Anna, who was walking right by his side, was the first to notice his expression, apart from Amara, and asked worriedly.
"What's wrong, little Max?"
Garima and others also looked at him when they heard her. Only Noah snorted softly and looked away.
Max took a deep breath and said in a grave voice, "The demons are here."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock while Garima and the old Granny frowned.
"Wasn't there still some time before they arrived?" William asked, panicking.
"There was, but they are already here." Max said and glanced at Anna, "Leticia and Belen's group was attacked by a group of five three-star demons and many of their family members were killed and the rest are hiding for now but from what Belen told me, it won't be long before they are found."
Anna became worried about them when she heard this.
Max looked at the old granny. "Grandma, you take them to the Elvin city. I'll meet you guys there after I save them."
"Can you handle five three-star mages?" Old granny asked.
"Don't worry about it." Max nodded and then glanced at Amara and said. "Let's go."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Amara nodded, and the duo rushed away, quickly disappearing from everyone's sights.
Emily looked at her mother, Esther, and said, "Mother, I will go with them."
"Alright, but be careful." Esther didn't try to stop her because she knew how stubborn her daughter could be once she decided something.
Emily nodded and also rushed away. Her speed was even faster than Max and Amara.
Old granny watched as she disappeared and then nodded. "She is quite a talented girl to gain some mastery over her wind element."
"Mhm." Garima agreed with her.
Gene pulled on her grandma's sleeves and asked in a slightly excited voice, "Grandma, can I go with them? I also want to fight the demons."
"No." Her grandma didn't even think for a moment before refusing her.
"But grandma…" Gene pouted her lips and looked at her pitifully, but the old granny stayed firm on her decision and didn't allow her.
Meanwhile, Anna looked in the direction where Max and others had disappeared, her fists clenched tight. She once again felt how weak she was when compared to Max or Emily.
'I need to become stronger so I can help him, just like Emily.' She thought.
"Alright, guys. Let's go," Old granny ordered, and they started moving in the Elvin city's direction.
In a forest more than a hundred miles away from the Claymore town, in a forest on the way to the south-western border, Leticia and Belen were hiding along with a dozen other people in a relatively concealed valley.
Leticia had a deep wound on her abdomen, her face was pale white and her breathing was slightly labored. Belen was also injured. Her left hand was mangled and all bloody. Some of the people by their side also had varying degrees of injuries.
A petite woman who resembled Leticia was sitting by her side, looking at her worriedly. She was Leticia's mother, a one-star mage.
"I'm alright, mother. This will heal in a while." Leticia smiled at her mother, assuring her.
"My baby girl, why did you have to stay behind and fight them? You should've escaped with us." Her mother said, tears in her eyes.
"I had to, mother. If I didn't hold them back, they would've caught you guys within minutes." Leticia said.
Hearing this, her mother started sobbing. "I'm so useless. If I trained when I was young, you wouldn't have to risk your life to save us."
"Hey, mother, don't blame yourself." Leticia said.
One of the people, a middle-aged woman beside them, looked at Leticia and asked, "Young miss, what should we do? Those demons would find us sooner or later."
A displeased expression appeared on Leticia's face, and she coldly said, "Don't make noise and just silently. I'm helping you despite how you guys treated me and mother all these years, is already more than enough. If you keep pestering me, I wouldn't mind killing you."
The middle-aged woman's expression turned ugly, but she didn't say anything. A few other people looked at each other, their expression darkening.
They were also from Leticia's family and were the ones who mistreated Leticia and her mother in the past because of Leticia's late father's properties.
Leticia didn't want to bring them along at all but her mother couldn't leave them behind after knowing all of them might be killed by the demons.
The people from Belen's family also kept quiet after hearing this because they also hadn't treated Belen well in the past because she was a woman whose husband had left her.
After scolding the woman, Leticia looked at Belen, who had a downcast expression on her face because when the demons attacked, her mother and her young brother, the only blood family she had left, were among the people who got killed.
"Belen…" Leticia opened her mouth to say some comforting words but didn't know what she should say. Don't be sad? How could she not when her family was killed in front of her eyes?
Belen took a deep breath and said. "Don't worry about me. I'm alright. Focus on healing your wounds. Until Max arrives, you are the only one who can keep us alive."
After her bloodline awakened, Leticia's cultivation speed skyrocketed and although she hadn't broken through to the three-star realm, she was already at the peak of the two-star realm and she could fight mid-stage three-star mages when she used her bloodline.
"Hm. You… keep yourself together, alright?" Leticia said.
"I will." Belen nodded, but just then,
Rustle! Rustle!
The sound of leaves rustling sounded from outside the valley, causing them to jump to their feet.
'Please, don't let them be those demons.' Leticia prayed in her heart.
Unfortunately,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The group of five demons appeared in the valley and directly rushed to the place where they were hiding.
"Kekeke! So, you were hiding here." One of the demons let out an eerie laughter in the demon language.
Leticia's, Belen's and others' heart sank when they saw them.
