Lost in Frostwhisper Forest?
Villanelle remembered clearly that only the outskirts of this forest were developed to any degree. The deeper regions were seldom visited by humans, and no one knew if a ferocious beast might suddenly spring out from behind those 1,000-year-old trees.
Just as she was instinctively about to agree, the body of Ignis, who was held in her arms, suddenly tensed. He let out a low, warning growl from his throat while snagging her cloak with his claws.
He felt that something wasn’t right.
The emotional scent coming from this stranger girl was a bit strange. If he had to describe it, her feelings of fear and panic weren’t ‘authentic’ enough, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what that sensation meant for the moment.
Villanelle immediately forced herself to calm down and looked at Lina. “Wait a minute. How long have Professor Thorne and the others been inside? Which direction did they go?”
“About… ten minutes ago. They entered from the Old Logging Trail to the east,” Lina replied with certainty, meeting Villanelle’s gaze without flinching. “The Professor said time was of the essence. One more person means one more hand…”
“Did they cast an Illumination Spell? Or did they use a Message Spell to contact the Estate?” Emily adjusted her glasses, her gaze becoming somewhat scrutinizing.
Illumination Spells could be cast without a staff, and their color depended on the caster’s intent. In a moment of crisis, they could easily be used as signal flares.
“I—I don’t know… The Professor was in a great hurry and just took everyone inside.” Lina lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.
Struggle flashed in Villanelle’s eyes.
A classmate was lost, and a Professor was searching for them and needed more help… The reason was indeed legitimate enough. Furthermore, Lina’s panicked expression didn’t seem faked; she didn’t look like she was lying.
But Ignis had issued a warning.
What should she do?
Emily had already quickly packed up her recording boards and instruments. Her passion for observation and research allowed her to see another side of the situation. “If it’s an emergency, helping is necessary. Besides, this is a rare opportunity to document the conditions inside the forest…”
“Emily, there might be danger,” Villanelle reminded her.
“So we’ll just shout a few times from the outskirts. That way, even if something really happens, it will have nothing to do with us. Since we’ve already helped, Professor Thorne can’t ask for more.”
Emily leaned close to Villanelle’s ear and whispered, then looked at Ignis.
“Your dragon is very alert. With him here, we can detect danger in advance. Besides, the Professor is nearby.”
Ignis felt a slight waver in his heart.
It was a rescue, after all. He could offer a bit of help—even if he just went through the motions without exerting much effort—but he couldn’t do nothing. Otherwise, they would likely be criticized behind their backs at the Academy later.
If they were only going to call out a few times from the perimeter, and with the Professor nearby…
Although he vaguely sensed something strange in the forest, he couldn’t be 100% certain they would encounter a fatal crisis.
Thinking of this, Ignis hesitated for a moment and stopped issuing warnings, though his body remained tense.
Seeing that he was no longer strongly opposed, Villanelle made up her mind.
“We can help. But Lina, you must stay close to us. We’re only going to walk along the edge of the woods and will absolutely not go deep inside. At the first sign of trouble, we retreat to the Estate immediately.”
“O—Okay! Thank you so much!” Lina nodded hurriedly, a flicker of relief crossing the depths of her eyes.
The three people and one dragon immediately hurried toward the direction of the Old Logging Trail to the east.
The forest slowly unfolded before them like a giant mouth. The canopy blotted out the sun, and the light seemed to dim.
Ignis’s ears stood straight up, and his pupils narrowed into slits as he focused most of his attention on certain scents emanating from deep within the forest.
The three of them took turns calling out the names of Carlos and Hans. Lina’s pace was slightly faster, and she walked ahead of the other two.
In a place where Villanelle and Emily couldn’t see, the panic and fear on her face quietly vanished, replaced by numbness and emptiness.
Her hand tightened around a Rune-Etched Metal Plate hidden in her sleeve as mana flowed from her palm into the object.
