Red cursed to himself and tried to retreat. However, he barely took a few steps before he felt the wolves catching up to him and the wave of cold air hitting his back.
‘There’s no way I can outrun them.’
Before the boy could think much further, though, he hear the sound of another arrow whistling through the air. One of the wolves growled in pain and slowed its chase for a second, giving Red more time to think.
‘The escape talisman!’
He recalled the talisman Eiwin had given him, and his hand went to his pouch to grab it. However, at the same time, he could feel the other wolf catching up to him and its wounded companion was also ignoring Rog’s arrows to give chase.
He began chanting the incantation in a hurry. However, he knew this wouldn’t work.
It would be a matter of seconds before they caught him, and Red wouldn’t have the time to activate the talisman. The boy saw his life flash before his eyes, and just as he was considering doing something dire, he felt another fluctuation approach him with extreme speed.
More accurately, it was approaching his pursuers.
One of the wolves howled in pain, far louder this time. Red took a glance behind himself and saw the female bodyguard had her sword stuck on the creature’s side. Her entire body was surrounded by a fierce, pulsing yellow light, and even bits and pieces of what looked like rocks were floating around her. This increase in strength was reflected in her fluctuation, as the boy was quick to notice.
The other wolf was frightened by this, and its charge instinctively slowed down. Red saw his opportunity.
He continued running and finished his incantation. By the time the other wolf noticed this, Red’s body was already glowing with a faint green light.
The boy’s speed suddenly increased several times, and he ran in a straight line away from the wolf. This swift escape talisman was also based on Wind Spiritual Energy, like the one he used on the trial, but unlike that one, Red didn’t feel in control over this energy or of his own momentum.
He felt like if he tried to do abrupt change in directions, he would probably crash and slide to a halt. Instead, Red ran in a straight line away from the wolves and towards the forest.
He didn’t feel the monsters give chase any longer, but he didn’t stop. Only when the effect of the talisman ran out twenty seconds later did he finally grind to a halt.
Red felt a tightness in his chest and tried to catch his breath. An after-effect of the talisman, most likely.
The boy then looked around himself, noticing he was now back at the tree line. The glowing fort was over five hundred meters away, and Red couldn’t feel any fluctuations around him - neither wolf nor his companions.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have ran so much.’
He didn’t blame himself, though. When you are so close to dying, there was no time for precise calculations.
The battle was still raging on in the distance, though, as he saw Gustav’s female bodyguard reengage with the wolves. He didn’t know what kind of ability that woman had used to save him, and neither did he know why she waited so long to use it, but right now that seemed to give her an edge against the monsters.
The creatures continuously suffered wounds over the next few exchanges before they decided to retreat. Their withdrawal caused a sudden reaction on the battlefield.
The rest of the monster horde, which seemed to have come to a standstill against the guards after Eiwin and the other reinforced them, all started to run away, the rage disappearing from their eyes. The horde was retreating.
‘Wait… The horde is retreating?’
Only now did the situation seem to dawn on Red. Horde monsters often fought to the death, and only when a scant few of them were remaining and they were faced against truly overwhelming odds would their rage shrivel and they would retreat. However, this wasn’t what was happening.
They had barely lost any of their number at this front, so why would they choose to retreat? Sure, looking at the fight of the stronger wolves and the bodyguards, one could see how the situation would probably turn against the horde soon enough, but was this something monsters could discern?
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The possibility that someone was controlling them became more likely by the second.
Many guards, including a few of his own companions, started to give chase to the monsters. Gustav’s bodyguards, though, made no attempt to stop the wolves from retreating, and Red didn’t fancy his chance at stopping these monsters either, so he stood aside as he watched dozens of creatures pass him by.
A loud voice called out over the battlefield. “Stop! Don’t give chase!”
Red recognized this voice. It came from Captain Orvin, who stood on top of a large crate as he addressed his men.
His order had an immediate effect on the battlefield. The guards all slowed and let the monsters escape back into the forest, although more than a few of these soldiers had reluctant expressions.
Soon enough, no more creatures could be seen inside the ruined fort, and all that remained was the destruction and corpses they left behind.
Red made his way back to the battlefield once the path was safe. He was greeted by Rog and Narcha, who both seemed exhausted from their endeavor, but luckily didn’t sustain any wounds. They had different expressions as they stared at the boy.
