章 23: Beast Tide

Max's face also turned pale with fright. He knew about beast tides as he was visiting the library very often now a days and came to know about a lot of things. That's why he knew how horrifying beast tides can be.

"Lilly, That... that silver wolf, what grade beast was it?" Max asked visibly shaken by the revelation. And As he still couldn't tell the ranks of beasts by simply looking at them, he wanted to know it's rank even though he already had a guess given that they made a hasty retreat just after seeing it from afar.

*Haa...!*

Lilly breathed heavily, that look of abject horror deepening on her face as she recalled it. she slowly said

"A... two-star beast!"

Max's complexion changed as he nodded slightly, he was right on his assumption. He kept breathing evenly, trying to keep his calm. 'It's a good thing that I brought her with me if not, I would have been killed by that wolf.' He shivered inwardly realising how close he was attacking that beast and if he did that, the silver wolf would have shredded him into pieces.

"Let's go..." Max turned to look at Lilly and said.

Roar!

Howl!

...

Just when they started to run, the ground started trembling. Roars and howls of beasts resounded from deep within the forest.

After a few seconds, the sounds kept coming closer and closer. Both Lilly and Max's faces went pale due to the approaching danger.

Thinking that it was only a matter of time before the beast hoard spotted them, Lilly reacted really fast. She grabbed his hand and jumped into a nearby pit, which was dug by some hunters for the purpose of trapping beasts. After jumping inside she held both of her hands high and shouted in a low voice.

"Ice barrier!"

Her mana started to turn into ice. A thick sheet of ice covered the pit in a matter of seconds. Her face went pale as if all the blood was sucked out of it. Her chest was heaving up and down as she breathed heavily. Even with her ghostly white, face she was beautiful.

Max, who looked at this was mesmerised by this beautiful scene but he knew this was not the time to think like that. He asked with concern "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Young master. I just used most of my mana to cast this barrier." Lilly smiled seeing the worry in his eyes.

"Good!" Max nodded. He didn't think of reminding her not to call him young master or ask about when she awakened her ice element, in this situation.

"Lilly, what do you think is happening outside now?" Max asked. He could hear the constant sounds of beasts running around.

"I think... beasts have already started moving. In no time Claymore town will be under attack." She said after hesitating for a moment.

"Oh!" Max exclaimed. He then added "But my father can defend the town against their attack with the army of our manor knights and others right?" He asked with a tinge of anxiety in his voice.

Lilly didn't respond, she seemed to think for a while and then responded.

"Yes, Lord Ashton, as a three-star mage with knight's army is fully capable of resisting the beast tide, unless..." She didn't dare to speak further.

Max's ears perked up at this. He asked, "Unless what?"

Lilly looked at him quietly then slowly explained "A few years ago there was a rumour that when a group of two-star mages came to hunt a few two-star beasts and while hunting they ventured deeper."

"There they encountered a three-star beast which annihilated their group and with some luck, only one person could escape with serious injuries. He told the people about the beasts and how horrifyingly strong it was but he couldn't report it to the Viscount manor and succumbed to his injuries."

"When this rumour reached Lord Ashton, he personally led a party to hunt this monster down but he couldn't find it. So, people assumed that it was only a rumour. But Lord Ashton was worried for many days because of it. I think he might have found out that this wasn't some baseless rumour."

"But if that was true then I'm afraid that everyone will be in grave danger unless Lord Ashton can kill this three-star beast before it wreaks havoc in the town."

After Lilly stopped speaking, Max couldn't help but be worried. He wasn't worried for the people of the town or something. He was worried about his father's safety.

He mumbled "My father is also a three-star mage. I think he can handle that beast if it showed up." He said this not only to Lilly but also to himself.

Just then a terrifying presence rose within the forest and went towards the town. Under that presence Max And Lilly unconsciously stopped breathing and didn't dare to move, even if they already had an ice barrier protecting them. After all, Who can exude such presence, definitely can break the barrier casted by a novice mage.

...

After what it seemed like an eternity, the sounds of beasts running around stopped.

"Lilly we should go now. I want to return home as soon as possible." Max said with a nervous expression.

Lilly also had the same expression because she also felt that presence. She had a bad premonition. Although she wanted him not to go now as there should be a bloodbath as of now but staying in the forest was even more dangerous, who knows when some powerful beasts would find and kill them.

They hurriedly made their way toward the town. When they were out of the forest, they both sighed a sigh of relief.

As they ran towards the town, their expressions gradually turned ugly.

*****

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