They're trying to escape.

  Scar came to a very simple conclusion. The parasites knew their time was running out, so they had to escape.

  But I know better than anyone that there are no safe places to hide in this region.

  The only place completely free from human interference in the region was the Swamp Monster Area, but it was from there that the parasites had escaped in the first place. If they did not intend to return to where they came from, their extinction was only a matter of time.

  However, the elf was unable to understand many things about the current situation. First of all, he did not understand why they had fled the Swamp Monster Area. There were many better races to prey on there than humans, who were no match for them.

  However, having no other choice, he decided to wait out the whole thing until its natural end. He didn't like the parasites roaming his territory, but he didn't view them as too much of a risk.

  He decided to increase security and send more animals to watch for potential intruders. You can never be too safe.

  “The Inner Court is really taking its time,” he whispered to himself as he traversed the forest valley. “At this rate, no one will survive.”

  Contrary to what May thought, not all of the students had died; in fact, quite the opposite was true. They were enslaved, but only a small number had been killed, and few had been turned into parasites.

  The elf hadn't lied to her; she had come to that conclusion herself, and he simply hadn't corrected her.

  He was afraid that her poor, naive child's heart would want to save them. The elf wouldn't have been able to help her, and going there alone would have been suicide. So he decided it would be best to say nothing.

  The elf looked around and decided to go back and see how May was doing. Although he had plenty of duties to attend to, he felt somehow responsible for her fate.

  He returned and went to the place where she was locked up. The door was guarded by a rock troll, whom he had named Frondo.

  As he approached, he felt a significant energy coming from behind the door and smiled when he sensed it. The pill was working better than he thought.

  “Frondo! Guarding!” The troll boomed in his heavy voice with great pride. He was loyal but rather stupid.

  “Silence.” he ordered. He didn't want May to lose her momentum. Frondo immediately fell silent. His word was sacred.

  Then he immersed himself in his work, as he was accustomed to doing. Working alone upstairs, he almost forgot that he had guests.

  It wasn't until the next day that he remembered May and felt a little ashamed that he had forgotten her. He immediately rushed to see her.

  When he arrived, he found only a troll guarding the empty room. From what he said, it seemed that May had left some time ago. However, Frondo continued to guard the empty cave, as he had not received orders to stop.

  Scar immediately informed him that his duties had long since ended. He then decided to find May.

  However, the caves were extremely vast, and finding anything by searching blindly was next to impossible. Wanting to find her as quickly as possible, he used his abilities. He touched the cave wall and felt where she was. Once he had located her, he immediately headed in her direction.

  “There you are. I finally found you.” he said.

  “I didn't know you were looking for me. Do you need something?” she asked curiously, looking up from what she was doing.

  “I just wanted to ask how you feel after taking the pill. From what I can see, the effects are quite good,” he inquired, sensing a distinct increase in her strength. He didn't need to use any special abilities to do so; his detection skills were strong enough on their own.

  “The effects exceeded my expectations,” she said. “I skipped the entire Minor Stage. I'm only one step away from reaching the sixth stage!”

  His voice was filled with extraordinary enthusiasm and happiness. She couldn't believe how lucky she had been in her life so far. Other people could only envy her.

  “I'm very happy for you. From what I understand, just taking it should extend your life by a decade or two.” he said, nodding his head.

  Although it wasn't a long time for cultivators, and certainly not for elves, May still believed that two decades was a long time, and it made a huge impression on her. Two decades were almost her entire previous life, in which she had achieved so much. For the people here, however, it was only a brief moment.

  “I feel, how should I put it, like I've been reborn.” she said.

  “Indeed, its health effects are incredible, especially for people at lower levels like you.”

  “I don't know how I can repay you...” she said in a quieter voice. There was a moment of silence.

  “There's no need, I'm just doing what I want to do.”

  The elf was not her official Master, nor did he want to be, but so far he had done unimaginably altruistic things. May even doubted his intentions, but she felt that he was secretly extremely good.

  Again, there was a moment of awkward silence.

  “We should celebrate somehow, I'll bring some wine.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  May was in a slight shock and without thinking, she said to him:

  “But I'm only eight years old...?” She said uncertainly.

  The elf looked at her in surprise, as if he didn't understand what she meant. May looked at him in amazement.

  “It's... pretty good wine. Don't you like wine?” He asked uncertainly, not understanding.

  May blushed slightly, realizing that drinking alcohol, especially wine, was not banned for minors here. She turned her gaze back to the elf and noticed that he really didn't understand her, and sighed.

  She had died of alcohol poisoning on Earth, which was quite humiliating. She was a little traumatized by it and didn't want to get drunk ever again.

  “But just one glass of this wine,” she said, not wanting to refuse him. The elf smiled and went to fetch his best wine.

  As a cultivator, my resistance should be better...

  Finally, the elf returned with a bottle of red wine, which he began to pour.

  “I raise a toast to your success and the successful achievement of a new stage of cultivation!” he said, raising his glass, and May did the same.

