“That’s... a Behemoth...” Alpheus mumbles in shock.

He vaguely remembers reading about them in some of the books back then. Spending all his time reading through the near-infinite supply of books, he gathered much information about the outside world, and Behemoths were no exception.

It was currently distracted; however, upon seeing the real thing up close, he panicked and could only remember one thing.

They were natural disasters incarnate.

“I suggest you head back.”

The elf uttered those words out of nowhere. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks to look at her in confusion.

The captain was the first to speak up.

“What do you mean? Is there something ahead?”

“Yes. What lies ahead is a Behemoth.” Despite the gravity of the current situation that she tries to express to the humans, her emotionless demeanor fails to do so. To an average human, it sounds as though she stated that there was a grumpy cat ahead.

“A Behemoth?” A crew member tilts his head in mock confusion.

“Why the fuck should a Behemoth waltz around here?”

If it was anyone but her saying this, they would have thought this was a bad joke. However, for an elf to say something like that.

You could only hope that an elf would joke like that.

Despite that, the situation makes no sense to them whatsoever.

No matter how insignificant their kingdom may be compared to the rest of the countries, beasts more ferocious than mere bears should have long been purged or driven away. Both the land here and those surrounding other human nations have been free of monsters like those for centuries, and the mages make sure to keep it that way.

Why would something like a Behemoth appear out of nowhere without sightings?

“Elven woman, are you trying to keep us from doing our jobs?” one of the members asks gravely.

“Think what you will. I warned you.” She doesn’t even acknowledge the death stares currently directed at her and turns away to keep going.

“You’re saying that, but you’re heading in?” The captain ignores the dissatisfaction of his crew and asks her with a severe tone.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“Of course I am. I will handle this issue accordingly. After all, I am more than capable of that.”

Unlike you humans.

The unspoken words hung over the entire group, igniting their bloodlust. They all tighten their grip on their weapons.

“ I see. Well, you can quit giving us warnings. We can handle something like this.” The captain broke the hostile silence with a challenging expression directed at the one who sees them as nothing more than ants.

“Very well. Unfortunately, the situation has changed, so I can’t afford to be slowed down. I will go ahead.” She gives them a slight nod and then places her hand against her forehead, mumbling something to herself.

“What do you-“ He doesn’t get to finish his sentence before a light shines from where her hand rests. That light traveled downward into the ground until something emerged from underneath the soil.

Branches.

Their golden color matches the hue of her own hair. They envelop her like a cocoon until they retreat into the ground, returning to wherever they came from.

And just like that, with their disappearance, she too was no longer anywhere in sight.

Everyone stood in complete silence for a minute. No one cared to speak that thought out loud, but no one could deny their fascination upon witnessing this.

After all, it was the first time they witnessed the miracle of magic.

It's not something your average human could ever hope to see in their lifetime.

“Fuck! That bitch left us just like that!?”

“We’re going after them, right?!”

“But... a Behemoth...?”

“She just said that as an excuse to ditch us!”

“Yeah, she just doesn’t want to deal with us escorting her to the authorities.”

In that case, we’ve got to report this!”

Just like that, the captain had enough and interrupted the useless banter.

“Shut the fuck up, idiots!”

Everyone fell silent.

“We’re not reporting anyone! How many times do I have to drill this shit into your thick heads?! We’re staying the hell away from the authorities! Now’s not the time to be fucking petty.”

“Well then, what SHOULD we do?”

“We keep moving. We’re seeing this through. There’s no way I’m going back with a failed mission on our backs. None of us would be able to live that down.”

No one can think of a counterargument, so they nod in agreement.

“Not to mention, I’m not retreating after that bitch mocked us like that. Neither will you!” He took his sword out and held it up as a declaration of war, roaring. The others followed suit and took their weapons out with a battle cry.

“Not like the stories are true anyway. Behemoths are not any more of a big deal than other beasts.”

They’re nothing more than beasts named after the deceased Earth Devil.

Marianne kept a cool head—or, relatively, as cool as one can be after running from some monster that seemingly caused tremors underneath one's feet with every step.

She pushed any unnecessary thoughts to the wayside and focused on getting both of them away from here.

Alpheus recovers from his shock after a second and comes back to reality.

“Miss Marianne, put me down!” He requests forcefully. He can’t just slow her down like that.

She didn’t bother to answer, and her silence rejected that request.

“Miss Marianne, please, you can’t-“ He pesters her, and she snaps.

“Idiot, think for a second about why I’m not doing that.” She answers without holding back.

He shrank back. He understood that he was currently nothing more than deadweight. He was nowhere near recovered. He couldn’t even correctly run yet and loses his stamina quickly. His lack of weight made him easy to carry, too.

He understood that.

He truly did.

But that didn’t mean he hated it any less.

“Right now, I’m nothing but deadweight.”

As that thought settles in his mind, draining him of all color, the beast turns in their direction, its red eyes meeting his.

Just like that, it caught sight of them.