The group of villagers continued their journey to the north in the dense forest. They were cautious with the path that they took, but the mood of the villagers was mostly optimistic. Since Yu had slight difficulty walking, Gino had supported Yu throughout the journey.

"We will rest for a moment," Gale announced to the villagers.

The villagers sighed with relief. They had been walking since morning until noon.

"I think that it's time to have some lunch as well," Edward said.

The villagers distributed the food amongst themselves. Jop, one of the younger boys, brought the dry rations to Yu. He smiled and left for the other villagers after Yu accepted the rations with gratitude.

Even though the villagers distanced themselves from Yu, he did not really mind them. He understood that they were cautious of his background from Edward's explanation. Edward, however, did not tell him about the incident that night.

Yu observed other villagers. There were about fifteen of them who escaped. Most of them were women. Three children, Isla, Georgine, and Lucas, were aged from five to eight. There were two young brothers, Jop and Chad who were aged eleven and twelve. The two adult men were Gale and Edward. The rest were women.

Somehow, he did not register Elise and Gino as a part of the villagers. He had treated them as friends unknowingly.

"I'm sorry that you have to travel this much with your current wounds," Elise apologized to Yu.

Yu shook his head.

"If only I knew magic. I've heard that magic can cure wounds in a flash! I really wished that I can learn magic," she sighed.

'Magic...' Yu pondered.

"Are you not able to learn magic?" Yu asked.

"I would if it's easy. How can I learn magic in a rural village? I don't even know where to start. I've only heard about magic from traveling merchants," Elise said dejectedly.

"How about asking Edward about it? He seems to be quite knowledgeable about various things," Yu suggested.

"Father? Well, now that you mentioned it, he really does have vast knowledge! He knows about Farling and foreigners when none of the other villagers know about it," Elise mused aloud.

"Hmph, I heard that magic relies on the power of deities. That's kind of useless," Gino interjected.

"Are you disrespecting the deities now?" Elise asked accusingly.

"No, you misunderstood me again. I mean, what if the deities don't grant you the powers? What would you do then? I think that becoming strong on your own is the best bet," Gino said.

"Deities aren't that fickle! I know what you really mean. You're still clinging onto your dream of joining the knights, right? You do know that only nobles can be knights," Elise said.

"There will be a way. Rules are always changing. You have your dream of learning magic, why can't I have my dream of joining the knights?" Gino retorted.

Yu glanced at the bickering siblings again. It seemed that they would bicker at almost any opportunity. He shrugged. However, he felt that he agreed with Gino. It was better to depend on themselves rather than the deities.

The villagers were interrupted by a startled shout.

Gale and Edward were alerted and went towards the villager that shouted. What they saw sent a chill down their spine.

It was a half-eaten carcass of a deer. The chilling thing was that the flesh of the dead animal looked as if it was partially dyed in black from the edges of the bite marks. The remainder blood that flowed from the carcass was also black.

'This is the sign of corruption!' Edward exclaimed in his heart.

"Gale, did we stumble upon some wild beasts' territory?" Edward inquired anxiously.

"I don't think so. I don't see signs of beasts. We are also on the outer areas of the forest but beasts generally live in the deeper areas. But what is this? Why is it like this?" Gale questioned, He had never seen such a carcass and was weirded out.

"We must leave the forest immediately," Edward said.

Gale nodded. He felt unnerved by the strange carcass and agreed to Edward's suggestion without complaints.

"Father, what's wrong?" Elise asked.

"There is danger nearby, so we must leave the forest immediately. We will be more exposed in the prairie, but the risk is lower," Edward said.

He relayed the information to the villagers and they quickly packed up and made haste in their journey. The mood of the group immediately turned around and was tensed and anxious. The fear of the unknown was greater than the fear of bandits.

They moved hastily through the forest. Suddenly, they heard a long howl.

Wolves!

Several other howls echoed after the first howl from several directions.

"Damn it! They've surrounded us!" Edward cursed.

