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!"

chased after them, their snarls and roars echoing through the forest. It was a relentless pursuit, and despite their best efforts, Ava and Hein were struggling to

haaa... This is

forward with all

had been at it for several hours, and despite the fact that they had a number of potions available to them, she found

was beginning to worry about whether or not they'd be able to emerge from the

starting to feel the

managed to fend off the first wave of attacks, but they knew that more creatures

situation difficult for them was the strange scent

their breaths become heavier and heavier because

to keep

his voice low so as

Whatever is here, we have to get away from

written all over her face. Together, they pushed on through the dense forest, their feet pounding against the ground as they ran

use your

I'd here

sentence, and her feet began to gradually slow down until

"Uh? Why are yo―"

for Hein, who looked ahead and found that his already

his lips, which had gone dry, he turned to look

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

ahead, where there were at least a dozen

"Yeah…"

agreed, her eyes wandering over the beasts that the demons were

more menacing and were a lot larger. They had sharp, long teeth and claws, and their fur was a dark, matted

best looking wolves, but… they sure

"…We're totally fucked."

"You're fine."

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

color returned to their previously pale faces, and the expressions on their

"Angelica!"

"Angelica!"

looks like the two of you

gazed at the two of them. It had been a while since she

had a lot of time to

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

was unquestionably more powerful than the

"Young Matriarch?"

to an abrupt halt and looked at

"Young Matriarch?"

Angelica's title. They had a lot of questions in their minds at the

no

"Stay back, you two."

ready to fight, Angelica quickly intervened and stopped them in their tracks by stepping

"Haa…"

she extended her hand

her entire body and engulfed the space

"Young Matriarch?"

are you doing, Young

Angelica's actions, and just as they were beginning