Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 178

Hidden Threat in Grunewald Forest

Grunewald Forest grew around Hersvir Mountain. Evergreen pines grew along the bottom, rising halfway up the mountain. From the outside, the forest was still, undisturbed. However, like many things in this world, what was hidden within, might not always be the same as its outside.

Within this forest, the group consisting of Akira’s party and Martell’s companions were having a hard fight. Bodies of slain monsters littered the ground.

“Another wave’s coming!!” Nick shouted.

“White Wolves!” Donovan shouted. “Protect the circle!!”

In the middle of the formation, Martell played a melody that raised their spirit as wolves came hurtling down the slopes with wild abandon.

“Heavy Bulwark!” Nick’s Skill blocked the wolves as they crashed upon him, their skulls and bones cracking from the impact. The others targeted the other members, clawing and biting.

Akira parried one mid-air and launched a Skill which released a sharp blade made of water. It froze as it bisected the wolf. Beside him, Hannah pierced a wolf a few times before it fell to its death.

“Dammit! How’d this happen?!” Akira shouted, perplexed.

It all started about an hour ago, when they arrived at Grunewald Forest. The forest had nothing special about it, other than the fact that it used to have a small village of hunters. It had long been abandoned because most of the young men had moved to Greyvault in search of a better life.

Akira told them that they should head towards the abandoned village, as it was the most likely place for someone to stay. No one objected. After that, they entered the forest with Klein in the lead as they have discussed before they left.

After a while, Rhoddes stopped in his tracks.

“Why did you stop?” Eleanora asked, concerned.

Rhoddes raised his head, the cloth covering his face fluttering in the wind. “I feel…traces of departed spirit. Many of them,” Rhoddes spoke.

“You can feel that?”

“An Anukaran Nankhudi serve the Goddess of Darkness. He is especially attuned to the spirits,” Klein commented. “But even I can feel that something is wrong here. We better continue with caution.”

The party advanced further into the forest. While they were climbing a particularly steep slope, Klein - who was leading the group - raised a hand. “Stop. Look.”

In front of them was the body of a large buck. Its stomach had been partially eaten. Without any disgust, Klein placed a hand on top of the body. “This is an old kill. The cold had preserved it well,” he noticed something stuck near the guts and pulled it out. “It’s fur. Wolf fur.”

“But why did only the stomach got ripped out?” Hannah said. She was used to hunting and did not get disturbed like Eleanora, who felt her stomach churning. “Usually, wolves don’t waste anything edible.”

“There are also some here. Looks like it was a herd,” Nick said from a few meters to the right. “This one’s had its neck bitten right off. The rest was left to rot. Judging by the size of the bite, these are big ones.”

“…so, these other deer are not killed to feed on?” Martell said. “Odd. Very odd.”

Suddenly, Martell’s ears twitched and his tails perked up. “Wait. Shh…I heard something.”

Quietly he tiptoed to a cluster of bushes and peeked over it and he saw something that made him gasp.

“What is it?” Nick asked.

“…Monsters. A lot of them. And they’re fighting each other.”

“What?” Nick, who could not believe what he just heard, made it to his side and let out a curse. “W-what are we seeing?” the scruffy man said, flabbergasted.

White Wolves were ripping into the flesh of a goblin, while nearby goblins were clobbering a monkey-like monster to death. He could also see a couple of those monkey-like monsters pounding a wolf into paste. It was chaos. “White Wolves, Goblins, and Mekurs…! That’s no regular struggle for territory. I really don’t like this. Not at all. I think we should turn back.”

“We can’t!” Akira snapped at him. “We’ve come too far!”

“Are you stupid? Look at that! That’s not normal. Nothing about this forest is normal!”

“I agree with what Nick is saying, but again we have our mission,” Donovan said, agreeing. “We can just go around them. As long as they don’t notice us, we’ll be fine. What do you think, everyone?”

There were more people in Akira’s party, so it was a foregone conclusion.

The group took the long way around, making sure that they did not make too much noise. Along the way they saw many monster bodies scattered on the ground, both fresh and old.

“Anukara, may your mercy be with us,” Rhoddes said as they walked past them.

“You…can detect if there are any monsters coming for us, right?” Eleanora asked Martel. She had been walking very close to the latter.

“The snow absorbs sound and the cold makes the smell not carry over as well as in warm days,” he replied. “So, don’t rely on me too much.”

Nick, who was guarding the rear, wrapped both of them in his arms. “Stick close to Rhoddes, you two. He’s got a big body, he’s sure to make the monsters hesitate to attack you.”

“But that’s cruel!” Eleanora clasped her hand over her mouth.

“We’ve discussed it and he accepted,” the man explained. “We don’t know what will happen here. And unlike last time, we don’t have our strongest fighters with us.”

“…You’re – “Martell wanted to say something, but his head quickly snapped towards the trees. “Above us!!”

“OOK OOK AAAKK!!”

“Eleanora!” Hannah yelled as she readied her spear. In response, Eleanora quickly chanted a Spell. “By the Grace of Udurr, I summon the fire of judgement to burn my enemies!! Pillar of Flame!”

Pillars of flame burned a few of the Mekurs – the monkey-like monsters with white fur and long arms – but they survived the fire, and became agitated.

“Circle Formation!” Klein shouted.

