Chapter 4 Chapter 3 The Road of Alone

Aaron made his way through the woods at top speed, making sudden turns and changing directions at random.He didn't want to be caught up by his father and taken back.But as Jeff's cry faded away, he realized that his father hadn't chased him at all. Why is he chasing?he thought.He knows that I must return before night falls.Otherwise, where else could I go? ——Go anywhere.The answer came automatically, and he knew it all too well. He couldn't get back to the farm and pretended nothing happened.He could not see Elaine occupying his mother's bed.Even the beautiful Rina, the good-kisser Rina, only reminds herself of what she lost and why.

But where could he go?One thing his father didn't think wrong, he couldn't escape forever, he had to find a place to sleep before dark, otherwise tonight would be his last night. Absolutely can't go back to Tibe Creek - no matter who you stay with, the other person will grab him by the ear and drag him home the next day, and then he will get a beating for this matter, and finally live the old life. Then go to Sunshine Meadows.If it weren't for Hogg who would send someone there when he purchased goods, and other than messengers, almost no people in Tibe Creek Town would go there.

Colleen said Regan would be passing through Sunshine Meadows on his way back to the Free Cities.Aaron liked Regan, the only grown-up he knew who treated him like an equal.The messenger and Kirin were more than a day away from him, and still on horseback, but if he moved fast enough, he might catch up with them in time, and begged them to take him with him to the Free City-Mirn. He still had Colleen's map hanging around his neck.The road to Sunshine Ranch is marked on the map, as well as the farms along the way.Even in the woods he was sure where the north was. At noon he found his way, or rather the way found him—across the woods, just in front of him.He may have lost his way in the woods.He walked along the road for several hours, but saw no farms, or the dwelling of the old herbalist at all.Looking at the position of the sun, he began to worry.If he was heading north, the sun would be to his left; however, in fact, the sun is in front of him.

He stopped, studied the map, and finally confirmed his fears—he was not on the road to Sunshine Meadows.This is the road to the Free Cities.To make matters worse, after the fork into Sunny Meadows, the trail was not marked on the map. Turning back didn't seem like the best policy, especially when he wasn't sure he'd find a place to sleep in time; he took a step back in the direction he had come. He made a decision—it was Dad's job to turn back, and I'm going to keep going no matter what happens. Aaron moved on again, completely forgetting Tibe Creek and Sunshine Meadows.With every step he took, he felt lighter than before.

He walked for several more hours, and finally walked out of the woods. The endless grassland spread out in front of him, without any traces of farming or grazing.He climbed a hill and took a deep breath of clean air.A huge boulder protruded from the ground. Aaron climbed on the stone and looked at this vast world that was completely unimaginable before.It was deserted as far as the eye could see, and there was no place to stay.He was a little afraid of the coming night, but the feeling seemed very far away, as if he knew that he would die of old age. As evening wore on, Aaron began looking for a place to spend the night.A few old dead trees look good around; there aren't many weeds on the ground, and he can draw sigils on it.But a Wood Demon can climb a dead tree and jump into his force field from above.

There was no grass growing on a hill made of stones, but when Aaron climbed up the hill, he immediately found that the wind was strong. He was afraid that the strong wind would blow away the magic seal and cause the force field to fail. Finally, Aaron came to a piece of scorched earth that had been ravaged by the fire demon not long ago.The sprouts hadn't broken through the ground yet. He kicked away the ashes under his feet and found that the bottom was hard soil.He emptied out a patch of scorched ashes and began drawing rune circles on the ground.There is not much time, so the circle is not too big, and he does not want to make any mistakes in order to rush work.

Aaron used a sharp branch to carve magic marks on the ground, and gently blew away the waste soil he picked up.He concentrated on drawing for more than an hour, one magic seal after another, stepping back from time to time to ensure that the position of the magic seal was correct.As always, his hands moved quickly and without hesitation. After the painting was finished, there were magic seal circles with a diameter of six feet on the ground.He checked it three times and found nothing wrong.He put the branch back in his pocket, and sat in the center of the sigil, watching the shadows lengthen as the sun went down, and the colors of dusk crept across the sky.

