Chapter 232: Chapter 232 Desperate.
After seeing all of the human beings blown away toward the forest, the Griffin flapped its wings and descended onto the place where the human stood earlier. As the monster that was born inside the dungeon, the Griffin knows what its priorities are.
Its first priority was the invader; in his deep consciousness, the Griffin had been engrained to chase away the invader, or Human to be precise, preventing the human from getting to the dungeon's core.
Griffin approached one of the unconscious students who went limp after being slammed toward the tree trunk with closed eyes. Using its front leg, the Griffin turned around the female body facing the sky while beginning to open its sharp beak to rip apart the human abdomen.
Monster meat was indeed a good one, but the Griffin couldn't resist the allure of the human meat that rarely appeared in this area.
"Fireball".
However, its body twitches as the Griffin senses an incoming attack from the forest that flies straight to its face. The Griffin canceled its lunch and looked towards the incoming flame.
"Kaak".
The Griffin raised one of its wings to intercept the attack, but the moment the flame almost touched its wing, it dispersed into a small trail of flame that dissipated into thin air, and the real one came after it.
"Flash".
A blinding light began to shine brightly inside the forest area where the Griffin, who was caught off guard, took a full brunt of its light. Its sight darkens as the monster begins to thrash way in place, shaking its head severely.
Ryuu, who came from the forest, hurriedly took the female first-year who was still unconscious, before he went deep inside the forest, leaving the Griffin, who was still struggling to regain its sight.
"Nice job, Hina and Leon. Leon helps me carry some people who are unconscious, then leave this place".
"Alright Leader".
"I think it would probably be difficult in this situation".
Serafina, from the side, interrupted Ryuu and Leon, who were planning to carry some unconscious students in their hands. At the same time, the Griffin that had already regained its sight turned its sharp eyes toward the forest.
"Run!".
Ryuu forces his body to carry three girls on his back and hand. Leon also forced his body to carry the remaining two unconscious girls in hand as he followed Ryuu from the back. As for the others, they also began to run away from the place except for Hina.
Xiao Lian, who attempted to run with the other, saw Hina was submerged in thought. "What is she doing?".
Hina, who was left behind, began to rack her brain about how they should escape this predicament. The situation had turned for worse with the disappearance of the will to fight; also, because of the many people in their group, it would be impossible to escape from the Griffin claws. Except.
"...Tch, this is stupid".
However, after mulling it over in her head, this was the best route she could take in this situation.
"Fire arrows".
Beside her, a brilliant spark began to form before it changed into many arrow shapes that floated around, created from compressed flames; instantly, with a single wave of her hand, the arrow shot through the Griffin, making its attention locked on her. Being subjected to intense pressure from an overwhelming monster.
Hina's thought halted, but her body still managed to move as she maneuvered in the forest while launching a flame of arrows one at a time to bait the Griffin away from the other.
Xiao Lian stared at her, retreating back in terror; she saw the griffin also suddenly shift its attention to Hina, and with a flap of its wings, the Griffin soared to the sky.
"That idiot!".
"Xiao Lian, hurry!".
Serafina, who came to check on the two of them, noticed the absence of Hina.
"Where is Hina? Eh, Xiao Lian? Where are you going?".
Xiao Lian ignored the dumbfounded Serafina and chased after Hina's figure.
Hina, who got Griffin's attention, kept firing the arrow she created while running. She kept alternating her gaze to aim toward the griffin properly.
As a monster with high intellect, the Griffin chose to pursue Hina not because it was baited but because the Griffin thought Hina was the stupid one for giving her location by shooting that arrow.
In this dense forest, the people gathered earlier had entered deep inside the forest, and it was hard for the Griffin to track them. However, the griffin didn't have any concerns because the Griffin was sure that the humans would be trapped in this vast land for a while until the Griffin managed to eat them all.
Hina, who kept producing spells while running, felt a tremendous chill that pierced her skin. She looked up to see the Griffin diving in a straight line, trying to ambush her from above.
"Blaze shield!".
With danger threatening her life, Hina unconsciously used up all of her Mana tank in her body to create a transparent and thick wall made from a compressed flame emerging in front of her.
But the shield that managed to protect her from the demon's attack was nothing in front of the ruler of the sky. The moment the griffin clashed with the shield, it shattered into a hundred sparks, and the griffin, who ready its claws, gripped Hina's hands firmly and flew into the air.
"Red hair!...Kuh".
"Hina! This is bad!".
Xiao Lian, who saw Hina being lifted to the sky, knitted their brows in horror and kept dashing forward, trying to shorten their distance as close as possible.
As for Serafina, she hurriedly took a potion to replenish her mana, which had been depleted because of the earlier exchange with the serpent. She instantly gulps the content while beginning to cast wind magic to let her float. However, the speed she had was nothing compared to the griffin, but she grits her teeth and keeps pushing forward to reach Hina, no matter what.
Hina, who was being carried by the firm grip on her hands, felt a tremendous shock from each one of her hands, for she felt that her hands had become useless. Hina heard a cracking sound every time her body swayed, and the agony from the dislocated shoulders made her face contorted in pain. Her feet literally turned cold feet as she saw the land below that far away from her reach.
With Hina in claws, the griffin flew higher until they almost reached the ceiling with huge crystal chunks that emitted a blinding light like a sun, illuminating the land and giving it colors of life.
Still, this situation was turned much graver for Hina, for she couldn't open her eyes directly because of the light; then she felt the griffin movement had stopped as she felt a sense of weightlessness enveloping her. She realized that her body had dropped from above.
"Ah?!".
Hina jerked her eyes open and could see the figure of the smirking griffin turn far away because her body was pulled by gravity. Her heart was pounding wildly. It echoed in her ears.
With each time passed, she felt the surrounding air halted as the world turned gray each time the distance from the ground was shortened. Her mind began to race, searching for a way or a miracle that could save her from this predicament, but there was nothing in her mind.
Hand incapacitated, and her Mana had been emptied in the earlier exchanges. All fear that gripped her heart began to turn surreal. Slowly, she began to accept what would come to her. Within these final moments, Hina could only wait, suspended between life and death, as the earth kept shortening upon her. She muttered in her heart. "I don't want to die yet.
Soma!".