  May took a small sip. She wrinkled her whole face as the acidity hit her palate, but after a moment, the taste gave way to an overwhelming and exaggerated sweetness. The taste was reminiscent of red currants with the flavor cranked up to the highest level. Fortunately, the wine was not too strong.

  “I'd like to see Zhifang,” she said. “I haven't seen him in a long time and I still don't know why he's been imprisoned.”

  “One of the only rules of your living here was that you were not allowed to see him,” he replied after a moment, glancing at his wine. “But I also promised to explain my concerns to you. That's why tonight I'll give you some books to read. Then you'll understand why I'm doing what I'm doing.”

  May frowned. Every time she asked about Zhifang, he always avoided the subject.

  At least I'll finally find out some specifics.

  “Why did you wait so long?” she asked, as he had avoided the subject until now.

  “I wrote everything down and organized it myself. I'm not very talented when it comes to writing, so it took me a while.”

  “Couldn't you have just told me verbally? It would have been faster.”

  He shook his head and sighed.

  “I had to organize everything myself. It's the first demon in these lands in many years... There are many ancient elven legends and beliefs. I had to organize my thoughts.”

  May was astonished by his words.

  “Legends and beliefs...?” She said slowly, with a slight doubt in her voice. “So they're just legends, not confirmed information?”

  “Legends have their roots in reality and are a source of knowledge for future generations.” he continued, drinking his wine.

  “I thought you were more of a rationalist, with your feet firmly on the ground. I would have expected you to be guided by reason, not the beliefs of old women.” She was slightly disappointed by this information and began to doubt his judgment.

  “These aren't old wives' beliefs.” He objected immediately. “Eargh't Norsa Livverta. The Song of the Darkest Day.”

  “Is that the name of the legend in your language?” She asked, hearing the elven language for the first time. He had never used it in her presence before.

  “It's not a legend, but a prophecy.”

  May was surprised. Although there was a cultivation in this world that contradicted everything she knew about science, prophecies still seemed ridiculous to her. She didn't think it was possible to predict the future. However, she decided to keep an open mind.

  “And what does it say?”

  “You'll find out when you read it tonight. It's a warning.” He said with unusual seriousness.

  “About demons?”

  “Yes, about demons.”

  “But what makes you believe it is real?”

  “Because I saw with my own eyes what she said.”

  May was shocked, but until she read the contents of the “prophecy” herself, she would not come to any conclusions.

  After a moment, she decided to gather her courage again and ask to meet Zhifang.

  Although she wanted to get rid of the thought that the elf was lying to her and that the boy was already dead, she wanted to at least see how he was doing.

  So she asked again.

  “No. I already told you.”

  “But why? I just want to talk to him, nothing more.”

  “It's best to keep contact with demons to a minimum. You never know who's listening.”

  His answer surprised May, but she didn't give up.

  “At least five minutes... I just want to confirm his condition.”

  “Five minutes is more than enough for you to be marked with the Devil's Seal.”

  May insisted, however, and after about five minutes, Scar decided to compromise.

  “All right, but I'll stay with you. Also, you can't actually see him.”

  May agreed, she just wanted to confirm that he was alive.

  The elf led her to a section of the cave she had never been to before. They walked downhill, into increasingly narrower corridors. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to find her way back. She thought that the elf was deliberately leading her this way so that she couldn't find her way out.

  Finally, they reached their destination. Zhifang was eating something. May spoke to him, but she couldn't see him through the thick door.

  “May? Is that you?” he asked in a trembling voice.

  He hadn't had contact with anyone for a long time and couldn't believe he could hear her.

  May asked about his conditions.

  He lived modestly, but he received food regularly and wasn't starving. Most of all, it seemed that he lacked company. The elf listened closely to their conversation.

  “It's not so bad, I cultivate all day long. Admittedly, I don't have any pills or other resources, so it's not that fast, but I've managed to reach the next stage anyway! Now I understand why cultivators lock themselves in rooms in isolation for years.” He said, clearly wanting to talk. “Will you be coming here again?”

  May replied in the negative, which made him sad.

  The boy had many questions for May, mainly about what was going on. He was, after all, quite uninformed. She explained that they had been given shelter by a certain person, not mentioning, of course, that it was an elf and that he would release them when the war was over.

  However, she did not tell him that he was facing execution because he was a demon.

  “But why is he keeping me locked up and not you?”

  May was about to answer, but Scar grabbed her by the arm. The message was clear: watch what you say. May thought for a moment and then replied.

  “You’re in quarantine…” She quickly made up a lie. “You know, we can't be sure you're not infected with a parasite or something. I've already been out of quarantine, but you need to stay there for a while longer, just to be on the safe side...”

  “Oh...”

  They talked for a while longer, but soon after, the elf signaled to her that her time was up.

  “Wait, don't go! You just got here!!” He shouted loudly.

  “Sorry.” she said and was led out of the room.

  When they returned to the main room, she sighed regretfully.

  “It had to be this way,” said the elf. “That's why I didn't want you to see him.”

  “At least now I know he's okay.”