Xio had set her sights on a wild boar. She immobilized it with Restraint, then rushed over and kicked it to death.
The boar weighed well over two hundred pounds. Standing before it, Xio looked especially small and slender.
Xio smiled faintly and was about to drag the boar back to the cave when her spirituality suddenly stirred. She looked beyond the valley, where a mass of dawn light was rapidly approaching.
Xio paled in alarm and immediately used the Traveler ability in Creeping Hunger to return to the cave.
Although Erlin and the Many-Eyed Monster would detect Raphael the moment he entered the Spirit World, there was no problem with her entering it.
Inside the cave, Raphael's Malice Perception had also alerted him to danger. He had already risen and was running outside. When Xio arrived, she hoisted him sideways onto her shoulders without a word.
After Xio's fatal injuries had become minor wounds, her spirituality and stamina had recovered much faster than Raphael's. Running with him over her shoulders was therefore faster than the two of them supporting each other.
Thud!
But Xio had no experience carrying someone while fleeing for her life, and Raphael had not wasted spirituality entering Wraith Form, so his head struck a rock at the cave entrance. Fortunately, physical attacks like this only caused diminished pain and did little actual damage.
Xio felt a little embarrassed, but there was no time to apologize.
As soon as they emerged from the cave, Raphael rubbed his forehead and said, "It's too late. Put me down."
The distant dawn light seemed to have noticed them and was rapidly drawing closer.
Raphael considered whether to make a desperate stand or hide inside the Dark Hut.
But when he glanced at Xio beside him, looking ready to face