills.

“Then let’s keep moving,” Kari said.

No one argued with her and the group moved on with Kari and Lin in the lead. Though their pace had slowed considerably, they at least didn’t stop. Kari winced as a dull throb entered her left shoulder, which had been carrying the weight of her ranseur this whole time. As she switched hands, she glanced at Lin.

While Lin was also covered in some cuts and bruises, the Lamia girl looked to be in far better shape than anyone else. This was despite how she had been at the front lines fighting. She slithered along the ground with complete ease. Her face didn’t show any fatigue or strain like it did the others.

“How is it that you still have so much energy?” asked Kari. “I know for a fact you haven’t taken more than two pills in the last two days.”

“Lamia are naturally more resilient than humans,” Lin answered. “Our bodies are stronger, and we can survive in harsh environments without food, water, or rest for a lot longer.”

“Is that so? I’m kind of jealous,” she said.

“Hmhmhm.” Lin released a little laugh as she crossed her arms, though she didn’t stop moving. “You should be. This princess has an incredible body that just won’t quit. No matter what life throws at her, this princess will never stop until she has Darling’s babies.”

“I could have done without that last statement,” Kari said, though she was also smiling. Lin’s upbeat attitude was having a positive effect on her, making it feel like she could keep going.

The others didn’t seem to feel the same way. Several of the Spiritualists traveling with them glared at Lin like she was the cause of all their problems, which was of course ridiculous, but they didn’t seem to care. Kari would have glared back, but she didn’t want to waste energy. She kept her eyes up front and focused entirely on protecting their group and reaching the ruins.

This area didn’t seem to have as many Demon Beasts. They had only run into that one Werecat so far. Yet, as they continued wandering, Kari couldn’t help but shiver. She glanced around. Nothing stood out to her that seemed unusual, but it was impossible to shake that feeling of predatory eyes on her.

“Is something wrong?” Lin asked.

“I feel like we are being watched,” Kari said.

“That’s because we are being watched.”

“What?”

Kari whipped her head over to look at Lin, who was nodding as she spoke like nothing was wrong. “There is a large group of Werecats watching us from higher up. They have been following us ever since you killed that first one.”

“And you didn’t think to say anything?” Kari asked, now annoyed.

Lin paused. “S-should this princess have said something? She assumed you already knew about them.”

“That’s… no, it’s fine. This is my fault. Sorry for snapping at you.”

Lin accepted her apology but still looked wary. Meanwhile, Kari called Catalyna up to her and informed the woman of what Lin had discovered. She spoke softly so the others wouldn’t hear. She didn’t want to cause a panic right now.

“These Werecats must be under the command of a Mabeast,” Catalyna said. “Mabeasts are the evolutionary form of Werecats. They’re a B-rank Demon Beast that are about two times larger than the average Werecat, several times stronger, and a lot more cunning. They form packs to help them hunt. If there’s a Mabeast here, we could be in a lot of trouble.”

“What should we do?” asked Kari.

Catalyna bit her lip as her brow furrowed. “We keep going like this. It sounds like they are currently just watching us, so if we don’t give away that we know they are watching, we should be able to travel a bit further before they attack. The only thing we need to be wary for are traps. I’ve heard that Mabeasts like creating landslides to catch the unwary.”

That sounded dangerous, but there really wasn’t anything else they could do.

“Lin, can you point out exactly where they are?” asked Kari.

“Up ahead on our right,” Lin said.

Being as discreet as possible, Kari glanced up. She couldn’t see anything at first, but as she continued to stare, it looked like the environment began moving. But it wasn’t, she realized. What moved was actually the body of a Werecat. Its tan fur was allowing it to blend in with the cliffs. Once she knew what to look for, Kari discovered not one, two, or even three Werecats. It looked like there were at least a dozen of them.

“I think we should make a break for it,” Kari stated.

Catalyna frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Because if they are planning to create a landslide to trap us, then running right now would mean they won’t have time to trigger it.”

