Moments before the battle, Ukryo was in a desperate situation.
They moved quickly through the forest, leaping across the massive rocks that had begun to appear.
Ukryo was carrying the wounded girl. After some discussion, they had chosen him because he was the weakest.
He was placed in the middle of the formation. At the front, he was protected by the elder, Ero, Mac, and Tom—members of Fredar—and Vashina's companion, Guille. Behind him, only Arlo, the tall boy from Fredar, had his back.
Their current direction was east. To the west was Vashina, to the north the plains, and to the south the village. But the path to the village was infested with a horde.
The wounded girl hadn't woken up yet, and they had no plans to leave her behind.
We're very close to the plains.
The plains were nearby to the north. A wide space, free of grass or trees, but very exposed to the creatures of the forest. Only someone who wanted to be attacked would go there.
Falling
Unfortunately for the group, the sky was not on their side.
Ukryo wanted to drop everything and run. For him, this was supposed to be something the Green Cats handled at the first sign of trouble. But even they had run into serious problems.
"Mr. Gamba, I should carry her," said Arlo, approaching from behind.
Ukryo thought: He hasn't even reached twenty and he's already Gold rank. And I'm still stuck at Copper.
The mission involving the Wandering Ones was given to members ranked Iron and above.
In the past, when the Wandering Ones first appeared, Gold rank was mandatory. But over time, the requirements had dropped.
Thunder.
The darkness began to reduce the group's visibility.
Ukryo's hair stuck to his face as it got drenched.
The front became harder to see, and he had a bad feeling.
"Hey, Arlo, are you fast?" Ukryo asked.
Arlo looked at him and thought for a moment. Then he said exactly what Ukryo wanted to hear.
"I can escape with her if I try."
They looked at each other and nodded.
Arlo took the girl from Ukryo's back and hoisted her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
Ukryo looked ahead again and couldn't see the group.
Damn it, has it already started?
AHHHH
A scream rang out.
He drew both daggers and got ready.
He turned to see Arlo—but he was already gone.
"He's fast."
Ukryo knew that if he kept carrying the girl, both of them would die. He wasn't strong enough to run and protect someone at the same time.
Exhale.
He took a second and ran toward the front.
The poor visibility didn't help, but he didn't stop.
Ba-dum ba-dum.
His hands trembled and he couldn't tell if it was rain or sweat.
As he was about to take another step forward, something appeared.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, bastard, don't do that!"
It was the elder.
"Don't show up like that again."
"Ha ha ha, well. Come, another group has appeared."
Ukryo's expression shifted to surprise. The appearance of another group meant they had survived.
By the time Ukryo rejoined the front, his expression had turned solemn.
They knew the newly arrived group. The girl was talking to Guille. Poor Guille was trying to calm her down.
Merr's group.
They were rivals. Both Ukryo's group and Merr's were Copper rank. The difference was that Merr already had an established team.
"This…" Sigh "I don't know what to say."
"You know them?" the elder asked.
Ukryo nodded.
He looked at them one by one.
Thunder.
He frowned. Merr wasn't with them.
He walked over directly to Guille and the girl.
"–And then there were giant tarantulas!"
"Hey, I want to ask–" Ukryo approached, but the girl was panicking.
"–So we ran through–! Ah!"
"Hey, where is Merr!?" Ukryo grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to look at him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?!" the girl yelled.
"I asked, where is Merr–"
"He's dead."
Deiro stepped between Ukryo and the girl.
Ukryo clenched his fists tightly. He looked again at each member of Merr's group.
One had a missing arm, another a cut across the throat. Two of them were seriously injured.
He didn't know how, but they had survived.
Ukryo stepped away and sat on a rock. He spotted Arlo leaning against a tree in his peripheral vision.
Meanwhile, Guille kept talking to the newly arrived group.
"Wait, you're telling me some guy showed up and helped you the entire afternoon? He even gave you red healing vials?"
The girl, Nina, and the warrior, Wapo, nodded vigorously.
"Well then, where is that friend of yours?" the elder asked.
"We don't know. He hid us in a tent, and when we came out, we were surrounded by tarantulas," said Deiro.
"And didn't you notice they were all dead?"
"No, we…" Deiro looked back at the elder, surprised.
He put a hand to his chin and thought.
The tarantulas weren't slow—many died before even realizing one of those beasts had struck them. And Nina had even leaned against one when they came out.
When he looked up again, he wanted to ask something, but Guille interrupted.
"We don't have time. The faster we leave, the better."
They continued eastward.
Thunder.
Elsewhere.
Thunder.
Cuar was facing a problem.
Wounded in the thigh, ribs broken, and his tricep torn, Cuar was facing the Black Knight.
Fredar and Vashina were being dragged behind him without care.
Behind him, two familiar faces watched him.
Sojep and Sister Julia looked at him with indifference.
They were so drenched that their skin looked pale as corpses.
"Let them go!"
The black void of the knight's visor gave Cuar an ominous feeling.
A shiver ran through his body and made him tremble uncontrollably.
"…"
Thunder.
The silence lingered until a guttural, raspy voice echoed in his ears.
"What are you doing?"
Cuar fell to his knees, the bleeding weakening him by the second.
When he looked up at the knight again, a wet glove grabbed his face.