Allen looked at the box in confusion. “W-What do you want me to do with this?”

“Try to activate the talisman.” Red said, flipping the lid open.

The slip of paper laid in the center of the box. Its symbols looked far more complex than the talisman Reinhart had handed him, and they were written with a different material. None of the lines stood out in particular.

“Do you think we just need to scratch one of these lines?” the young master asked.

Red nodded. “Probably, but without knowing which line activates it, you could end up ruining the talisman. There are other ways to activate it too, from what I read. Some have activation words, others require a drop of blood, and some need a combination of all of those.”

“That’s a lot of things. Maybe we could try-”

Before Allen could finish speaking, a large explosion happened in the distance. Red looked over in the sound's direction and saw the flames rising to the sky.

Allen flinched and looked over at Red with concern. “W-What just happened?”

Red frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Do you think they could be in trouble?”

“It’s a Lesser Ring Realm monster, of course they are in trouble.” the boy shook his head. “What matters is if the plan went wrong.”

Allen got even more worried at his words. “Then shouldn’t we go check?”

Red hesitated. On one hand, they had received instructions to remain here and ambush the stag once it passed by, and moving right now could screw the plan up. However, what if an accident had happened and their companions could not lure the monster over?

‘We can’t stay still.’

If it was some other situation, then he would be more keen on trusting Rog and the others’ abilities. Yet, they were all caught by surprise by an enemy far stronger than them. Accidents could and were likely to happen.

“We’re going there.” Red said.

“Right!” Allen nodded and unsheathed his sword.

The both of them dashed towards the explosion. Their companions hadn’t managed to run very far, so it didn’t take Red and Allen long to arrive near the flames. This time, the destruction was much more widespread than before, and the fire was spreading towards the skies.

Even from afar, the boys could feel the heat spreading towards them.

‘Is this what a creature who has opened their Spiritual Sea can do?’

Red recalled his experiences with such monsters. Neither the insectoid nor the giant spider seemed to be able to do this much damage. Then again, they weren’t spewing fire in the middle of a forest.

“D-Do you see any of them?” Allen asked, shielding his eyes from the bright flames.

Red didn’t respond, and instead moved around the perimeter. Finally, he was able to sense someone’s fluctuation.

The youth ran in that direction with Allen in tow. On the edge of the destruction, they spotted Rimold holding onto his chest in pain.

“Rimold!” Allen called out to the man in concern.

The two of them approached the rogue.

“Y-You…” Rimold looked at the young master in shock. “What are you doing here?!”

“We came looking for you!” Allen said. “We were worried something went wrong!”

“This… Are you stupid?!” the rogue snapped at the boy. “What do you two think you can do to help?!”

The young master didn’t know how to respond. This was one of the first occasions Rimold rebuked him in such a direct manner.

Red, however, wasn’t about to wait for the rogue’s complaints. “Where are the others?”

“Probably dead!” Rimold glared at him. “I was barely at the edge of the explosion and I felt like I broke some ribs. Reinhart and Rog were at the center of it, so I don’t even…”

The rogue trailed off, an expression of dismay forming on his face.

“T-There’s no way they’re dead!” Allen shook his head in denial.

Rimold frowned. “Look, young master, you need to run and-”

“Allen, let’s go.” Red interjected and turned around to walk away.

“W-Where do you think you’re going?!” the rogue stared at his back in shock.

“To kill the monster, of course.”

Rimold was at a loss for words.

Allen hesitated. “B-But what about Rimold?”

“We don’t have time to tend to him.” Red shook his head. “He’ll be fine where he is. Or maybe he will have run away by the time we are done with the monster. It doesn’t matter.”

The young master frowned, and a conflicted look appeared on his face.

Rimold’s expression also changed once he looked at Allen. “Young master, don’t listen to him! He’s insane! A maniac! You don’t need to die with him! You have to run!”

“Allen.” Red called out to the boy. “Are you coming or not?”

Allen looked back between the youth and the rogue a few times. In the end, though, he made his decision.

“… I’m sorry, Rimold.” the young master shook his head and got up, walking over to Red.

“Young Master Allen, wait! Ugh-” Rimold tried to hold him back, but the pain from his injuries flared up.

Allen’s steps faltered for a moment, but he didn’t look back.

“Are you ready?” Red asked the young master.

Allen nodded with a resolute expression.

They said nothing else and started to run towards the center of the explosion.

A few hundred meters away, they finally spotted the monster. It was waving its antlers and hooves against Reinhart’s figure, and yet every one of its attacks seemed to be repelled by an invisible barrier around the knight. They were both standing next to a small crater while raging flames consumed the surrounding forest.

‘Another talisman.’

This was Red’s conclusion. The man had truly come prepared for everything. And yet, even with the help of the barrier warding the stag’s attacks off, Reinhart didn’t seem to be in good shape. Every one of the monster’s blows pushed him and his barrier back by a few meters, and every attempt of the knight to disengage from his enemy was thwarted by the stag’s quick reactions.

