Before she knew it, someone was waking Qiu Meng up.
“Hey… time to switch watch.”
Qiu Meng groggily opened her eyes.
“Mm…”
She instinctively buried her face deeper into her sleeping bag, trying to cling to the last remnants of drowsiness and resist reality.
Alisia, meanwhile, snapped awake quickly.
“Ah… Got it.”
She pushed herself up, slung the Greatsword lying beside her onto her back, then stepped out of the tent and looked up at the sky.
Unfortunately, in this forest shrouded by thick fog and a canopy of trees, she couldn’t judge the time by starlight at all.
The Countdown hung in the higher heavens, but the mist blurred it into obscurity.
Alisia furrowed her brow and turned her gaze to the fence at the camp’s edge.
The next instant, her expression changed slightly.
The Barrier was flickering.
The Defensive Wards that Seraphina Cadera had laid on the wooden stakes and the grass should have been radiating a steady, pale crimson glow. But at this moment, those Runes began to flicker on and off. If one didn’t look carefully, one might mistake it for mere firelight reflecting off the damp wood.
“…!”
Alisia rushed over at once.
She crouched by the fence, pressed her hand against one of the Runes, and found the mana feedback extremely faint.
There was little time left.
The Barrier was about to vanish.
And beyond the Barrier, nothing could be seen in the pitch-black forest.
Alisia gritted her teeth and said in a low voice:
“At the very least… I can still manage the mana to sustain the Magic Array.”
She slowly channeled her own mana into the Rune.
The Magic Array lit up a bit again.
But the light soon dimmed once more. The constant depletion of mana made Alisia’s face grow paler, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
She had fought demon beasts during the day, and at night, that mysterious little drink had pushed her into Magic Overload. Her body was already exhausted. If she kept forcibly pouring mana into a Barrier on the verge of collapse, she would probably pass out before long.
“This isn’t a long-term solution…”
If she drank a little more, she might be able to replenish her mana temporarily.
But in that instant, what surfaced in Alisia’s mind wasn’t battle—it was Qiu Meng wrapped in her Cloak, backing away with wary eyes.
Her face grew hot in an instant.
“No… If I do that, she’ll definitely hate me.”
If she lost control again, it wouldn’t just fail the watch; it would cause even more trouble for her teammates.
She looked at the Magic Array with weary eyes, let out a sigh, and said:
“Why am I so useless…”
“You idiot, Alisia…”
Qiu Meng’s voice came from behind.
Alisia turned around.
Qiu Meng was standing outside the tent with her Cloak draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were still drowsy and not fully alert, but her hand was already resting on the hilt of her Noble Sword.
She glanced at the Barrier that was about to die out, then at Alisia, whose mana was nearly depleted, and let out a heavy sigh.
“What are you even doing…? Stop it. If you force yourself like that, you’ll end up all dizzy again. If demon beasts show up, I won’t be able to carry you and run…”
The heat on Alisia’s face, which had just subsided, flared right back up.
“Th-That’s not something you need to worry about. I can take care of myself…!”
“Mm… Can’t you just let Seraphina Cadera handle the Barrier?”
Qiu Meng stepped closer, crouched down, and looked at those complicated symbols.
She naturally couldn’t understand them.
But that didn’t keep her from thinking that Alisia’s actions just now were incredibly reckless.
“But… Is she even awake right now?”
“What are you talking about…”
Behind the two of them, Seraphina Cadera stood by the tent, a face full of black lines as she stared at them, and Alisia froze on the spot.
“Uh… You’re still awake.”
Seraphina Cadera looked at her helplessly.
“With you making all that racket… who could possibly fall asleep…”
“Sorry…”
Alisia felt a little deflated, then she said:
“I was wondering if I could set up another Barrier, so… could you give me some guidance?”
Seraphina Cadera was silent for a moment.
“I don’t have any more mana.”
Alisia was taken aback. Seraphina Cadera then pointed at the Runes on the ground.
“Besides, this isn’t something that can be explained in a day or two. It’s too late for you to learn it now.”
“…Fine.”
Alisia lowered her eyes.
“It looks like I really need to catch up on this kind of knowledge and its applications in the future.”
Seraphina Cadera rubbed her brow.
“So can you keep watch now?”
That face was steeped in exhaustion and helplessness.
