Chapter 22: Encirclement

"Richie! I didn't expect to see you here! Hahaha!"

Toriel enthusiastically greeted Richie, but Richie frowned.

"What happened to you?"

Richie looked surprised and worried. The way Toriel acted was different from the Toriel he knows. There was a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.

'Did they do something to him? Should I kill them?'

Hearing his question, Toriel smiles wryly and chuckles to himself.

"Hahaha. Well, nothing much... just....sigh... we healers take too many resources, so we were almost unanimously driven off the carriages and used as a diversion."

*Sigh*

Richie sighs in sadness but he was actually relieved.

'I thought it was something big. So it was just that he's angry but... I think there's more to it..'

"I guess we can do nothing about that."

"Hmph, I don't care anymore, they were the ones who threw us out. If they get hurt, then just let them die."

Toriel looked angry that he was being used as bait, but Richie could see a hint of restlessness in his eyes. It was not anger, but worry.

'He must be worried about his friends.'

*Rustle*

Richie hears the grass move. He thought that the enemy might be coming back with reinforcements.

"Anyway, they are about to come back, we should go quickly."

"Sure, just wait a second."

Toriel leans on a nearby tree and tries to stand up wobbly. After running for hours, his energy reserve has run out, so he can't stand up properly.

Seeing this, Richie smiled a bit and crouched in front of Toriel.

"Here, I'll piggyback you."

Toriel was a bit embarrassed, he wanted to rest so badly but his pride did not let him.

"Hmph, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need your help."

'Heh! He must be embarrassed, at times like this, I just need to make a reason that he can't object.'

"If you really don't want to, with your speed, the enemy might catch up and I'll have to princess-carry you."

Richie teasingly said.

"Hmph!"

Hearing that, Toriel's face looked reluctant but he tightly locked his arms around Richie. Richie suddenly stood up while holding Toriel's legs. Surprisingly, his speed did not slow down one bit nor did he lose his balance.

"Hehehe, do you remember? You used to do this to me when I was injured because of training?"

Richie suddenly said, which brought Toriel into a state of nostalgia.

Toriel remembered that Richie would always train outside and fight with wild animals, and he would always accompany him.

When lucky, they would bring a game back, but when not, Toriel would carry Richie back instead.

"Hahaha, you were so cute back then, look at you now. Tsk-tsk-tsk."

Toriel clicks his tongue but what was inside his mind was:

'In the past, you used to rely on me like I'm the big brother but now.... I can't even save myself....'

*Sigh*

Toriel felt weird, it was like the chick he was taking care of grew into an eagle that raised him up into the sky. Toriel has always hated relying on others but this one doesn't feel bad.

After taking a break, Toriel can now somehow move, so he and Richie ran towards the route that the previous carriage took.

They only ate fruits and sometimes, the games they caught. They slept atop the trees while using Richie's magic as a blanket and continued their journey.

"Oh, that's right, why did you go towards the mountain? I thought that you were supposed to detour around it."

Along the way, Richie suddenly asks as he was curious.

"Well, the thing is, we heard news that the path we were supposed to take was blocked by the enemies. So we had to go around the mountain's foot."

Toriel narrates while eating fruits. His pink lips still have fruit juice on them, which suddenly triggered something in Richie. It's like he wants to devour something.

Richie picked up a fruit and bit into it, however, the hunger didn't disappear. Perplexed, he decided to ignore it.

"Eh? Isn't that dangerous?"

Richie asks, he has heard of this mountain, there were thousands who walked inside it only to never come back.

"Don't worry, they'll just travel at the boundary of the fog."

Just like that, they've walked for days and walked into the forest filled with indistinct fog. The [Mountain of the Wandering Souls] was covered in a thick fog all day.

"Oh, I have good news and bad news for you."

Richie says while inspecting the carriage tracks on the ground.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Good news is, we're about to reach them, the bad news is someone is following them too."

"What are you still waiting for? Let's follow them and watch them die!"

Toriel says excitedly.

Richie sighs at Toriel's pretence.

'He must be worried about them.'

After walking for hours, they heard the sound of a fight. It was chaotic but the enemy knights were orderly encircling the evacuating team. Anyone that was trying to escape would be killed.

*Clang!* *Boom!*

The sound of swords clashing and explosions resounded throughout the foggy forest.

"Roar!!!"

"Die!!"

"Run already!"

You can hear the mixed cries of soldiers doing their best to live. They didn't care about the pain, the loss of their friends, the tiredness, or the blood. They just wanted to survive.

They fought and fought without caring about the wounds. They just run to where their legs can lead them. (When I was reading this, my sister sang 'one last time' and I got emotional, lol)

There were mutilated and burned bodies here and there, with their innards flowing out. There were faces filled with despair or anger in them, none of them died peacefully.

Toriel looked at this scene and felt that his heart was getting cut. He can't bear to see people getting hurt because they have no choices. They didn't have any choice but to fight because of the war.

'Looks like the carriage was surrounded in the end. The enemy is too fast.'

"They look pitiful, I changed my mind. Let's help them first."

Toriel was about to rush but he was stopped by Richie.

"No! Let's just focus on our objective."

"But what about them?"

Toriel asks worriedly.

