Seren came face to face with the flying monster.
The atmosphere began to grow tense. Seren braced himself against the wall, holding back the fear rising within him.
The air around him turned bitterly cold.
The monster's gaze bore down on Seren with crushing pressure.
Sweat mixed with blood poured from Seren, dripping onto the dusty wooden floor.
Seren's breathing grew heavy.
When he glanced at the wall of the door made from wooden branches where the monster's head was lodged, the wall appeared increasingly damaged, as though it could no longer withstand the monster's thrashing.
"What do I do... I... have to..." Seren thought, gripping the box of herbal plants tightly.
Slowly, the fiber that made up the wall began to tear apart.
The monster kept letting out powerful groans.
Until a sound of explosion from outside rang out extremely loudly.
The monster went silent at once.
Seren, curious, tried to move closer to the monster's body. It was at that moment he heard a voice from within the smoke outside the house.
"Seren... is that you?!" A girl's voice called out.
Seren lifted his face. His eyes began to shine again, signaling a hope that had returned.
"YES, I'M IN HERE!" Seren shouted.
One of the girls opened a section of the wooden wall from above the monster's corpse.
Her face then came into view from the bright side.
"Ah, look, Sophie! That's really Seren!" Said Wanda from the opening where the monster's body had fallen.
Wanda climbed down the monster's body and extended her hand toward Seren.
"Come on! The patients are waiting for you!"
Seren reached for Wanda's hand with unsteady steps.
Slowly, they finally managed to get out of the ruined house, just before Wald's home collapsed entirely.
They looked at Wald's fallen house with exhausted expressions.
"Thank goodness we got out before that happened..." That was what Seren thought to himself.
Seren turned around.
"I'M GOING AHEAD!" He then ran with all the strength he had.
Wanda and Sophie shouted after him.
"Be careful!"
Seren ran back toward the evacuation point.
On another side, the elders were busy repairing the damaged boundary wall.
Under the close watch of the village chief standing behind them, he observed with a sharp and piercing gaze.
The elders broke into a cold sweat.
In the middle of that tense atmosphere, Ayu Permata arrived, accompanied by several spirits visibly surrounding her.
She was Stella's Spirit teacher.
A full-grown elf with jet-black hair styled in loose pigtails. On her forehead were three teal-green gemstones arranged in the shape of a lotus flower. She wore an upper garment that hooked around the neck, with two pieces of fabric connected by a large teal-green gemstone at her chest. She wore a skirt made from a white cloth fastened with floral pins resembling dark blue roses.
Her feet touched the wooden floor.
"Lady Ayu! You have finally come!" Said one of the elders as they ran toward her.
Ayu pushed their faces away.
"ENOUGH!"
She turned to face the elders.
"I am here to convey the message of the Spirits, as well as to assist you."
The village chief approached Ayu with firm, deliberate steps.
"What did they say?" Said the village chief in a heavy tone.
Ayu looked back at him.
Her gaze began to grow sorrowful, signaling her disappointment in the village chief.
"You have always played it far too safe. I am truly disappointed in you."
The village chief put on a confused expression.
"Is that the words of the Spirits?"
Ayu rose into the air to a certain height, then seized the dark green fabric of the village chief's clothing.
The elders panicked and approached Ayu.
"AYU PERMATA! WE KNOW YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED ELVES, BUT YOUR ACT OF GRABBING THE VILLAGE CHIEF BY THE THROAT IS TRULY OUTRAGEOUS!"
The veins on Ayu's face began to show.
She flung the village elders away.
"SILENCE! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND THIS CHILD!"
The village elders, frightened and slightly injured from the force of the wind, stepped back.
Ayu turned her face back to the village chief.
"No! You fool, these are my own words!"
The village chief broke into a sweat.
"What do you mean?" The village chief asked.
Ayu let out a small laugh and clicked her tongue.
"Tch. That flat face with eyes so very similar to Astella's, only your hair differs from hers, yours leans more brown. Are you seeing your own shadow in that child, and ignoring her because of it?! LOOK AT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE REAPED FOR RUNNING FROM YOUR OWN PAST!" Ayu brought her face close to his.
The village chief's expression shifted into panic, then shock, then into several emotions that were very difficult to describe.
Ayu then dropped the village chief to the ground in a rough manner.
"Ugh!"
The village elders gathered around the village chief.
"Village chief! Are you alright?" Said one elder while casting a healing spell.
Ayu stared down at the village chief with a cold, scornful gaze.
"Now I will convey the true message."
"GO AND ACTIVATE THE TELEPORTATION ORB, BECAUSE THE REAL ENEMY WILL BE ARRIVING SOON!"
"That enemy is the forces of the Warfare Council and the Life Council. They were summoned by your own child, Astella. So if the prince comes to any harm, that is entirely your fault."
Ayu began to gaze out at the barren desert.
"Astella trusted them because she felt seen and cared for. How very different that is from what she felt with you."
She grabbed the back of the village chief's hair.
"You hid all of this, even when I visited, you put on the appearance of harmony in front of me! Because of that I thought nothing was wrong, and I thought it was fine to keep taking Stella to her training, because I assumed you would be keeping Astella company."
Ayu then slammed the village chief's head down.
With his nose beginning to bleed, the village chief looked up and let out a hysterical shout.
"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW, OLD WOMAN!"
Ayu looked at the village chief with an expression of bitter sorrow, letting out a quiet laugh.
"DAMN IT. IF YOUR WIFE'S SPIRIT KNEW, SHE WOULD BE SO DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU."
"Do not..." The village chief gasped as he struggled to get up.
"DO NOT BRING MY WIFE INTO THIS!"
Ayu let out a long, heavy sigh. Her tone instantly dropped lower.
"Do you understand that children do not ask to be born into this world? You are the one who chose to bring them here, together with your wife as well. Your wife... she surely would not have wanted your children to go through something like this. She must be so deeply disappointed in you."
The village chief lowered his gaze.
He began to recall everything he had done, the memories and the faded final words of his wife.
The last image of his wife came into focus clearly.
She had long, pale blonde hair, with golden eyes almost identical to Stella's.
"My love... look, this is as beautiful as you are."
His wife's breathing grew heavy.
"I hope the three of you can be happy together, yes?"
The village chief beside her gripped his wife's hand tightly.
"No... please... this is my fault for pushing you, knowing your body was already frail."
The village chief's wife, drenched in sweat, smiled beautifully, and then she closed her eyes forever.
The village chief kept calling out to his wife over and over, weeping loudly, but of course it made no difference.
He came back to himself, looking at Ayu Permata with tears streaming down his face.
"I... I... truly." His body began to shake as the sobs forced their way out.
Ayu turned to face the village chief.
"You have only just remembered, haven't you? But now is not the time for that."
Ayu stood and looked out at the village elders.
"I will place the mana and magic enhancement artifacts, then I will go with the village chief to try to activate the teleportation orb!"
"YES!" The elders shouted.
Ayu placed an artifact shaped like a white lily on the wooden floor, then extended her hand to the village chief.
"Now then, let's go!" Ayu smiled, and the village chief reached for her hand.
The village chief stood and went to retrieve the teleportation orb.
TO BE CONTINUED~