A man made—or in this case, Demon Beast made—landslide was not something that could just happen in an instant. It required either building up a lot of loose debris, or finding areas in the cliff that were naturally weak and destroying them with explosive force. A B-rank Demon Beast could probably cause a big enough explosion. However, if they moved before it could use a Spiritual Attack, they could avoid being swept away by a landslide. That was her plan at least.

“I guess we’ve no choice.” Catalyna sighed before turning back to the others. “Everybody! We’re running now! Pick up the pace!”

Despite the obvious confusion everyone present exuded, they didn’t complain even though they were exhausted. The group picked up their pace into a quick run. At that exact moment, as if realizing their prey was onto them, a massive roar shook the entire mountside. The loud sound of something breaking, of something cracking, echoed around them. Then several tons of debris began falling.

Everyone ran faster. With Kari and Lin in the lead, they managed to mostly outrun the falling debris, but not all of them made it to safety. One older man in his 30s was struck on the head by a stray rock. He stumbled backward, and then the falling debris overtook him. The last thing Kari saw was his hand before he was completely buried and swept over the mountainside.

“Keep running!” Catalyna commanded.

The group did run. While Kari and Lin were up front, Catalyna, Marko, and Finn remained directly behind them, and the other Spiritualists were even further behind. As they ran, several Werecats leapt down from the cliffs. They unleashed ferocious roars as they made to attack.

Lin hissed as she opened her mouth and spat out several fast-moving globs of purple poison. Her aim was impeccable. She struck the eyes of the four Werewcats in the lead, blinding and hurting them at the same time. Unable to see, the Werecats tumbled off the cliff instead of leapt, striking several hard rocks on their way down, rolling across the path everyone was running along, and falling off the other side.

The rest of the Werecats managed to leap onto the path. Two came from behind, three from the front. Walking out from between the three up ahead of them was a Demon Beast that looked like a Werecat—except nearly two times bigger. Its sturdy frame blocked almost the entire mountain path. Rippling muscles covered every inch of its body. Snarling lips were peeled back to reveal massive fangs behind its two tusks. The yellow glow of its eyes contained a vicious cunning that made even Kari and Lin back away from.

“W-we’re surrounded!” Finn shouted in shock. “What should we do?!”

“We should remain calm,” Catalyna snapped before turning to Kari. “What do you think we should do?”

Why are you asking me?!

Had circumstances been different, she might have appreciated someone of Catalyna’s status looking to her for advice, but right now, she really didn’t know. She didn’t have much experience in this matter. This was only her second time coming to the Demon Beast Mountain Range. That said, she also knew someone had to do something.

“Lin and I will take care of the Mabeast,” Kari declared. “You, Marko, Fin, and the others deal with the Werecats. Also, please hand me some of those alchemy pills.”

“Okay.”

Catalyna didn’t hesitate to place several pills in Kari’s outstretched hand. She popped them all into her mouth, ignored the bitter taste of mixing medicinal ingredients, and swallowed the spirits awful concoction. Energy swiftly rushed through her body. She felt lighter. Spiritual Power and energy were flowing through her like a rushing hurricane thanks to the Spiritual Booster Pill and Endurance Pill, and the Clarity Pill allowed her to focus better.

“Give this princess some pills too please,” Lin said. Catalyna handed several pills to her, and the Lamia didn’t hesitate to pop them into her mouth. “Blegh. They taste horrible.”

Kari snorted, but that amused sound was all she could make before Werecats and Mabeast attacked them. Since her job was to take care of the Mabeast with Lin, she ignored the Werecats, trusting Catalyna, Marko, Finn, and the others to keep them away. She rushed past them and attacked the Mabeast head on.

Since it looked like they were nearing their destination, Kari held nothing back. She spun her ranseur around her body. Each swipe created a brilliant golden trident in the air. With another twirl of her weapon, she launched the projectiles forward. While she didn’t expect them to do much damage—this was a C-rank Spiritual Technique—she didn’t expect them to just bounce off like they did.

“Crap!”

