Chapter 32

Chaos erupted the moment the creatures ventured beyond the bounds of the Great Forest. The knights fled, leaving the beasts to freely attack the numerous demons still standing.

"What are these things?!" Elizabeth questioned.

"They're the creatures you ordered us to lure," replied Luke, confused, as he ran alongside Elizabeth. "Wasn't it our job to bring them here?"

"What?! No!" Elizabeth glanced back briefly. "I wasn't talking about these creatures! How do these things even live in this damn forest?! What in the world is this place!?"

Elizabeth had ventured into the Great Forest before, but these weren't the creatures she had seen there.

A humanoid bipedal being nearly three meters tall with small bull-like horns... a minotaur?

Its multiple legs extending over four meters, making it stand over six meters tall... a giant spider?

With a scorpion's tail, lion's body, and falcon's wings, even chimeras, beings with massive bodies, were among those creatures.

But all creatures under fifty meters didn't matter, because despite being equally terrifying to distant observers, they were simply following their own instincts, fleeing from their natural predators, those with no adversaries in the part of the Great Forest they inhabited—the basilisks.

"Darn it! Where are the flying serpents? And what about the horned wolves?!"

"There were no creatures like that there, ma'am..."

Elizabeth glanced back again.

The demons were being pushed back, theoretically they had won, so why wasn't she even a bit happy about it?

Her heart squeezed, her mind raced because she knew it wasn't good. Though the situation seemed favorable for them now, if it continued and the demons retreated, how would they stop those creatures from spreading out into the world?

Bright stars fall on the battlefield, without distinguishing between demons and beasts, and his eyes quickly sweep across the entire sky.

Looking towards the base, Elizabeth sees that those who had not participated in the fight until then, upon seeing the unfolding situation, finally decided to do something about it.

Several arrows rain down from the sky like shooting stars enveloped in flames.

Something suddenly snagged her feet, causing her to fall amidst the bodies scattered on the ground.

Again, her body was covered in blood, and the number of dead around her couldn't be counted with a single glance... all dead because of her.

Her eyes swept the surroundings, and there lay Reymond, among those who had fallen in battle.

Guilt filled her chest, tears filled her eyes.

Half of his face was no longer visible.

"I warned you... I told you not to stand in front..."

As she held him in her arms, Elizabeth felt his body was too light. Searching for the reason, she understood; her legs were no longer there.

"Sorry... I'm sorry... please forgive me, Marie..."

Returning to base with what remained of Raymond, despite having seen him as light before, now Elizabeth felt her body was so heavy.

Walking became increasingly difficult as her feet sank into the immense pool of blood she had created.

Her legs trembled with each step, her mind fought to keep the tears hidden inside.

The knights finally seemed to have regained some morale, seeing the demons in such dire straits certainly caused that.

But that's problematic because they're only seeing the scene before their eyes, those who killed many of their comrades and caused them so much physical and psychological pain are suffering, but they can't perceive the bigger picture that could culminate in that situation.

"Don't retreat!" ordered the man with silver-gray eyes. "Don't let the creatures pass, it could mean our end later!"

Though weak and wounded, thanks to their overwhelming numbers, the demons were managing to deal with most of the smaller creatures with some difficulty. But not with the basilisks. Normally, just one of these creatures would pose a great danger, however, before them, there were now five.

"Darn it... if I do this, that bastard won't leave me alone..."

Grabbing the attention of all the basilisks and moving quickly, the man with silver-gray eyes found himself in a rather complicated situation.

"What the hell!" he thought. "Damn it! Aura! Aura! Who needs this crap?! Why don't these worms just die already?!"

No matter how strong he is or how many times he attacks, his sword doesn't even scratch the scales of those creatures.

"Darn it... how did Ethan manage to do this?"

Aiming just below the head of one of the snakes, the man struck a powerful blow with his sword that was able to kill other creatures without even touching them... But it had no effect on the basilisk.

Raising his sword, he quickly defended himself from the joint attack of the creatures that attacked him with the tips of their tails.

"Darn it!" he flew out of the huge crater where he was and his face contorted for a brief moment. "Crap! Someone call Ethan, now!"

***************

Without any dirt showing, not even a single grain of dust could be seen in the entire room.

The bookshelf filled with books is as perfectly aligned as anything else in that space.

And sitting in the large window whose top is oval, there's Clovis.

The realm before his eyes, quite noisy and shining beautifully just like both moons in the sky.

