The Pied Piper gritted his teeth as he looked at the sea of flames that burned brightly in front of him.
Some of the Monsters in his army had completely lost their senses and broke free from his control due to their primal fear of fire. Because of this, the Rat Monsters under his control now numbered less than two thousand, which made the black-robed man curse internally.
'I might get punished because of this later,' the Pied Piper hatefully thought as he watched the forest burn without any signs of dying.
The reason they built their base in the countryside in the first place was due to the fact that they could hunt Monsters in the wild to use for experiments. However, if the Monsters' home was destroyed, it would be hard to capture them without alerting the authorities that managed the lands of the nobles.
But that was the least of his worries. The black smoke that rose from the forest fire was so eye-catching that it would be impossible for anyone to not see it unless they were blind. He knew that mounted knights would be sent to investigate the cause of the blaze, including those with flying mounts.
When that happens, he would be discovered by them and possibly get tracked down, making it hard for him to escape later on.
Right now, the Pied Piper was left with two choices. Go back in shame and face the wrath of his superiors, or order his Monsters to circle back to the original route to continue their pursuit of the townspeople while he reported back to their headquarters.
Although he wouldn't be there to command the Rat Army, giving them two simple orders was enough for them to get the job done.
'They won't be able to live past a week anyway, so retreating with them is a waste of resources,' the Pied Piper thought.
With no other alternative, the Pied Piper ordered his Rat Army to return to the main road and continue their pursuit of the townspeople, while he made his escape.
Whatever would happen from now on was up to Fate, but at least his identity and their organization's identity wouldn't be discovered.
—-----
Lux felt better after an hour of riding.
Although he still felt nauseous, he was at least able to ride on his own without Diablo's support.
According to Ishtar's report, the Rat Army initially retreated, but they ended up returning to the original route to continue their pursuit.
"They are still over a thousand strong, Master," Ishtar reported. "Although we managed to increase the distance between them and the townspeople, they will catch up to them in about five hours."
Five hours.
It might sound like a lot of time, but in truth, it was not. After Lux had taken the Bone Wagons back, the speed of the march dropped considerably, and based on Boris' calculation, they still needed twelve hours to reach their destination.
When Lux traveled towards Bradford Town, he passed along a canyon along the way. The path was only wide enough for three wagons to travel side by side. If the Half-Elf was to choose one last opportunity to deal damage to their enemies, this was the most ideal place to lay out an ambush.
The refugees still hadn't reached the canyon, but according to his rough estimate, the Rat Monsters would catch up to them when the townspeople were halfway through the narrow canyon.
"I guess we have no choice but to stake everything in that one chance," Lux muttered.
The Half-Elf knew that Boris was right. He couldn't save everybody.
When Iris almost got captured, he was unable to save her.
When Eiko tried to protect her, she died, and Lux had been unable to do anything then as well.
The Half-Elf knew that there was no way that he could save every person that he saw. But that didn't mean that it would stop him from doing what he thought was right.
"Master, you're too kind for a Necromancer."
This was what Asmodeus had told him. The thing was, Lux wasn't only a Necromancer. He was raised as a warrior by Vera, and he only become a Necromancer recently. His experiences in Elysium, and the friends he met along the way, helped shape him to what he was now.
'I'm glad that Leaf Village became my starting point,' Lux thought as he rode Jed in order to reach the canyon and set up the last line of defense to at least slow down the Monsters that had resumed their pursuit.
If he had started in the Human villages, he might not have experienced what it was like to be truly accepted by people whose race was very different from him.
A Half-Elf was a race shunned by Elves because their blood wasn't pure.
On the contrary, they might be a race that fascinated Humans because of their aesthetic beauty, but was still not accepted as one of their own. For Humans, Half-Elves were only good because of their looks due to their Elven Heritage. The nobles thought of them as stud horses, broodmares, or slaves that only served to heighten their own influence for owning such aesthetic creatures.
In Leaf Village, Lux gained recognition due to his efforts, and even became its Eternal Guardian.
His statue, which was erected at the center of the Village, was proof that everyone there treated him as their hero, and spread his tale far and wide within the Kingdom of Gweliven.
—--
Just as the Pied Piper had predicted, the thick and dense black smoke that rose up in the air could be seen for miles, alerting the nobles of the area that was near Bradford and Aestown Towns.
Sending their Elite Forces to investigate, hundreds of mounted Knights traveled in haste to see what caused such a large forest fire, which was happening for the first time.
Guthram gazed at the smoke rising up in the air with his arms crossed over his chest.
'While it is near Bradford Town, the distance isn't quite right,' Guthram mused. 'I guess it is best if I go there personally to investigate.'
Guthram had already met with the Mayor of Aeston Town and gained his approval to close the gates and mobilize all the guards and adventurers, so they were ready for any kind of invasion.
After talking with the Captain of the Guards, who was responsible for the defense of the city, Guthram mounted his Hippogriff and took off towards the sky.
Although he didn't want to leave the Aeston Town behind, his gut feeling was telling him that he needed to go no matter what.
"Boris, just make sure you are still alive when I get there," Guthram muttered as he urged his flying mount to increase its speed and head in the direction where the thick, black smoke was rising up in the air.
