CH 119

“You guys,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, sir,” the guides answered while groveling. They had been tasked by Count Lucas to lead Eugene’s group to the forest.

“The way to Marine Forest. Right path. Are you sure?” Eugene asked.

“O-of course. This is the fastest and safest path to Marine Fores,” one of the guides answered.

“Hm.” Eugene gave a cold stare, and the guides quickly lowered their heads while trembling.

‘There’s something off about this.’

At first glance, one could think of them as being nervous in front of a high-ranking noble, but Eugene noticed that something was different. The guides were simply too nervous and frightened. Moreover, their behavior had been persistent over the past two days.

“Quick and safe? Until now, we saw a group of roamers. Three times,” Eugene asked.

“T-t-there are even more roamers on the other roads! I-I swear it, sir!” The guides bowed their heads while stuttering. Beads of sweat decorated their foreheads.

Eugene looked down at them for a moment before turning his head. “Luke.”

“Yes, Master,” Luke answered.

Eugene purposefully spoke in the Caylor Kingdom’s language, “Are they guiding us properly?” 

“It does feel as if we are taking a bit of a roundabout, but it is indeed the right path to Marine Forest,” Luke answered.

“Is that right? Did you see roamers this often when you used to live in the area?” Eugene asked.

“No, not at all. Roamers never approached any armed forces to the point where they were visible,” Luke answered. However, Eugene’s group had already encountered three groups of roamers during their journey. Each group of roamers had numbered around 40 to 50, and all of them had been low-ranking monsters. It was a force that would have been fatal to a group escorted by five or six ordinary mercenaries.

‘It just doesn’t make sense.’

Although their numbers weren’t much, Eugene’s group was a powerful unit that even an intermediate-ranking monster like a troll would avoid. Roamers would have learned to survive by adapting to the outside world, so it didn’t make sense for Eugene to have encountered three groups of them until now. If this were the case, then there was only one possible answer.

‘Are they purposely leading us to places that are teeming with monsters?’

“Oi,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, yes, sir,” the guides answered politely. They felt even more nervous after noticing that Eugene’s tone had shifted.

“Stop. Get lost.” Eugene continued.

“What?” The guides were confused.

“From here. We will go on our own. Them too. Leave the food, get lost together. Now,” Eugene said coldly while pointing at the porters pulling carts filled with meat, and the guides became even more flustered.

“H-however, sir, the count instructed us to guide you to the vicinity of Marine Forest. If we return now, surely we would…” the guides hurriedly tried to explain.

“I said, get lost,” Eugene declared.

Paaa!

“Hiek!”

“W-we’re going! Let’s go!”

Eugene revealed a bit of his Fear, and the guides ran away in fear and confusion. The porters also realized the seriousness of the situation and threw away their luggage before running back the way they came from.

“What? Dark Lord, are you sending them away? What about the baggage?” Wolfgan said while approaching Eugene.

“Most of the food is meat. It’s all for you beowulfs. So you will carry it,” Eugene responded.

“Ah, right. Yeah, we will,” Wolfgan said with an awkward expression.

Eugene turned around and spoke toward the group. “Something was definitely strange. They sent us guides even though we have Luke and insisted that we go around because of the roamers.”

“Hmm. Should I pummel some of the guide bastards? I’m sure they’ll spill the beans if I break a few bones.” Galfredik snapped his knuckles while glaring at the guides hurrying back through the field.

“No. Leave them alone,” Eugene responded.

“What if they return and say that you booted them, Master?” Galfredik asked.

“They would think it even stranger if we came all this way without realizing that something was off.” Lanslo commented.

“Hmm. Well, I guess that’s true as well.” Galfredik nodded before turning towards Eugene.

“So, what are you planning to do now?” Galfredik asked.

“What else? We will have to leave it to the man who knows the area the best among us,” Eugene responded while turning his head. Everyone’s gazes followed suit.

“Are you… referring to me?” Luke said with a befuddled expression.

“Who else is there aside from you? And you should have often gone into the woods with your father, right? Don’t tell me that you don’t know the forest?” Eugene asked.

“Not at all! I know it very well!” Luke replied vigorously. He had wandered through Marine Forest ever since he was young. It was no different from his own backyard. As such, it would not make sense for him to have lost his sense of direction after being absent for only a few years.

“Good. Take this,” Eugene spoke.

“Ah…” Luke politely held out his hands and received the object. It was the flag of the Black Dragon.

“Aide Luke Bosch. From here on, you will lead us,” Eugene declared.

“Master! I will defend the honor of your crest with all my heart, my body, and my soul!” Luke shouted with tears in his eyes. To be the flagbearer of one’s lord was an extremely honorable role.

“Kieeek! Aide Number Two is advancing in life! What if he gets cocky? Hey! This flag? This crest? I made it! I did everything! Hmmm?!” the spirit of desire shouted with jealousy.

Lanslo chuckled and Eugene hid his embarrassment as the group resumed their journey.

***

Luke led the group using the shortest route while disregarding the presence of roamers. The group reached Marine Forest’s entrance in less than half a day. As the western sky started to turn red, Eugene ordered the beowulfs to satisfy their hunger before entering the forest. However, Eugene insisted that they retained their human forms.

“Beowulfs. Even in human form. Will you have any problems at night?” Eugene asked. He knew that wolves were good hunters at night as well, but he asked just in case.

Wolfgan responded with a blank expression. “Huh? Don’t you know? It’s not only the Dark Clan that is loved by the night. And did you forget what day it is today, Dark Lord?”

“…?”

Wolfgan grinned while pointing at the sky.

