"Eldun, quickly go and get your stuff! We're running out of time!"
As Dan reminded him, Eldun understood how fast the situation deteriorated. With no time to waste, Eldun ran into his room to search for his belongings.
Dan was busy observing the situation outside, and as he saw the large amount of monsters roaming around, he tried to observe their movements.
There were wolves dashing everywhere in search of prey, while the goblins and orcs weren't too far behind.
"Strange… How come they're behaving this way?"
Kaori heard Dan's mumbling and wanted to know what he was confused about.
"What do you mean?"
"Kio told me a few days ago that these zombies were only supposed to have a strong sense of hearing. Their other senses were supposed to be weakened."
"How is it weird then? We also noticed that these zombies reacted swiftly to loud noises."
"The thing is, these zombies are attacking the elves that are hiding behind trees or in their homes."
"Isn't it normal for them to get attacked if they're… Wait, it doesn't look like the elves are making much noise."
"That's the problem."
"Are you trying to say… that these zombies are different from the previous ones?"
"Yea. The adventurers that turned into zombies became stronger, while these zombie orcs, goblins, and wolves have also changed somehow."
"I don't know how those monsters behave normally, but… you're right. They are behaving differently from the previous zombies."
"They turned into zombies, yet they are still able to discover the elves. It looks like we either missed something in our previous observations, or these zombies evolved…"
As Dan and Kaori were absorbed in their observations, Eldun ran back to the living room after he found his things. Eldun saw them all looking out the window, so he also went up to take a peek.
"Leader… did you know this was going to happen?"
"Not exactly. I didn't even know there were going to be aerial creatures that would attack us. At first, when I heard the elf mentioned that a horde of wounded monsters are invading, I just wanted to be prepared to escape if we really have to."
"..."
"However, the situation now is a lot worse than what I had initially presumed. I'm afraid this village is done for."
"W-what! As long as we regroup and defend somewhere, I'm sure we can hold back these monsters with the terrain over here by using the trees effectively."
"If you guys had done that from the start, you might've had a chance. However, there are way too many wounded elves right now. Don't you remember what Fae told you earlier, about the infection ability of these zombies?"
"..."
"Well, did you get what you were looking for?"
"Yes. Luckily, I still have three Return Stones in my Item Box, which is perfect."
Eldun passed one each to Fae and Felix, while Eldun became angry from being ignored.
"Hey! Where's mine?!"
"Sorry Eldritz, I don't have an extra one. Perhaps you could go get one from your father?"
"You want me to go out there in this situation? Why don't you give me yours instead, since I'm going to be your future son-in-law."
"..."
Fae couldn't bear to listen to anymore of his selfishness.
"How shameless can you be?! I have never once agreed to marry you, and now you want to take these from my father?"
"I deserve to get one as the son of an elder. Besides, your father has his responsibilities to shoulder, which is to stay here to save as many elves as possible."
While Fae and Eldritz were arguing, Kaori and Luna both looked at each other and nodded. Then, Kaori walked up to Dan and told him about their decision.
"Dan, we would like to stay behind to wait for big brother and Miyu."
"What?! Are you girls crazy? It's not safe here, and I was entrusted by Kio to protect you two."
"But… they are still somewhere in this village. I think they are somewhere in that tree over there."
Kaori pointed towards the Tree of Life after she looked at her [Minimap]. When she used her skill to look for them earlier, she was able to see two dots over in that direction, so she quickly told Luna about it.
The girls soon reached a consensus, as they wanted to go there to find Kio on their own. However, Dan wouldn't let them go, otherwise he would've failed the task given to him.
"If you girls know where he is, don't you think he also knows where you are? Since you guys have a method to find each other, why not get to somewhere safe and wait for Kio to come look for us afterwards?"
"B-but…"
"I gave both of them a Return Stone earlier, so they will be able to quickly reunite with you two. You girls shouldn't make such an irrational decision, since everything is over if you die or get infected."
"..."
"Don't you girls trust him? If you do, just wait for him to find us."
Kaori and Luna realized their decision earlier was too hasty, as they were panicking after separating from Kio and Miyu.
With Dan's explanations, they finally managed to calm down and decided to stay with the group for now.
"We understand. We'll stay with you for now."
"Good. That's the smart choice."
When Eldun heard their conversation, he felt a bit guilty inside, as he was partially responsible for what happened to Kio. If he didn't invite them to stay overnight, Kio and Miyu wouldn't have been teleported away by Eldritz.
"Umm… Girls, I'm sorry for what happened to your two companions. I had no idea that was going to happen."
"It wasn't your fault. This happened because of this bastard over here."
Kaori replied as she glared and pointed at Eldritz, who was only a few meters away from her.
"As an apology, I would like you to receive some of these things. I know it doesn't make up for what happened to them, but I hope you will at least forgive my children..."
Eldun took out a few mithril daggers, a bow and quiver, as well as a small bag of coins and passed it to Kaori.
"What? You don't have to give these things to us. If anything, this guy over here should be compensating us."
"Please accept these. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for involving my ex-leader's companions while they were in my village."
"Alright then. Thanks."
Eldun then turned to his daughter, interrupting her heated argument.
"Fae, I would like you to take this bow. This was my favorite weapon back when I was an adventurer. I can't use it anymore as I already lost my right arm. Please protect your brother with this."
"Thank you. But, why are you giving this to me now?"
"I have decided to stay behind to help rescue as many elves as possible."
"What?! No, you can't!"
"It is my duty as an elder. I have already wasted enough time returning here to ensure you two are able to escape."
"B-but-"
"You don't have to worry about me. I also have a Return Stone for myself if I have to escape."
"Father, I don't want you to stay… sob…"
Fae cried in Eldun's arms as she couldn't accept separating from him. She had seen what happened to her comrades when they fought the zombies a few days ago, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to her father.
It was a rare sight for Fae to show so much emotion, as everyone viewed her as a cold, expressionless beauty most of the time.
"Fae… You have to be strong for your little brother."
"…"
"I know I can trust you to protect him. I'll meet up with you shortly, okay?"
As Fae finally accepted his decision, she let go of Eldun and held onto her Return Stone.
Seeing the resolve in her eyes, Eldun felt relieved and quickly left his home. He couldn't stay any longer, otherwise he wouldn't be able to hold back his tears.
He had lied to his daughter, as he only had two Return Stones left. He couldn't afford to let her notice, otherwise he knew she would rather stay behind with him instead of leaving this place.
Dan had already discovered Eldun's intentions, yet he remained silent as he knew he would've done the same for his daughter. Unfortunately, he already gave away all the Return Stones he had, otherwise he would've shared one with his friend.
He could only silently pray for Eldun to remain safe as he watched him leave. Trying his best to hold back his own tears, Dan called out to everyone else in the room.
"Let's go now. We don't know how much longer we can stay here before the monsters discover us."
Dan, Mary, Kaori, and Luna were the first ones to teleport away.
"Felix, let's go."
Fae gave a smile to her brother before using her stone to follow after them
However, before she left, she saw Eldritz sneak up behind them and steal the stone from her brother. She had forgotten he was still here because she became too emotional when her father left the house.
"Eldritz, you-"
She completely disappeared before she could finish her words.
***
Capital City of the Omni Empire - Karkin
In the room that they teleported into, the first thing that they saw were many motionless bodies a few meters away from them. They were just standing around, as if they were in a daze.
However, when those 'humans' noticed Dan and his group, they immediately became agitated and rushed at them.