"Well, what can you do anyway? You're just a healer, no one will protect you in the middle of a fight. And you may become the enemy's focus if they know you're a healer.

Richie looked Toriel in the eye seriously.

"Hmph!"

Toriel clenches his fist, he knows that Richie was right, but he just can't help but feel angry at his helplessness.

They hid in the shadows of trees using Richie's magic and carefully checked the victims. They looked for any clues about their friends.

There were hundreds of dead knights, children, elders, animals, and such. And they also found some of their friends...

In front of Toriel was a burned carriage. There were 5 burnt corpses inside, but he recognized them.

Seeing the corpses, he felt like a piece of his heart was broken. They already went to evacuate yet they still died.

He still remembered the times he played with them, their happy faces, the sound of their voice, their laugh, the looks in their eyes, their personality, their habits, the way they talk— he can vividly remember them. But it was all.... gone.

They have been friends since young, he has known them for years. Yet, they just disappeared. In the end, there are only memories of them left.

'Why?'

It was just a single word yet they strike Toriel deep in the heart. He feels that his legs can't hold on and he kneeled. Richie held him up and patted his back.

Toriel cried silently. His sadness was like a turbulent river, relentless wants to burst out. Thankfully, there was a dam named 'Richie' to help him.

*Sigh*

Richie can only sigh as he doesn't know how to comfort Toriel.

"Don't be too sad. Maybe they left something behind you know?"

"Yeah."

Toriel agreed but his face was indifferent.

'I'll let him mourn for a bit but we still need to go, they might find us here.'

Richie doesn't want to be caught and be surrounded by tens of enemies all together.

Richie was about to say something more when he saw something move. He looked at the corpse and prepared his magic.

"Who's there!?"

Richie asked but no one came out.

"If you won't get out, don't blame me for being rude."

Hearing that, the corpse suddenly rose up. But it was only for a small inch and Richie heard a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry... Please don't kill me...."

'A girl?'

Suddenly, Toriel's eyes lit up and he said a name.

"I— Izzy? Is that you?"

"U-Uncle Toriel?"

Toriel smiled in relief as he tried to locate her.

"That's right, it's me. Where are you? You're still alive?"

"Uncle Toriel! I'm here! Mama and Papa hid me underneath them. I heard them scream and I wanted to go out but it was so heavy!'

Thr girlish voice explains in a sobbing tone. Quickly, Toriel found the corpse that was covering a hidden compartment underneath. It was really small and suffocating, but there was a messy loli underneath.

She had brown hair that fell down to her shoulder, but they were dishevelled. She has sunken watery eyes and a dark pupil. She has a few black smudges here and there on her face. She was holding tightly into a stuffed bunny.

Seeing her face, Toriel hugged her tightly. She was suffocated but the warmth that Toriel gave brought her to tears.

"Thank goodness you're alive."

"Uncle Toriel.... Mama and Papa are dead! Waaah~!!"

The girl sobs and cries loudly.

'Damn it! I don't know who that girl is but she better be silent!'

Richie said in his heart in dissatisfaction but what he did was use his magic and try to cover the noise by making a barrier.

He doesn't want to ruin Toriel's happiness.

After a few minutes of crying they finally calmed down.

Richie suddenly interrupted their reunion.

*Cough*

Hearing his cough, Both Izzy and Toriel looked towards Richie.

Izzy was rather scared of Richie as he was too overbearing. She hid behind Toriel and peeked at Richie.

Seeing this, Toriel looked threateningly at Richie.

Richie rolled his eyes at this sight.

"You can continue your reunion later. We have to leave first. More people are dying and we are gonna be besieged by the enemies at this rate."

The three of them looked around and saw the encirclement. The enemy was closing in and if they wanted to escape, they would have to push through.

"We will go towards the mountain. Even though there's only a small chance of surviving, it's better than dying here."

'The problem is, with the encirclement, I can only pray that Toriel can run away.'

Richie shows a bitter smile. He knows his abilities and estimates that they'll have to run away fast.

Richie looks up at the dark sky. The mysterious fog in the blood-stained forest hugged the stars, but the luminescence radiating from the undying brightness of the moon remains unhindered as it overlooks the thriving beings beneath.

The moon was calm and undulated, as if it was unreachable, icy-cold, yet bright. It was like an indifferent noble God, watching the show from high-up above.

'Please.... if there's ever a God up there.... Please spare Toriel at least.'

With one last prayer, the three of them, covered with Richie's magic, began to move. They hid in the fog and tried to bypass the enemy lines.

"Wait... I feel something moving."

One of the enemies suddenly says. The surrounding enemy quickly smiled and got excited.

"Hahaha, looks like another prey is coming. Where are they?"

"Hmm... let me see..."

The enemy closes his eyes and spreads a zephyr.

He then felt 3 obstructions coming over.

"Hmm... I felt 2 adults and... a kid. They're running towards us. But....what's weird is..... they don't exude any auras."

The scout said he was frowning from confusion.

"Ohh! Interesting, let's see what they got."

The squad leader said, but the scout felt a foreboding feeling.

"But brother, what if they are dangerous?"

"So I'm going to let them go because they are dangerous?"

The leader looked at him frowningly.

"I.. I didn't mean that..."

"Hmph! You better not. Just tell me their location."

"Yes…"