Eliisabet ran as fast as she could. She did her best to drag both Avic and Custos with her to a safe location. Their weight made it extremely difficult for her. Not to mention that she was carrying both their weapons and items. She was even carrying some of Chrono's items, hoping to find him along the way. Her body ached and sweat bathed her face but she had to persevere.
The fighting between Valves and the knights had already started. She could hear the screams of pain and the clashing of weapons in the distance. This made her worry that the knights were losing to Valves. However, this was expected.
Saying that Valves was uber powerful would be nothing short of an understatement. He was a terrifying man that had changed her life forever.
Just then, Eliisabet caught sight of a male lying unconsciously on the ground. Upon closer inspection, she immediately realized that it was Chrono. After being hit by Valves' attack, he had been knocked unconscious.
"No..! Chrono..." Muttered Eliisabet in worry.
It was already taking everything she had to carry both Avic and Custos. Adding Chrono would be far more than she could handle. Fortunately, she soon noticed a 5ft deep hole under the base of a large tree that was almost perfectly hidden by a patch of bushes. It was both deep and wide enough to hold all four of them. It seemed like a perfect spot to rest.
After a few minutes, Eliisabet managed to calmly place all the boys into the hole alongside important items. This was when she took the chance to catch her breath. Anxiety still shook her to the core. She could hardly stop herself from trembling.
She even began contemplating if it was a good idea to continue with the Second Round. However, she couldn't turn back now. From the very beginning, she knew that there was a chance that Valves could appear and bring harm to everyone around her. But she had allowed her emotions to hold her back and remained in silence.
Eliisabet felt partially responsible for everything that had happened. The only good news was that Avic was somehow still alive. She watched him silently as he slept. A smile threatened to climb onto her lips but the dire situation blocked all feelings of positivity.
A second later, she came to notice that both Avic and Custos were starting to sweat profoundly. Their faces were fueled with distress and sweat ran down the sides of their faces. Seeing this, she braced the back of her hands on their foreheads. This was when she realized that they both had a terrible fever. It was as if she had braced her hand against a hot kettle.
"No... This isn't good... I need to do something about their fever..." She muttered, looking around for anything that she could use.
Suddenly, both Avic and Custos released a painful moan in their unconscious state. Eliisabet quickly turned her gaze back toward them. The horrific sight of black miasma was pouring from the sides of their necks, leaking into the air. It was from the bite wounds on the sides of their necks.
Seeing this made Eliisabet even more worried. Not wanting to waste any more time, she used Avic's dagger to cut the sleeves from her uniform. She then took a bottle of water from her backpack and dampened the pieces of cloth. Finally, she placed the damp cloths on their foreheads, in hopes of reducing their fever.
Eliisabet's medical experience wasn't very great. She only knew the basics which would make taking care of them a lot more difficult.
"Are... you okay..?" Suddenly asked a brittle voice from behind.
Eliisabet then turned to see that Chrono was awake. He held his head in agony and seemed to be in a lot of pain.
"Chrono..! You're awake!"
"Urgh... Damn it all... How did it come to this..? My body hurts all over..."
Eliisabet bit her lip in frustration before answering, "We were attacked by Valves, remember..? He attacked you and you crashed quite a distance away from the rest of us..."
"Right... It was that strange guy... So his name was Valves... I think I've heard of him before..."
"You have..?"
"Just small details... The most I know is that he was a part of an organization comprised of Unregistered Sicarius called the Umbra that took over one of the Seven Great Kingdoms, Decidit, almost 10 years ago."
"You're right..."
"Tsk..! What is a guy like that doing in Regnum, anyway?"
"I... I can't say..."
"Well, given that we're all still alive, I take it that we found some way to defeat him?"
Eliisabet shook her head in denial, "Not exactly. At the last moment, we were saved by some elite students from the Knight's Faction. I'm not sure how they're fairing against Valves but I took the chance to get all of us out of there..."
"I see..."
"You shouldn't push yourself too hard, Chrono. Your injuries may not be life-threatening but you need to rest..."
Chrono groaned as he looked down at himself. He was certain that a few of his bones had been fractured. That was anything but good given that they still needed to leave the Forest Of Mortem. However, this was when he realized that Avic was now among them.
"Wait, is that..?"
"It is... Don't ask me how he's alive. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him yet. I'm just glad he's okay..."
"I see... Well, more importantly, are the scrolls safe..?"
"I wonder if they are?" Answered an unknown voice.
With their hearts beating rapidly, both Eliisabet and Chrono turned to see three other students glaring at them from the outside. They were all armed with weapons, ready for a fight. They were enemies.
"You all seem to be in a tough spot," continued one of the enemy students. "Why not just save all of us the trouble and hand over your scrolls? You already have one foot in the grave so if you refuse, we'll finish you off here!"