Surrounded

Rhode was woken by a rustling sound. He rubbed his eyes and found that Miss Serie had already packed her belongings and was standing outside the tent.

Last night, he had a rare, peaceful sleep. It felt very warm, as if he had returned to the days of sleeping hugging his life-sized body pillow, and this pillow was even warm to the touch.

But it was also possible that this so-called pillow was actually Miss Serie herself?

Rhode wasn't sure either. After all, if he had really hugged her all night, how could Serie not have resisted at all?

Outside the tent, Serie had her back to him. "You're awake?" she said without turning around. "Pack up. We need to pick up the pace today. We must leave this swamp before sunset."

Rhode stretched and pretended to ask casually, "I didn't do anything last night, did I? My sleeping posture has always been pretty bad."

Serie turned around and stared straight at Rhode, making his scalp tingle.

"It was indeed bad. You kept hugging me, making me very uncomfortable."

Serie didn't quite understand this kind of human sentiment in Rhode. This was a common flaw of elves—it had nothing to do with whether one was human or not; elves themselves were creatures with indifferent emotions.

Moreover, when she woke up in the morning, she had felt very uncomfortable being pressed against. She didn't quite understand—was this a normal phenomenon for humans?

Now, facing Rhode's initiative to bring it up, she didn't hesitate to complain.

Faced with Serie's words, Rhode looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that. If this happens again, you can just push me away directly."

Hmm, next time.

Rhode harbored a little selfishness. He wasn't satisfied with hugging such a comfortable pillow just once; there might be a next time.

Serie tilted her head and looked at him. "Why apologize?" Her golden eyes were full of confusion. "You were just hugging me like a Sloth Bear. I only felt a little uncomfortable. There's no need to apologize."

"Sloth Bear?" Rhode's movements paused.

It seemed Miss Serie's attention was focused on a strange direction.

But was the Sloth Bear she mentioned the same kind as the one in his memory?

"An animal in the Elf Forest," Serie explained. "It likes to hug things when it sleeps." She paused. "But you're much warmer than they are."

Rhode didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed the elf's understanding of intimate contact was completely different from his own. Truly worthy of being an ancient elf from Frieren.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, yet at the same time felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he changed the subject. "It shouldn't be that urgent, right?"

Rhode had obtained quite a few plants from the Dwarf that could be used for brewing tea.

Dwarves hardly ever drank tea, but they could still identify which plants in this world were edible or suitable for tea. After all, their history could be traced back to before the Mythical era.

"Hmm." Serie first withdrew the Warning Magic, then cast a Detection Magic. "Strange. Why has the number of monsters around us increased overnight?"

Serie furrowed her beautiful brows.

Last night, before they set up camp, she had specifically cleared all monsters within a hundred meters, and done so silently. Now, after one night, the surrounding monsters had returned to their pre-clearing numbers, and even increased a bit more.

This was somewhat illogical.

Either this swamp had an extremely high number of monsters, and whenever a vacancy appeared, another monster would fill it, or the two of them had been targeted by some existence.

"Try expanding the detection range to five hundred meters?" Rhode came closer and also noticed the red dots on her magic array.

Serie mobilized her magic power, expanding the detection range to five hundred meters, and her brows furrowed even tighter.

"There are even more monsters. The number of monsters around us has now nearly exceeded three digits."

Rhode understood the gravity of the situation. Whether this was a coincidence or not, it meant the two of them could no longer stay here.

Serie unfolded the map. "Follow the stream. By noon, we should be able to leave this central area."

"I'll pack up immediately."

Rhode immediately began packing his luggage. Meanwhile, Serie kept her eyes fixed on the movement routes of the monsters on the magic array.

The only thing that reassured her was that these monsters showed no signs of moving, but this instead revealed an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Rhode quickly packed up. The two of them hurried along the stream, with Rhode occasionally looking back, feeling as if something was watching them from the shadows.

"Don't look back. Act as if nothing is happening," Serie warned in a low voice. "They are observing us."

As an elf, her perception was sharper than Rhode's.

Just as the two of them started moving, the surrounding monsters also began to shift, confirming their bad premonition.

No matter how they moved, these monsters firmly kept the two of them surrounded in the middle.

Someone was definitely commanding them!

"Them?" Rhode swallowed his saliva. "You mean...?"

He quickly realized as well. For Serie to show such a serious expression, the crisis they were facing this time was definitely not small.

"Demon Race." A hint of killing intent flashed in Serie's eyes. "At least two of them. They are commanding over a hundred monsters, tightly surrounding us."

Cold sweat seeped from Rhode's palms.

Was it finally coming?

Demons from the Mythical era—this would be Rhode's first time encountering them.

"Why haven't they launched an attack?" Rhode focused intently on the surrounding bushes, asking in a low voice.

"They're waiting for us to show a weakness." Serie kept her attention on the distance of the surrounding monsters. "The Demon Race is a very cunning kind of creature. They have no emotions whatsoever; their only reason for existing is to kill their enemies."

Serie thought to herself that the leading demon likely had no low intelligence. After noticing her identity as an elf, it had begun to act cautiously.

But when had the other party discovered her?

Her Warning Magic had a range of over a hundred meters, and it hadn't issued any warnings last night. Could it be that she had been distracted this morning?

"Keep going straight ahead. There aren't many monsters up front. Once a fight breaks out, remember to run forward. I'll cover the rear."

Serie added a few more instructions, already having prepared her Light Arrow magic, ready to release it at any moment.

Just then, the bushes ahead suddenly shook violently.

"Watch out!" Serie instantly spread a magic barrier, shielding Rhode behind her.

To conserve mana, she had just turned off her Detection Spell, keeping only the most basic monster perception active. She never expected a monster to silently approach to such a close distance.

Could it be a monster with a skill to conceal its aura?

At that moment, a familiar figure staggered out: "Wait! It's me!"

It was the dwarf, Som.

He fell to his knees, covered in blood, the runes on his battle axe dim and lusterless: "Run. So many monsters!"

I'll apologize to everyone in advance. Tomorrow might be the last day.