Maybe tonight he will go with his mother—Aaron told himself that it doesn't matter whether he lives or dies.But as the sky darkened, he became less and less courageous.He felt his heart beating wildly, and all instincts told him to get up and run.But he had nowhere to run, and the nearest houses were miles away.He shivered slightly, but not from the cold. This is a bad idea, whispered a voice in my heart.He pressed it back.But as the last ray of sunlight disappeared over the horizon and darkness enveloped the land completely, this brave act did not relax his tense muscles. They are coming, a voice of fear warned in his head, and wisps of mist rose from the ground.

The mist slowly condensed, and the demon's body gradually took shape.Aaron stared at them, clenched his fists, and slowly stood up.As always, the fire demon appeared first, dragging a gleaming flame, darting about lightly.Immediately after that came the Wind Demon, who took shape and started to run, spread his wings, and rose from the ground.The last one to play was the Stone Demon, who dragged his heavy body from the Demonic Realm of the Earth's Core into the mortal world after a lot of effort. At this time, the earth core monster found Aaron, screamed excitedly, and rushed towards him.

A wind demon attacked first, swooping down with claws on its wings, trying to tear Aaron's throat.Aaron screamed, but the moment the sharp claws came into contact with the magic seal force field, a shining magic light burst out.The demon continued to charge, and his whole body hit the force field, bouncing out in the flickering magical energy.Aaron escaped the attack.The wind demon roared loudly when it fell to the ground, but immediately got up, its muscles twitched, and its scales gleamed with magic light.Next came the flexible fire demons, the largest of which was about the size of a dog.They rushed forward, screaming strangely, attacking the magic seal field with their sharp claws.Every attack made Aaron shudder.But the magic seal field is as strong as a city wall.When they found they couldn't break through the sigil field Aaron had woven, they tried to breathe fire on him.

