Chapter 256

Chapter 256

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Chapter 256

The two of them stopped talking and looked at each other. Kishiar turned around and immediately issued an order.

"Yuder, follow me. We're going to check on the mages. Everyone else stays put and protects one another. The majority of you are not yet acclimated. Leave the guarding to the Hinn and Finn Eldore."

"Understood!"

The mages were within a stone's throw, close enough to reach with a quick sprint. However, letting one's guard down in this dense jungle was not an option. Placing Ejain among the group members, Yuder promptly moved toward the mages with Kishiar. Even as Yuder and Kishiar approached, the mages were engaged in a heated argument.

"We should just move on! By the time we finish arguing, we could have been long gone!"

"Are you mad? We should obviously go back!"

"Go back where? In this situation!" Yôur favorite stories on n/o/(v)e/lbin(.)com

"...What on earth is going on?"

Upon Yuder's interruption, Lorna turned around and answered with a grimace.

"We discovered something that wasn't there before we arrived. There's a tense standoff between those who want to ignore it and move on, and those who want to go back. What do you think? What does it look like to you?"

Yuder followed her pointing finger, but all he saw were the familiar trees they had been seeing thus far. However, squinting slightly and focusing, he realized there was something else amidst them.

Twisted black lines seemed to be haphazardly drawn between the spaces. A strange crevice.

Yuder's eyes widened in surprise.

'That is...'

It looked like a long black shadow formed naturally by overlapping trees. Yet, to Yuder's eyes, a smoky energy appeared to be emanating from the crevice. It looked as though there was a crack in thin air.

'Impossible... But it seems correct. How can that be here?'

While Yuder was reeling in shock, formulating thoughts quickly, Kishiar, who was studying the phenomenon next to him, finally spoke up, addressing the mages.

"A crack in the air... Is there any possibility that this is a sign of a monster emerging?"

"If that were the case, it should have already appeared. We've been watching, but there's been no change."

"You're right to be concerned."

"Thank you for understanding."

The crevice was thin like a line, but it stretched out over a considerable range. Under normal circumstances, they could have taken another path. But now, the uncertainty of where a monster could emerge caused the mages' dilemma. There was a confrontation between those who did not want to leave the path they perceived as safest and those who thought they should brave the risks and change direction.

Seeing this, Kishiar turned to Yuder, who had been silently observing the crevice.

"You've been observing it for a while. Are you surprised?"

"...Yes. A little."

To others, his face would not have betrayed even a hint of surprise, but it seemed he couldn't hide it from Kishiar. Yuder readily admitted his astonishment.

"I've noticed you often see things differently than others. Do you see something strange?"

"No, it's not that I see something different..."

As Yuder started to answer but trailed off, Kishiar gently pressed him.

"The hypothesis you mentioned just now."

"Hmm?"

"I also think it's possible, so it would be better to investigate it in detail."

"Really? Should I call Kanna?"

"No. It might be dangerous, so I will..."

"And you're not in danger?"

Kishiar's voice fell a little when suddenly a thud sound came from not far away. The mages who were still discussing and the Cavalry members who were observing the atmosphere of this place from a distance all looked in one direction.

"There's no doubt this time, a real monster."

As Kishiar mumbled, trees on the opposite side of the crack shook and made a creaking sound as they broke. The forest as a whole screamed as the trees collided with each other, broke, and fell one after another.

"It's a monster! Be careful!"

With a sound like tens of thousands of birds taking flight at once, a being of unknown shape that hadn't been there just a moment ago revealed itself through the gap. It had a grotesque appearance, staggering on two feet with a height that seemed to be about twice that of a human. Each time the scale-like things attached to its entire body vibrated, a terrifying sound like a scream echoed.

This creature was alive and moving, but it clearly had a different appearance from any animal or plant in this world. It was, without a doubt, a monster.

"Huge, it’s huge. It looks like the ones I saw in the field guide... What was its name?"

'Maraedon.'

Yuder answered in his heart to a mage who was fumbling and retreating near him and looked around. He could see Kishiar casually reaching for the hilt of his sword revealed from his cloak.

"Do you intend to deal with it using that?"

"That's why I brought it."

"We'll support you."

As they exchanged these words, Lorna yelled, perhaps frustrated by their stillness and refusal to avoid the threat.

"Move back a bit! We will handle the monster with the tool we brought...!"

"It's okay, it's you who should move further back."

"What did you say?"

"It'll be over soon."

The mages pulled out the defensive magic tools they had prepared in advance from their bags, their hearts anxiously burning. However, they never got a chance to use them.

As the monster's enormous mouth, located near its belly, opened wide, Yuder used the power of the wind and earth to move the shattered trees that were scattered nearby and pulled them together.

In the brief moment when it hesitated, about to spit out its body fluids in reaction to the suddenly obstructing trees, a Swordmaster, whose existence nobody had known until now, unsheathed his sword for the first time in front of everyone and sent out an aura.

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