"Run! The clearing is not far from here!" He roared.

The group followed Edward and ran with all their strength. Although Yu felt like the wound on his waist was ripping apart, he ran as fast as he could. He felt the pressure emitted by the wolves. It was abnormal.

It felt like something was stalking close to them. They could almost feel the breaths of the wolves on their backs. The glares of the wolves from within the forest struck fear in their very hearts.

Just as Edward and Gale reached near the edge of the forest, a blurred dark figure suddenly leaped out in front of them. They stopped in their tracks.

A scream rang from the side. Another figure pounced on an unsuspecting woman. It clamped its teeth down onto her neck. Blood sprayed and dyed its vicious face red.

The group of villagers was stunned. They saw the beast in front of them.

It looked like a wolf, or safe to say, it used to look like a wolf. Its size looked larger than a normal wolf, but its fur was jet black and much longer. It seemed like some of its furs was floating up in the air, defying gravity. Most importantly, black miasma was constantly spewing out from its body and covering it like a moving shadow.

In contrast to its black fur, its pupils were glowing crimson. It stared at its prey with its piercing gaze and snarled. Saliva dripped down from its half-opened mouth. The grass underneath its feet wilted and slowly turned black just like the corrupted wolf. Its razor sharp claws dug into the moist forest floor.

The other wolf-like creatures surrounding the villagers looked exactly like the corrupted wolf in front of them.

Edward wanted to proceed forward, but the corrupted wolf in front of him blocked their way. Other wolves joined in and advanced, pushing the villagers back into the forest.

"R-run," Edward gulped down his saliva. However, his voice was stuck in his throat. He knew that they were no match for the corrupted wolves. Such beasts have superior agility and strength compared to normal beasts.

"Raise your weapons! Protect yourselves!" Gale roared.

He reacted by relying on his training. When faring against beasts, one should not run but instead stand their ground and frighten off the beasts.

Gale nocked an arrow and aimed it at one of the corrupted wolves. However, it just stared back at Gale without batting an eyelid. Its snarl got deeper and it looked like it was grinning malevolently.

The villagers nervously picked up their makeshift weapons and sticks and tried to act brave. Their nerves were doing remarkably well for just regular villagers.

Alas, it was not enough.

The corrupted wolves pounced again without warning. Gale loosed his arrow but the beast nimbly dodged it and pounced on another villager. With just one swift coordinated motion, another three women were felled. Their frightened screams echoed, accompanied by the splatter of scarlet blood.

The remaining villagers carried the children and ran away from the wolves, deeper into the forest.

Yu, standing amidst the carnage, was dazed. Everything happened so quickly. The iron-like smell from the blood vapors in the air made the fear in him grow. He was frozen on the spot.

A swift figure caught his attention. He turned to it only to notice the corrupted wolf pouncing towards him. He wanted to dodge, but it would not be in time.

*Whizz*

An arrow was shot and embedded itself in between him and the wolf. In order to avoid the arrow, the wolf twisted its body in midair and landed gently on the ground. Such an action was not possible for normal wolves. It snarled at the person who released the arrow.

"What are you doing, boy? Run!" Gale roared as he nocked another arrow.

Yu snapped out of his stupor. He looked around and found a knife lying on the ground. He picked it up and felt its weight in his hands.

He looked around in the chaos. Some villagers had split off from the group and ran away. Gino was swinging his stick wildly. Somehow, it was somewhat effective as the wolves did not really bother him. Most of the wolves had their attention on Gale as he was interrupting their attacks with the bow and arrow.

Yu turned to the other side and saw Elise squatting with her head in her hands. She was shivering in fear.

"Elise!" Yu shouted.

Elise did not seem to hear Yu. She did not move from her position.

Yu clenched his teeth and ran towards Elise. He grabbed her hand. She screamed.

"Elise, calm down! It's me, Yu!"

Elise stared wide-eyed at Yu for a second. Then, she threw herself against Yu and sobbed. Her frightened thirteen-years-old self took over the bright and inquisitive girl from before.

