['Shanny (★)' has gone berserk!]
[Her strength, stamina and agility have increased by 5!]
[Her intelligence has decreased by 90%!]
Intense aura blasted off from Shanny's entire surface.
The glow of reason vanished from her eyes.
She had now become more similar to the mindless beasts she was facing.
No. She was worse than them.
While gripping her sword and shield, Shanny leaped forward like a starving lion.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The former maid waved her sword so erratically with no pattern, cutting down enemies approaching from all sides.
Ping! Ping!
Shuck! Shuck!
Goblins tried to shoot her with arrows.
Many of the bolts got deflected by Shanny's shield, but some of them managed to land all over her limbs, legs, and torso.
Shanny did not care for the wounds nor the great pain they caused.
She kept storming through the field and caused carnage to the enemies standing within her path.
A harpy tried to get away from Shanny, but she jumped to the air and struck her sword right to the monster's chest and nailed the winged-creature back to the ground.
No enemy was escaping her.
A wolf gaped its fanged maw, ready to devour Shanny.
The woman plunged her sword directly down to the wolf's throat and tore the animal in half from the inside.
Nothing was getting in her way.
Shuck!
A goblin emerged from the mud below her and stabbed her calve.
Still ignoring the pain, Shanny forcefully swung her shield and crushed the goblin's head into mush.
Nothing was stopping her.
Like a mad woman she crashed through the battlefield. Brandishing more wounds and injuries as she moved forward.
But she pressed on and on.
She tore through the enemies until she finally reached the foot of the fifth hill.
In the wake of her onslaught, Shanny had eradicated dozens and dozens of monsters. Enough to open a safe passage for us to go through.
['Shanny (★)' is no longer berserk!]
['Shanny (★)' has entered the state of exhaustion!]
[All stats have decreased by 90%!]
Right at the end of the open path, Shanny suddenly fell to the ground.
The toll of the battle had finally caught up to her.
"Jonah! Let's go!"
I urged him.
"Yes!"
With the path clear, we were able to run ahead.
More enemies were approaching us from all parts of the forest, but it would take time for them to reach us.
Since we could focus on running, I no longer needed to deflect the huge debris thrown by the ogres because we could just simply avoid them now.
"Shanny!"
We called out as we approached her.
She had collapsed on the ground. Her entire body was riddled with wounds.
Thankfully she was still breathing and was not bleeding out too heavily.
I turned to my still conscious comrade.
"Jonah, carry her to the top of the hill!"
"Yes!"
The shepherd quickly put his arms around Shanny and carried her on his back.
He also made sure to keep Shanny's shield and sword kept strapped on her.
[Davah Shashanam]
As Jonah and Shanny made their way to the top of the hill, I began tearing the side of the hill apart, causing another landslide to repel the pursuing enemies.
Krooahhh!!!
The ogres were not that far behind us. They would reach the fifth hill in a matter of minutes.
We could not stay idle for long.
I hurriedly joined my comrades at the top of the hill.
There Jonah was observing something in the distance.
"Serafina, look!"
Beyond the fifth hill was another expanse of a forest.
Right at the end of it lied a huge valley.
Sitting right at the mouth of the valley was the shining object we were seeing so far.
Now that we were closer, the light of the object had become quite blinding and radiating that it defeated the darkness provided by the stormy clouds above.
"There's no doubt about it. That's where we need to go."
I told Jonah.
"Indeed. But, Serafina,"
He replied while looking down at the forest.
[Goblins Lv.3 x213] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x206] [Direwolves Lv.4 x197] [Harpies Lv.4 x192]
An army of monsters were scattered all of the forest, anticipating with bloodlust for our arrival.
"How should we deal with them? Do we just press on like always?"
Jonah asked.
He was unsure I would consider that option, but he seemed ready to follow my decision if that was what I chose anyway.
Unfortunately, we could not proceed with the usual tactic.
For starters, Shanny had been incapacitated.
We were down one less member for the battle.
Two if Jonah was carrying her while we move.
Second, the enemies had significantly grown in number from before.
