A shockwave followed by a searing wind hit Red’s back in quick succession. The boy felt like he couldn’t breathe for a second, and when he finally inhaled in, he almost choked on the acrid air.

Still disoriented, Red looked back. Small flame tongues were biting at his feet, but his clothes hadn’t caught on fire.

‘The uniform.’

Red was thankful he had insisted on using the garb even if it had yet to prove its usefulness in the past.

The boy didn’t get up immediately, and instead observed his surroundings. Whatever magic the monster had attacked them with, it had done its damage to the forest. The trees in a 20 meter radius were on fire, and some parts of their trunks were shattered.

Red used his crimson sense to locate the monster first and foremost. He sensed the unmistakable fluctuation of the creature no more than fifty meters behind him. For some reason, it was staying still. Red, however, didn’t dare to turn around to look at it and risk being spotted.

Then, the boy tried to find his companions.

All of them were not too far from him, also unmoving. None of them were speaking, though, so Red couldn’t tell whether they were dead or alive. Perhaps they were also afraid of agitating the monster.

‘Is it going to go away?’

Unfortunately for him, that didn’t seem to be the case. Red heard the sounds of the stag’s hooves thumping around as it began to approach the fire and the group of humans hiding within it. The boy felt his heart seize.

‘What do I do?’

Red was afraid of getting up and attracting its attention. However, if he remained still, the monster would eventually notice him either way once it got close enough. Just as the boy was considering running for it, he heard the sound of banging metal from another direction.

“Hey, you stupid beast!” the boy recognized Reinhart’s voice. “I’m here, come get me!”

The stag released a furious bellow. It didn’t hesitate to answer the provocation and trotted after Reinhart.

“The rest of you come up with a plan!” the knight said before the sound of his footsteps became fainter and fainter.

Only when Red felt that the monster was far enough did he dare to get up. Flames and smoke had already begun to spread through the vegetation, blocking his view. Yet the boy was able to use his crimson sense to locate his companions.

First, he saw Rimold. The rogue was leaning against a tree while holding onto his left arm, which had some clear burn injuries. He looked up once he heard Red’s steps.

“Can you move?” Red asked.

Rimold gritted his teeth and nodded.

The boy turned around and motioned with his hand. “Follow me then.”

The rogue offered no protest and followed Red. A few dozen meters away, they finally met up with Allen and Rog. The young master was sitting on the ground, coughing out while holding onto his chest in discomfort, while Rog was wrapping a bandage around his leg. The hunter hadn’t gone unscathed either.

“Young master!” Rimold rushed in the boy’s direction. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Allen nodded. “But… What about your arm?”

The rogue shook his head. “It’s nothing serious. What matters right now is that we need to run away before that thing returns.”

“Run?” the young master looked surprised. “What about Reinhart?”

“We can’t help him right now.” Rimold seemed unfazed. “What matters most is getting you to-”

“We aren’t running.” Rog interjected, finishing bandaging his wound.

“Are you insane?!” the rogue snapped at the hunter with more anger than Red was used to seeing. “That’s a fucking Lesser Ring Realm monster! It’s going to fucking kill us!”

“It doesn’t matter.” the hunter shook his head. “We still have a chance of killing it if we are smart… Besides, how do you propose we leave?”

“… W-We are back in the forest, right? Can’t we just run away.” Rimold said, his tone displaying his lack of confidence.

Rog snorted, but didn’t respond.

“This is not the real world.” Red said. “It’s probably some kind of illusionary arena the creator of this trial made for people to fight in.”

“H-How would you know that?” Rimold glared at the boy.

Rog was the one to respond. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is - do you really think we can just leave this place before killing that monster? After everything we have experienced in this maze?”

Rimold hesitated. “W-We can’t kill it… It’s too strong.”

“We’ve killed monsters in the Lesser Ring Realm with the help of our sect members in the past.”

“That was when Narcha and Eiwin were here too!” the rogue didn’t seem convinced. “Besides, you had weeks of preparation to come up with a battle plan. We barely have minut-”

Before Rimold could finish speaking, they hear a bellow from the direction the monster had disappeared.

“It’s coming back…” Rog frowned.

“D-Did it get Reinhart?” Allen asked with a worried voice.

The hunter, however, ignored him. He looked over at Rimold. “Hide behind a tree to the right and wait for my signal. We’ll shoot him at once and then turn tail to run… Try to hit it in its antlers if you can. It’s how it gathers fire.”

“This…” the rogue seemed reluctant, but still nodded in the end. "Fine.”

After receiving Rimold’s confirmation, the rogue looked over at Red and Allen. “You two need to go and hide. This is not a fight you can take part in.”

“N-No way!” Allen shook his head. “I-”

“We’ll do as you say.” Red pulled the young master back.

