The towering Behemoth lood close. It's blue glowing eyes flickered nacingly.
Boom—! Boom—!
Each heavy step it took, the ground shook. Piles of snow scattered in the air. Its movents were sluggish, but the sheer impact of its steps sent a cold breeze, brushing past Brandon.
He had to keep [Mana Burst] up.
If he were to disable it, the side–effects would wash over him.
It was not the ti for that.
He had to take the others with him and run away.
Screw the quest.
His life was on the line.
"Emi!"
What was the point in progressing the Sovereign of Creation skill if he was going to die anyway?
…And for a ager 5% increase at that.
Not worth it.
Nope.
But as he was about to rush towards Alia, Brandon stopped in his tracks.
Gripping his head, he had finally felt the rush of sharp pain. Adrenaline still surged, but would only serve to mitigate the pain to a degree.
His mana continued lashing out. It was then he realized he shouldn't go near Carl.
"Alia! Take Carl and—"
Brandon paused and his eyes widened in shock.
What the fuck is this kid doing?
***
Inside the earth shell, Carl huddled up with his little sister.
By now, fear started to grip him imnsely as fixed his gaze up.
There, he could see the towering figure of the Behemoth. Its eyes flickered nacingly as if it was staring deep inside Carl's soul.
Carl shuddered, flicking his head down.
"....!"
It was then he noticed.
"...Emi?"
Emi was gone.
Wasn't he just holding her a few seconds ago?
Where the hell did Emi go?
It was for that reason that Carl peeked out of the narrow hole of the earth shell. There was no roofing so oxygen could smoothly flow inside.
"....!"
There, he could see her running inside the forest. A sudden chill ran down his spine and a cold breeze washed over him.
"Emi!"
He scread.
But it all went to deaf ears.
Emi never looked back and continued running inside the forest.
Carl lowered his gaze.
His hand.
…It was trembling.
"No."
Not again.
No.
No.
"No, no, no."
Instinctively, Carl rushed out the shell and headed deeper into the forestt, paying no heed to Alia, Cid or the Behemoth.
"Emi!"
Don't go.
He reached out to her departing back. She was running faster than him, despite how small her legs were.
***
"Alia, go after him!"
Brandon urged with a raised tone.
He knew he shouldn't get close to Carl at the mont. Not just him but Alia as well.
He knew he was a hazard. Alia was the only one who could temporarily cure him, but there was no room for such a decision.
At the mont, he could still bear the pain.
Alia nodded at his instructions and instantly headed deeper into the forest.
The sa went for Brandon as he ran away from the Behemoth.
He had co to realize by now that the source of the dense mana in the air was due to the Behemoth.
That, or there was sothing else inside the forest.
He then recalled the two blue eyes from back then.
By instinct, he knew that it wasn't from the Behemoth.
It was sothing entirely different.
His gaze fixed ahead. There, he could see Alia reaching out for Carl.
The hell was he doing to endanger himself like that?
Boom—! Boom—!
A loud booming sound echoed from behind him. The ground shook intensely. The trees started breaking down in each step the Behemoth took.
Screw the rewards.
He had to make it out of here fast.
Thankfully, the Behemoth's movents were sluggish.
———!
It was then.
"....!"
His alarm bells rang. Instinctively, he dashed sideways.
As soon as he did, a trail of crystallines lashed out and registered in his peripheral vision.
"...."
Shit.
The Behemoth had a ranged attack. One similar to the Frostwolves. But unlike the wolves, they were crystals.
Now things were getting even more difficult.
Currently, he was deed an A ranker by the system. But he knew, the Behemoth far surpasses that.
Most likely an S- rank. He couldn't fight it alone. This was especially so as he was quite unstable at the mont.
….ntally, and physically.
He felt his body breaking in each passing second. But gritting his teeth, he persevered and continued sprinting.
"Carl!"
He called out Carl. But it all went to deaf ears.
Since Carl was running in the sa direction as them, there was no reason to stop him.
"Carl…! Why did you put yourself in danger like that?!"
He couldn't be lenient.
His mind was jumbled, and his body was breaking down.
Whatever plagued Carl wasn't of his priority at the mont.
They had to survive.
"It's Emi."
Finally, he replied.
"She's gone!"
"Wake up, Carl!"
Brandon scread.
"Brandon, wait."
Alia's worried voice reached his ears. Brandon shook his head.
"She's been gone the entire ti!"
The cold harsh truth.
"...."
"...."
Even Alia was speechless.
But he had to say it. It was a reality call for Carl. The further they let this on, who knows what kind of stunt the kid would pull next?
"Wake up. Your little sister is—"
"Stop."
Alia cut him off before he could went way out of line.
"...."
It was then when Carl stopped running.
Due to that, they overtook him. They halted in their steps. Brandon was several distances away for Carl's safety from his mana.
Turning around, Brandon scread.
"Why are you stopping now?!"
"Brandon!"
"Tsk."
Brandon clicked his tongue as Alia's brows furrowed.
Looking back, the Behemoth was still quite far. But each second was crucial.
Carl needed to get his shit together.
"Carl, we need to go, please."
Alia pleaded.
But it went to deaf ears as Carl's gaze lowered and his fist, clenched.
Alia continued.
"Your little sister…. I know how you fe—"
"I know."
Carl spoke almost inaudibly, cutting Alia off.
"I know, okay?!"
Alia's eyes widened. The sa went for Brandon as they stared at the boy who seed like he was about to cry.
"I know Emi is dead. Damn it."
She was dead for a long ti.
The boy was rely deluding himself this entire ti. But it wasn't Brandon or Alia's place to tell him such a fact.
"She was…. all I had…"
His voice cracked and he covered his face with his hand.
"We were orphans. She was the only family I had left."
Drip. Drip…!
Tears trickled down his cheek and his tone trembled slightly.
"The calamity… it took her life. It took Emi away from …."
Sob. Sob.
"Damn it."
He wiped his tears with his arms.
"Sorry, I'm fine now."
Brandon and Alia exchanged conflicted looks. But eventually, they nodded at each other.
The calamity…
…It changed a lot of lives.
It took a lot of lives.
And it changed the world.
At that, the three continued running.
Away.
Far away from the Behemoth as possible.
Brandon led the group's direction.
Ti passed and the mana density gradually beca heavier.
On his tir, there were two minutes left before [Mana Burst] would be on cooldown.
But this was bad.
They knew they had only crossed 40% of the forest.
But Brandon's instincts told him they were going the right direction.
It was as if the mana was calling out to him, leading him to a certain point.
And with such thoughts, Brandon followed the mana's density.
"....!"
They halted in their steps and their eyes widened in shock.
What the…
There, they could see a towering crystal shaped like a tree.
Inside the crystal tree, there was a figure with a small stature, seemingly frozen inside the crystal.
With pointed ears and lilac hair, Brandon was well aware of what the figure was.
"....An elf."
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