They would easily overwhelm us if we just fight them head on.
That being said, even if Shanny could still fight and Jonah still had his throwing spears, I doubted we could get through this many enemies.
We barely survived with fewer.
There was no way we could escape the easy way.
A risk. A huge risk needed to be taken if we wanted to succeed, or rather, survive.
"We'll enter the forest."
I told Jonah.
"The monsters will quickly surround us if we do that."
He replied.
Kroaahhh!!!
The ogres had reached the foot of the hill. They began to climb to reach us.
"Just trust me! Let's go!"
"A-alright!"
We quickly ran down the fifth hill and made our way to the edge of the forest.
Kekeke!
Howl!
Quite a number of monsters were already lying in wait for us.
"We need to get deeper into the forest."
I said while raising my hands forward.
[Maha Agni]
A small blast of flame shot out from my palms and struck the tree line beyond us.
[Davah Shashanam]
Using telekinesis, I spread the fire around and created firewalls manually to form a path for us.
"Go! I'll cover you two!"
I urged Jonah who was carrying Shanny.
Having faith in my words, Jonah stormed into the forest with Shanny on his back.
[Akarshanam]
I casted another surface-tension spell so we could walk on the deep flowing mud.
[Maha Agni]
Another basic fire spell to burn the path in front of us.
Not many enemies were killed because of this small assault, but it managed to create enough fire for me to burn the trees and bushes around us, despite the rain.
Kekeke!
Several goblins broke through the firewalls and tried to ambush us.
Since Jonah was carrying Shanny, he could not engage the enemies.
[Mana Shockwave]
I used an invisible force to propel the goblins through the firewalls and back to the shadows of the forest.
As we ran through the dense row of trees, more and more enemies were approaching us. I could sense their huge number behind the thick forest beyond.
If we just dash forward blindly and aimlessly, we would soon be heading for our deaths.
We continued on deeper into the forest until we found a large protruding bedrock which barely surfaced the mud flood.
"Get up there!"
I told Jonah while I created thin firewall around the bedrock.
We made our way to the formation, just in time before the monsters surrounded us.
"What now?"
Jonah asked.
I quickly positioned myself at the center of the bedrock and started casting a spell.
[Shield]
I manifested a small barrier just enough to cover my whole person.
Around the same time, trails of fire manifested on the air around me.
"I'm casting a huge fire spell to take care of the obstacles. I only need three minutes. No. One minute. Just one minute. You and Shanny only need to survive till then."
"What?! Are you sure you're well enough to perform such a spell? Won't it hurt? You've been suffering casting other spells earlier."
His concern was valid. I was already hurting performing the Third Circle spells.
Which was why I could only make a shield big enough for myself. Any bigger than that and I could not attempt this risky casting.
"My regular spells won't be enough. There's no other way, Jonah. It's do or die at this point."
"But--"
"I've casted a shield on myself so you don't need to protect me. Just focus on protecting yourself and Shanny."
Jonah hesitated a bit before answering, but he then nodded his head.
"Yes! I'll do my best to keep us both ali-"
"Y-you don't need to do that, shepherd."
Right at that moment, Shanny opened her eyes.
She quickly stepped down from Jonah's back and grabbed her weapons strapped on her.
"Shanny? What're you doing?"
Jonah asked in confusion.
"I…urgh…heard the plan. One minute, right?"
Shanny said while readying her sword and shield.
Her limbs were twitching and her leg was limping, but she could still wield her weapons quite decently.
Her remaining strength must originate from her Savage skill, since I could still see the raging determination in her eyes.
Kekeke!
Howl!
Kreee!
The monsters began pouring in from the firewall.
There was no time for argument. Jonah and Shanny needed to brace for battle if they wanted to survive.
We all needed to brace ourselves if we wanted to survive.
[Goblins Lv.3 x54] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x41] [Direwolves Lv.4 x37] [Harpies Lv.4 x38]
While casting my spell behind my shield, I passed on words of encouragement to my party.
"May you outlive your foes, my comrades."