Perhaps a miracle, but the creature simply walked away after humiliating the hero's party in battle.
Leonard remained on his knees, gravely wounded, waiting for a final blow that never came.
When his eyes opened again, he was being tended by the daughters of the stars.
"Where… where… are the… others?"
He asked with difficulty, pausing between words. He tried to get up and look around, but a hand pressed against his chest stopped him.
"They're fine," Aurelia said while cleaning his wounds with a damp cloth. "Calista is looking after them."
"Thalira… how is she?"
Aurelia's hands stopped for a moment before she answered in a muffled voice:
"She's alive. The creature's claws didn't strike any vital organs." She hesitated, swallowing hard before adding, "But her wounds are tainted with a malignant energy, preventing any magic from healing her."
"What?!" Leonard tried to stand, but Aurelia held him down again. "I want to see her!"
"Stop! Don't be reckless!"
There was a trace of bitterness in her voice, subtle enough to go unnoticed by Leonard.
"You're badly wounded too! Don't make it worse. All we can do now is hope Thalira is strong enough to survive."
She was still angry at Leonard for ignoring her pleas to retreat. In her mind, he was partly to blame for this situation.
The silence that followed was broken by Leonard:
"And how did you survive the creature?"
"Uh…" Aurelia averted her gaze, out of fear and shame. "The creature ignored us and left."
The truth was that when the creature broke through the barrier, she and her sister had curled up in a corner, clinging to each other, trembling and praying not to be noticed.
Incredibly, the creature had ignored them and passed them by.
Luck, or perhaps someone had helped them.
"Leonard… I think it might be the same creature I feel watching us."
Aurelia revealed what was in her heart. It wasn't a baseless guess—this creature carried a malignant aura, much like the sharp, sinister gaze that constantly lingered over them.
Something deep within her whispered that things weren't so simple. That the thing in the dark was even more terrifying than that creature.
Hearing Aurelia's doubts, Leonard didn't question or dismiss them.
On the contrary, Leonard grew frustrated. He was the hero—he shouldn't be struggling like this. He was the chosen one. But he had to admit, even at his peak, he hadn't been a match for that creature, let alone now, while injured.
"Once we've rested, we'll return."
It was the only option left. With the entire party wounded, pressing on would be suicide. And still, an invisible threat lingered over them—the creature might return to finish the job.
Aurelia nodded and resumed tending his wounds. Leonard simply closed his eyes, trying to rest.
Hours slipped by in a blink, and the night was nearly at its end. The oppressive darkness gave way to gentler shadows.
Soon it was time for the group to depart.
Leonard was the most motivated, followed by Aurelia and Calista—the only two unharmed in the previous night's attack.
"Let's go! We can't wait for nightfall!"
Leonard led the group back the way they came, but there was a problem. The surroundings looked different from before, as if someone had rearranged the rivers, forests, and mountains overnight.
"Aurelia, Calista—come help me here."
When Leonard finally admitted he was lost, he asked the sisters to help find the way. Their intuition would be useful both to navigate and to avoid hidden dangers.
He hesitated between three routes: through the dark forest, along the black river, or over the gray mountains. After last night, he no longer felt at ease wandering the Demon Realm—especially now that he was injured.
"I vote we take the mountains. It's dangerous, but less so than the other routes."
"Yes, yes," Calista agreed with her sister. The dangers of the mountains were nearly insignificant compared to the others.
But Leonard pointed out the flaw.
"Too risky. The other girls are injured, climbing a mountain would be difficult for them. And Thalira is unconscious—we'll have to carry her. It'll slow us down too much."
The two fell silent. Leonard was right, but they didn't care—they just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
"We have no choice, Leonard. The other paths are far worse. The chances of another attack like last night's are too high."
"But—"
Leonard opened his mouth to argue, but before he could say anything, Aurelia cut him off:
"No buts! Remember, we only survived by sheer luck. I can't guarantee we'll survive another attack."
"No buts! No buts!"
Leonard wanted to say more, but the two girls pressured him into silence. He had no choice but to follow their decision and head toward the mountains.
The group marched slowly, dispatching a few weak demons along the way without much trouble, always keeping their course toward the gray mountains, whose peaks were faintly visible in the distance.
But no matter how far they walked, the mountains seemed just as distant. Some of the girls even felt as though the peaks were pulling away from them.
Only after hours—hours that felt like days—did they finally reach the base of the mountain, where they stopped to rest.
They were all exhausted from the trek. It wasn't just physical fatigue, but mental, from staying on edge, ready to react to an attack that never came.
Leonard refused to attempt the climb until they had recovered.
"Sophie, could you prepare dinner?"
Sophie was just as tired as the others, but she got up to fulfill Leonard's request.
She pulled some ingredients from her bag and prepared a simple meal for the group.
Mostly dried meat, but with a special seasoning that made it tender and delicious once boiled. Simple and practical.
It was all they had eaten for days, but no matter how much they ate, they never grew tired of it.
When Sophie finally finished cooking and sat down to eat, there was nothing left for her. Her companions had eaten it all.
