23 Run, Forest! Run!

Wander was starstruck.

Such was his bafflement that he couldn't even think straight, perhaps the hit he took to the head due to a surprise attack from monsters was affecting him.

Carrying the Pallum, Aurora, in his back didn't affect his speed that much, but it did mess up with his already low fighting abilities.

He also couldn't make use of his enhanced parkour skills due to the added weight, meaning no shortcuts through rooftops.

As he had just started running, Wander could still hear the fire going wild back at The Maiden's. The explosions were so strong that even the earth under his feet was trembling like crazy.

It was a wonder how that pub was still holding on, though Wander doubted it would last forever.

That was one of the reasons he didn't take the shortest path to the city gates, he needed to take refuge and pray the fire wouldn't be so strong as to burn the whole city down.

Another problem was the Shadow Claw following right behind, constantly trying to rip him and his passenger apart.

Wander took a right turn to enter an alleyway, he jumped to the wall of the building to his right and again, somehow managing to vault through the fence sized wall to his left, ending up at a small garden.

Thankfully, the backdoor was already opened, and he didn't have to lose time breaking it. He entered old Betty's house and closed the door with a kick, overturning a bookshelf beside it to be sure it stays closed.

As he ran away through the front door, he could hear the monster breaking the obstacles apart in the back.

Still, he was safe for the moment. The monster was just a bit faster than he and now it was blocked off, Wander had successfully escaped.

Leaving the house, he took a right turn, heading towards butcher Chad's house two blocks away.

The way was thankfully clear of monsters for the moment, the bulk of them followed the civilians running to the gates.

This didn't mean that he was safe, however, as there was still fire.

*BOOOOM!* *VSHHH*

As if touching oil, the flames suddenly started spreading throughout the city with unbelievable speed. Wander was sure that he and Aurora would have no chance of escaping were it not focusing on heading towards the big hole leading to The Dungeon.

In a minute, Wander reached his destination, he kicked the butcher's door open and ran towards the trapdoor behind the counter.

He closed the hatch as he descended, carefully moving Aurora to his shoulder before descending, after he reached the ground, he once again placed her on his back.

Instead of a simple basement, the trapdoor led to Chad's freezer. The place was somewhat lacking in meat, the guy had probably ran away with a good amount of it.

Chad, the neighborhood butcher, was a paranoid piece of art that believed that the gods would one day decide to blow the city up.

Guy was probably right.

Wander headed deeper in, taking a hook holding a chicken while at it. Reaching the end of the freezer, he reached yet another door, this one opening to a tunnel dimly lit by magical lamps.

From here on, the air was heavy and thick. The smell of earth filled his nostrils and heat built up despite the fridge right behind.

The next several minutes were spent cautiously traversing a hole that barely fit the duo. Halfway through the trip, the whispers of flame licked above ground, a warning of the encroaching flames.

Perhaps they would have to wait underground until the fire died down, but Wander knew that it would take days if no one put them out.

He would have to hope that Aurora had an answer to their current problem when she woke up.

"Ngh..." As if on cue, his passenger finally showed signs of waking up.

"Good morning, little princess." Aurora flinched weakly on his back, her grip tightening in surprise for a brief moment before the waterfall of memories came crashing.

"Where... where are we?" The girl's speech was a little slurred, but she was swiftly regaining control of her faculties.

"A few meters right under the city." He rasped, allowing a frown to form on his face. "The tunnel ends a few hundred meters ahead, but it's a stretch of flames up above and I doubt anyone will be able to deal with it."

"How... What happened?"

"Someone blew up a hole to open The Dungeon to the outside, then the Maiden's blew up. I ran, then came the monsters, I ran again and now we are here." There was no attempt to rein the frustration from his voice, nothing made sense and that did not help.

It just wasn't fair.

Shaking his head, Wander stopped in front of the ladder leading to the surface. The hatch up above didn't seem to be set aflame, but there was definitely smoke coming through.

Inside his head, he cried to the firefighters, and then stiffened.

People needed oxygen, and the air below ground was already somewhat lacking. Now there was fire to eat what remained, they simply did not have the option to wait it out.

"Seems you're almost fine now." The words came through a troubled smile. "Do you have any ideas? We're going to die if we stay here."

At this, Aurora sighed before taking a blue crystal from one of the bags hanging on her belt. The object was covered in finely drawn lines that curved its entirety, shining in faint purple.

"One of my pricy trinkets." She started with a smile. "Sets a barrier around it that protects against harm, fire and harmful gases included."

"... How long will it last?" There was no way it worked indefinitely.

"As long as we are not attacked physically, 3 minutes, 30 seconds if we're not so lucky."

"It's what we have, it's what we'll take." He mumbled absentmindedly, inwardly hoping things weren't as bad as they seemed. "Do you have a plan B?"

Aurora chuckled weakly beside his ear, before answering in a helpless manner.

