When Zach reached closer to the tree, he abruptly changed direction and turned ninety degrees towards the right and dashed off only to hear the sound of a thundering explosion behind him. Splintered wood showered him from the back and struck both him and Luna but Zach paid it no heed.
The Earth Bear had collided into the tree as it had been unable to stop its chase after Zach made an abrupt turn. The giant and sturdy tree was crushed to splinters with the momentum of the Earth Bear that was a D-rank beast.
Zach didn't stop to even check the result of his ingenious strategy and continued to run as if death itself was chasing after him.
Zach was constantly looking for a place to escape the pursuit of the giant bear. His eyes darted about searching for something in his field of vision that could provide him with even a semblance of safety.
"Someone finally decided to take pity on me." Zach let out a sigh of relief as he found a small crevice at the edge of his vision. It was small enough for him and Luna to pass through but it was definitely not something that the Earth Bear could enter nor could it break down the entire hill to force us out of the hole.
But to think that something so good had fallen in his lap as soon as he asked for it, Zach refused to believe it.
As he had expected, it really wasn't going to be easy. The Earth Bear that had fallen behind was already catching up to them with bloodthirsty eyes and its speed was even faster than before.
Zach's mind was on the crevice as that was the only possible method to save himself and Luna from ending their miserable existence as a snack for the bear or not.
"Just a bit more…almost there…" Zach told himself as he didn't want to give up midway by losing his spirit.
The bear on the other hand had lost all sense of reason as it tried to bite them out of the air with his powerful jaws. It followed after them closely and opened his mouth to take a bite out of them like some rabid dog.
Pulling out some strength that even he didn't know existed; Zach used the last burst to gain a momentary advantage.
Entering the crevice, Zach's legs were about to give up but he forcefully pulled himself and Luna into the hollow space beyond the crevice that would be perfectly out of the reach of the Earth Bear.
The Earth Bear on the other hand faced the repeat of the earlier incident where he had ended up crashing into the tree. But in this case, it crashed into solid stone that was as durable as it could be. Even the bear with its D rank strength was unable to take a chunk out of it.
It kept slamming into it in an attempt to get into the crevice but the opening was too small for a bear of its stature to move into it. When entry failed, the bear managed to push his front paw into the crevice with the intention to drag out the hiding humans from the hole.
Zach could finally relax after seeing the scene of the Earth Bear uselessly crashing against the entryway of the cavern that he was currently in.
The cavern was not too large but it was spacious enough to house the two of them comfortably. Its walls were made of solid stone that was stronger than it looked.
The interior was dark and the only source of light in the cave was the entrance which was blocked by the Earth Bear from time to time as it crashed against solid stone in order to get to them.
Zach unwound the rope that he had used to tie Luna to himself and slowly let her down to the ground. Her thigh was still injured so Zach tried to be extra careful not to let her go through too much pain in the process.
"We can take a rest here since the bear can't get in here. After you recover, we can then think of a way out of here…okay?" Zach felt concerned about Luna who looked as if she had lost a lot of blood and was waning in and out of consciousness.
Luna nodded in understanding as she tried to stay conscious for as long as possible.
Zach opened his backpack and took out the emergency first aid kit from it. He had to pull out the shaft of the arrow that was still stuck inside her thigh before her wound got infected.
"I am going to cut the arrow out of your thigh." Zach looked at Luna with concern as if asking her permission to touch her.
"Do it." Luna nodded in understanding. She didn't want to be a burden to Zach any longer. He had already come close to dying so many times while trying to drag her with him through the forest.
"It's going to hurt terribly. Close your eyes and clench your teeth tightly and try not to move." Zach used a soothing voice almost like a doctor trying to calm down his patient before surgery.
He pulled out the arrow by making a slight incision on the thigh. Thankfully, the arrow had missed the veins and was easily pulled out. But what surprised him was that throughout the process Luna hadn't screamed or moved even once.
"She is a tough girl. I can only imagine what she had to go through that made her this strong." Zach thought with pity as he closed the wound and put a bandage on it before proceeding to treat the rest of her slight injuries that she had received during the chase by the bear.
"All right, it's done. You can take a rest now."
Luna was still delirious but it wasn't to the extent of passing out. She only looked a little sleepy to be exact and that could be cured with a little rest.
Zach treated his own wounds and lay down in order to rest for a while. It wasn't as if there was something else to do in that cavern.
The only exit of the cavern was being blocked by a terrifying bear and there was supposedly a group of people out there somewhere waiting to collect their corpses after the rampage of the Earth Bear. They were the ones who were responsible for the current situation and Zach intended to make them pay for his near death experience.
As Zach had expected, Braxton had stopped his men a considerable distance away from the territory of the Earth Bear. His expression was grave as the situation had unfolded in the most unexpected manner. The enemy had been exceptionally powerful and had used mysterious means to kill several of his men while trying to escape.
Braxton had no choice but to engineer the scheme that followed. He could only use the Earth Bear to kill Zach and Luna as he did not want to suffer more losses.
"Let's get their bodies after the Earth Bear has mutilated them to his heart's content. Once the Earth Bear goes berserk, it won't calm down for a while. We will wait until it has calmed down before making our move." Braxton instructed his men as they began setting up camp right outside the territory of the Earth Bear.
Inside the cave, Luna woke up after some time. Zach was already awake by then and was busy tinkering with his guns while he waited for Luna to wake up.
"How long was I asleep for?" Luna asked him groggily.
"It wasn't that long. You can sleep for a bit more if you want." Zach replied without looking up.
"It isn't sleep that I need. I almost passed out earlier because I am hungry." Luna was slightly embarrassed as she told him the true reason behind her current condition.
"Not only can I recover faster, but I will also be able to fight with my entire strength once I have eaten my fill." Luna looked at Zach with a gaze that was a mixture of innocence and embarrassment.
Zach unconsciously reached out inside her backpack to get some jerky when he heard that she was hungry. But halfway through, he remembered that she didn't eat anything other than…