"It would be great if this could go on forever..."

For the most part, the demons were happy, after all, there had been no news of the war for days, since reinforcements were sent to the front lines.

Throwing his body backward and resting his head on the brown wood that forms the window, Clovis sighed.

His eyes closed and his heart calmed along with his mind. After Riley finally calmed down a bit and managed to sleep, he was about to enjoy, finally, the calm that reluctantly hovered over the realm.

But... why can't he truly be at peace?

Clovis sighed deeply.

"...This won't work..."

He stood up, leaped over his perfectly made bed, and walked towards the exit.

***************

His mouth opens slowly, the breath escaping immediately into the atmosphere.

"..."

Standing on the bridge in the center of the great lake, Ethan sighed deeply.

He scans the surroundings, looking beyond the people and the islands, but not into the distance.

Before, he couldn't see anything, but now everything seems so bright. The surroundings seem teeming with life and energy.

Smaller than a speck of dust, countless mana points circulate through all living beings, physical objects, and the air itself. The entire environment around him is glowing.

Ethan had searched throughout the realm, and indeed, as expected from the universal energy of the world, mana is everywhere, but...

"Why... does this seem to be the center...? And why does the mana in this place seem so different...?"

Aside from very specific locations, like the forest of red trees in the vast plains next to the castle or in the Frozen Peaks where the mana is quite similar to this, mana doesn't carry characteristics by itself, it needs to be shaped for that to happen.

So why is the mana in this place so chilling...? And why does it seem to worsen over time?

"The speed at which the temperature keeps dropping is increasing... In some places, especially on the islands near the mountains, it's already starting to require fire to keep warm after dusk. And..."

Raising one hand, Ethan continues to try to interfere with the mana surrounding him.

"It doesn't seem possible to do anything about it..."

Mana doesn't shape itself according to his will, nor is it possible to push it away. That energy seemed to be being sucked by something. But...

"What could exist beneath these waters...? To absorb so much energy at once... is that even possible?"

Ethan sighed again and turned towards the castle.

His feet stopped and his head quickly turned along with his body towards the entrance gate of the demon realm.

A leap and black wings sprouted from his back. Those nearby felt the air pressure caused by his rapid movement.

"Sir...!" shouted the demon knight, his voice faltering and his breathing unconscious and rapid. "...Summon... summon Sir Ethan! Summon...!"

The demon knight was startled by Ethan's sudden appearance before him, almost falling backward despite being airborne.

"Sir... quickly... on the front lines...!"

There was no time to think. And grabbing the man under his arms, Ethan prepared to take flight again.

"Wait!" exclaimed Clovis, who was coming at an impressive speed, followed by Aiden and Riley. "What happened?"

"Basilisks...! There are basilisks on the front lines!"

"I will fly." Ethan said to the knight in his hands. "You tell the way."

"No, you won't..." with arms outstretched, Riley appeared in front of him. "You won't leave me behind..!"

Ethan paused for a moment and assessed Riley.

Her eyes carried as much confidence and firmness as her words. But they were still filled with tears...

"Are you feeling better now..?"

"Enough to do this... I'm going with you too."

The two faced each other with their gazes.

Riley wouldn't back down. But Ethan knew that the front lines weren't the only problems they had to solve now.

"No..."

"What?!" exclaimed Riley, though he tried to contain himself, his expressions showed he was on the verge of tears. "But..."

"You and Aiden will stay here. The front lines aren't the most important thing right now, there's something more urgent that you need to address. Look around."

Riley hesitated. In his mind, Ethan was just trying to push him away somehow, and in response to that, he was starting to feel angry.

"This is... No..."

He had seen it before, that icy and heavy mana, yes, definitely from the Frozen Peaks.

"It can't be. This shouldn't be happening... How did I not see this before..?"

"It's alright..." placing a hand on one of his shoulders, Ethan smiled. "Anyway, I'll finish before you guys even do. I'll be waiting here when you get back."

"In your dreams." retorted Aiden.

Ethan glanced his way for a brief moment. A nod from both of them was more than enough.

"And then..." as he watched Ethan and Clovis quickly move away, Aiden approached Riley. "...What exactly were you two talking about?"

"The realm..." said Riley, wiping his tears.

He raised one hand as if trying to grasp something invisible, and after his expressions betrayed his apparent failure, he clenched his fist tightly.

"...I think it's crumbling..."