But just when he thought they were not going to bite him, one of them suddenly bit his leg.
"Aaaah!!!" Arion didn't feel any pain but remembering the horrendous state in which Ina ended up after getting bitten terrified him, thus making him shout in panic.
He didn't dare to imagine how much pain he would have really felt if he was not disabled. But not feeling pain didn't mean that nothing happened to his leg.
He saw his leg profusely bleeding as the strong jaws of the Dreadling drilled into his flesh.
But his nightmare did not end there when another Dreadling bit his other leg, sinking its fang into his leg.
Seeing blood gush out like a flood from his legs made Arion lightheaded and wondered if it was because he was losing blood so fast.
He could barely put together his thoughts, fearing how long before their venom takes effect and kills him slowly.
'God, just kill me already!' He screamed inwardly, hoping that these sadistic monsters would stop toying with him and kill him instantly.
But apparently, the Dreadlings had no intention of fulfilling his wish and instead began to drag him back using their fangs which were hooked onto his legs.
'What the fuck…' Arion was shocked, wondering why these Dreadlings were dragging him away back to where they came from instead of killing or eating him.
He also saw that the other Dreadlings were also retreating along with the two Dreadlings dragging him away. It was as if they no longer planned to chase Nena and Cayden or attack the Fok Grove Ward.
All the Dreadlings were retreating in an ordered manner while dragging Arion with them.
The earth suddenly started to dissolve like sand and caved in, making Arion hold his breath in shock, not knowing what was going on.
Even Ina's corpse went into the crumbling earth along with Arion and the Dreadlings dragging him away.
Soon enough, the daylight became dimmer and dimmer till Arion's surroundings became completely back and his consciousness dimmed along with his vision.
Cayden and Nena stopped running after noticing the abnormal situation happening behind them.
They saw the ground crumbling and caving in to swallow Arion and the Dreadlings. But after that, the earth restored itself, and it was as if nothing happened in the first place.
"What the hell just happened? Why did they retreat?" Cayden mumbled with a baffled expression.
"Arion...why did they drag him away? I don't understand...what are they planning to do to him...It's all my fault…" Nena couldn't hold back her tears and continued to let out sobs, feeling immense guilt and regret leaving Arion behind.
She couldn't help how much suffering he must have undergone under the onslaught of all those Dreadlings and how even his corpse was dragged away by those monsters for god knows what reason.
Hearing Nena's words, Cayden also felt bad for being so useless despite being the strongest and eldest. He had never felt so helpless and incapable in his life and had always thought that he could be
But he turned around and continued to run since Silvi needed immediate medical attention while Nena continued to look at the place where Arion had disappeared with a blank stare.
However, just as they were about to reach their homes, the two saw many adults rushing over with weapons in their hands, followed by Alv and Bari, who had sunken cheeks and hollow eyes.
"Cayden! Nena! You both are safe!" A middle-aged man with a well-built body exclaimed as he ran over. He was Guido, Cayden's father.
"Are you both hurt anywhere? Wait a minute...is that Silvi on your shoulder, Cayden?" A woman in her forties asked in a concerned tone while hugging Nena.
Nena bit her lip and said, "Mother—"
"Silvi!!"
"My Silvi!!"
A middle-aged couple rushed forward from behind as they called out Silvi's name in an uncontrollable voice. One could clearly notice from their expressions that these two were Silvi's parents.
Cayden's expression became pale seeing the teary-eyed couple who were once famous Dreadslayers of their time. He had never seen them so shaken like this nor so vulnerable.
He handed over Silvi to them and said in a quivering voice, "I-I am sorry...I tried…"
The couple didn't even seem to hear Cayden's low voice and were busy tending to Silvi, who wasn't looking good.
"It's fine, Cayden. You did your best," Uncle Kisho came forward and comforted him as he patted Cayden's dropped shoulders that seemed to be burdened by heavy regrets and the pain of losing ones he cared about.
"Where is Ina?" A man with a grey beard looking in his late fifties asked after not being able to spot Ina among Cayden and Silvi.
Cayden and Nena's expression froze seeing Ina's father, not knowing how to break the tragic news to him. They knew such news would definitely devastate him, but at the same time, they knew they couldn't hold back.
"Uncle Leon, Ina…" Cayden and Nena together explained what happened.
"NO!! MY INA!!" Leon broke down as he fell to his knees on the ground. Even though he had weathered through many difficult and tragic situations in his life, his daughter was the person who was the most precious in his life.
"My poor child…" He banged his head on the ground, berating himself for being a failure of a father for not being able to protect his own daughter or being there for her when she needed him the most.
Many came together to console Leon while Kisho asked, "Where is Arion?" The others also turned attentive to his question, wondering the same thing.
Cayden and Nena's expression became even more grim hearing his question.
Meanwhile, Silvi's parents quickly rushed towards Arion's house since they knew only Mei could heal their daughter. Some other close friends of theirs also followed them.
But when they knocked on the door, a handsome youngster with a crutch opened the door whom they had never seen before.
Even though this youngster was a stranger to them, the couple were most concerned about Silvi and asked, "Where is Mei?"