CH 280

Episode 280 – Eerily Quiet Forest

Author’s Note: This chapter is from Ahmed’s POV.

“It’s coming into view. That’s the Western Forest, huh?” (Ahmed)

We had made our way to the Western Forest as fast as we could, only defeating the monsters that were directly in our path. The enemy commander was supposedly lurking somewhere in the Western Forest before us.

“Pant, pant… W-Wait up. You’re goin’ way too fast!” (Smash)

“S-Seriously! We almost got separated from you, Ahmed-san!” (Dion)

The two guys who were just following me and complaining had been saying something, but… I paid them no mind and walked into the forest.

It was the middle of the day, but the forest was eerily dark, giving off a strange, ominous feeling. I couldn’t detect any signs of living beings. The stark difference from the crazy number of monsters earlier left a noticeable sense of discomfort.

“Have the other adventurers that the reporter said he contacted arrived yet?” (Ahmed)

“Eh? Hmm… I’m not sure. If we were the first ones he’d talked to, then I don’t think they’ve arrived yet, since we took the fastest possible route to get here.” (Dion)

“No. Those other guys should have arrived some time ago. They’ve covered their tracks well, but it’s still possible to see faint signs of people having passed by here.” (Smash)

With how quiet it was, I still should have been able to hear fighting going on, even if it was going on deep within the forest. Had the adventurers already been killed by the enemy commander, or did they maybe manage to kill it already?

However, my sixth sense was screaming, telling me that the adventurers had already met their end.

“….What’s the matter with you? You were all silent, and now you’re grinning. It’s kinda scary, you know?” (Smash)

“Shut up. Let’s go.” (Ahmed)

My expectations of meeting a strong enemy soared. We walked along, continuing into the silent Western Forest.

After 20 minutes of proceeding deeper into the forest, we arrived in a rather deep part of the forest, but there were no signs of life. We hadn’t even encountered a single monster along the way.

“This forest is too strange. In all my life, I’ve never been in a forest where not a single monster appeared.” (Dion)

“Looks like the information that the reporter had given us was true. Is there some kinda ridiculous monstrosity lying in wait for us?” (Smash)

“I wonder what kind of monster it is. That reporter said that it was the strongest monster he had ever seen in his life, but in that case, I wonder if it could really be more of a monster than Ahmed-san…” (Dion)

“Shut up! Good thing there are no monsters around right now! C’mere, Dion. What the hell were you saying about me just now?” (Ahmed)

The trick with unleashing bloodlust had to do with how serious your intent to kill was.

""

Faced with my bloodlust, Dion flinched and stepped back, losing his balance. His rear landed on the damp ground and he started scooting away from me.

The moment I was about to punish his stupid words with a knuckle to the head―

From up ahead, I felt a heavy killing intent directed towards us… no, towards me.

“Hey! Dion, get up quickly! There’s something in front of us!” (Ahmed)

Even though I wasn’t specifically directing my bloodlust towards it, the enemy had reacted and immediately released its own bloodlust. And on top of that, it had directed its bloodlust at me alone, which meant that the enemy had mastered the ability to control its bloodlust.

This was my first time running into a monster that not only had plain strength but also possessed technique.

Following the instinct that welled up within me, I dashed at top speed in the direction from which the bloodlust came.

As if it was trying to tell me its position, it persisted in aiming its heavy bloodlust at me. I continued to plunge through the forest, relying on the source of the bloodlust. Eventually, I came into some kind of clearing in the forest.

As far as I could see, this clearing wasn’t made naturally. The space seemed to have been created intentionally by cutting down trees. And, I could see the adventurers who had arrived before us sprawled on the ground in a tragic state.

But in this intentionally-made clearing, I couldn’t see the monster that was unleashing killing intent. There wasn’t a single monster in sight.

However, I was certain that it had been here just a moment ago.

“Where the hell are you hiding?! I definitely won’t let you run away!” (Ahmed)

My shouts echoed emptily throughout the forest, but the monster that had vanished showed no signs of appearing.

My excitement for battle slowly turned into anger, when Smash and Dion finally caught up to me.

“Pant, pant… There you go suddenly running off again―wait, what is this? This scene…” (Dion)

“Damn it! There was a monster here just a moment ago but we let it escape!” (Ahmed)

“Ahmed-san, please calm down. Let us explain the situati―” (Dion)

“DON’T MOVE!!” (Smash)

During the clash of all of our voices and thoughts, Smash suddenly interrupted our conversation in a deafening voice. His eyes were unprecedentedly serious, so I stopped talking and listened carefully to what Smash had to say.

“……..The monster is still here. It completely erased its presence, but there’s a slight disturbance in the air.” (Smash)

Smash’s five senses were inferior to mine in all aspects, but, due to the poor circumstances of his upbringing, his ability to detect enemies was far superior. If Smash made the judgment that the monster was still here, then that meant it was still here. It must have been using some method to conceal itself.

“Where is it?” (Ahmed)

“Right next to that pile of corpses.” (Smash)

I looked in the direction in which Smash was pointing, and then I readied my sword and moved to attack the empty space where it looked like there was absolutely nothing. No matter how much I probed the area with my senses, I couldn’t perceive anything, but if it was there, then it was there.

If it wasn’t there, I’d just give Smash a knuckle to the head and that would be it. But the moment I put all my strength into my blade and swung it down… the figure of a human caught it with both hands―no, it wasn’t a human. Its skin was dark red, and it had two horns on its forehead.

A demon with wings extending out of its back appeared out of nowhere right before my eyes.