"Sorry, Sophie, everyone was really hungry. But you can make more for yourself, can't you?"
Leonard apologized, and the other girls chimed in:
"That's right."
"It was delicious!"
"Thanks for the meal, Sophie."
Sophie smiled awkwardly, swallowing her embarrassment, and prepared some vegetables for herself.
"Calista wants some, wants some," the girl said, pointing at her empty plate, eyes fixed on Sophie's portion.
Sophie gave a helpless smile and ladled some vegetable soup onto her plate. She was already used to Calista's insatiable appetite—she'd prepared extra portions on purpose.
"Thanks, thanks," Calista said, happily digging in. Sophie then began eating her own share, the two sitting side by side.
Night fell soon after, draping everything in suffocating darkness, their elven blessing offering little help.
"Without Thalira to cast a protective barrier, someone will have to keep watch," Leonard said, lighting a campfire with basic fire magic.
"I'm not doing it."
"Neither am I, neither am I."
Aurelia was the first to refuse, with Calista following suit. They huddled together in a corner, ready to sleep.
The past few days had robbed them of rest, their nerves stretched taut. Now that their intuition finally gave them peace, it was the perfect chance to sleep.
Leonard couldn't bring himself to judge them and simply turned to the others.
"And you?"
They pretended not to hear and began settling into makeshift beds.
"I'll do it."
It was Sophie who volunteered to keep watch. She had only a few superficial wounds—she had fainted early in the fight.
But that fact also made her feel guilty. She was only safe because she was weak and had left the others to suffer in her place.
Did it make sense? Only in her own mind.
"Thank you, Sophie," Leonard said, not realizing her feelings, before lying down with the others.
Sophie was left alone, sitting by the fire whose light could not pierce the suffocating dark.
Only silence and her own breathing kept her company.
"Sophie… come here…"
"You useless girl!"
"I… I need your… help."
Voices began whispering, coming from every direction. Familiar voices—her mother, her father, her sister.
The voices grew louder, forcing her to close her eyes and curl up.
"Sister… please, save me!"
"Sophie…"
"Sophie…"
"Sophie!!"
The voices didn't stop, echoing inside her mind, dragging up traumatic memories from her past.
"No," she whispered, hugging her knees. "Stop… please… leave me alone…"
The voices went silent.
"Why, Sophie? I thought we were meant for each other."
Her eyes snapped open. She would recognize that calm, serene voice even after centuries.
"Were you in pain? Why didn't you tell me?"
"…"
"I loved you so much… Where did I go wrong? Wasn't I enough?"
The voice carried no hatred, no accusations—only disappointment. Which hurt Sophie a thousand times more than anger ever could.
'No… don't talk to me… please…'
Her mouth wouldn't move. She could only think, hugging her knees tighter as tears rolled down her cheeks.
'I can't explain! I just can't…'
In her anguish, Sophie dug her nails into her shoulders, piercing the skin until sharp pain jolted her from the torment.
She repeated this again and again until she finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Sophie was the first to wake. She looked at her arms—covered in scratches and nail marks she had inflicted on herself during the night.
"I can't let the others see this!"
She hurriedly pulled on the armor she had removed the night before. Only once her arms were hidden did she sigh in relief.
Soon the others woke. They weren't surprised to see Sophie already up and in her armor—she was always the early riser, always preparing breakfast.
"Sophie, is breakfast ready?"
Leonard asked expectantly, but Sophie's reply disappointed him:
"I'm sorry, I haven't made it yet." Seeing his disappointment, she quickly added, "But I'm about to start."
Sophie opened her bag—and froze. It should have held enough supplies for days, but now, the food was simply gone.
"E-Everyone… the food… it's gone!"
Her trembling voice alerted the group. Leonard pushed her aside to check for himself.
"How could this happen?" he asked darkly.
"I-I don't know!"
"What do you mean you don't know?!" He grabbed her shoulders, shouting. "You were on watch, weren't you?!"
"I-I…"
Sophie didn't know what to say. She had never seen Leonard so furious. She wanted to cry.
"I'm sorry… please, I'm sorry…"
Tears streamed down Sophie's face as she apologized between sobs.
"Stop it! Enough!"
Calista pulled them apart, with Aurelia joining in to scold Leonard:
"Leonard! Sophie isn't to blame. It's our fault for making her stand guard when she was the most exhausted of us all!"
Hearing her reprimand, and seeing Sophie in Calista's arms being comforted, Leonard realized he had crossed a line.
"I'm sorry… I lost my composure for a moment." He rubbed his temples, trying to calm down. "But what do we do now? We're out of food, and we're still nowhere near the border of the Demon Realm."
"W-We could hunt!"
Sophie lifted her head from Calista's chest and suggested naively.
"…"
Leonard let out a harsh sigh.
"Hunt? You mean eat demons? Might as well die right now."
Sophie lowered her head again, burying her face between Calista's generous breasts, as if she wanted to disappear entirely.
That sight sent a wave of anger through Leonard. In his mind, he should be the one in Calista's arms—not someone he considered useless.