Aaron had mastered some primitive coping strategies—since he was able to hold a charcoal stick and draw a sigil, he knew some sigils against the spit of fire.The flame is the same as the sharp claw, once it touches the force field, it will be counterattacked immediately, and he can't even feel the high temperature of the flame. In the magic light activated by each force field, the earth core monster kept wandering around the magic seal circle, still trying to bite Aaron's body.But under the protection of powerful magic, all this is in vain. More wind demons swooped down, each time being bounced away by the force field.The same goes for the fire demon, who began to howl in frustration at him, bearing the sting of magic while hoping to break through the force field with brute force.Seeing them being bounced back again and again, Aaron put all fear behind him, stood up and yelled at them. This act of defiance enrages the demons, for they have never been so provoked by their prey.They doubled down on the attack, trying to break through the forcefield, and Aaron shook his fist and gave them the rude hand gestures that grown-ups compared to Hogg's back. Is this what he's afraid of?Is this what keeps humans living in fear?These sadly frustrated beasts?It's ridiculous.He opened his mouth to spit, and the saliva sizzled on the scales of a fire demon, making the other party furious. At this moment, all the demons suddenly fell silent.In the flickering light of the fire demon, he saw many demons in the center of the earth consciously give way, and the huge stone demon came step by step, shaking the ground with every step. Aaron used to always hide behind doors and windows to watch the demons, especially before the horrible incidents of the past few days, he didn't dare to stand so close to the demons, let alone confront them on the battlefield.He knew that demons came in different sizes, but had never looked closely at the differences. The stone demon was a good fifteen feet tall, and of a gigantic build. Aaron raised his head and looked at the rapidly approaching monster.Despite its distance, a stone demon appears taller than other demons, like a tower of sharpened stone.Its thick black shell protrudes from many pointed bones, and its long spiny tail swings back and forth, balancing on its broad shoulders.The monster leaned forward, and with every deafening footstep, the sharp claws on its feet left extremely deep claw marks on the ground.Claws the size of butcher knives grew at the end of the long, uneven arms. Viscous saliva flowed from the bloody mouth, and a black tongue licked a row of sharp-edged fangs, tasting Aaron's fear. A fire demon couldn't dodge it in time, so the stone demon waved his hand, and the fire demon flew away with thick juice splashing on the spot. Panicked, Aaron took a step back as the giant geocentric loomed, and then another.He didn't come back to his senses until the last moment, almost exiting the circle when he stopped. Thinking of the magic seal circle, he felt a brief relief in his heart.Aaron worried about whether his sigil would pass the test. He wondered if there was any sigil in the world strong enough to fight the demon. The demon sized him up for a long time, trying to shock the prey's spiritual defenses.Stone demons are generally slow-moving, but they can be quite swift if necessary. When the demon attacked, Aaron screamed loudly and fell to the ground, curled up in a ball, with his head in his hands. The impact was deafening.Even though his eyes were closed, Aaron saw the force field release a violent magic light, as if night turned into day.He heard the demon's dejected roar, opened his eyes to take a peek, and found that the earth core monster turned around and swung its heavy tail to attack the force field. Once again, the sigil flickered, and again, the demon was blocked. Aaron forced himself to breathe out a breath he had been holding in for a long time.He watched the demon beat his force field again and again, roaring angrily; a hot liquid flowed down his thigh. Ashamed of his cowardice, Aaron stood up and stared into the devil's eyes.He roared, a primal cry from the bottom of his heart - refusing to bow his head to the goblin and all that it stood for. He picked up a rock and threw it at the stone demon. "Go back to your Demon Realm!" he yelled, "Go to hell!" The demon didn't seem to feel the stone bouncing off itself at all, but was getting more and more angry because it couldn't break through the force field.Aaron cursed at the demon with all the obscenities he could think of, and searched the ground for anything he could throw. When all the stones in the circle were thrown, he began to jump up and down, waving his arms wildly, expressing his uncompromising determination loudly. Then he slipped and stepped on a sigil. Time seemed to freeze in the long silence between Aaron and the giant demon.After a long time, each other gradually understood the significance of what had just happened.The two sides started to act at the same time. Aaron pulled out the branch that painted the magic seal, leaned over and fell in front of the chaotic magic seal, and the demon swung its huge and incomparably sharp claws. Aaron's thoughts raced, and he clarified the situation in an instant, only to see that a line on the magic seal had been stepped off.While repairing the magic seal, he knew it was too late.The demon's claws sliced ​​through the flesh on his back. But then the magic worked again, and the demon was kicked away again, groaning in pain.Aaron, screaming in equal pain, rolled over and yanked the claw on his back; tossing it aside before he knew what was happening. Then he saw it, lying in the circle, twitching and smoking—the demon's arm. Aaron stared at the severed arm in amazement, and turned to find the stone demon screaming frantically, using the stump to slaughter any demon foolish enough to come within attack range. He turned to his arm, and the cut that looked like a knife and an axe was scorched and smooth, and a foul-smelling smoke oozes out.Aaron plucked up his courage, picked up his thick arm, and tried to throw it outside the magic seal circle, but the effect of the force field was two-way.Things that belong to the monsters in the center of the earth cannot come in or go out.The arm