Kari was forced to dodge as the Mabeast nearly barreled into her. She backpedaled to avoid its claw swipe, and then ducked when it tried to bite her head off. Now close enough to this creature’s mouth that she could smell its putrid breath, Kari thrust her ranseur forward, striking the Mabeast underneath its jaw.

Clang!

Sparks flew as her ranseur slid away from the Mabeast, showing her that its fur was tougher than even her weapon. She grimaced and quickly scrambled out from underneath the Demon Beast as it tried to squash her flat. As she leapt backward several times, Lin rushed between its legs and began spitting poison from her mouth. It must have been acidic. The poison hissed as it struck the skin and was harmful enough that the Mabeast screeched as though in pain.

Using the Mabeast’s distracted state, Kari used the Flash Step to appear on top of its head. It tried to knock her off. However, Kari leapt into the air to avoid its bucking, and then came back down and impaled the tip of her glowing ranseur into its right eye.

“GGGGGGRRRAA!!!”

Gritting her teeth as the Mabeast roared in agony and rage, she clung to its back as it tried to throw her off again, keeping her ranseur firmly impaled upon it. During this time, Lin used the tip of her tail to pierce the areas where her poison had weakened the Mabeast’s durable fur. Her attacks were so fast that it appeared as if multiple tails were appearing at the same time. Dark ichor blasted from holes that appeared along the Demon Beast’s body.

As the creature’s enraged roars turned into only agony, Kari removed her ranseur and stabbed its other eye out. She ignored the stench of blood on her boots. The Mabeast was panicking now. Completely blinded by her attacks, it stumbled along. Kari kept a careful eye on her surroundings, and when her foe was near the edge of the cliff, she leapt off it and landed on the ground. The Mabeast kept going and fell off the cliff with a loud cry. The thunderous sound of crashing echoed up to her as it continued falling however many hundreds of meters up they were.

“Are you okay, Big Sister?” asked Lin as she slithered up to her.

“I’m fine.” Kari smiled as she glanced at Lin, checking the girl for injuries. She wasn’t bleeding anywhere. That said, she had a lot of bruises. “How about you?”

“This princess is fine,” Lin said. “She did not get injured this time.”

Kari expressed her relief with a sigh before turning to look at the others. It appeared that Catalyna and Marko had managed to defeat two of the three Werecats on their own. Finn had required the help of three other Spiritualists to take down one. While all five of the Werecats were dead, she grimaced upon catching sight of the two Spiritualist corpses lying in the dirt. Their group had consisted of 20 starting out, but now it only had 12, not including Eryk and Fay.

“Catalyna,” Kari called. “We should hurry up and keep moving before more Demon Beasts come.”

Catalyna looked up, her shoulders and chest heaving. Blood ran down her forehead, her armor had dings and scratches on it, and her sword was coated in thick, black blood. Despite looking terrible, she nodded.

“Yes. Let’s keep going.”

Kari faced the front as the group of exhausted Spiritualist began moving again. She hoped they would reach those ruins soon.

***

The muscles in my arm bulged as I swung the Dragon’s Tail Ruler. It wasn’t very heavy, about 120 kilograms, but the increased length when I unlocked the segments and used my Spiritual Power to tether each segment together like a line of thread put a strain on my tired body. Despite my straining, the Dragon’s Tail Ruler rushed forward to pierce one, two, three, four Pteranodons as if they were made of butter. Blood splattered the already bloodstained ground.

“Hng!”

As I swung the handle, causing the lightning within my ruler to tear through the bodies of the Demon Beasts I had impaled, Fay darted to and fro along the ground. She appeared above a Lizalfo, a creature that was really just a giant reptile with spikes all over its body, and slammed the back of her heel against its head. Her Spiritual Aura was powerful enough that the spikes along its body melted into slag. Her foot caused its skull to break as it slammed into the ground, which collapsed underneath it and formed a crater.

Currents in the air shifted behind me as I retracted my blade. As the segments locked in place, I turned on the balls of my feet and swung, unleashing a crescent of water. My attack sliced into a Lizalfo attempting to sneak up on me from behind. The Demon Beast shrieked as blood ran down its face, though the shrieking only lasted until I thrust my ruler forward with a single hand and impaled it through the head.

