"Run, children!" Grandma Annie desperately shouted to the fleeing Dwarves, wanting them to run faster towards the shelters.

She was already feeling faint after casting spell after spell without a single break. She hurriedly ate some of her candies to replenish her health and mana as she scanned her surroundings.

Not far from her, Randolph was fighting against two Draugr's with his hammer. The Blacksmith had been a warrior in the past, and even now, he would train his body as long as he had extra time, which was whenever he wasn't busy forging weapons or armor for the foreigners who would visit his shop.

"Die!" Randolph shouted as he smashed one of the Draugrs' head like a watermelon. He then rolled to his side, evading the attack of the Draugr behind him.

"Do you need help?" Grandma Annie asked as three Fire Bolts floated around her.

Randolph shook his head as he faced off against the Draugr in front of him.

"Save your strength, there are stronger monsters prowling about," Randolph said as he parried the slash of his opponent. "I'll kill this bastard first then we'll go help the guards take control of the situation."

"Got it!" Grandma Annie replied.

It was at this moment that they heard a loud explosion from the distance, followed by something falling from the sky.

"Cedwyn!" Grandma Annie shouted as she ran towards the Village Head who was seriously injured. "What happened to you? Who did this?!"

Blood seeped out of the corner of Cedwyn's lips as she gripped Grandma Annie's hand firmly.

"A-Annie, it's no use," Cedwyn said through gritted teeth. "The Village is done for. We can't win."

"Stop talking," Grandma Annie replied as she poured healing potion on Cedwyn's body and allowed him to drink a full bottle to help with his injuries. "We just need to hold on for an hour like always and the Riders of Norria will arrive. Captain Boreas is still here in the village, so he should be able to buy us time until the rest of his comrades arrive."

"No! It's no use!" Cedwyn stated as he stared at Grandma Annie with blood-shot eyes. "Run Annie! We can't win! No matter what we do, even if the Riders of Norria arrive, we can't win!"

"J-Just what are you talking about?" Grandma Annie stuttered.

She hadn't seen Cedwyn so desperate and helpless in the past, even if they were facing untold hardships.

"It's too late," Cedwyn said, almost sobbing as he pointed behind Grandma Annie. "He is here."

The old candy maker of Leaf Village turned her head around and her entire body stiffened after seeing the Monster that was standing on top of a house and looking at her as if she was a mere insect.

"M-Mutated Thunder Wolf King!" Grandma Annie gasped in shock. "No! This is impossible! It can't be here! It just can't!"

Cedwyn could only smile bitterly as he watched Grandma Annie's reaction. At first, he had also thought that he might just seeing things, but this was the reality that they were facing.

Earlier, he was forced to use a teleportation spell to forcefully send the Dwarf children outside the village. He didn't know where he had sent them because he didn't have enough time to properly set a coordinate.

All he knew was that any place would be safer than the village at the moment, so he sent them away before the Thunder Wolf King blasted them with its lightning bolt and turned them into ashes.

A moment later, another figure crashed into the house beside Cedwyn and Grandma Annie.

"Randolph!" Grandma Annie shouted as he looked at the Blacksmith who was not moving in the distance.

A moment later, a Red-Eyed Terror Mantis descended from the sky and landed near the fallen blacksmith. It then raised its bladed claw with the intention of ending Randolph's life, while the latter laid on the ground, heavily injured.

"Randooooooooooooolph!" Grandma Annie shouted with all of her might as the bladed claw slashed at the fallen Dwarf.

Flames swirled around her hand as she tried to cast her strongest spell in order to prevent the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis from taking her friend's life. She knew that her spell wouldn't make it in time, but there was nothing else that she could do at the moment.

The two of them had just been bickering with each other, and now, she could only watch helplessly as her friend lost his life in front of her.

Suddenly, the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis was blown away from where it stood and slammed into the wall of the nearby house, completely destroying it.

Grandma Annie and Cedwyn could only look at the figure standing beside the fallen Randolph with surprised expressions on their faces.

"Have no fear!" the fat, Demonic Defender cried out with arrogance. "Pazuzu is here!"

"P-Pazuzu," Grandma Annie stuttered. "If he's here then that could only mean"

Just as Grandma Annie was about to finish her sentence, a Black Warg leapt above her head and landed several meters in front of her.

Riding on the Warg's back was a red-headed teenager, with a baby slime perched on top of his head.

"Lux," Grandma Annie said, almost sobbing as she looked at the Half-Elf that she hadn't seen for several months. "Child, run away! Leave us here and save yourself!"

Lux turned around to look at the kind Grandma who would always invite him to eat some sweets in her tea shop whenever she saw him walking past her store. Seeing her in a disheveled state already made his heart ache, but seeing his Master, Randolph, lying unconscious on the ground, made his heart ache more to the point that he felt suffocated.

"Thank you for doing your best to protect everyone, Grandma Annie," Lux said as he shifted his attention to the two Alpha Monsters in front of him. "I'll take care of these pests for you."

The Half-Elf loved everyone in Leaf Village. Seeing it in such a state filled him with rage.

Grandma Annie wanted to dissuade the Half-Elf by letting him know that what he was about to do was suicide. However, her words stopped at the back of her throat as he looked at Lux's figure who was standing between them and the monsters who wanted them killed.

It had been a while since the last time she was protected by someone. She had always been the one doing her best to protect everyone in Leaf Village to the best of her abilities. Seeing Lux's straight and steady form, she started to believe that a miracle might just happen.

A miracle that would be fondly remembered by the residents of Leaf Village for many years to come.