Naela is flabbergasted, her pupils dilated while she looks at the Supernaturals in disbelief.
Supernaturals living inside human territory is a new concept for her, she has never heard of or even thought that this kind of thing was possible. But then again, Dryads and Elves can mask themselves as humans due to their external appearance.
It's plausible for them to dabble with humans, albeit they need to lay low.
Looking at the Supernaturals that she had just saved, Naela can instantly tell that they are very weak, below the normal power of their respective races. 'I see... they probably decided to live in the human territory out of fear'
Putting both of her hands on her waist, Naela turns her head toward Gistella on the wall.
Gistella didn't take one step out of the castle and just watched from the wall, the very thought of stepping outside terrified her and her body refused to listen to her. It was the fear of the rogue cursed creatures, she was not going to risk it even though it was gnawing her inside.
She knows that she's being a burden right now, but she was not ready to face her fear.
Naela thought for a moment to decide what she would do with these Supernaturals, their eyes are sparkling in anticipation, it was clear what they want from Naela right now. It was to be let inside the castle. But certainly, she can't do that, she needs the Alpha's permission to let these Supernaturals inside.
Having no other choice, Naela turns back to them, "Come with me, the forest is not safe"
As she was about to take them to the hill to rest in front of the castle's wall, inside the safety of the barrier, Naela stopped when she saw two Elves crouching on the ground, sobbing beside a female Elf corpse that was caught by the cursed creatures earlier.
One is a man and the other is a young boy, a pair of father and son it seems.
"Come on, don't be left behind or you'll get attacked by the other cursed creatures lurking inside the forest" A Dryad, a green-haired woman told the pair noticing that Naela is waiting for them to mourn.
Upon hearing this, the father Elf grabs his son's shoulder, "Go with them, son. I'll be right behind"
"Okay, father" the young Elf nodded before he wipes his teary eyes and turns around.
Naela brought the group of Supernaturals to the hill under Gistella's gaze, the father Elf was behind the group, carrying his wife's corpse with both trembling arms. Despite having enough strength to carry more than 200 pounds of weight, his arms are shaking whilst he carries his wife's corpse.
It was not a matter of strength anymore, the grief he was feeling makes him very weak.
Just as they reached the wall, Evelyn arrived back from escorting the group of elite Dark Elves checking the remains that Rex found. She was surprised to find a group of Supernaturals by the castle's wall, but she finds Naela amongst them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtDashing quickly through the open space, she landed and scans her eyes on the foreign group.
Most of the Supernaturals sucked in a cold breath when they saw a human land beside them, their bodies started trembling and becomes weak under the sharp gaze of Evelyn who was confused with this situation.
"Naela, what is this?" Evelyn asked, wanting an explanation for this.
Stepping forward, passing the scared Supernaturals, Naela smiled wryly while giving a glance at the group of Supernaturals, "I saw them coming out of the forest, they were chased by cursed creatures. I hesitated to help them, but Gistella told me that it's okay and now I'm bringing them here to wait for the Alpha to come back and deal with them"
"Hmmm..." Evelyn rubs her chin, her sharp eyes darted through the group of Supernaturals.
Pondering for a moment in regard to dealing with these Supernaturals, Evelyn put her curled index finger on her chin to think. 'Rex told me that I'm in charge of the castle until he came back, I don't want to bring these random Supernaturals inside the castle. What should I do with them...'
Just then Evelyn flicks her finger, finding quite a good solution until Rex comes back.
But before that, Evelyn needs to know more about this group of Supernaturals, "I can see that you're a weird group of Supernaturals, how did you get here?" she asked, noticing that the group consists of Elves, Dryads, and one Fairy.
Instead of the Supernaturals answering, Naela decided to answer for them.
From the looks on their faces, they were having a hard time comprehending the situation they are in and also the fear they had toward Evelyn. "I asked them the same question earlier, and they said that they are Supernaturals that lived in human territory. I don't if that's possible but that is what they said to me"
"Oh...? If that's the case, bring them inside. Put them in the pit beside the bridge" Evelyn decided.
Upon hearing this Naela didn't complain and nodded her head, she doesn't have any say in this and decided to just follow what Evelyn said. But then, one of the Dryad crawl forward and kneel in front of Evelyn, "I-If you're accepting us, can you please save the others inside the forest? There are more of us, and we promise that we can earn our right during our stay here!"
"Fine, I'll see what I can do. Go follow Naela" Evelyn replied with a calm tone.
Although it catches the Dryad off guard from how easily Evelyn agreed to that, she doesn't know that Rex would probably accept them too to add more working people inside the castle. More than that, these Supernaturals are the perfect suit.
Since they are from the human territory, they must be docile and perfect for this job.
With that Naela brought the Supernaturals inside the castle while Evelyn looked at the forest, she can already smell the scents from the other Supernaturals inside the forest. But before she helped them, she glanced at the castle's wall.
Gistella is standing there, completely in a trance, and her mind is pretty much occupied.