My shoulders heaved as I pulled my weapon from the Lizalfo’s head. Blood spurted along the ground, but I ignored it and extended my senses. The air whistled in my ear, eyes grew sharp as I scanned the skies, and I sensed the shifting of gravel underneath my feet.

I couldn’t detect any danger, which gave me a quick moment of reprieve. I used this chance to take a look around.

The ground was covered in corpses. There were so many bodies I couldn’t even see the ground anymore. What part of the ground wasn’t covered in the dead had been dyed red. The thick scent of blood caused me to wrinkle my nose.

Amidst this massacre was Fay, the girl who’d been fighting by my side for the past however many days it had been since we split ways with Kari, Lin, and the others. Her clothing, like mine, was littered with tears. Most of those tears had been near misses, but I could see several cuts dripping with blood. We would need to get those healed.

“I think we’re good for now,” I said as Fay wiped some sweat from her forehead. “We should keep moving. I’m sure more will be coming, and I’d like to find a place where we can lay low so I can heal your injuries.”

Fay walked over to me, stepping around several bodies, though she didn’t bother avoiding the puddles of blood—there was already so much dried blood on our clothes it didn’t matter. She stopped in front of me and placed her hands on her hips.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I already told you these small scratches are nothing,” she said, but I could tell from the way her shoulders drooped that she was tired despite the brave front she put up.

I smiled and shook my head. “Even if you are, I’d prefer not to let those injuries remain. Cuts can get infected and become worse if they aren’t treated, and besides, telling the man who loves you not to worry is kind of an exercise in futility. I’ll always worry about you even though I know how capable you are.”

“That… uh… oh… well, t-thank you.” Fay looked down at the blood-stained ground and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. The gesture made her seem more self-conscience than she usually was.

“I’ve noticed before, but you really are all attack and no defense,” I said as I picked my way around the corpses, leading Fay away from the current area of destruction. “Despite so confidently stating you would win my affection back before I started courting you, you’re surprisingly weak to having other people return your feelings.”

“I-it’s not like that is completely true,” Fay defended herself. “I just… have to mentally prepare myself first.”

I gave her an amused smile before cocking my head to the side, listening for the sound of Demon Beasts. I also activated Spiritual Perception. While it wouldn’t do a good job of locating D or C-rank Demon Beasts, it would let me know if a B-rank or above was coming, and right now, every little bit would help.

“Anyway, let’s head this way.” I pointed off toward the north-west. “There aren’t as many Demon Beasts over there.”

“Wait! Why are you changing the subject?!” Fay asked, her face suddenly lighting up like a bonfire. It seemed she was still embarrassed.

“Because there are more Demon Beasts coming our way. Can’t you feel it?”

When Fay heard my words, a brief moment of confusion flashed through her eyes, but then she realized what I meant when she felt the ground rumbling underneath her feet. Her eyes widened.

“There has to be over a hundred of them for the ground to shake like this,” she whispered in horror.

“That, or a really big Demon Beast is coming this way.” I affirmed with a nod. “Either way, now isn’t that time for this conversation. Let’s hurry.”

We didn’t use the Flash Step to travel since, while it could indeed be used to travel long distances, Fay needed to conserve her Spiritual Power. I had some pretty monstrous reserves if I did say so myself, and even I felt the need to lessen the amount I was using.

After leaving the jungle, Fay and I had traveled across a vast and nearly empty plain situated several kilometers away from a tall mountain. The journey had been treacherous. Numerous Demon Beasts attacked in droves. It didn’t matter where we ran. Even after I had stopped sending my Spiritual Pressure out to draw the Demon Beasts’ attention to us instead of Kari’s group, the amount of enemies attacking us only seemed to increase. It was like they had been whipped up into a frenzy.