Red could tell by Reinhart’s increasingly desperate attempts that his barrier wouldn’t last for much longer.

“W-Where is Rog?” this was Allen’s first question after seeing the scene.

Red didn’t answer. The man’s absence at such a crucial point in battle was odd, unless, that is, he simply could not join the fight for some reason.

‘… He didn’t have a talisman to protect him like Reinhart.’

The youth started to have a bad feeling.

“C-Can you see him, Red?” Allen looked more desperate by the second. “C-Can you feel him with your power?”

Red shook his head.

The young master paled. “T-This can’t be, is he…”

“Allen!”

Red interrupted him with a slap.

The young master looked at him in a daze.

“Stop assuming things and focus on the task at hand.” Red said. “We need to help Reinhart kill that thing, or else it is coming for us next.”

“B-But…” Allen’s voice wavered, and he seemed on the verge of breaking down into tears.

“Here, take this.” Red handed Reinhart’s talisman over.

“W-What do you want me to do with this?”

“I’m going to lure the monster over and you’ll use it when I give you a signal. The talisman might take a while to charge up, so you need to be ready as soon as I tell you. You got it?”

“You’re going to lure it?!” Allen looked at Red in despair. “You can’t! You’re going to-”

“I won’t die.” Red shook his head. “So stop worrying and do as I say. Do you understand?”

The young master seemed reluctant, but he still nodded.

“Good.” Red pointed at the box in the boy’s hands. “Remember about the other talisman, too. If it comes down to it, pour as much blood or scratch as many lines as you need to activate it.”

Allen nodded again.

Red sighed and tightened the grip around his cleaver. “Then, I’ll be on my way.”

With those words, the youth turned around and ran towards the monster.

…

Red sensed both Reinhart’s and the monster’s fluctuation enter his crimson sense once he got close enough. Still, there were no signs of Rog.

The knight spotted his figure, while the stag seemed lost in its rage to pay attention to its surroundings.

Reinhart’s eyes lit up once he saw Red. However, his expression fell once he noticed the boy was rushing at the monster. “Kid, what are you-”

“Hey!” Red stopped short of 80 meters from the beast and shouted at it. “I’m over here!”

The stag was quick to notice his presence. However, once it saw it was merely a small child that didn’t seem to pose as much of a threat to it, it turned back to Reinhart and continued to pummel away at his barrier.

“Kid, what are you doing?!” the knight screamed at Red once he noticed his actions.

Red frowned at the lack of the monster’s reaction.

‘I guess I have no choice.’

Without hesitation, Red pulled an item out of his pouch and raised it into the air.

He yelled at the stag again. “Hey, I’m over here!”

The monster once more looked over at the boy in between its blows. However, this time, something caught its attention. It was the item Red held in his hand.

The insectoid crystal.

The beast let out a bellow and turned towards the boy, completely forgetting about Reinhart. In a frenzy, the beast charged towards Red without looking back.

The youth felt a peculiar and foreign sense of danger attack his senses. It was similar to what he had felt earlier that told him Reinhart didn’t mean to hurt him. Except, this time it was flaring with never before seen intensity.

Red felt the unmistakable and overwhelming desire to kill coming from the stag.

Without hesitation, he turned around and fled.

Within a few seconds, the monster had already gained ground on him and was set to catch him before long. Red could even feel the blazing heat from the beast’s flaming antlers blaring at his back. They were once more lighting up in intensity.

‘Half-way.’

Despite all the pressure on him, Red tried to stay focused and count his steps towards where Allen was waiting. From witnessing Reinhart use his fireball talisman earlier, the youth knew that the item might take a few seconds to charge up. As such, the timing of its activation was of utmost importance.

‘This is it!’

Red screamed at the top of his lungs. “Allen, now!”

By this point, the monster was within twenty meters of him, and even while pushing his Upper Leg Spiritual Vein to the limit, the distance between them continued to close.

Red stared at the area Allen should have been hiding. For what felt like an eternity but only transpired in a few seconds, a bright blue light grew from behind a burning tree.

The young master jumped out from the cover of the charred trunk and pointed the glowing talisman at the monster.

“Die!” a voice full of resentment and anger came from Allen.

The stag, who was rearing up to trample Red over, seemed to notice the Spiritual Energy from Allen’s hand. It tried to halt its momentum, but alas, such a task was very hard for a creature of its size. Its hooves dug into the earth, but it wasn’t enough to get it out of the way.

Suddenly, a spear of ice shot out from Allen’s hand towards the stag. It tried to move its head out of the way, but to no avail. The ice lance struck one side of the beast’s antlers, which in turn shattered in a shower of fire and blood.

The stag let out a deafening roar of pain.