CH 154

In the forest, where it was still dark in the daytime, I ran along the beaten path. Fortunately, there was no sign of demonic beasts around me, so I was moving forward at a good pace――

(Well, So much for good pace, huh?)

The loud vibrations echoing from the front made me rush to climb a nearby tree and hide myself in the thick foliage. After waiting for about five minutes, a large number of demonic beasts ran past my feet.

(…Phew, this passed too)

After making sure that there was no longer any sign of anyone moving around me, I climbed down from the tree and resumed my progress. At first I counted the number of encounters with demonic beasts, but in no time at all I had stopped at over ten. With such frequency, it was useless to count.

(The one earlier was a goblin, and this one was an oodle rat. Neither of them are strong demonic beasts …, so I guess all the ones in this forest are only demonic beasts under the influence of the Demon King)

Normally, only powerful demonic beasts, which were the top predators, would move in such a haphazard manner. However, all of the demonic beasts I encountered in this forest, without exception, did not hide or look around while on the move. In other words, although they were weak demonic beasts, they were not worried about being attacked by stronger demonic beasts at all.

This was proof that all the demonic beasts in this forest were under the influence of the Demon King. Well, since so many of them come to the walled city so often, it was obvious that this had already happened.

(…Come to think of it, isn’t this the Demon King’s army? Well, I guess it’s not really being controlled as a proper army though.)

They will rise from the dead, advance in a straight line to the sphere of human life, and fight to the death. Even though they were given very simple orders, if they were operating under a unified will, it would still be an army.

If the people of this world had recognized the demonic beast attack as a “attack in waves like an army” at an earlier stage, could they have handled it differently? If they had understood that they could only “faithfully carry out the order to attack,” rather than instinctively attacking, or if they had responded differently ……

(Ha, it’s too late now)

I put aside my useless thoughts and focused on moving forward once again. As expected, it was not possible to reach the location of the Demon King in a day or two. …..It has already been five days since I started advancing through the “Black Forest”. Seeing an opening,I used [Hermes Dash] and [Mirage Shift] to advance, I must have gone quite a distance, but I still haven’t reached the Demon King.

(……I should rest)

Aware that I was talking to myself more and more, I stopped behind an inconspicuous rock and took out water and food from the [Stranger Box]. It was really great that I didn’t have to eat the friggin’ mucky preserved food because Tia was always filling it with food in a timely manner, However, on the other hand, I can’t exactly eat freshly cooked food that has a strong smell.

But it was heavenly compared to biting into a piece of hardened black bread and a piece of dried meat. In fact, it tastes amazing. Why?

“…… Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, doesn’t Tia have that skill?”

I think it tastes better when Tia is involved in the final stages of the cooking process, right? Well, if it tastes good, I have no complaints. After putting a piece of paper in the [stranger Box] with my impressions of the food and the progress so far, I get up again and start moving forward through the forest.

“!?”

And just then, I sensed a large number of demonic beasts ahead again and quickly climbed up a nearby tree. Unfortunately, what came was a massive pack of Grey Wolves. Although it wasn’t something that could drift far away, it was impossible for there to be no remaining scent of our meal. Moreover, Grey Wolves are troublesome creatures with a keen sense of smell.

(……………………)

I tried to keep my body as small as possible and my breath as quiet as possible to see what was going on. Then a gray wolf passed by my feet,…. and several of them stopped close by and scurry around, twitching and moving their nose.

(Damn it, what should I do? Use [Mirage Shift] ?)

Once I use it, I can safely leave any situation. However, once I use it, I cannot use it again for 24 hours, so it is not a skill that I can use to expel people lightly. Then what should I do? If it’s just Grey Wolves, it’s easy to defeat them. If only they come towards me, no matter how many there are, they won’t be a match for me.

However, it would be very difficult to chase and defeat all of them if they escaped in a heap, and if I did so, I would encounter other packs of monsters and be unable to catch up with them.

The only thing I should be wary of is that the Demon King might attack me in the midst of a crowd of demonic beasts, and if he gets one hit and all my banishment skills are disabled, you can guess what will happen to me ……. Then at the very least, I should refrain from any reckless activities until I have confirmed the appearance of the Demon King.

(…… Right. There’s that thing. It’s time to use it, huh?)

I suddenly remembered something and I activated the banishment skill, which I rarely used. Then my presence assimilated with my surroundings, and soon after, the Grey Wolf’s eyes did indeed look in my direction, but ……

“….OOON!”

The howling grey wolf, however, left the scene without paying any attention to me. After counting to 100, I finally relaxed my chest and released the tension in my body.

“Hah …… saved my life. What the heck, it works.”

Just now I used the banishing skill [Vanishing Idea]. It is a skill that makes my presence blend into the surroundings, creating a situation where I am visible but unnoticeable. …. In fact, until now, it was a completely useless skill.

The reason for that is because in order to conceal my presence, there must be a large number of beings of the same species as me in the vicinity… In other words, it can only be used in a crowded place, and its effectiveness is greatly reduced if the enemy recognizes and searches for me. It’s a skill, which lowers the rate of me being recognized when I’m blending in a crowd and not noticed as myself.

However, when I tried it for the first time in a while, I found that it seemed to have been powered up as well. Of course, if I move in an unusual way, I will be immediately recognized, but conversely, if I stay still, it seems that I can expect a considerable recognition blocking effect.

“This is effective, helps me save [Mirage Shift]”

Not that anyone was watching, but I was grinning and giggling as I made my way through the forest again. With more covert means at my fingertips, my speed of progress increased …… and finally, it appeared before my eyes.

(…… found it)

Standing there in the dark forest, something cloaked in black miasma. I don’t need to check the [Akashic Compass] response to instinctively know that that’s part of the Demon King’s …… my power. Its progress was quite slow, and at this rate it would take at least two months to reach Drasdon.

(But what is it? What is it doing?)

I had thought that the Demon King was surrounded by an endless stream of demonic beasts, or rather, that they were continually resurrecting. But for some reason, there were no demonic beasts around the Demon King, and instead, a black miasma that had suddenly separated from the Demon King was flying and dispersing to various parts of the forest.

(Is it flying something?) Does that mean there’s a good chance that the demonic beasts are resurrected at the destination of that thing? I’d better check.)

If he can resurrect the demonic beast at a remote arbitrary location, rather than around him, then the way to deal with it changes. I carefully turned myself around on the tree, trying not to make a sound. But when I look back, I see a black, round miasma floating right next to my face――

{…..Found You}

The moment I heard the voice coming from the bright red crack in the black miasma, I kicked the tree branch with all my might without any hesitation at all.