Chapter 246

Having slipped past the soldiers guarding the entrance, they were already a little tired.

“It’s hard to find monsters anywhere else these days.”

“That’s true, but...”

Unlike mercenaries, who took commissions to deal with the black forests, monster hunters—also known as mana stone hunters—sought out areas where monsters frequently appeared and hunted them by choice.

They hunted for one thing: mana stones. The Ice Tree Forest was a favorite hunting ground for mana stone hunters, as it was known to yield particularly rare and valuable stones.

Tanel and his party had come to the Ice Tree Forest today in search of mana stones. They had heard that something was off about the forest lately, but they couldn’t afford to stop hunting. Monster sightings in other regions had dropped sharply, leaving them with fewer places to hunt.

Fortunately, the Ice Tree Forest still had plenty of monsters. The mana stones these monsters yielded were far rarer and better quality than those found elsewhere.

“But... isn’t it suddenly too quiet?”

“......”

At the woman’s words, the others, all seemingly in their mid-twenties, cautiously looked around. They could sense something was wrong. The strange cries of the monsters that had been echoing earlier suddenly stopped. And only around them.

Gulp.

The sound of someone swallowing nervously was unnaturally loud in the silence. They all felt it. Something was nearby.

This close to the entrance?

The monsters near the entrance were supposed to be low-ranked. Had something changed? For all the monsters around them to fall silent like this, there must be something far stronger lurking in the area.

[Kii... Ki-kik!]

“—!”

A monster. As if confirming their suspicions, countless creatures slowly emerged from the bushes.

“...Those are A-rank monsters.”

“Why are they this close to the entrance...?”

Heka. They were monsters that normally appeared only deep within the Ice Tree Forest. They looked like monkeys, their bodies covered in white fur. They didn’t seem particularly intimidating, but they were frighteningly fast.

Fighting creatures that could dart through the trees and attack from above was a hunter’s worst nightmare.

Their claws and fangs were coated in deadly venom, but that wasn’t the worst of it. A single Heka was already more than most mercenaries could handle, and they always traveled in packs.

They even showed loyalty toward their own kind, becoming more ferocious whenever one of their companions was attacked.

“W-we have to run...”

The five of them slowly backed away, careful not to provoke the creatures.

[Kii-ik!]

[Ki-kik!]

“—!”

But the Heka already surrounded them, leaving them with nowhere to run.

“W-what do we do...?”

“Damn it...”

Despair spread across their faces. Their plan was simple: hunt monsters near the entrance, collect the mana stones, and leave. Even the mana stones found near the entrance of the Ice Tree Forest fetched a high price.

But now they were facing A-rank monsters!

None of them dared to draw their swords. They knew full well that the moment they reached for their weapons, the Heka would attack.

[Kkirik!]

“—!”

But the standoff didn’t last long. One Heka cried out, and the others immediately charged as if it were a signal to attack.

The group squeezed their eyes shut. They were sure they were about to die.

Whoosh!

Boom!

Then, a powerful presence swept toward them. A gust of wind rushed past. The ground trembled beneath their feet.

W-what...?

Another monster?

The five struggled to steady their trembling bodies before finally opening their eyes. Something seemed wrong with their vision. Everything they could see was one color.

...White fur?

They flinched when they realized it was fur.

A Heka?

They thought a monster had gotten right up to them, but they were wrong. This wasn’t the coarse fur of a Heka. Soft, fluffy white fur filled their entire field of vision.

The five slowly raised their heads to see what it was, then stared in shock with their mouths hanging open.

“Gasp!”

A sharp breath escaped them all at once.

...A wolf?

A gigantic white wolf stood before them, so enormous they could hardly comprehend its size.

T-the Master of the Forest?!

They recognized it immediately. They had heard countless stories about the Master of the Ice Tree Forest.

A magnificent snow-white wolf of immense size...

The creature before them was exactly as the rumors had described.

[Kiri... Kirik...]

The Heka were clearly shaken by the white wolf’s appearance. They backed away hesitantly, doing everything they could to put some distance between themselves and the wolf.

[Grrrr...]

[Kii-ik! Ki-kik!]

At the white wolf’s low growl, the Heka hurried into action. They gathered the companions that had been struck down, then vanished from the area in an instant.

[.....]

“—!”

Tanel and the others could only stare in stunned silence. Then they froze as the white wolf turned its gaze toward them.

[Grrrr...]

“Eek!”

The low growl sounded like a command to leave. The five immediately turned and ran, forcing strength into their trembling legs.

[.....]

After easily clearing the area, the Master of the Forest looked toward the rest of the forest. The sounds of monsters fighting still echoed everywhere except where it stood. The monsters were locked in endless battles over territory and their place in the hierarchy.

Awoooooo—

A mighty howl rang out across the forest. At once, everything fell silent, as though the forest had never been noisy at all.

The fighting stopped. So did the monsters’ cries. A deep silence settled over the forest, as if not a single monster had ever been there.

Every monster stopped the moment they realized the Master of the Forest had returned.

[.....]

The white wolf nodded in satisfaction. That should keep them quiet for a while.

Whoosh!

The white wolf, which had radiated overwhelming presence only moments before, vanished without a trace.

.

.

.

Chapter 68: Confirmation

[Ki-ung...]

“Why? Are you worried about me?”

The red moon was hanging in the sky again tonight. Ceres stood atop the outer walls of the capital while watching the situation beyond them.

Beside her, a snow-white wolf cub looked up at her with concern.

[Graaaargh!]

[Groooar!]

It was easy to see why. Countless corpses had crawled out of the ground and were wandering outside the walls.

“Haa... They just keep coming.”

“At this rate, aren’t they going to break through the walls?”

Fear and worry filled the faces of the soldiers stationed along the wall. The endless tide of the dead was enough to strike fear into anyone.

To make matters worse, ordinary physical attacks barely affected them, leaving the soldiers helpless despite being stationed on the walls.

“Don’t worry.”

Tap.

Ceres glanced at the soldiers in the corner, then tapped Whitey on the nose before looking toward a distant point.

As the corpses gathered closer to the walls, a small red light appeared in the distance where Ceres was looking.

Whoosh!

The red light rapidly grew until it became a roaring inferno, sweeping over the dead in an instant.

[You wretches! Just where do you think you’re running wild?!]

It was Jubelios, the Fire Spirit King. Of everyone involved in the crisis, he had been doing the most to keep the situation under control.

“Ah...”

The soldiers guarding the walls finally relaxed when they saw him. With the Fire Spirit King here, they should be able to make it through another night safely.

Creeak... Screeeech......

“.......”

Ceres watched the scene for a moment before lowering her gaze toward the strange sound coming from the darkness in the corner. A half-rotted corpse was crawling up the wall.