Aurora tore off a strip from the hem of her skirt and tied it around her wound.
But even so, blood kept seeping from the injury, quickly staining the pure white cloth a deep crimson.
With her other hand, she pressed hard against the wound, but no matter what she did, it seemed futile.
“I have to… find them…”
She shakily stood up, only to collapse back to the ground after a few steps.
The exhaustion from her body, combined with the weakness caused by excessive blood loss, meant that standing up had already drained the last of her strength.
‘What am I supposed to do…’
Her body felt as heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds; even lifting one hand felt like hoisting a massive stone.
Though all her blood was flowing out, why did she feel heavier than before?
Her vision began to darken, and this blackness was deeper and far more terrifying than the night itself.
A hot, foul-smelling breath suddenly blew against her cheek, mixed with a stench that was almost unbearable…
Aurora slowly turned her head on the ground and met the sight of that charred face.
The monster was still alive!
What shocked her even more was that this monster had a human face.
Its skin was burned to charcoal black, with obvious stitch marks across its visage. This face didn’t seem to belong to a single person—it looked as if many faces had been sewn together: male, female, and even patches of hairy skin. This patchwork face somehow fit better with its beastly body.
“What exactly are you…”
The left side of its head was crushed flat, and the claw on that side was grotesquely deformed. Yet despite all this, it was still alive.
Aurora could not sense a trace of vitality within its body.
This made her wonder—did this thing truly possess life?
The question didn’t last long, because when the monster tore off that half of its mutilated body, revealing a hollow shell with no organs inside, Aurora became certain: this creature was not alive.
The ripped half of its body quickly regrew, but even the newly formed flesh remained burnt and blackened like charred wood.
It roared angrily at Aurora, who lay helpless on the ground. The sound was so close it felt as if it would shatter her eardrums and pierce straight into her brain.
It violently swung its scorched carbon-like claw, but Aurora was powerless to respond; her body refused to move any further.
Bang!
Her body was flung dozens of meters away, crashing heavily into a large tree.
But in her current state, Aurora was too weak even to let out a pained groan. She could only keep her eyes open, watching death draw ever closer…
Behind the monster, a faint light began to approach.
The steady drizzle had long since turned into a torrential downpour.
Amidst the rapidly falling rain, a dark shadow cut through the impenetrable curtain of droplets, rushing toward the monster.
Just as the creature bared its fangs, ready to pierce Aurora’s heart, its head was suddenly cleaved in two by the incoming massive black blade.
“Eve!”
A familiar voice rang in her ears, and then a sphere of white light soared into the sky, tracing a parabolic arc before landing beside her.
The dazzling glow caused the monster to howl in pain. Dragging its face, which had been severed in two places, it staggered backward into the depths of the forest.
The voice calling out to her drew nearer, and through her blurred vision, Aurora saw the familiar faces of Saga and Little Mo.
“She’s lost a lot of blood! Stop the bleeding!”
“Don’t leave this light circle. I’m going after it!”
“Little Mo, use healing magic!”
“Is it that easy to just use it…”
“Then what should we do?”
“First, stop the bleeding, then worry about everything else…”
Aurora felt overwhelmed by the noise in her ears.
This feeling was strangely familiar—as if on some night long ago, she had also been surrounded by continuous chattering voices. In her fading vision, a black figure appeared before her…
When she woke again, the moon had already descended halfway.
Her blurry eyes opened to find herself still surrounded by flowers, grass, and trees. She was still deep in the forest.
“Eve has awakened!”
A voice called urgently, and a pink figure appeared.
After blinking a couple of times, Aurora’s blurred vision finally cleared.
Saga was looking at her with a worried expression, and Little Mo beside her shared the same concern.
“What about that purple-haired girl?” Aurora asked weakly.
“She’s still confronting the monster.”
Aurora slowly sat up, leaning against a tree trunk.
Raising her hand, she saw a scene that made her shudder.
Countless tiny white insects were biting her skin around the wound; some had even burrowed inside her injury!
Before she could cry out in shock, Little Mo explained, “Don’t be afraid. These are my paper bugs transformed.”
Seeing Aurora’s confused look, she continued, “There’s nothing here to stop the bleeding, and no one who can use healing magic. So I transformed my paper bugs into these tiny insects to bite the wound and blood vessels, which helps stop the bleeding.”
“I-I see…”
But looking at so many bugs crawling over her wound, Aurora couldn’t help but get goosebumps.
“That monster is very afraid of light, so we plan to wait until dawn before moving.” Saga said.
“Once we get back, we’ll find the teacher for proper magical treatment.”
“Okay…” Aurora nodded, then suddenly remembered something and hurriedly patted her pocket.
Thankfully, Guda was still inside. If she had lost or hurt Guda during the escape, she would have been devastated.
She looked back at the two of them, her voice weak, “You two aren’t hurt, right?”
“Thanks to Eve… If it weren’t for you, that monster would’ve eaten me already.”
“It was Eve who lured that monster away. That’s how I survived.”
“I’m such a useless class leader; I fainted the moment I saw the monster… Eve, I’m sorry.”
She wiped tears from her eyes and then bowed deeply to Aurora.
“It’s good that Saga is alright,” Aurora said, offering her a gentle smile.
Little Mo spoke up, “Save your thanks for later. For now, we need to get through this.”
“Mm.”
“By the way, Little Mo, you’re good with creatures, right? Do you know what that monster really was? It felt like I’d never seen anything like it before.”
“If it were a monster, that’d be better… at least it would fit natural laws.”
“If it’s not a monster, then what? It can’t be an animal…”
“It’s neither animal nor monster… It’s an artificial being.”