The Author's POV

"Haaa… Haa…"

Within the confines of a large forest, the echo of two rough breaths could be heard. They belonged to none other than Hein and Ava, and they had been running for what seemed like an eternity at that point.

Their lungs burned, their legs ached, and their hearts pounded so loudly that it was a wonder the creatures chasing them hadn't heard.

"Over here!"

They found themselves in the middle of a thick forest, with the trees towering high above them and their leaves obscuring the majority of the sunlight. They had a hard time seeing where they were going, but they dared not slow down.

"This wa-no, shit! This way!"

The intense fight that they had only moments before evaded left visible damage on Hein's armor in the form of cracks and dents.

Ava's clothes were torn and bloodied, her hair a tangled mess. They were both exhausted, but they knew they couldn't stop yet.

"Shit... there's too many..."

Hein muttered, his breath coming out in ragged gasps.

"Where the fuck are we?"

Ava cursed under her breath, her legs feeling like they were made of lead.

Rustle! Rustle!

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind froze them in their tracks. They turned to see more than a dozen creatures emerging from the underbrush, their eyes blazing with an insatiable hunger. Ava and Hein's expressions crumbled at that moment.

"Shit, they're already here. Hurry and run; I'll hold back their first attack!"

Hein shouted, his voice laced with desperation.

Clank―! Clank―! Clank―!

In spite of his anxiety, he took a step forward, and as he did so, his shield broke up into nine separate pieces and floated in front of him.

A translucent green field connected each individual section of the shield, and the result was the formation of a rectangular barrier that covered a large portion of the land in front of him.

Boom―! Boom―!

"Urkghh!"

When the creatures first began their assault, the shield shook violently. Hein could taste something sweet at the very back of his throat, but he gritted his teeth and retracted his shield away.

The pieces found their way back to him and pieced themselves together again.

"Let's go."

Hein immediately changed course and made a beeline for the woods without wasting a single second of time. Although Ava was already quite a ways ahead, he was able to catch up to her in no time at all.

"Rooar!"

"Huarrr!"

"Khiek!"

snarls and roars echoing through the forest. It was a relentless pursuit, and despite their

This is too

complained, running forward with

had a number of potions available to them,

about whether or not they'd be able to emerge from the forest alive. The creatures did

was starting to feel the weight

they knew that

the situation difficult for them was

found their breaths

to keep

his voice low so as not to attract any

have to get out of the forest. Whatever is here, we have to get away from it. We're

her face. Together, they pushed on through the dense forest, their feet pounding against the ground

use

I'd

the middle of her sentence, and her feet began

"Uh? Why are yo―"

ahead and found that his

lips, which had gone dry, he

"We're fucked, aren't we?"

ahead, where there were at least a dozen

"Yeah…"

her eyes wandering over the beasts that

but unlike them, they looked far more menacing and were a lot larger. They had sharp, long teeth and claws, and their fur was a dark, matted gray or black. Their eyes were yellow and

but… they

"…We're totally fucked."

"You're fine."

two of them froze on the spot. Upon recognizing to whom the voice belonged, both of their heads

faces,

"Angelica!"

"Angelica!"

like the two of you have improved a

with a thin smile on her face, Angelica gazed at the two of them. It had been a while since she had last seen them, and the two of them looked stronger than the last time she'd seen

lot of time to

head, finally letting his breath out as he did so. He wasn't quite able to sense Angelica's strength, but he could tell that she was stronger than the last time he had

powerful than the demons that were pursuing

"Young Matriarch?"

abrupt halt and looked at Angelica

"Young Matriarch?"

one another after hearing Angelica's title. They had a lot of questions in their minds at the moment, but they

in no

"Stay back, you two."

the two were getting ready to fight, Angelica quickly intervened and stopped them in their tracks by stepping forward. She stared at the demons that were in front of her, and

"Haa…"

she extended her

energy erupted from her entire body and engulfed the space that they

"Young Matriarch?"

are you doing,

in a state of shock as a result of Angelica's actions, and just as they were beginning to understand what had