Stepping out into the cold evening air, Paul finally noticed that he had spent the whole day treating the girl.
Not like it bothered him or anything, but he needed to wrap this up quickly, as he had other matters to attend to.
A moment later, Wen Lan came out.
-You can come back. She is calm now, and we explained everything to her.
She said.
-I'm sorry for my panic just now, and thank you for saving me.
The girl that Paul just saved said as soon as he entered.
-I don't blame you, considering what you went through.
Paul smiled, calmly, seeing that the girl was in a much better mental state than he dared to hope for.
-Elder, were there other teams that went out after us?
The girl suddenly asked.
-No, there were none.
Once you returned in such a horrific state, the ones who were preparing to go abandoned the idea.
Wen Lan answered.
-Good, I don't think that any of us can leave this place, through the forest, even if we all went out at the same time.
The girl said with sadness and pain in her voice.
-Ling, what happened out there?
The elder asked, hoping for some more information.
-In the beginning, everything went well, and we went ten kilometers away from the city without any trouble, but we remained vigilant at all times.
At around fifteen kilometers away, we noticed shadows moving between the trees, but we could never see them for long enough to identify them.
The girl started relating the unsuccessful escape attempt.
-By the time we reached around twenty kilometers from the city, we noticed that the two sisters, who served as the rear guard, vanished.
No screams, no struggles, not even a sound.
One moment they were there, the next one, there was no trace of them.
We went back to look for them, but found only a trace of blood and a few arrows on the ground.
That was when they appeared.
The girl said and shuddered at the memory.
These things looked like humans mixed with many different beasts.
They were terrifying to look at and very powerful.
The girl took a break to collect her thoughts.
As soon as they appeared, they attacked, aiming at the strongest sisters and taking them out within moments.
By the time we realized that we were ambushed, more than half of us were either killed, wounded, or dragged away.
Sister Mina ordered everyone who could still move to run back to the city and warn everyone about what was going on.
The next moment, she was struck by one of these things and dragged away.
We ran; there were six of us who could still do so, and the wounded sisters tried their best to buy us some time, but they didn't last long.
The last time I saw them, they were surrounded by at least twenty of these monsters, and a group of at least a dozen of them chased after us.
As we ran, they took us down one by one.
When there were only the three of us, I was attacked and struck.
I hit something hard, and before I knew it, the monster was in front of me.
I stabbed it with my dagger, but it was like that thing didn't even feel it and simply cut off my hand.
That's when the ice twins came to my aid; they hit the monster with frost spears, taking it down.
They were the only two who were still uninjured.
I begged them to leave me and save themselves, but they only ordered me to get to the city, saying that they would buy me time, and I needed to leave, as they were going to unleash the frost fortress.
I listened to them and ran away, leaving them to the monsters.
Ling was crying at this point.
-They should have been the ones to escape; they should have left me to die and saved themselves.
The girl sobbed.
Everyone in the room knew that she was simply blaming herself, as her sisters sacrificed their lives for her, and she was feeling guilty that she survived while others died.
-Young one, calm down.
Lord Sei materialized at that moment, surprising everyone.
-I need you to repeat the name of the technique these ice twins planned to use when they stayed behind.
-They said that it was a frost fortress.
Ling repeated, still in a daze, seeing a ghost right in front of her.
-Thank you, and for your information, the two of them might still be alive.
Sei said, then turned to Paul.
-I have a favor to ask, and it is dangerous.
-Let me guess, you want me to go look for them?
Paul sighed.
-Yes, and the reason for it is that these two might be reincarnations of two of my women, and that technique of theirs is their original technique, which requires both of them to unleash it at the same time, for it to work.
Sei explained.
-Did you forget that this happened over two weeks ago?
Paul asked, seeing no sense in risking his life to find people who were most likely dead or worse.
-The time does not matter if the technique was activated.
This was their last resort technique, and it works by preserving them in magical ice pillars.
These things not only preserve them but also defend them, as anyone or anything that touches these pillars is instantly frozen solid.
Additionally, with the shadow cloak spell at your disposal, there is little to no chance of you being detected.
Sei explained, hoping that Paul would help him, despite the risks.
-Alright, old man, but you owe me big time for this.
Paul agreed, after thinking that for his ladies, he would do the same.
-Ling, how far away were you from the city when the two of them told you to escape?
He asked, hoping that it was not too far away.
-I don't know, exactly, but I think that it was about five kilometers away or maybe even a bit further.
After I was injured, everything was a bit hazy, but when I left, no more beasts were chasing after me.
-Good, then it was close to the pulse range.
Paul nodded.
-Thank you for this information. Now get some rest.
Paul said and cast a sleeping spell on the girl, before she could do anything to stop him.
-Let her sleep, for now, and inform the others about everything she said.
He turned to Wen Lan.
-Are you really going to look for them?
The elder asked.
She was more than just worried about his safety, as he was not even at the beginning stage yet.
-Yes, and I'm going as soon as I get my battle gear.
As Sei said, the shadow cloak should make it almost impossible for these monsters to find me, especially at night, and if he is right about the technique, then any monster that touched the pillars should be frozen by now.
Paul said and left to get his battle gear.