Alisia gripped her Greatsword and stood up.
“Yeah.”
The Barrier wouldn’t hold much longer.
In that case, all that was left was to face the enemy.
Qiu Meng glanced toward the lakeshore.
She had originally wanted to find a relatively open area, at least to avoid being ambushed by the wolf pack from the shadows of the trees. But the fog by the lake was too thick, and the forest was completely unseeable. Moving recklessly would only be more dangerous.
“Don’t wander off.”
Alisia immediately warned in a low voice.
“Stay right here.”
Qiu Meng nodded and raised her left hand.
The mechanism of the Sleeve Crossbow clicked softly.
She switched to the Fire Magic Stone, aimed toward the lake, and fired a flaming bolt to try to illuminate that area.
But the bolt had only flown halfway when it suddenly exploded.
It wasn’t an explosion from striking a target.
It had been ignited prematurely by something in the air.
Boom!
The brief burst of firelight illuminated the fog, and for a single instant, the churning surface of the lake.
Qiu Meng’s expression changed.
The air near the lake seemed to explode when it met fire.
“Tch…”
The next moment, wolf howls rang out.
They rose one after another, howling from every direction of the night.
Alisia gripped her Greatsword tightly.
“Damn it…!”
Beyond the Barrier, pairs of crimson eyes lit up in the mist.
At first, they merely prowled around the fence, crouching low and issuing low, threatening growls. Soon, the first wolf crashed into the Barrier.
The red light flashed.
That wolf was sent flying backward.
But immediately after, a second, third, and fourth charged forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pack began slamming their bodies into the Barrier without pause.
With each impact, the Barrier’s light dimmed a degree.
Qiu Meng tightened her grip on the sword hilt, her heartbeat gradually quickening.
Alisia said in a low voice:
“Looks like the second half of the night is going to be a carnival.”
The moment those words fell, the Barrier shattered.
The pale red membrane dissolved into countless fine specks of light, scattered by the night wind.
The first wolf charged into the camp.
Qiu Meng dodged to the side, her blade grazing past the wolf’s claws without landing a decisive hit.
Alisia stepped forward and slashed horizontally, trying to block the subsequent pounces for her, but the next instant, another wolf sank its fangs into her right shoulder.
“Ngh!”
Several more wolves burst out from both sides.
Alisia forced two of them back with a sweeping swing, but two more wolves latched onto her left arm. Fangs pierced skin and flesh, and blood immediately streamed down her gauntlet.
“Qiu Meng!”
Alisia let out a low shout, raised her Greatsword, and hacked off a wolf’s head with brute force.
Qiu Meng dodged left and right quickly, blocking the lunging wolf claws with her Noble Sword. Borrowing the Magic Stone on her wind-attuned hilt, she retreated half a step, found an opening, and thrust her sword into a wolf’s throat.
Blood splattered onto her Cloak.
She had no time to feel sick. She raised her Sleeve Crossbow and fired at the wolf biting Alisia’s arm.
The bolt shot out.
Alisia sensed the whistle of the arrow and sidestepped.
The bolt grazed past her shoulder and struck the wild wolf that had been planning to ambush her from behind.
“Thanks!”
“Don’t thank me yet!”
Cold sweat beaded on Qiu Meng’s forehead.
At the very least, these wolves were normal wolves.
Not the wolves in the Hunting Forest that would coordinate and predict movements.
But there were far too many.
Several more wolves charged in.
Just as the two braced themselves to take the hit, two stones flew out from behind and struck the wolves’ heads with pinpoint accuracy.
Bang! Bang!
Seraphina Cadera stood behind the campfire, her longsword half-drawn.
“Fall back…!”
As she spoke, she hurled two bottles of potion. The bottles shattered against the ground, and red mist spread, briefly restoring the wounds on Qiu Meng and Alisia.
“One of you, light it up.”
Qiu Meng immediately fired another flare bolt.
This time, she didn’t shoot toward the lake. She shot directly above the camp.
The firelight briefly lit up the surroundings.
She finally saw the scale of the wolf pack.
Too many. Beyond the fence, by the stone wall, beside the tent, even behind the collapsed tree trunks—red eyes were everywhere.
Alisia was about to sweep her sword when four wolves pounced at her. She swung with all her gathered force, but those four wolves pulled back at the exact same instant, evading the blade.