"I have a basic elemental resistance potion, but that's just for one person and it barely protects against a campfire."

Wander allowed a tired smile even while scaling the ladder, thoughts of what monsters he could possibly find out there in that rampaging hell.

There are a few types of giant insects which thrived in lava, but they were heavy and somewhat slow, they couldn't have ran so far, so fast.

Aside from that were the elementals, salamanders, slimes and...

He frankly had no idea, at most he knew that the majority of them had ranged attacks, so he should get ready for a bombardment.

Soon, he was close enough to the trapdoor that he could open it with a simple stretch of his arm. As Wander took a deep breath to plan his path and prepare for possible detours, Aurora's voice flitted faintly past his ear.

"Oh, I just remembered, I also have a haste scroll, so get ready to move fast."

"First official day in the job and already a life saver." Wander laughed out, his frustration lessening considerably. Still, he didn't think for a moment that they were saved, they had no idea as to what extent the flames had spread, not to mention the possibility of a monster ambush.

"Alright, on three." Wander nodded before taking a deep breath. "One. Two. Three!"

As he flung the trapdoor open and jumped outside, immediately making his way to the city walls, Aurora swiftly activated the barrier whilst tearing the scroll in two, stone still in hand.

The situation outside was even worse than expected, the buildings were completely covered in flames and swiftly collapsing. Going near them was definitely suicide.

As flames created by a spirit, they had the ability to eat magic power to strengthen themselves, meaning they spread faster and consumed faster.

Although none of them had any clue as to what was going on, Aurora realized the danger once she looked at the magic crystal which was both turning red and going pale at the same time, albeit slowly.

"This is not normal fire! The thing is eating the mana and damaging the barrier!"

Wander gritted his teeth, holding back a curse. Striving desperately to increase his speed, he asked the critical question.

"How much time?" Although his voice was loud, his tone was solemn. This was a do or die situation, after all.

"A little over a minute!" Which was definitely bad news.

Although the current district wasn't suffering as bad as the ones between the Maiden's and The Dungeon, it would still take him more than a minute to reach safety if he simply ran.

He discreetly looked at his system, the only skill that could help him move faster was Dash, but that was extremely draining on his already low stamina.

Perhaps he could have been a little frugal had he not been chased by monsters a little while ago.

"AWOOO!"

Following the worldly rule of everything bad getting worse, the howls of wolves resounded from a few streets away, with nothing more than a couple of buildings to to separate them from the human duo.

It didn't need to be said that both of them felt their hearts drop. They would barely make it out as it was, how low did their possibility of surviving plunge to just from that sound?

A lot.

It hadn't been more than twenty seconds since Wander started running before the monsters came into view, jumping out of alleyways and street corners just behind their prey.

As Wander failed to hold back a growl, Aurora's voice once again sounded beside his ear.

"Fire Wolves are the weakest monsters with the affinity, they are faster, but don't have ranged attacks. If we evade them, we live!"

The wolves were faster than the earlier Shadow Claw, and Wander didn't have the option of losing them in the buildings, not unless he wanted to completely lose his already low magic shield.

At the twenty six second mark, the Fire Wolves were mere meters behind him. Just as Wander prepared to Dash ahead and buy a few more seconds, he felt his package squirming on his back.

He had almost forgot that his passenger wasn't a simple lazy adventurer, but a reliable life-saver of a support.

As the first wolf lunged forward with the intention of biting down on Wander's leg, it was forced to eat a crossbow bolt. The beast gagged and whined in pain as it stumbled over the ground, boiling blood dripping from its throat and mouth.

Aurora let out a sigh as she kept her small contraption away, hidden once again under her sleeve. She only tensed further, however, as she was quite familiar with the way these monsters worked.

Taking some kind of grey ball from one of her pouches, she went back to informing Wander about their enemy.

"One of them is down, the pack will make a formation and surround us. Expect two or more at once!"

The fact that the Fire Wolves stopped playing around after their first casualty wasn't lost on the transmigrator, who spotted the pack of more than ten wolves forming small groups as he peeked behind him.

"In hindsight, couldn't I have simply Dashed ahead? They would've played around for far longer."

"Wouldn't work." Aurora let out a short, tense breath. "There are more coming from the front."

"AWOOO!"

Like a wake-up call, the sudden howling brought about five more wolves from seemingly out of nowhere to stand on the duo's path, a bestial sneer adorned the face of the newcomers.

Thirty second mark, the fire ended in approximately six hundred meters. The wolves lined up a hundred meters away.

"Drink that resistance potion, now." Was all Wander said as he drew his saber from its sheath, one arm still supporting Aurora, who held on tightly. The scene was a lot cooler if you disregarded the chicken hanging by his free hand.

The Pallum hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed his order.

Like so, the two ran from the oven and straight into the jaws of death, hoping for a little luck.