The convoy pressed forward along the road.
Seraphina pulled her cloak tighter around herself.
Even the slight jolts inside the carriage made her body ache, and the motion-sickness relief sachet Lina had prepared seemed to be losing its effect.
All she could hope for now was to reach the Giantwing Demons’ territory as quickly as possible, then linger there for a few days under the pretext of an inspection.
That way, she could “stretch out” a few more days and stay away from Movira a little longer.
Thinking of this, Seraphina felt the trip was worth it. But the crisis that followed…
At first, it was only a few extremely faint whistling sounds, but the well-trained cavalry caught the notes of death in an instant.
“Ambush! From the slopes—protect the carriage!”
The cavalry swiftly tightened their formation, raising heavy shields to form a protective wall around the carriage.
Yet the attackers’ aim was precise and insidious. Those arrows weren’t targeted at the soldiers or horses but landed accurately around the convoy.
Puff—!
The moment the arrows struck the ground, the containers shattered with a dull thud. Thick, ink-like smoke billowing with a pungent stench erupted from the impact points, spreading at an alarming speed!
The smoke was utterly bizarre. Not only was it dense enough to block all vision—reducing visibility to the point where one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face—but it carried a powerful magical effect.
The cavalry had no time to react. After inhaling the first breath, they felt dizzy and lightheaded, their limbs seized by a terrifying numbness.
“What is this…” Even the experienced cavalry captain had never encountered such a weapon. His commands grew muddled in the smoke.
His own movements slowed noticeably. The shield that had always felt light in his hands suddenly weighed a thousand pounds.
The enemy’s assault came in waves. Almost the instant the poisonous smoke spread, the second barrage followed.
This time, it was genuine explosives—several alchemical bombs etched with unstable runes, hurled precisely into the center of the smoke by throwers from higher ground!
“Close the line—fall back to the carriage!”
Some cavalry tried to charge toward the carriage, but after only a few steps, they were felled by cold arrows from unknown directions or knocked down by the shockwaves of the explosions.
Inside the carriage, Seraphina was thrown about by the first blast, her forehead slamming into the wall and sending a sharp wave of pain through her.
She heard the thunderous shouts of battle outside, the booms of explosions, and… cries of agony.
The smoke seeping into the carriage wasn’t as intense for her, but it still left her head spinning.
Terror gripped her, chilling her to the bone. She tried to push open the door, but a stronger shockwave directly flipped the entire carriage!
The world spun wildly. Seraphina was flung from the carriage, crashing heavily into the snow.
Struggling to lift her head, she beheld a scene straight from hell.
Amid the thick black smoke, the cavalry staggered like ghosts. Their magical horses collapsed one by one to the ground. Then, masked assailants flashing out of the haze effortlessly cut them down.
The fight had turned into a one-sided massacre.
Even the captain from earlier knelt on the ground, run through the chest from behind by a shadowy figure’s blade.
Seraphina huddled behind a pile of snow, every inch of her skin taut with tension.
The faint metallic taste of blood from her bitten lip was magnified endlessly. She could clearly hear her heart drumming in her chest.
A tall dark figure stopped less than ten steps in front of her. Scaly fingers still gripped a dripping curved blade.
He seemed to remove something from his face.
“Haa—that was satisfying! Who’d have thought those human trinkets worked so well? Even the Demon King’s guards couldn’t resist them!”
Another set of footsteps approached. “Never expected the humans to develop so many weapons specifically against demons. If we weren’t wearing these masks, we wouldn’t have lasted a second!”
Their murky eyes scanned the snowy ground before them, lingering for several seconds on the exploded snow pile where Seraphina hid.
The leg he was about to step forward with was brushed by the icy wind. They indeed had powerful weapons, but their clothing didn’t seem quite so “powerful.”
“Fuck! This damn weather—hiss—it’s freezing me to death,” one of the assailants muttered.
“Let’s head back.”
“What about… that girl? We’re not looking for her?”
In the distance, Seraphina squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her body fully against the freezing snow.
Of course she knew the “girl” they meant was her! If they took just a few more steps, even with poor eyesight, they would spot her completely.
“Forget it. She’s probably dead from the blast, or buried, or rolled off that cliff over there.”
The bitter cold had saved Seraphina’s life, even as it urged her to surrender it back.
Footsteps sounded again, but this time they grew distant.
Seraphina still didn’t dare move. Icy snowmelt had long soaked through her clothes. The bone-piercing cold and the stinging pain where snow water touched her wounds made her tremble uncontrollably.
Honestly, she didn’t know how much time had passed. Only when all she could hear was the howling wind did she dare, ever so slowly, lift her stiff, frozen neck.
As expected, the scene before her was one of utter silence. White snow was stained with vast patches of dark red.
The cavalry who had gripped their weapons so firmly just moments ago now lay in twisted poses across the ground, their life’s breath stolen by the snowy plain.
Overwhelming grief and panic enveloped her. Her stomach churned violently; she couldn’t hold back the dry heaves, retching only sour bile that tugged at the wound on her chest, bringing another wave of agony.
Tears spilled from her eyes, freezing into icicles on her cheeks in moments.
But the will to survive overrode everything. This was no place to linger. Beasts of the wilderness would soon be drawn by the scent of blood.
Even if the assailants didn’t return, she would be torn apart by those creatures.
Gritting her teeth, she used her frozen, purple-red fingers to claw at the snow pile and struggle to her feet.
Every movement made the countless wounds on her body flash black before her eyes.
Especially the pain in her chest—it felt like cracked bones, nearly sending her collapsing again.
She didn’t even have the energy to regret, nor did she dare allow herself to. The only strength left in her body was enough for her brain to command simple limb movements.
The supplies on her person were barely enough for one meal. Perhaps she should look for something to eat.
Seraphina struggled to scan her surroundings. To her surprise and faint joy, the heavy wooden chest Lina had packed seemed to be not far away.
If she wasn’t mistaken.
A flicker of hope sparked in her heart like a weak flame. Enduring the searing pain, she staggered toward the chest, one agonizing step at a time.
When she drew close, that spark of hope was instantly extinguished.
The chest was completely deformed, its outer layer charred black.
“Please… give me something… even just a little…”
…