Chapter 74: Something strange is happening in the Great Forest
The night passed and morning dawned.
"Hah..." Clara gasped and leaned back against a tree trunk after battling a variety of powerful beasts, almost all of them Rank F, though there were a few Rank E ones. "God, what’s with this place? There are way too many beasts!"
Lucius nodded in agreement. "I don’t think it’s just because it’s a big forest," he said suddenly.
She looked up. "Do you think there’s something else going on? Do you have any idea?"
"Well, these beasts are a little frantic. I read a news about this two months ago. That the beasts were getting more and more frantic every day in the nearby forests."
"Why? Is someone making them that way?"
"Probably." Lucius nodded and looked up at the treetops. "Although maybe it’s because of the sun."
"The sun?" She looked up at the treetops. "What about it?"
"It’s getting hotter with each passing day."
"So what? Isn’t that because it’s summer?"
"It shouldn’t be..." Even he wasn’t sure.
However, the sun tends to have a strong effect on the beasts, especially those of the Kalgarth Ground.
’Although these aren’t beasts from the Kalgarth Ground, I understand that this forest is connected to that place. Deep within, there must be beasts that come from there,’ he thought.
But this heat, which is getting stronger every day, doesn’t make much sense.
Although all the Islands are moving farther and farther away from the Ground and, consequently, closer to the sun, they aren’t yet far enough from the Ground of Kalgarth to say that the sun is beating down on them more intensely.
On the contrary, it should be getting colder. But the exact opposite is happening.
When the sun gives signs, the world changes. And when the world changes... no one survives.
’Perhaps we’re about to witness another historic moment,’ he thought.
It wasn’t the first time something strange like this had happened in the last 500 years. However, Lucius chose not to dwell on it. He had no information about any of it; it wasn’t worth it.
"Though it could also be the False Rankers," he said, changing the subject from the sun. "Those guys come from the Kalgarth Grounds; they must have their tricks."
"Right! It might be them," Clara replied, clearly oblivious to the excuse Lucius had used to avoid a complicated conversation.
Lucius sat down next to her to wait for her to recover, while he gathered the mana marks and other important items from the bodies of the beasts they had killed.
After a 30-minute rest, they resumed their journey.
-
Clara ran across the open field ahead of her, watching a red boar from behind. Her steps were light and precise.
She moved through the thick underbrush and quickly came up behind the boar.
Her eyes shone a beautiful bluish color. The teeth in her mouth turned into perfect crystals, and suddenly, her breath transformed into a powerful attack that struck the boar in all its limbs.
"Lucius!" she shouted.
Lucius immediately leaped out of the underbrush where he’d been hiding and attacked the boar with his sword.
CLANK!
CLANK!
After two effective strikes, he reached out and grabbed the boar by the neck. With the force of [Meteor Impact], he slammed it into the ground.
[You have killed a Blood Red Boar...]
[The reward is split in half...]
"Fuf." Lucius landed gracefully beside Clara and smiled at her. "You’ve gotten really good at this. But the fact that we still haven’t been able to find your fifth mark leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"But I’m already at Rank E," Clara reminded him. "I’m grateful. That Rank F mark was more powerful than many Rank E marks I’ve seen."
"That’s because it works well with your ability," Lucius said.
He was about to move, but then his body shook.
"Ahhh!" A loud scream shook the surroundings, and a tremor engulfed them.
Lucius sensed the danger as mana struck his back. Immediately, grabbed Clara and pulled her to the ground with him.
"Something powerful is coming."
His words hadn’t even finished when four seriously injured people came running out of the forest, pursued by a powerful Flaming Centaur.
The Centaur’s flames scorched the air and raised the already sweltering temperature. The Centaur’s arm wielded a flaming sword to burn one of its rivals to death before continuing its advance toward its enemies.
"Watch out, he’s a Rank B!" roared the group’s leader, trying to warn his allies.
However, it was in vain. After he shouted, the flaming sword grew and caught up with him.
Soon after, the screams of fear and agony from the others were followed by a powerful flame that consumed them.
A group of Rank C fighters was consumed in a matter of seconds by this powerful enemy.
Clara and Lucius watched the scene, lying face down on the ground.
"L..." She started to speak, but Lucius immediately moved his hand to cover her mouth and nose.
He didn’t let her breathe or speak... He didn’t breathe either.
He stood deathly still.
Clara wanted to shout at him: "We’re visible—we have to run!" But he wouldn’t let her.
The Centaur knew he had won, so he turned around. For a moment, he paused and looked down at them.
Less than ten meters away were Lucius and Clara.
Clara felt like her heart was about to burst... They were dead. It was a certainty!
However, after standing there for a minute, staring down at them, the Centaur turned around and ran toward the forest.
Finally, Clara and Lucius—who were nearly purple from lack of oxygen—took a deep breath.
"Shit, I thought I was going to die," she whispered.
"Flaming Centaurs are blind," Lucius said as he stood up. "As long as you don’t make any noise, they won’t be able to see you. Those guys’ mistake was shouting as they ran away from him."
"R-really?" She swallowed hard and realized that, just a moment ago, she had nearly died simply because she didn’t know that.
"But what’s a Flaming Centaur doing in the F and E Rank zones?" he asked, puzzled. That was the only thing that intrigued him.
"Could it be... Is a wave of beasts coming?" she asked incredulously.
A wave of beasts? Coming from a Great Forest? Now that was dangerous...
’It shouldn’t be possible at this time of year. Something’s off here,’ Lucius thought.
His mind—as the former World Top Ranker—told him he had to investigate. However, his current strength was laughable compared to what it used to be.
He couldn’t even save himself if 100 F-Rank beasts attacked him all at once, let alone a whole wave of them.
"Let’s hurry. I don’t want to get caught up in something weird," he said, stopping his wandering. "Let’s head to the coldest or wettest parts of this vast forest. That jellyfish must be over there."
Comments