The air was thick with the scent of blood, and corpses lay scattered around them. But there was no time to rest. The wolves had retreated, but that didn't mean the danger had passed. On the contrary, all this noise could attract hunters or even stronger monsters.
Rinzo, watching the dark horizon, realized they couldn't stay here any longer.
"We have to leave."
His friends looked at him in surprise; the battle had just ended, and their bodies were still exhausted.
"What? Why?" Kaiden asked, wiping the blood off his sword.
Rinzo looked at him seriously. "Do you think no one heard the fight? There might be eyes watching us right now. The hunters won't ignore a group of villagers possessing this much power without investigating. And if they find us here, we might be suspected."
It was a reality they all knew, but they hadn't expected Rinzo's reaction to be this quick.
"So where do we go?" Arya asked, glancing at the distant villages.
Rinzo sighed, then pointed north.
"The Black Forest."
---
The Plan: Leaving the Village
Going to the Black Forest wasn't just an option—it was a necessity. That place was where Rinzo had found the ring, and he knew there were still many secrets left to uncover.
But the problem wasn't just the journey itself; it was how they could leave without being noticed.
If they left all at once, their disappearance would be too obvious. So, they sat around a dim fire, discussing the details.
"We only have one day to execute this plan," Rinzo said, drawing a simple map on the ground. "We need to leave the village without raising suspicion. That means we need three things: disguise, a safe exit route, and a reason for our absence."
1. Disguise: They decided that each of them would leave in a different way. Some would take the main gates under the pretense of a hunting trip, while others would sneak out through old tunnels used during past wars.
2. A Safe Exit Route: It wasn't possible for everyone to leave from the same place, so Rinzo carefully assigned different escape routes to each person.
3. A Reason for Their Absence: Ten people disappearing all at once would be suspicious. So, Volk volunteered to start a small fire in the market district to distract the guards while the others slipped past the village walls.
"This is crazy..." Dairon muttered with a nervous smile.
"But it's our best plan," Leox said, gripping his spear tightly.
---
The Critical Night: The Escape
When night fell, the plan was set into motion.
Volk lit the planned fire—not large enough to destroy anything, but enough to cause a commotion. The guards scrambled to contain it, giving Kaiden and Arya the chance to walk out the main gate, carrying monster pelts as if returning from a hunt.
At the same time, Raven and Saira slipped through the old tunnels.
As for Rinzo, he chose the most dangerous route—scaling the village's rear wall using the chains Raven had given him.
Each second felt like an eternity, and every step was filled with tension.
A guard was approaching Saira's position, but at the last moment, she pulled out her dagger and knocked him unconscious without a sound.
Rinzo, after successfully climbing over the wall, hid in the shadows and waited until everyone had gathered at their agreed-upon meeting point outside the village.
Once the full group was assembled, Rinzo stood before them.
"We did it."
But…
Before they could celebrate, a sound came from the forest.
"Did you really think you were alone here?"
A group of men emerged from the trees. They wore the clothing of hunters, but their eyes were filled with malice.
"We saw you fighting those wolves... You're not just ordinary
villagers."
Rinzo realized—this was where the real trouble was about to begin.