"Elise, I need you to calm down and be brave, okay? We'll get out of here," Yu reassured her with a steady voice.

Elise released Yu and looked at him. Her hazel eyes met his dark gray eyes. His previously unfathomable eyes were brimming with confidence. His steady voice, grim determination, and confidence calmed her immediately.

Yu had no idea where his confidence came from. If his future self looked back to this day, he would remember that it just happened by instinct.

"Elise!" Edward shouted to Elise while fending off a corrupted wolf.

He saw Elise safe with Yu and was slightly relieved.

"Yu, take Elise and Eugene and run!" Edward shouted again.

"Father, no! I won't leave you!" Elise pleaded.

Yu glanced over to Edward. Their gazes met and they reached an understanding. Yu nodded once. Edward smiled wryly.

"Eugene! You heard me, go to Yu and Elise! I'll be right behind!" Edward shouted.

"Father…" Gino looked at his father and clenched his teeth.

"Let's go!" he made his mind and yelled at Yu.

Yu grabbed Elise's hand in his own and ran full speed away from the corrupted wolves, deeper into the forest. Gino ran after them in a distance.

"Father!" Elise called one last time.

Edward saw the three teenagers' figures disappearing into the forest and sighed. The corrupted wolves surrounded him and Gale.

The corrupted wolves could have finished them off quickly, yet they seemed to be toying with their prey. It looked like the corrupted wolves were also practicing tactics among themselves.

"Damn these wolves. What the heck are they?" Gale cursed.

"Corrupted beasts," Edward said as he caught his breath.

"Hah, I don't think I really know what that is," Gale grimaced as he held his machete. His body had several gashes inflicted by the wolves.

"Edward, you should go. You have children," Gale said seriously.

Edward paused and swallowed his saliva. He glanced at the direction where the teenagers ran. He glanced back at Gale.

"You're a good man, Gale," Edward said.

"Are you kidding? I'm a coward," Gale replied. His breath was getting heavier from blood loss.

He looked at Martha's corpse. Her flesh was ripped apart, exposing bone and organs underneath. Her bowels spilled out from her abdomen. One of the corrupted wolves had its head in her open abdomen. Her body jerked as it bit and pulled on her flesh and swallowed.

Her rotund figure made her the prime target of the wolves. Her succulent flesh, rich with fat, was irresistible to them.

Gale's gaze fell on his wife's face. Her wide open eyes and mouth had frozen the expression of fear and dread on her face. Tears mixed with blood stained her round cheeks.

While the wolf was having his fill, other wolves wanted a share as well. However, the bigger wolf that was helping itself snapped at the other wolves. They could only whine and retreat. In turn, their gaze turned back to Gale and Edward.

Gale gritted his teeth till they ground against each other. His chest shuddered.

"You see, I can't leave her here. Not like this," Gale said through clenched teeth.

The wolves still surrounded them. Three of them were crowding around Martha's corpse.

"I understand. I wouldn't either," Edward replied.

He slowly reached down and picked up a fist-sized rock. He tensed his muscles. Watching him, the wolves not engrossed in eating tensed up as well.

He threw the rock at one of the wolves. It dodged and pounced at Edward. Gale swung his machete and towards the wolf. It acrobatically avoided the swing midair.

"Go!" Gale roared.

Edward switched between fending off the wolf attacks and looking for a way out of the encirclement. Gale went into a frenzy and madly swung his machete. He attracted the attention of the wolves to himself.

Feeling annoyed with the wildly flailing human, the wolves decided to resolve the annoying thing first. The could always chase after the other humans. The corruption not only corrupted their bodies, but it also affected their brains.

The wolves became more intelligent and wicked. That, however, was a double-edged sword. They were able to hunt more efficiently but they became prideful and careless as well.

Edward found a way out of the encirclement. He ran in the direction of the teenagers and never looked back.

"Hahaha! I'm not a hunter if I don't skin all of your hides today!" Gale laughed maniacally in his last stand.