Monsters came pouring in from outside the water barrier.
Their howls shook the air, and the vibration of their footsteps could be felt clearly throughout the entire forest elf village.
Panic broke out.
Basoa looked up at the sky, which had suddenly turned dark grey.
"What is happening?! What on earth is this?!" Basoa asked with great alarm.
She turned toward the forest interior, which was growing darker.
"I hope nothing happens to those children..."
Then one of the flying monsters in the sky came crashing down into the center of the forest, where the largest tree stood.
The monster had feathers and a beak like a bird, but also had scales and sharp teeth like a dragon.
"Ugh, this is truly a disaster!" Basoa quickened her steps to protect the villagers in the settlement.
And when she arrived at the location where the monster had landed:
She saw the destruction of the central tree of the village caused by the monster's impact.
Basoa picked up her pace into a full run, fighting off the ground monsters with the large sword she carried.
She slashed at the monsters with full force, the veins on her hands standing out visibly.
Behind Basoa's back, two teenage elf villagers, one male and one female, could be seen struggling to walk.
Basoa glanced back at them.
"GET TO THE EVACUATION POINT QUICKLY!!"
The two young elves struggled to their feet and then ran with all the strength they had.
At the evacuation center, Seren and his mother, a former medical officer, were busy treating the injured using healing magic and the limited medicines they had on hand.
Casualties were falling one after another in the blink of an eye.
The healers were overwhelmed and deeply exhausted.
Warriors had fainted, and some had even lost parts of their bodies.
This was all the result of the long peace they had enjoyed, which had caused them to forget just how powerful the monsters truly were.
Seren looked in every direction. Sweat poured continuously. His eyes, once steady, darted frantically back and forth.
He was searching for his soldier friend.
"He should have a supply of those flowers, shouldn't he?!"
Seren turned toward his mother.
"MOTHER! I'M GOING TO LOOK FOR MY FRIEND! MAYBE HE HAS A SUPPLY OF HERBS!" Seren shouted.
Seren's mother, startled, agreed to it immediately then and there.
"WALD?! WALD?! ARE YOU THERE?!" Seren called out loudly as he ran through buildings on the verge of collapse.
Along the way he passed the carcasses of various ground and aerial monsters.
Debris from structures kept falling around him.
Of course, that did not stop Seren's steps.
Even though he was a healer, Seren had been trained physically for self-protection in unexpected situations like this one. He had been trained by his own mother, which had ultimately led to him becoming Stella's current betrothed.
Seren hid in the dark gaps between collapsed wooden debris, avoiding the gazes of ground monsters nearby while directing injured elves toward the protection center.
"Elder, the protection center is to your right. Please head there quickly." Seren said.
The elves made their way in the direction he pointed.
Until finally he spotted Basoa while she was fighting the monsters.
He watched that moment, then realized that the injured soldier elf behind Basoa was his friend, Wald.
Seren took his stance.
...2...3...
Seren bolted toward Wald.
"Are you alright?" Seren asked as he tried to provide a small amount of recovery to Wald.
"SE...REN...?" Wald was startled. He saw Seren suddenly propping him up.
Seren tried to heal some of Wald's wounds quickly. Of course, it was far from fully healed.
But it was enough to allow him to run to the protection camp.
"Wald, do you remember the Bloody Mary flowers you gave me?"
Wald nodded.
"Could you tell me where you stored the rest of them?" Seren asked.
Slowly, Wald pointed in the direction of his home.
"I keep them in the cabinet, specifically in drawer number 6 in my room." He then made his way toward the protection center.
The tremors from Basoa's battle with the monsters were powerful. Even Seren had difficulty standing steadily.
"Seren! Go quickly!" Basoa shouted while hurling her large sword at a monster.
Once Seren was on his feet, he ran with all his strength toward Wald's home.
He passed through several damaged and swaying trees and bridges.
The bodies of elves and monsters lay around the area, covered in blood, slashes, claw marks, and chunks of flesh scattered across the wooden floor.
A foul smell spread in every direction. Even nature could not mask the odor.
Seren began to slow his pace when he was almost at Wald's home, covering his nose from the sharp smell.
In front of the wooden door of Wald's home, Seren tried to open it in the usual way.
He tried working the door handle. But he could not get it open.
He then stood still for a brief moment to gather his strength.
Seren clenched his fist, then punched the wooden door with all his force.
The wooden door shattered into pieces.
With hands full of cuts from the wooden splinters, Seren entered Wald's home.
Inside it was dark and dusty.
Items were scattered everywhere, and glass had shattered from the vibrations of the monster battles outside.
Seren stepped very carefully due to the broken glass scattered across the floor.
Of course he did not manage to avoid all of it. He fell three times because of water spills that had made the floor slippery.
Seren looked around the room with his injured body.
"It seems Wald rarely comes home." Seren thought as he walked up the spiral staircase toward Wald's room.
Seren's breathing grew gradually heavier from the exhaustion, the injuries, and the dust he was breathing in.
His steps grew heavier, and his vision began to blur.
He reached Wald's room by collapsing forward in exhaustion.
Seren stared at the bedroom window.
"I have to hurry!"
He struggled hard to get up despite the blood that had already flowed heavily from his body.
But after thinking about it again, it was better for him to stay still for just a moment.
Seren steadied his breathing until it improved, then braced himself against the wall to stand.
The wooden wall behind him felt cold and rough against his back.
Seren closed his eyes briefly. He counted his breaths, directing what remained of his healing magic within his body toward the most critical points. The wounds on his hands from the door splinters earlier were still bleeding, but not enough to be alarming.
Priorities.
Find the herbs and the flowers, then return to the evacuation point. Everything else could wait.
He opened his eyes.
He walked through the short hallway of smooth wood with a slight limp.
Seren arrived at Wald's room.
A room that made it immediately clear to anyone who entered that it was rarely lived in.
A musty smell, thick with dust and cobwebs, combined with furniture thrown into disarray from the monster vibrations outside.
Done surveying the room, Seren opened the drawer near the bed.
He counted the drawer order until he reached number 6, then opened it.
"Fortunately he didn't lock this."
Seren then gathered all the herbs and flowers he found in Wald's room, placing everything into a box he found nearby.
With all the strength he had left, Seren ran back down the stairs.
Until a flying monster crashed directly into Wald's home.
The monster's enormous head came through the wall of the house, landing directly in front of Seren's face.
They stared at each other.
TO BE CONTINUED