A deep pit appeared on the ground, and a pillar of jet-black flame burst forth, its apex towering above almost all the trees in the forest.
The pillar of fire extended forward constantly from Zankuro's hands, creating a wall of black flames with an incredible heat, almost piercing through the entire forest.
Yet, the scene Zankuro wanted to see — the little mice being blasted out from underground — did not appear.
He straightened up, covering his increasingly severe arm injury, fuming with rage: "Find them! Even if you have to plow the ground, find them!"
His subordinates dared not say much, only scattered around to follow his orders.
While Zankuro was raging, the people underground were frantically fleeing.
"Down, down! Quick, quick, quick! Turn, turn! Hey, follow me!"
Rhode urgently commanded two Stone Beetles to move along the route he envisioned.
Because they dug deep enough and ran erratically, the commotion on the ground had nothing to do with him.
The urgency was due to the fact that, apart from him who had received the Stone Beetle, the other three could not breathe.
Staying underground too long risked suffocation, and not running far enough risked being discovered.
Rhode had to accelerate their escape as much as possible.
After about two or three minutes of running, Rhode listened and heard no footsteps above, so he led the group upward to catch a breath.
Elfman and Mar coughed, taking several deep breaths to recover.
Rhode checked Vina's breathing and pulse, only relaxing after confirming she was still alive.
"Can you... will you save Vina?" Mar remembered Elfman saying their companion might have a way.
"Not enough Magic Power now, wait a moment." Rhode prepared himself, "Reequip."
A medical kit appeared in his hand.
"Here, carefully treat her wounds again. There's bandages, hemostatic medicine, glucose, and saline, use them as needed."
"Thank you." Mar quickly tended her sister's wounds.
"Elfman, how's your injury?"
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!"
Probably meant 'I can handle it,' Rhode nodded: "Alright, I'll help heal you a bit once I recover some Magic Power."
"How about that enemy of yours?"
"Well, let's just say he's quite fierce."
Rhode briefly recounted his battle to Elfman.
At that time, as soon as he recovered a bit of Magic Power, he immediately took two Bursting Magic Crystals to find Rastillos.
But he only found an arm.
The arm had a clean cut and was entirely purple, likely because Rastillos judged he was too poisoned and created a blade to cut it off himself.
Since that guy was blasted far away, Rhode didn't even know when he ran off.
That's why Rhode said Rastillos was fierce.
But he didn't understand why he'd rather flee than deal with Rhode, who had almost exhausted his strength and Magic Power.
Rhode guessed Rastillos might have misjudged his Magic Power or was in a hurry to find a way to detoxify himself.
Since he couldn't find anyone, Rhode didn't waste much time and flew directly to the woodlands to find Elfman.
He just didn't expect Elfman to be so severely injured, and their protection target was also severely hurt.
It was supposed to be a simple investigation and search mission, so why did Demon's Heart get involved?
Both brothers almost got wiped out here.
It was really like what the President said a few days ago, 'Sometimes you easily complete a mission and earn your reward, other times you fight for your life and might end up empty-handed.'
After he finished speaking, Elfman also recounted what happened to them after the wild creatures disappeared.
Hearing this, Rhode looked at Mar with some displeasure in his eyes.
But the deep hatred and impulsiveness were understandable.
Though, it really let the team down.
The only good news was that Elfman could now fully receive.
Rhode didn't know whether to feel sorrow or joy — this wasn't how he envisioned the script.
He hoped for safer incidents that would let Elfman undergo a gentler mindset change, not for the brothers to come out and wager lives with Demon's Heart.
Whether this was good or bad would only be assessed after they safely escaped.
"All set." Mar looked guiltily and hopefully at Rhode.
Rhode knew what he was waiting for and shook his head gently: "Magic Power doesn't recover so quickly, we need a quiet place to hide for a while."
A Stone Beetle poked out of the ground and pointed its leg in a certain direction.
It heard footsteps from over there.
"Let's go. Someone's coming."
The group snuck and weaved their way around, fleeing for more than an hour, yet they couldn't escape the pursuit of their enemies.
This was mainly because they were carrying a severely injured person, so they had to be cautious, limiting their mobility options.
Finally, when Rhode gathered enough Magic Power, he first summoned a Golem, granting himself and Elfman each a Crown of Insight.
As long as a bit more Magic Power was restored, even with injuries, there'd be a bit more security.
A few minutes later, Rhode summoned a Tree Monster, placing a Crown of Embers on Vina and Elfman.
As for Rhode himself, he could wait for the next round.
As long as no battles ensued, first summon blue, then summon red, and so on, Rhode could become a perpetual motion machine.
Blood returned to Vina's face, and her wounds began to heal.
Unlike the old chieftain, her injuries were more recent, and the emergency hemostasis was barely timely. Being young also helped; she was essentially out of danger now.
"Over there! I've seen that strange crab before!"
Among the lackeys, there were some with sharp eyes who could spot a River Crab even while it hid with its camouflage among the bushes.
Rhode and Elfman each flexed their wrists slightly, though their injuries weren't fully healed, neither of them wished to run any longer.
Dang it, being chased around the mountains by a group of lackeys; they hadn't suffered such indignity before.
Just then, a red flare suddenly appeared in the sky.
A small blue figure burst into the River Crab's view, knocking down someone holding a Magic Staff with a headbutt.
Then, pulling out a fish from the little bag behind him, he bopped another knife-wielding lackey unconscious with two swift blows.
After completing these actions, he flew in front of the River Crab, waving his hand to greet it at eye level.
"Hapi!" Rhode was somewhat surprised.
Elfman was stunned: "What?"
Rhode exclaimed excitedly, "I see Hapi!"
"Meaning..."
Given the distance, Hapi couldn't have flown over from the Guild alone, which meant someone was with him.
Or he and Natsu were just coincidentally in a place nearby where they could be contacted.
In any case...
"The comrades have arrived!"
Rhode and Elfman were almost moved to tears.
With injuries, depleted Magic Power, and the responsibility to protect Mar and Vina, their flight was the most helpless time Rhode had faced since becoming a Mage.
Even when facing the demon back then, he felt confident about escaping.
Now, just seeing Hapi's figure brought forth an overwhelming sense of security.
Rhode now felt he could lie down and rest.