bounced off the force field and fell to Aaron's feet. Then he began to feel a throbbing pain.Aaron slowly touched the wound on his back, his palms were covered with blood.He was startled, and fell to his knees limply, because of the pain, because he was afraid of wiping another magic seal, but the most important thing was that he was still crying for his mother; now he finally realized the pain she endured the night before . Aaron spent the rest of the night in fear.He saw the demon move around, waiting patiently, hoping to find a hole to break through the force field.Even though he had the chance to sleep, he dared not fall asleep, fearing that he would inadvertently turn over in his dream and give the demon a chance. The dawn seems to be late after thousands of years.Aaron raised his head to look at the sky from time to time, but he only saw the tall Broken Arm Stone Demon walking around the scorched and festering wound tightly, his eyes full of hatred. It seemed like a long time before there was a faint blush on the horizon, then orange, yellow, and then a bright white light.As early as when the sky turned yellow, other earth core monsters had fled back to the earth core demon realm, but the giant stone demon waited until the last moment, baring its sharp teeth and roaring unwillingly. But the hatred of the one-armed devil lost to the fear of the sun.When the last shadow disappeared, its huge horned head sank to the ground.Aaron stood up and walked out of the magic circle, his back seemed to be on fire, and he frowned tightly in pain.The blood from the wound had already scabbed at night, and a slight pull of the muscle would cause a sharp tearing pain. The pain in his back made his eyes wander back to the demon arm lying beside him.The arms looked like huge tree trunks encased in hard, cold shells.Aaron picked up the heavy arm and lifted it in front of him. At least he got the booty, he thought, trying to look brave, though the sight of his own blood staining the black paws made him shudder. At this moment, a white light fell on him, and the sun finally rose completely.The demon's severed arm sizzled, and smoke filled the air like bones thrown into a fire made a crackling sound. Soon after, it burst into flames.Aaron quickly let go, his eyes widened, and he watched in fascination as his arm burned brighter and brighter, and turned into a scorched wreck under the sunlight.He stepped forward and touched it cautiously with his fingertips, and the wreckage turned into a pool of ashes. Aaron picked up a twig as a walking stick and limped on.He knew how lucky he was and how stupid he was—it was a risky business to draw a sigil on the ground, even Regan said so.What if he was blown away by the wind like his father threatened? Creator, what if it rains? How many nights can he last?Aaron didn't know what awaited him beyond the next mountain, but he had no reason to assume he'd run into anyone between here and the Free Cities.By all accounts, the Free Cities are weeks away. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and screamed loudly without giving in - bowing to fear was his father's way of life, and it didn't do any good. "I'm not afraid!" he said to himself, "I'm not afraid!" Aaron moved on, knowing he was deluding himself. At noon, a small brook covered with rocks lay at the foot, and the water of the stream was cold and clear.He couldn't help but knelt down to drink water.A stabbing pain came from the back.He hasn't had time to deal with the wound, let alone stitch it up like Kelin.He thought of his mother, and thought that every time he came home with an injury, the first thing she did was to clean the wound. He took off his shirt and found that the back was torn and covered with blood, and now the blood had congealed into a brittle and hard scab.He soaked his clothes in the water, watching the dust and blood clots flow with the stream.He laid his clothes on the rocks to dry, then lay on his back and soaked in the cool water of the stream. The cold feeling made him frown, but the pain on his back also eased a lot.He washed away the clot as best he could, brushing gently over the stinging wound until the pain was unbearable.Shaking all over, he crawled out of the stream and lay down on the rocks beside his clothes. After lying still for a while, Aaron suddenly woke up.Seeing that the sun was already westward and the day was coming to an end, he couldn't help but curse.He could go on for some distance, but he knew that it would be better to spend the extra time strengthening his defenses than to take such a foolish risk. There was a piece of wet grass not far from the bank of the stream, and he easily pulled the grass and cleared a clearing.He loosened the soil, flattened the surface, and began to draw the sigil.This time he drew a larger magic circle, and then, after checking it three times, he drew another smaller magic circle in the first magic circle to provide a double layer of defense.The wet ground resisted the wind, and luckily the weather showed no signs of rain. Aaron dug a hole, picked up some dry sticks, and built a campfire.He sat in the center of the inner circle, watching the sun go down, trying to forget that he hadn't eaten for two days.As the red sky turned lavender, he doused the fire, and then the sky turned deep purple, and he took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart.Finally, it was completely dark, and the monsters in the center of the earth began to appear. Aaron held his breath.Finally, a fire demon smelled his scent and rushed over with a roar.At that moment, the fear of last night swept over, and Aaron felt as if the blood in his body was frozen. The monster in the center of the earth did not notice the existence of the force field at all before it hit the force field.As the first magic light flickered, Aaron finally breathed a sigh of relief.The demons continued to attack, but in vain. A wind demon flew into the sky, swooped down from the weakest part of the force field, passed through the first magic seal circle, but bumped into the second force field while rushing towards Aaron.He fell heavily between the two force fields.Aaron tried to stay calm as he watched it roll over. Wind demons stand on two feet and are slender, with six-inch claws at the end of their slender