The reason definitely had something to do with that strange ritual Dyr had been used in. I recognized some of the Runes, but I hadn’t been able to properly memorize all of them. I didn’t know exactly what the ritual was meant for. However, I could tell it had been the reason for the Demon Beasts’ current craziness. Not only had we been attacked nearly nonstop since that moment, the Demon Beasts were trespassing into the territory of other Demon Beasts, something that had only happened during the Demon Beast Invasion of Nevaria.

“Still,” Fay began, panting beside me as she ran. “I wonder why they Demon Beasts are acting this way.”

“I have a theory on that.” A large boulder appeared before us, forcing us to split up and run around it before hooking back up again. “I’ll tell you about it when we have a moment to rest.”

As if to deny us any chance at rest, the ground suddenly shook beneath our feet, and it wasn’t a small shaking either. Fay released a startled squawk as she was nearly sent to the ground. I stumbled forward a few steps before righting myself and eying our surroundings.

Our current surroundings was a rugged landscape of dirt and large rocks. A massive cliff face stood to our immediate left, but the right was covered in a desert landscape that stretched out for miles. Unlike the soft dunes of the Endless Desert, this was filled with a craggy surface covered in pebbles and cracks. There was literally nothing here, so what was causing this rumbling?

When I couldn’t see anything, I activated Spiritual Perception again and extended my range for as far as it could go. It was only after I’d done this that I realized the kind of danger we were in.

“Fay,” I said calmly. “I’m going to need you to get as far from here as possible.”

“Why?” Fay looked at me with suspicion in her eyes, clearly knowing that something was wrong. I sighed. She knew me too well now.

“Something big is heading straight for us,” I said. “It’s far more powerful than anything we’ve faced up to this point.”

“Something big…?” She trailed off and pondered that for a moment, but then, as the fire suddenly turned on inside her head, her eyes widened. “You mean—?!”

“Yes.” I gave her a grave nod. “There’s an A-rank Demon Beast coming.” I scratched my chin. “We won’t be able to outrun this creature, which means there’s no choice left but to fight. However, much as you’ve improved, you’re still no match for a Demon Beast of this caliber. Please get somewhere safe.”

Fay hesitated as she stared at me with an imploring gaze burning behind her emerald eyes. “But… what about you?”

While I didn’t know if I could truly defeat an A-rank Demon Beast as I was, I presented Fay with a confident front that I already knew she’d see right through. “Don’t worry. I’m not the type of person who would willingly fight a losing battle. If the situation becomes too dicey, I’ll lead it away from you and then make my escape.”

Fay didn’t look like she believed me, but the rumbling was getting louder. We were out of time.

Fay took two swift steps forward, leaned up, and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss only lasted for a second, and then she leaned back down and stared at me with hard eyes that contrasted with her soft blush.

“Don’t die on me.”

“I won’t.”

It might have been an empty promise, but it was one I planned on doing my best to keep.

Fay quickly ran back the way we’d come. I wasn’t worried about her getting attacked by Demon Beasts anymore. If this area was the territory of an A-rank Demon Beast, then not even the strange frenzy they had been whipped into would convince them to invade this area.

Just as I let this thought disappear from my mind, the Demon Beast I’d been feeling shake the ground and sense through Spiritual Perception arrived from around the cliff face. Massive legs bigger than even the thickest tree I’d ever seen slammed into the ground, causing cracks to spread around its gigantic feet. With each step it took, it swung its rock-like arms, which were covered in dense and powerful muscles. It stood on two legs like a human. However, it’s face was nothing like a human’s. A massive jaw covered in spikes moved as the creature opened its mouth to reveal numerous sharp and jagged teeth. This thing seemed to have a hard red layer of rocks covering its head, from which a pair of curved horns jutted out, each one easily two times bigger than I was tall. More spikes were sticking out of its back. They were even larger and more deadly in appearance than the horns in its front.

As I gazed into the yellow eyes of this creature that was large enough to be a match for the mountain upon which the Imperial Royal Palace sat, I could not stop my throat from going dry. This creature was indeed an A-rank Demon Beast.

Giant Rock Golem.