Chapter 29
“Erika, let’s—”
Boom!
The ground caved in once again. The two of them leapt high into the air to dodge it.
A massive scale-covered creature reared up in an instant.
Crash! Boom!!
They barely escaped a series of successive attacks.
Scrape, shhhh—
A giant mass slid across the ground, sweeping everything in its path.
The sound of snake skin brushing against the earth in the rain was eerily chilling.
But the most terrifying part was its unnatural size that filled their entire field of view.
Raindrops bounced off it in dense clusters.
“…Switch swords.”
Chawood tossed his prized sword toward Erika.
Clack. Caught off guard, Erika grabbed it and looked at him.
It was the first time she’d touched Chawood’s sword.
“Switch swords? You’ve been eyeing my cheap iron sword from the shop?”
“No, I’m lending you mine.”
“Why would you…?”
The moment she gripped his sword, Erika felt her hands ache.
A strange sensation climbed up her arms and into her shoulders.
It was cold.
Chilling down to her bones.
“It’s made of mithril.”
“Made of what now?”
“It won’t break easily. Without aura, we won’t pierce that snake hide. I’ll lend it to you. Erika, toss me yours!”
Thunk!
As soon as they swapped swords, Chawood imbued Erika’s cheap sword with aura.
Erika gripped the top-tier sword, twirling it once in her hand.
“This thing feels weird. My palms are burning.”
“Not cold?”
“It’s that too…”
“Save the review for later.”
Their lighthearted tone was gone before they knew it.
Understandably so—their opponent’s presence was overwhelming.
The pressure exuded by the shadowy beast before them was unlike anything they’d ever experienced.
How could such a monster even exist?
Erika let out a loud, deliberate breath.
“…I hope it’s just big and nothing else.”
Hissss.
Screee—!
A piercing sonic boom rang in both ears.
It was impossible to guess what the shadow-beast was trying to do.
Which meant—
“Let’s go.”
Erika gripped her sword and kicked off the ground.
“The first strike always wins!”
A whirlwind rose in the pouring rain.
Clang, clatter.
The fully armed Holy Knights marched through the great Rukankan jungle.
“Vice-captain, does it always rain this much in Rukankan?”
“The downpour’s a bit much. Must be the rainy season.”
Rain poured relentlessly in the forest. Thunder and lightning roared now and then.
The Forest of Illusions was still far away. Since this was just a normal stretch of forest, they easily took down the occasional wild beast and pressed forward.
“What if it has awakened?”
“Doesn’t matter. Our job is just to scout and bring back evidence.”
The vice-captain answered flatly, masking any tension.
The 8th Division of the Holy Knights.
A team of those cast out from the upper ranks of the Grand Temple.
The 8th Division’s role had always been a branded one.
They were assigned the missions that other divisions avoided—but still had to be done.
“Check if its slumber has ended. Bring back proof. Was that really such a difficult order to understand?”
The ruler of the Forest of Illusions had long been asleep.
Once a revered guardian in ancient times, it had since become a corrupted divine beast.
Now, hardly anyone even remembered its existence.
Only the Grand Temple, keeper of ancient records, tracked its sleep cycles and prepared for them.
The Saint had ordered at least three knight divisions to be dispatched.
But after passing through the upper ranks of the temple, the plan changed.
“No additional support.”
“Th-that’s absurd! It’s far too dangerous with just us. If we encounter that thing—!”
“You’re just as dense as your commander. Tsk… This is why we never should’ve accepted commoners.”
Was this truly the will of the gods?
Doubts often crept in.
Their captain had been thrown in solitary for protesting. Everyone in the 8th Division came from poor backgrounds.
Had they not shown holy power, they’d have ended up farmers.
Dragged to the temple as children, they’d been handed swords before they understood what was happening. They grew up reading ancient texts without guidance or family.
They all knew the truth.
They had all read the records about the forest’s ruler.
They all knew that this so-called “recon mission” was a gamble with their lives.
‘Would be nice if we came back alive.’
Only their racing heartbeats echoed in their ears like a pulse.
They continued their march through the rain.
The Forest of Illusions drew closer. Soon, they’d have to be cautious of spatial distortion.
“…By the way, which forest did those mercenaries head into?”
“Mercenaries?”
“Yeah, those two we saw get off the boat on the opposite bank—near the start of the Rukankan Forest.”
The young ones whispered in the back.
The vice-captain, walking at the head of the column, let the words drift by.
‘Those mercenaries… Just two of them.’
They were probably still exploring the outskirts in the rain.
No one imagined they had dared enter the notorious Forest of Illusions.
No sane person would.
Erika wanted to die.
“I mean seriously, what the hell is that?!”
If she couldn’t kill it, she’d rather bite her tongue and die.
A shadow-beast snake as tall as a mountain.
Its sheer size was one thing—but it was absurdly tough and impossibly fast.
Boom!
Crash!
The surrounding forest was being reduced to rubble.
The thunder, lightning, and torrential rain numbed her ears.
Trees splintered into fragments, the ground was torn apart, and rainwater quickly filled the craters.
“AAAAH! I made eye contact again! Damn it, I’m gonna piss myself!”
“Erika, could you be quiet for a second? You’re making it target you again.”
“Do something about those damn eyes, you useless Swordmaster!”
“My aura isn’t hitting right.”
“WHAT?!”
“This has never happened before… I need to find a weak spot in the scales…”
Hisss—
The pressure from its glowing yellow eyes was impossible to ignore.
Her skin crawled on its own.
Erika gripped the mithril sword tighter.
Even sticking close to the creature yielded almost no effective hits.
It was like slashing at an unfeeling cliff.
She’d only aimed at the spot Chawood had managed to pierce with aura, but even that didn’t seem to budge.
“Ack! It looked at me again! Why do all six of its eyes keep locking onto me?!”
All six eyes were fixed solely on her. Erika felt deeply wronged.
She quickly drew her bow and nocked an arrow.
Whish!
Thump—
The arrow didn’t even come close to the head—swatted aside like a fly.
BOOM!
Trees shattered into dust. The chill up her spine was instant.
One hit from that tail and she’d be headed straight for heaven.
She flinched, then—
“…Shit…”
Stubbornness flared.
The beast ignored the Swordmaster repeatedly stabbing holes into it, yet kept focusing on her.
“Those damn eyes…”
Was she the easier target?
If it was trying to eliminate the weaker opponent first, her pride was seriously wounded.
“…Chawood, cover me.”
“What?”
“Just keep that filthy dancing tail busy for a bit.”
Erika gripped the sword and launched herself forward without hesitation.
She sprinted up the serpent’s massive back.
Splash! Rainwater sprayed from her speed.
She charged toward the head, slicing through the downpour that lashed her body like needles.
The snake’s body twisted and thrashed beneath her, but she barely managed to climb higher.
BOOM! Explosions erupted below as Chawood unleashed his aura.
Crash! Trees shattered again and again.
Whoosh! Smack!
“Whew.”
Finally, she made it to the top of its head.
Her long hair clung wetly to her face.
Erika raised the sword high.