limbs.There is a thin layer of skin under the upper arm and the outside of the feet, and the bones extending from the side of the body support the body.It is about the size of a normal adult, but its wings are twice its length, making it appear gigantic in the sky.Its head protrudes a backward-curved animal horn, and its limbs are also covered with membranes, forming a raised spine behind its back.A row of inch-long fangs protruded from the long and protruding mouth, which was faintly yellow in the moonlight. The earth core monster walks clumsily on the ground, which is very different from the arrogant and graceful posture in the sky.Seen up close, the wind demons pale in comparison to other demons.Wood demons and stone demons have incredibly hard armor and incredible strength, and fire demons have superhuman speed and spew flames that can burn anything.Wind demons... Aaron thought that Regan's spear could pierce their wings and cripple them forever. Night, he thought, I'm sure I can do it myself. But he had no spear with him.He tensed up as he watched the demon approach.It would be a disaster if the inner magic seal failed, and any earth core monster could easily kill him. It swung the talons at the end of its wings toward Aaron.Aaron was terrified, but the magic light shone brightly along the periphery of the magic seal circle, bouncing the demon out. After several trials, the wind demon took off again.It ran fast, spread its wings and swelled against the wind, but hit the outer force field before gaining enough speed to take off.Magic bounced it back onto the dirt floor. Seeing the wind demon struggling to get up from the mud, Aaron couldn't help laughing.Its huge wings may look terrifying in the sky, but on the ground it will only cause it to lose its center of gravity.The wind demon lacks the palms to support its body, and its slender arms are bent under its own weight. Trapped between the force fields, it tried to take off again and again, but there was not enough space between the two sigil circles, causing it to fail every time.Seeing the plight of the wind demon, the fire demon uttered a cry of joy, and jumped around like the wind demon outside the magic seal circle, laughing at its misfortune. Aaron is more confident.Made some mistakes last night, but they must not be repeated.He began to feel hopeful of reaching the Free Cities. The fire demons soon tire of taunting the wind demons, and scatter to hunt easier prey, as they breathe fire to force small animals out of their hiding places.A panicked little hare jumped into Aaron's outer seal circle, keeping the chasing demons out of the circle.The wind demon clumsily grabbed it, but the hare easily dodged it, ran across the magic seal circle, and jumped out from the other end, only to find that there was also a demon waiting for it there.It turned and jumped back into the circle, but ran too far. Aaron wished he had a way of communicating with the poor creature that it would be safe in the inner circle, but he could only watch as it jumped in and out of the sigil circle. Then the unimaginable happened.The hare stepped on a sigil when jumping back to the sigil circle.The fire demons shouted in unison, poured into the gap, and chased down the hare.The tired wind demon escaped from the force field, jumped to his feet, and spread his wings away. Aaron cursed at the hare, and even more so when he saw it jump at him.If even the inner magic seal was trampled by it, the two of them would be dead. Aaron used the agility honed on the farm, stretched out the magic circle with one hand, and grabbed the hare's ears.It struggled so hard that it nearly tore off its ear.Aaron has extensive experience with hares on his father's farm.He held the hare in his arms and stroked its back and the back of its head.After a while, the hare stopped struggling and looked at him blankly. He wanted very much to throw the hare to the devil.This is safer, as the hare might break free of his grip and stamp another sigil.why not?he thought.If I caught it during the day, I'd eat it. Still, he couldn't do it.The devil has taken too much from the world, too much from him.He swore he would never give them anything voluntarily, not now, never - not even under the circumstances. During the long night, Aaron hugged the frightened animal tightly, stroked its soft fur, and comforted it softly.Demons howled in all directions, but Aaron ignored them and focused on stroking the hare. This meditation-like practice had some effect at first, until a roar brought him back to reality.He looked up and saw a huge one-armed stone demon standing outside the circle of the magic seal, his saliva dripping on the magic seal force field.Its wounds had healed into a pimple on the end of its elbow, and it seemed angrier than last night. The stone demon beat the force field, not caring about being hurt by the magic light.The stone demon kept attacking, making a deafening crash, trying to break through the force field with brute force and avenge the broken arm.Aaron hugged the hare tightly.He knew the force field wouldn't weaken with repeated impacts, but the thought didn't allay the fear that the demon might actually have a way in. When the dawn drove out the demon again, Aaron finally let go of the hare.It jumps away immediately.He watched the hare go, and though his stomach was rumbling, he was reluctant to eat it after a whole night of suffering. Aaron tried to stand up, nearly falling over with the sudden nausea; the wound on his back was like fire.He lightly touched the swollen and painful skin with his backhand, and the thick brown juice that Colin squeezed from Sylvie's wound was immediately stained on his hand.The wound was hot and dizzy, and he was immersed in the cold stream again, but the coolness of the stream could not dispel the heat in his body. Aaron guessed that he might not be far from death.Old May Freeman, if he really exists, is still two days away from here.If he did have a demonic infection, it didn't matter how far away; he definitely wouldn't last two days. Still, Aaron was unwilling to give up.He stumbled onto the road, following the traces of the carriages on the ground in the direction they had come from. If he had to die, he would rather die on the way to the free city than die in the prison behind him.