The hunter scratched his beard. “I thought you were going to run back to town at that rate.”
Narcha grunted. “What did you even do to anger those wolves, anyway?”
“He killed the bird, of course.” Rog said.
The woman looked confused. “Why would that anger them?”
“The wolves? That wouldn’t anger them.” the hunter shook his head. “It would anger the one that is controlling them. The kid probably killed his pet, after all.”
Both Narcha and Red frowned. They wanted to call Rog out on this conjecture, but right now, this really seemed like the most reasonable explanation for everything that was happening.
Before they could continue their conversation, though, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching them.
Red turned around and saw Gustav’s bodyguards walking towards them. There were no signs of injuries in their outer appearance, but the boy could tell from their fluctuation that they were likewise exhausted.
The atmosphere suddenly changed, as Red’s companions were reminded that these people were their enemies outside of these times of crisis. Narcha’s hand remained tight around her saber as she glared at the two of them.
The large bodyguard stared at Red and the others through the eyeholes in his mask.
“We’re even now.” The man spoke in his rough voice.
“Even?” Narcha looked confused.
“Yes, even.” He nodded. “You saved me and my companion saved the kid. We’re even now.”
The woman snorted. “Is this even worth speaking about in this kind of situation?”
“Of course it is.” the man nodded. “This way, if we need to kill you in the future, there won’t be anything to hold us back and you won’t feel betrayed.”
Narcha was speechless.
The man didn’t say anything else and turned around to walk away. His companion’s gaze, however, seemed to linger on Red.
The boy felt the woman’s eyes boring into him, as if trying to look through his secrets. Red, however, wasn’t shaken by it, and simply met her gaze with his usual cold eyes.
The woman said nothing and turned around to join her companion.
Red’s group was left behind to digest this conversation. Only now did Narcha’s expression seem to twist in anger.
She gritted her teeth. “Bunch of fucking bastards…”
Rog scratched his beard. “Well, they kind of have a point…”
A glare from Narcha was enough to silence the hunter.
“Narcha, Rog, Red!” Allen’s voice came from behind them. “Are you alright?!”
Red turned around and saw the young master running towards them. Not too far behind, he saw Eiwin and Rimold’s figures too. They also seemed to be in reasonably healthy conditions, albeit likewise tired from combat. Some blood could be seen splashed in Eiwin’s uniform, but whether it came from her or her enemies was impossible to tell.
“What did those two say to you?” Allen asked as he noticed Narcha’s angry expression.
“Nothing that matters.” The woman shook her head.
Rimold stared at the group up and down. “I couldn’t see much of what happened, but I saw a lot of flashing lights from this direction.” The rogue looked at the dark owl’s corpse. “It seems you had everything under control, though.”
“It was way closer than it looks like.” Rog said.
“What matters is that everyone came out of this safe.” Eiwin said. “When you feel you are ready, Captain Orvin invited us to a meeting at his tent… Or what remains of it, at least.”
Allen frowned. “Aren’t you worried the monsters are going to come back?”
Eiwin nodded. “Of course I am, but given the present circumstances, I have a hunch it will be a while before they try anything again.”
The young master seemed skeptical, but he didn’t protest.
As they made their way over to the main tent at the center of the fort, they were able to see the results of the confrontation. Bodies of guards and monsters littered the battlefield, and a lot of guards were busy putting out fires and gathering the corpses of their companions.
An air of solemnity seemed to fill the fort, which seemed to reach even Red and his companions. They were used to fighting and killing, but it was rare for them to partake in these matters on such a large scale.
Allen, in particular, seemed more affected than most by the surrounding atmosphere, as he looked around in sadness and horror. However, he said nothing and kept walking forward, displaying his emotional growth since the trial.
Grisly sights were common in the cultivation world, and one needed to get used to them if they wanted to make their way up in the ladder. Mortal lives were worth almost nothing to a lot of cultivators, and they could be extinguished as easily as blowing out a candle.
It was the truth Red had to come to terms with during his time in the underground, and something that Allen was now paying witness to first hand. The lesson each individual took out of this was essential to decide the kind of cultivator they would become one day.
Red had arrived at his truth very early on. As for Allen? Only time would tell if his surrounding influences paid out for the better or for the worse.