The sword cut through empty air.
Alisia’s pupils contracted.
“They’re intelligent…”
“This isn’t the time to be impressed!”
Qiu Meng drove back a pack of wolves with her Wind-Magic Blade, then turned her gaze toward the forest.
If they kept defending the camp, they’d be whittled down to death.
“Move!”
She activated the Wind Magic Stone and led Alisia and Seraphina Cadera charging deep into the forest.
The wolf pack followed on their heels.
While running, Qiu Meng’s right leg was bitten and bled, the pain nearly making her fall. Seraphina Cadera tossed out more potions from her waist pouch, and the three tended to their wounds as they ran.
“I don’t have much medicine stock left.”
Seraphina Cadera said in a low voice.
“Let’s find a safe place first.”
“Mm.”
Alisia responded.
But the next instant, a wolf burst out from the side, as if it had long since predicted Qiu Meng’s route, and slammed hard into her.
“Ngh-ah!”
Qiu Meng was sent flying, tumbling into the deeper forest.
“Qiu Meng!”
Alisia turned to chase after her, but Seraphina Cadera grabbed hold of her.
“Keep going… or we’ll all die!”
Alisia gritted her teeth and looked toward that darkness.
She couldn’t see Qiu Meng.
She could only hear the sound of the pack running.
“I understand…!”
The two were forced to keep moving.
***
When Qiu Meng landed, her chest felt tight and stuffy.
She struggled to her feet, her ears filled with the sound of beasts running. Her right leg wouldn’t stop bleeding, and her left shoulder ached terribly. She had been cast into the darkness, body and soul.
A wolf pounced.
She dodged to the side, thrust her longsword into the wolf’s belly with a backhand, then kicked the corpse away.
Not far away… there was light.
Qiu Meng ran toward the glow.
She switched to the Fire Magic Stone and used the Sleeve Crossbow to ignite the underbrush along the way, trying to cut off the wolf pack with flames. After firing several flaming bolts in succession, she glanced down at her bolt quiver.
Not many left. “It hasn’t even been a full day yet…”
She gritted her teeth and kept running.
Beside the light up ahead stood a figure.
It was a Demihuman. Horns like a ram’s grew from his head, and his pure white hair was lifted by the night wind. He appeared to be about twenty-one years old, yet he wore the freshman uniform of Verindros Academy.
For an instant, an extremely ill-timed question crossed Qiu Meng’s mind.
How many years had this guy repeated a grade?
Wolf howls pressed in from behind.
The Demihuman man turned his head toward the depths of the forest.
The next moment, a wolf leaped out.
Qiu Meng dodged the first strike, but the second wolf forced her to block with only her longsword. Just as she was about to give out, the ram-horned Demihuman charged over.
It was a single, simple kick.
That wolf was sent flying and snapped a tree in half. The tree came crashing down, startling the remaining pack into a brief retreat.
The man looked down at her.
“Still alive?”
Qiu Meng gasped for air.
“Yeah… Thanks.”
The man extended his hand to her.
“Is that so. Come on, give me your hand. I’ll pull you up.”
Qiu Meng stared at that hand.
Perhaps it was because she had experienced too much danger, or perhaps the man’s overly calm tone after saving her made her instinctively uneasy. She didn’t reach out right away.
“No need…”
She struggled to stand on her own.
The next second, the man raised his foot and kicked her.
Bang!
Qiu Meng was sent flying, her back slamming violently against a tree trunk. The taste of blood immediately surged up her throat.
“Gah…!”
The man looked at her with regret.
“What a shame. If you had done as I said, I could have let you die without any pain.”
Qiu Meng wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.
“Well, that’s… about what I expected…”
The man charged without the slightest hesitation.
A jab struck her right arm.
Crack.
The sound of bone breaking was so clear it sent chills down the spine.
The Noble Sword slipped from Qiu Meng’s hand and stuck into the ground. The man casually picked up the blade and examined it closely.
“Not a bad sword.”
He gave it a couple of casual swings, then his figure vanished.
Qiu Meng’s heart nearly stopped.
Again. Once more, she felt with absolute clarity the chill of death pressing against her throat.
Just like when Telaika had blocked the Ice Magister for her before.
She fumbled a potion out of her waist pouch, meaning to apply it to her right arm.
A kick came from the side.
She barely managed to dodge.