Ignis looked up alertly, broke free from Villanelle’s embrace, and flapped his wings to rise into the air. He let out a short roar toward the two girls below.
Villanelle had developed an almost instinctive trust in him. Before the roar even subsided, her body had already reacted.
“Something’s wrong! Run!”
She grabbed the still-dazed Emily and turned back toward the direction they had come from.
At the same time Ignis gave his warning, Lina’s expression became wooden, and she slammed the metal plate in her hand into the ground.
*Click!*
With a light sound, an invisible Magic Silence Field rapidly expanded outward from the metal plate, instantly covering a radius of a dozen or so meters.
Villanelle and Emily felt their bodies tighten simultaneously, as if their blood vessels were being constricted by invisible hands. Their connection to the mana in the air suddenly became sluggish.
As the Magic Silence Field opened, several figures clad in white robes sprang out like ghosts from behind snowdrifts and tall trees not far behind them. They had clearly been lying in ambush for a long time.
After dropping the metal plate, Lina’s body went limp. She collapsed to the ground, her eyes staring blankly at the dense canopy above.
She was being controlled.
Realizing what was happening, Emily acted decisively. She unceremoniously dropped all the miscellaneous items in her hands and pulled her staff from her waist while running closely behind Villanelle.
Ignis secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the scenario where Emily insisted on bringing her research equipment didn’t happen; otherwise, they really would have had to fight to the death.
Below, the ambush instantly turned into a chase. The Silence Field the white-robed people had pre-set barely had any effect before the girls had already escaped it.
“Chase them! Don’t let them escape, especially the one with the dragon!” an exasperated voice drifted faintly from behind.
Ignis maneuvered through the air, dodging branches that barred his path while occasionally looking back to observe the situation.
There were approximately eight white-robed pursuers, each holding a staff modified with blades or barbs. After the initial chaos, they began to catch up in pairs.
The light of spells began to flicker through the snow-laden woods.
The lead man in white raised his staff, and several dark green arrows, which remained stationary relative to his body, condensed at the tip. They tore through the air, heading toward Emily, who was trailing at the back.
The latter had just finished casting an Earth Spell to slow down the white-robed men and was currently in a casting cooldown.
“Watch out!” Villanelle sensed the rapidly approaching streak of Sharpness in the mana. Without looking back, she waved her staff, and a hastily condensed Frost Shield blocked the area behind Emily.
The arrows collided with the ice shield, and both were annihilated, sending out a pungent-smelling cold mist in all directions.
Before Emily could even say thanks, another white-robed man behind them struck the ground with his staff. Several sharp ice spears erupted from the ground directly in front of the two girls.
Ignis took a deep breath of cold air and turned toward the pursuers. A torrent of Black Fire more than ten meters long pumped from his throat like a lightning bolt.
Taking advantage of the gap while the white-robed men cast spells to block and slowed their pace, Villanelle fired an instantaneous Arcane Missile to shatter the ice spears. Shards of ice scratched her cheek, and tiny beads of blood began to seep out.
“Are you all right?” Emily’s voice was urgent.
Villanelle shook her head, giving orders with a calm expression. “Run deeper into the forest!”
“Why? Shouldn’t we be running toward the Estate?” Emily shouted.
“There’s a clearing between here and there. If we run that way, we’ll be sitting ducks!”
At least in the forest, they could use the trees as cover to maneuver.
The surrounding trees gradually became denser, and their vision was obstructed, but the white-robed men pursuing them were also forced to spread out.
*Thump!* An Arcane Missile flew past a tree to the right of Villanelle, sending wood chips flying. Another Wind Blade swept in, which she dodged by swerving, though it sliced through a low-hanging branch.
“Did we forget to send a signal?” Emily suddenly cried out in frustration.
“The foliage is too thick. It’s hard for an Illumination Spell to fly out,” Villanelle responded rapidly.
Glancing back at the closing white-robed men, she gritted her teeth.
‘This can’t go on like this…’