14 CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 14
Clarisse, who had almost completely lost hope, didn't know how to react to the bizarre scene that unfolded before her.
On one side, she could see a boy, a bit battered, who seemed to be around her age, running towards her while fleeing from what seemed to be a group of mad Thorkas.
On the other side, she could see the powerful earth lizard, an E-rank monster that had just dominated her team moments ago, being ruthlessly overrun by a horde of Thorkas.
For a moment, she didn't know how to react to all of this.
HISSSS!!!
The earth lizard, just coming back to his senses, was furious.
Not only had a weak human dared to appear before him as if nothing had happened, but also a handful of unevolved beasts had the audacity to attack him. This was an insult he couldn't bear.
And so, he rose up in fury, tossing off all the Thorkas on his back.
But, as they say, fate loves to play cruel tricks.
Just as he was regaining his composure, another figure, almost as large as himself, emerged from the dense trees and struck him head-on, sending him flying for about ten meters.
This large figure was none other than another Thorkas. Reily immediately understood that this was the leader of the group.
The monster that had just arrived wasn't sure what had just happened, so he unrolled himself and looked in the direction where the earth lizard had been sent flying.
The E-rank monster, quickly recovering from the attack, got back on all fours and looked with fiery eyes at the newcomer.
His patience had reached its limit.
The lizard now only wanted to skin alive everyone in front of him, starting with the F-Rank Thorkas.
Seeing that he had managed to enrage the large lizard before him, the Thorkas knew that he either had to fight or flee, leaving his group behind. Normally, he would have quickly decided to run away because he was still weaker than the monster in front of him, but at the moment, he had his whole group with him.
The Thorka, as a group, posed a threat to even low-level evolved beasts, so as an F-Rank, if he led his kind to attack the lizard, he could kill it.
The sole idea of tasting an E-rank core and giving a great boost to his advancement to the next rank made him lose all the hesitation he had until now.
Rarrrr !!!
The giant monster, resembling an armadillo, grunted loudly to his companions.
Hearing the call of their leader, they rose to their feet and formed ranks behind him.
Seeing all this, the lizard didn't waste time and attacked, advancing furiously towards the Thorkas group.
Reily, who had just arrived next to Clarisse, seeing the situation deteriorate in this way, said:
"can you stand? We can't stay here, or we'll be involved in their battle."
Clarisse, who had emerged from her stupor, heard him and said:
"I can still move, but my teammates..."
She said, turning to her teammates lying a few meters away from them.
Reily looked to where she was looking and understood what she wanted to ask:
"At our current state, taking them all with us won't be easy. And from what I can sense, two of them are already dead."
Reily didn't know how, but he could tell that the two men were already dead. Probably, this was another aspect of his becoming a vampire, but he wasn't completely sure yet, and he didn't have time to confirm it right now.
The battle between the two sides had already reached its peak, and from what he could see, both parties were at a stalemate, without either gaining the upper hand.
As much as Reily wanted to see how this battle would end, he knew that staying longer would be a death sentence.
Clarisse, hearing what the boy in front of her had said, almost cried out of guilt.
She knew she couldn't blame herself for the outcome of their foray into the forest, but she still felt bad for those two men who had decided to risk their lives to save her and her friend.
She was trying to hold back her tears as she struggled to get up. Then she said:
"I understand. I-I can still move on my own. Could you please carry my friend, who is lying down there, with you?" she said, pointing to the archer girl who had fainted near a tree after being hit by the lizard.
Reily could see that the girl was still alive, although not for long.
Seeing that the girl next to her was still struggling a bit as she got up, Reily could guess that she had spent almost all her mana because the girl didn't have many wounds on her, and from her appearance, he could tell she was a mage.
"Okay," and without saying anything else, he moved closer to the girl on the ground, roughly picked her up, and put her on his back like a sack of potatoes as he returned to Clarisse.
Seeing him, she wanted to warn him to be careful because after the lizard's attack, her friend had surely suffered some internal injuries.
She approached the girl and took from the bag at her waist a glass flask that had a small crack on it.
"Thank goodness it didn't break," and without waiting for Reily to say anything, she poured it onto the girl's abdomen.
The potion would surely have more effect if drunk, but given the precarious situation, Clarisse knew she couldn't afford this luxury.
"his should be enough to keep her alive, until we get to the city," she said, throwing the now-empty glass flask to the ground and taking out a yellow potion from her small leather bag, and drinking it.
Reily didn't need explanations for the actions of the girl in front of him. He had an idea of the effect of these two potions, so he refrained from making any comments.
Seeing that the mage girl had finished drinking her potion and seemed to have recovered a bit, he said:
"Let's move. We can't stay here anymore," and without waiting for the mage's response, he started moving towards the forest exit.
Clarisse didn't waste time, and she started moving too. Gradually, they began to pick up some speed. Reily wasn't running at his maximum speed to avoid leaving the girl behind him.
Clarisse, although struggling, tried to keep up with the boy in front of her.
Noon was ending and evening would soon come. Reily knew they had to hurry to get out of there. He did his best to sense his surroundings and avoid any monsters he could avoid, because fighting was the last thing she wanted to do now.
And so, as the sky began to turn yellow, they ran without stopping, knowing they were close to finally leaving the forest behind.
