The four knights discussed with the townspeople and decided to launch the evacuation plan during noon the next day.
But who knew their large movement would be noticed by the majority of the monster plants? Soon, the screams of the townspeople, who had been told to keep quiet throughout the evacuation, attracted more and more monsters, and the chaos was full-blown.
"Marianne!"
"Yes!"
Marianne rescinded her bow into a staff and started to chant another healing spell for short-term recoveries.
Meanwhile, Alistair swung his sword at the forefront of the battlefield, as he jumped from building to building to scale the height necessary to injure the larger monstrous plants.
Yurian tied the cloths around his fists tighter. Although they were wet with blood and sap, they made his fists heavier. Panting, he dealt continuously with smaller but more nimble monstrous plants with his fists and martial arts. Sap, blood and sweat splattered on the muddied ground.
"Quick, hurry in that direction!" Sylvester bellowed to the remaining townspeople as they scurried in fear. He blasted off his guns, protecting the rear end of the haggle with Marianne. As both were long-ranged attackers, they were well-suited for this task.
"Sylvester, my reserves are running out," Marianne frowned as she bit her lips.
She fired off two sacred arrows at the same time into the monster crowd, hitting two separate plant gnomes who were about to bite Yurian with their razor teeth.
"We might be able to make it, just a little bit more," Sylvester panted as he backed away with the townspeople, "We can't die here."
He loaded his gun for the umpteenth time and pointed the weapon towards the monster crowd again.
"Alistair!" Marianne acknowledged when she sensed a familiar presence.
"Marianne! Sylvester! Yurian! Full retreat now!" the raven long-haired man said as he landed firmly on a nearby rooftop.
"Got it!" Yurian punched a few more monsters before starting his sprint away.
The quartet worked hard to cover the backs of the retreating crowds.
Yurian had discovered that the centre of the massive spiritual disruption that caused the plants to mutate had originated from Enzak, and the surrounding areas outside of Enzak did not seem to be much affected by the powers of Persephone. Alistair and Sylvester had cleared the nearby areas the past few days before they decided to move everyone over.
Finally, the group was about to make their way out of the maze-like streets of Enzak when a shadow fell on the rear of the fleeing crowd.
Immediately, Alistair instinctively used a magic pulse to push the other knights out of harm's way before meeting the obstacle with his thin sword.
"Hmmph!"
"Alistair!"
Alistair's sword had accidentally pressed a cut into his forehead due to the force of the flying obstacle. A trickle of blood flowed down his pale skin.
The mass of thorns jumped away from his sword and landed on the ground nimbly. Secreting a gasping sound, the monster which had a rose on its head immediately launched its thorny veins towards Alistair.
Alistair swiftly sliced off the encroaching veins while Marianne and Sylvester damaged it through their firepower. The rose monster used its veins to pull itself towards the quartet with increasing speed.
"Gassssskkkk!"
It opened its jaws wide as if to swallow everything into its mouth, but it failed to notice a blonde man approaching it from below.
With a hand, he punched the monster below its mouth, forcing the monster to close its jaws. Before the monster recognised what was happening, Alistair had embedded its sword into its jaws from above, effectively nailing the monster in the head.
"Ha, Ha…let's go."
Yurian nodded.
The last of them sprinted out of the cursed town with the remaining energy they had before collapsing into a heap a distance away from the township.
There was a silence, where everyone tried to catch their breath, realise their grief, or feel the elation of being alive.
"We survived…we survived!"
"Thank you, Moon Spirit! Moon Spirit bless us!"
"Papa, Papa!"
The survivors started to clamber and hug each other as tears of happiness streamed down their faces in their celebration.
The four knights laid in the wet grass as they breathed heavily with the chorus of cheers in the background. They had worked the hardest, but all they wanted was to be left alone for now.
"Ally…is it all over?" Marianne asked as she stared up at the sky blankly.
Alistair sighed. "Maybe. It is, for now."
The orange sky loomed over their insignificant figures as the four of them lay beneath it, thinking separate thoughts.
For now, they were safe.