'I'll just do this myself, the Dark Elves shouldn't be too far so I can ask them for help if the rogue cursed creatures attacked me' Evelyn thought before her body glowed with dark red fire, and she blazes into the forest swiftly.
Some time passed, and Evelyn managed to save as many Supernaturals as she can.
As about now, there are about a little over a dozen Supernaturals that she saved from the deadly grasp of the Humming Damned Forest. But this number can hardly count as much, there are many Supernaturals that died inside the forest.
Unlike the Dark Elves, they don't know the terrain and the creatures living inside of the forest.
Even though the Humming Damned Forest is notorious for the cruel inhabitants of cursed creatures, the mutated animals inside of the forest are also quite strong. Many of them are above the fifth-rank realm, and that is a big problem for these weak Supernaturals.
Not a sign of the rogue cursed creature can be seen, everything went smoothly.
'I think that's enough, there shouldn't be more Supernaturals inside' Evelyn thought with a last sniff of the air, she finds no Supernatural scent anymore. Probably already been devoured by mutated animals or cursed creatures.
Looking at the saved Supernaturals, Naela then asked, "Is this all of them?"
"Yes, at least these are the ones I can save" Evelyn replied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.
It was around this time when Evelyn was about to tell Naela to bring these Supernaturals inside as she takes one last check in the forest for any survivors, a sudden bone-chilling air that came out of nowhere blew past their bodies.
Swoosh!
Evelyn frown when she sensed this, but then she was surprised to find Naela screaming in pain.
Glancing to the side she finds Naela crouching on the ground with her body curled while holding her stomach, the veins on her neck can be seen bulging, showing the pain that she's currently feeling right now.
"Naela?! What's wrong?!" Evelyn asked in concern.
But the surprise didn't stop there, some of the Supernaturals that she just saved also shouted in pain. Some are even more extreme, they started hyperventilating and their bodies also started to undergo vicious seizures.
In front of such a scene, she was utterly baffled and don't know what to do, "What's going on?!"
Some of the Supernaturals that aren't affected were also surprised, they checked the others and finds a glowing mark that burns the skin of the ones screaming in pain. "S-Slave Mark... t-the ancient humans has awakened! W-We are doomed!"
Upon hearing this, Evelyn instantly got a bad premonition creeping inside her heart.
"Ancient humans...? I've heard Flunra mention them, but how can their existence alone causes this much chaos? And what is a Slave Mark?!" Evelyn mutters while turning her head left and right, her mind trying to catch up to the situation that's happening right now.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmKnowing that she needed to act, she quickly grasp back the situation.
Pointing at the Supernaturals that are not affected by the effect from the Ancient Humans, Evelyn then said with a commanding tone, "All of you, carry the ones that are in pain into the castle. We're exposed standing outside, quickly do as I told you and get inside!"
Not wasting any second, the Supernaturals did as they were told.
While they were trying to carry the ones in pain, Evelyn gritted her teeth and looks in the direction where she felt the bone-chilling air coming from. "It should come from the human territory, just how did the Ancient Humans awaken? We are not ready for another major problem. I hope the others are not involved in this and are also okay"
But as she mutters that, two figures appeared at the mouth of the forest, two familiar figures.
Upon recognizing that the figure coming out of the forest was Adhara who is supporting Flunra that seems to be hurt, Evelyn widened her eyes and quickly turned into her Luna form, "Adhara! Flunra!" she shouted and heads over to them.
~
Meanwhile, inside the UWO Main Office.
Giana walks through the lobby with steady and elegant steps, the UWO workers bowed at her as greetings which are customary for them to respect a ninth-rank realm Awakened. But there was something in their eyes when they caught sight of Giana.
In reflex, Giana raises her hand to touch her scarred face.
Even though it was in the past, the remnants of the painful sensation of being slashed on her face still throb her face. It was the scar that was left by Rex to remind her that he will still come for her, one way or another.
Lowering her gaze, she quickens her pace through the lobby and tries to ignore the onlookers.
As she was walking through the hallway, she came across the person she was looking for, Edward that seem to also just returned to the UWO Main Office. For some reason, his expression has a hidden tint of sorrow on it.
But his eyebrows were raised when he saw Giana, the sorrow completely hidden by him.
"Giana? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the Great Barricade"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Giana asked, and Edward nodded his head in agreement.
At the back of the UWO Main Office, sitting on the concrete seat that also acted as a plant pot, the two of them sits there in silence. Giana is the one to open her mouth, "I'm here to tell you that it was not Rex that came here, it was Kyran"
"Kyran...? So Jasira mistook Rex for Kyran?" Edward asked, his eyebrows scrunched into a frown.
Giana nodded her head, and Edward then looks at her expectantly and asked, "What happened to Kyran? Don't tell me that Lady Brigitta did something to him... I know how president Sebrof feels, but you said that Brigitta would understand!"
"Keep your voice down" Giana warned, looking left and right warily.
Edward sits back and calms himself down, he then waited patiently for Giana to answer. "Don't worry, Brigitta did the right thing. Just don't let president Sebrof know about this, he'll be furious. Keep this information between us, know that Brigitta did the right thing..."