Adam, feeling his body growing heavier and heavier, saw that the Graphene Bear wasn't moving.
That alone was unnatural. What could have made it stand so still? A rank V monster... or something worse?
Whatever had made it stop, it was bad news for Adam. The only good thing was that the monster wasn't focused on him... for now.
Instead, he looked beyond, as if observing something Adam couldn't see.
He felt the atmosphere begin to change. It was as if invisible pressure was slowly increasing.
Damn... It's definitely a monster higher than rank IV.
Then he heard the Graphene Bear growl. It wasn't a growl of rage, but of warning.
The crackling echoed, just like in the nearby trees, and a large shadow fell over the clearing. Adam swallowed hard.
What he saw was like a huge mass of darkness. It didn't seem to have a definite shape.
The Rank IV Graphene Bear tilted its head.
It was subdued entirely!
Adam couldn't believe what he was seeing: a creature of that rank being subdued so easily.
The pressure intensified even more.
The Graphene Bear growled, spun around violently, struck the ground one last time, tearing up earth and roots, and then lunged into the forest, breaking trees as it ran away.
Even though the Rank IV creature was gone, it brought no relief to Adam or his group. The cursed dark mass was still there, motionless, and he didn't know what its next move would be.
Adam didn't move a muscle. The stress increased as the seconds passed. Damn! He didn't even dare to blink.
Two or three minutes passed; he didn't know exactly, but the great mass of darkness gradually faded away, until an eerie silence remained.
Adam fell to his knees. The sword slipped from his hand and stuck awkwardly into the ground. The mana he had forced into his body stopped circulating, leaving him dizzy.
We survived.
He exhaled slowly, feeling his body a mess. He closed his eyes and opened them again.
They had survived. It was simply a miracle... yes, exactly that: a miracle. Otherwise, the Graphene Bear would have slaughtered them all.
Perhaps that dark mass was the lord of this area.
Adam wasn't sure, but it was a possibility. The monsters of the demonic forest were extremely territorial.
The Graphene Bear had invaded that territory and caused such a commotion that it woke up the valid owner of the place, one of higher rank, who got rid of the invader.
Of course, Adam knew that all of this was just speculation.
...But thanks to that, they were alive.
...
About ten minutes passed; Adam placed a hand on the ground to help himself up. The world spun around him. It took him a moment to focus... and then he saw the consequences of the attack.
One of the knights lay face down, motionless, his helmet sunk into the mud. A few yards away, another was leaning against a tree, breathing heavily; his chest armor was dented inward, as if something had struck him with a giant hammer.
"Y... young master..."
Adam turned his head.
A third knight was kneeling, clutching his left arm. Where his forearm should have been, there was only a stump wrapped in shattered metal and blackened flesh.
He forced himself to move. Every step hurt, but he kept going.
"Don't move,"
He ordered in a hoarse voice.
"If you lose any more blood, you'll die."
The man nodded through clenched teeth, pale as a corpse.
Adam took a deep breath and forced the mana to flow again, not to the sword... but to his hands. More precisely, to his fingers.
He remembered that technique from war stories: strands of mana, thin as needles, capable of closing wounds, separating flesh, and beginning to sew.
The knight screamed.
Adam gritted his teeth and continued until he finally closed the wound.
"He won't die from this."
He stood up and looked around.
He counted. One... two... three bodies that weren't moving. Well... four.
Four dead. Five were seriously injured out of twenty.
A cold weight sank into his chest. Although the damage had not been total, it still weighed heavily on him.
They had survived by pure luck. That was all. Neither knowledge of the future nor meticulous preparation had been of any use in the face of the unexpected.
"Haa... I've been too trusting."
Adam let out a long sigh.
Knowing what was coming didn't make him invulnerable. The world, or fate, always found a way to remind him of reality.
Closing and opening his eyes, Adam looked at the knights.
"Form a perimeter... those who can move, now."
Some reacted immediately. Others took longer, still in shock. But they obeyed.
Adam held on to that. If he didn't do something, if he didn't keep moving, he felt like he might break right there.
He walked over to one of the bodies.
The knight's eyes were open, staring at nothing. The armor on his torso was broken. Adam recognized the face.
He had trained with him.
"...I'm sorry."
There was no response.
Adam closed the dead man's eyes with two fingers and slowly stood up.
He couldn't afford to mourn now.
"Listen to me."
All eyes turned to him.
"We'll form two groups: one will take the wounded, and the other will continue."
A murmur ran through the group.
"But, young master..."
"No."
Adam cut him off.
"What happened was entirely my fault, and this is the best I can do. I won't allow any more losses. The wounded will return with the few horses that survived."
No one argued.
As they organized the evacuation of the wounded, Adam looked up at the forest with mixed feelings.
"Are you sure about that?"
Adam turned his gaze to Asterin. She was floating beside him, arms crossed, her expression serene as always... but there was something different in her voice.
Was he sure?
Adam opened his mouth to answer... and nothing came out.
He closed his eyes.
The image of the crushed horse came back to his mind. The sharp sound of armor breaking. The scream that was cut short.
All because of a decision he made.
"I don't know..."
He finally admitted, with a crooked smile that was anything but humorous.
"The truth is... I don't know."