“It’s a full moon tonight.”

Craaaack! Crack!

The muscles of the beowulf warriors started swelling with power and their overall physique grew slightly larger. In addition, a red energy began to swirl in their eyes, which were usually no different from humans.

“On a night with a full moon, we are stronger than the Dark Clan,” Wolfgan said proudly.

“Hoooh? Strong enough to fight me?” Galfredik asked in awkward Brantian. 

Wolfgan shook his head bitterly. “Unfortunately, not to that degree.”

“Kekeke.” Galfredik giggled with a satisfied expression when he saw Wolfgan’s look.

Eugene stepped up. “Hmm. Anyway. No need to worry, right? You won’t be smelling like a wolf?”

“Naturally. But why are you having us enter like this? Would it not be better to be in our transformed state?” Wolfgan asked.

“Seven armed humans and thirty unarmed humans. Seven armed humans and thirty beowulfs. Which looks easier to handle?” Eugene responded.

“Ah…”

“Then, let’s go in,” Eugene said. Eugene’s party and the beowulfs entered the forest. The cold moonlight leaked through the canopy of the forest, which exuded a damp, dreary atmosphere. Their destination was the center of the forest—Crawl Lake, where many animals gathered for the lycanthropes to prey on.

Luke possessed excellent night vision for a human, and he led the group through a path where their movements were unrestricted. Eugene expanded his Fear to detect any movement of life within a radius of 200 meters as he followed behind Luke.

Less than ten minutes after entering the forest, Eugene muttered quietly, “They are coming. It worked.”

“Oh. Lycanthropes? Are there any others?”

“How many are there?”

Galfredik and Lanslo asked. Eugene unsheathed Wolfslaughter and clutched Madarazika with his other hand before giving a short answer. “There’s a shit ton.”

Kyawwwwwooo!

Kyawwoo!

As soon as Eugene finished his words, malicious roars resonated throughout the forest. The sounds were slightly different from the beowulfs’ strong, heavy roars.

“Galfredik!” Eugene shouted.

Galfredik turned his head and shouted at the beowulfs, “Mutts! What we practiced! Do it!”

Kuwuuugh!

The beowulf warriors instantly grew two or three times bigger and formed groups of three. Galfredik, who was the self-proclaimed best trainer of mutts, had trained the beowulfs over the past few days to form charge formations.

Kuwuuuuuuuughhh!

The cry of two vampires and beowulf fighters caused the entire forest to tremble.

However…

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Awooo?”

Eugene, Galfredik, and the beowulfs paused at the same time. They were capable of detecting the presence of monsters by smell.

“Master?”

“Sirs! What’s going on?”

Luke and Partec asked with confusion. Eugene shared a dumbfounded gaze with the others before immediately striking the reins of his horse. “The monsters are running away! Follow me!”

The lycanthropes had reigned over Marine Forest for several years with hundreds of roamers under their command. Moreover, lycanthropes would gain enormous power during a full moon, just like the beowulfs. Even so, the roar of an Origin and the beowulfs had been so great that it caused the lycanthropes to freeze over. It had instilled great fear inside the lycanthropes.

Kuwuuuuugh!

Kyaaooooo!

Kieeeeeeeeek!

Uwaaaaaaah!

The forest was filled with the spirited roars of various creatures, as well as a strange cry. A great chase took place in the moonlit forest. The vampires and beowulfs radiated their Fear as if they were competing with each other, and every creature of Marine Forest was filled with terror.

Wherever the warm breaths and burning crimson eyes passed by, the branches would be broken, and the bushes fell flat as if to worship these demons. The eyes of the creatures were filled with the anticipation of slaughter.

Meanwhile, Eugene’s Fear continued to rake through large sections of the forest, and he eventually detected the fleeing lycanthropes.

“Krrr!”

Eugene took a deep breath on top of the shaking saddle, then drew himself back to the fullest like a bowstring.

Ziiing!

Madarazika resonated in response to the fear of its master as if it were eager to taste blood, and Eugene released the object that would one day make its name known as the Demon Spear of Darkness.

Kwarararararara!

Madarazika shot through the dark, disorderly forest in a straight line, tearing apart anything that dared to stand in its path. The black meteor even exceeded the speed of arrows fired by elves, and it found its mark as it penetrated the back of a fleeing lycanthrope.

Boom!

No, rather, it detonated the creature. Only the lower half and the head of the creature were left as blood dyed the creature’s surroundings like a waterfall. However, the Demon Spear of Darkness was still flying through the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooooooom!

Madarazika turned as many as ten lycanthropes into meat piles before eventually getting stuck in a giant tree.

However, it hadn’t finished its job yet.

Tutututu!

The master’s stallion belatedly followed behind Madarazika’s trajectory, and the spear gladly answered its master’s call.

Crack! Fwooosh!

Eugene recovered the spear before quickly loading it in the spear-thrower once more.

It was then…

Kuwuuuuuuuuuugh!!!

Neighhh!

Silion reared on his hind legs with shock as an intense cry ripped through the forest.

“…!?”

Eugene narrowed his eyes. Silion had always fulfilled Eugene’s orders regardless of the situation, except when he had been faced with griffons.

The thundering roar was a problem. Eugene had only faced a single being that conveyed such an intense feeling with its roar in the past.

Kuwwwwuuuuuuugh!!!

The creature was openly denying Eugene’s Fear and provoking him with its roar. It was very similar to that of the undead, twin-headed ogre.

‘Was this why you sent us here?’

Eugene came to understand why Lucas Crawlmarine’s eyes had glowed with a devious light. A cold smile appeared around Eugene’s lips.