Allen looked at him in shock, but he was only met by Red’s steely gaze. In the end, the boy fell silent.

Rog nodded at Red and fished something out of his backpack. It was one of the ornamental boxes they had gotten from the labyrinth - more specifically, the one containing the talisman.

The hunter handed it over to Red. “Here, take this. See if you can learn how it works… We might need it.”

The boy frowned. “How do I-”

Rog interrupted him with a wave of his hand. “Ask Allen, or figure it out yourself. Just try your best. Now go!”

By this time, they could already see the blazing creature approaching their location from within the trees.

Red nodded and pulled a reluctant Allen along to watch the combat from afar. Almost a few seconds later, Reinhart reappeared in their vision, with the creature following close behind him. His armor had scorch marks all over it, and some of it had signs of melting.

“Did you come up with something?!” the knight asked with a bellow.

No one responded to him, though. Rog and Rimold had already hid themselves behind a tree.

Reinhart just cursed out loud before continuing to flee the monster.

Finally, Red could see the appearance of the creature in full. It was a stag, with glowing red fur. It stood well over two meters tall, even on four legs, and its whole body seemed to be bursting with muscles. Its main feature, however, was its antlers. They were ablaze, fire coursing along its length without stopping. The flames were also increasing in intensity every few seconds.

‘Fireleaf deer.’

This was the same type of monster they had killed earlier. This one, though, was obviously far stronger than the ones they had fought before.

“Isn’t that the same deer?” Allen asked while crouching. “Aren’t they supposed to be peaceful?”

Red didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out the box Rog had given him. “Do you know how to use a talisman?”

The young master shook his head. “I-I haven’t really used it before.”

The youth frowned, but before he could collect his thoughts, he heard a furious bellow. He turned around, just in time to see Rog and Rimold peppering the beasts with their weapons.

Like the hunter had instructed, they tried to attack the beast’s antlers, which was surprisingly not a hard task considering how big they were. Still, the arrows and dagger bounced off of the horns, doing no damage but still succeeding in enraging the monster.

The stag ceased chasing Reinhart momentarily and turned around. It looked at Rog’s hiding spot, and without hesitation, charged at it. The hunter shot some arrows at the monster, this time at its fur proper. They all lodged in the beast’s skin, but they didn’t seem to deter it in the slightest.

Rog had no choice but to turn around and run. Moments later, the stag used its horn to destroy the tree the man had just been hiding behind. Then another wild chase began as Rog led the monster away.

In the meantime, Reinhart stopped running and crouched down. He began to unstrap the scale armor from his body.

“What are you doing?!” Rimold called out to him. “Rog needs help!”

The knight didn’t respond, and continued to tear pieces of armor away from his body. Once the metallic cover was gone, the group understood why the man was doing it.

A large section of his shoulder and chest was covered in burn wounds, blood oozing out of it. It was a grisly sight, but the knight didn’t complain, and Rimold also stopped hurrying him.

Reinhart fished for something in his pocket, before bringing it out. Red couldn’t see what it was from this distance, but the knight threw it into his mouth with no hesitation. A few seconds later, the festering burn wounds started to heal out of thin air, to the group’s surprise.

The healing process eventually stopped, though. It wasn’t a full recovery, but Reinhart let out a sigh of relief after it was done. He got up without putting his armor on again.

“Where’s the kid?” the man asked Rimold.

“Why does that matter?!” the rogue looked frantic. “That monster might kill Rog if we don’t go to help him!”

Reinhart ignored him and looked around. Red and Allen approached him once they heard the conversation, and the knight quickly spotted them.

“Here, take it.” he threw something at Red.

The boy grabbed it and examined the item. It was another talisman.

“What does it do?” Red asked.

“Ice magic or some such thing.” Reinhart said. “Scratch the third line down to activate it. Wait for the right moment, though, or it will all be for naught.”

The boy nodded.

“Why are you giving that to him?!” Rimold glared at the knight. “We should use that right now!”

“Won’t kill the beast in one blow.” Reinhart shook his head. “Has to be at the right moment.”

“Then give it to me!” the rogue insisted. “I’ll use it at your signal!”

“No.” the knight shook his head. “You’re coming with me to help. We’re dragging this beast back here.”

“Argh, you…” Rimold glared between Reinhart and Red. “Fine!”

Reinhart nodded and looked back at the boy. “Remember, this all hinges on you.”

With those words, the knight ran after the monster with Rimold in toe.

Red and Allen were left behind, staring at their companions’ backs.

“D-Do you think this will work?” the young master asked in a concerned tone.

“I don’t know.” Red shook his head and handed the other box to Allen. “We should be prepared for anything, though.”