Wild Geese flew out of the Sword Box and Martell played a melody that raised their strength and speed. Quickly then he changed the tune and played another that lowered the monsters’ defence. “Buffs and debuffs at the same time?!” Akira was surprised by his ability to do so many things at the same time.

The vanguards quickly took care of the rest of the Mekurs. However, midway through, dozens of goblins joined in. Hannah’s spear went through a couple while Klein’s sword beheaded another.

The battle did not take long. But they had no time to rest as another wave of monsters came along. “What in Sud-Ghazid is happening in this forest?!”

“Careful!” Nick warned Akira as, a White Wolf came attacking with jaws opened. The Paladin defended against the lunge and stabbed the wolf in the jugular, at the same time letting another wolf bit his well-armoured leg so that he could cut its head.

“Well defended, Nick!” Donovan praised him.

“We’re not going to last long like this!” Nick wiped the gore from his sword on the snow. “If we want to make it, we need to move! Fast!”

“Alright! Keep the buff on and stay on formation! We’ll take care of this wave and make our move the moment we find an opening!! Imbue Ice!!” Klein said as he imbued his sword with ice.

This took us to the current time. After breaking through the last wave of attack, they moved faster towards their destination, meeting a lot of monsters on the way.

The increase in speed meant that they wasted more stamina than they should. The cold too, have sapped their willpower.

They took a short rest in a secluded cave after making sure there were no enemies around.

“By the grace of Anukara! Heal those who are wounded! High Heal!” Rhoddes shouted. Pure white lights enveloped the party’s bodies and healed their wounds. His Healing Spell and the Rejuvenation Pills kept them going, but that did not heal their tiredness.

After their latest fight, Eleanora threw up from the stress while Nick kept his silence, trying to muster enough strength to support his heavy armor. The hulking body of Rhoddes and his now bloodied mace looked much weaker now, as his shoulder slumped from exhaustion.

Their breaths became mists of white, chests heaving and blood stained their bodies.

“These monsters have high levels. They are much stronger than the ones we fight normally,” Hannah said, her spear had started to dull from repeated use, so she sharpened it with a whetstone she kept on her person. “Did anyone keep count on how many we killed?”

“Must be approaching a hundred,” Donovan said. Trying to fight while making sure no one got hurt too badly took a lot out of him, Unrestrained Candidate or no. “These monsters are strong enough to make trouble for Elite Knights. They showed no fear or pain. Something here must be causing this frenzy.”

Akira furrowed his brows upon hearing Donovan’s words. “Is it possible that Guild Master Sabrac is here because of this?”

“Perhaps, but let’s focus on our goal for now,” Klein said. “We are nearly there. Keep your chin up.”

The eclectic group found a rough path and followed it. Eventually, they saw a sign of civilization. An old, broken wooden sign with intelligible letters long eroded by sun and rain.

They walked through a ruined village, in which were dilapidated houses with missing roofs and broken windows. Snow had covered them in fluffy white blanket, giving the village a sad and lonely atmosphere.

At the end of the village were stairs carved out of stone, leading higher up the mountain.

Eleanora and Hannah gasped when they saw bodies of monsters and beasts at the bottom of it, laid on top of each other that they formed a small hill. Each of them died to no more than one strike.

“Trespassers. This is a forbidden place,” a voice said. It spoke of age and pain. “Leave this place at once.”

Only when they heard the voice did they realize that a man was sitting halfway up the stairs with both hands placed on top of his knees. They could not feel his presence for he had achieved a high level of Skill in meditation.

The old man’s long white beard and unkempt hair that were covered in snow danced in the wind. By his side was a sinister looking spear, its blade had a reddish hue from the recent victims it had slain. Even the ones who had never seen him before knew instantly that this was the man that they were searching for.

Everyone’s eyes gazed upon him, and wondered how a man could bear the cold without protection. However, the martially accomplished of the group’s attention was more to the fact that the snow around him was pristine and untouched. This meant that this man had killed the monsters without moving from his position.

The moment he opened his eyes, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

“Guild Master Sabrac!” Akira said, mustering all his courage. “I am Sakagami Akira, the Hero of Calendia! I am here to ask you to return to Capital under the order of King Gerard!”

“…I know of you. Sakagami Akira, A fledgling Hero bearing a sword that had not even accepted him yet.”

“I…” He felt his eyes glowering at him and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach. In his head he heard Cavenjaal’s voice. “Calm yourself, Akira. That spear next to him had the aura of a fellow Dragon Lord. A very savage one at that. Focus so that you don’t lose to its presence!”

“Guild Master Sabrac,” Akira braved himself once more. “A war with Vorzenny is coming. We need your help to fight against the Unrestrained of Vorzenny.”

Hearing this, Sabrac let out a loud, mocking laugh. “HAHAHAHA!!”

The black-haired young man was perplexed by his reaction and could not find what to say.

“It’s funny that you would use the King’s order to move me. It’s the very height of comedy,” he stated, his expression turned stern. “This is my second warning. There will not be a third time.”

“Guild Master Sabrac. Please, this is a matter of national emergency!” Donovan spoke out. "At least hear us out!"

“…” Sabrac stood up, his brows furrowed in displeasure. “It seems to me that words are not enough,” he took hold of his spear and swung it once. “Then maybe, a beating is in order.”

“Wait! Guild Master Sabrac! Let’s not be too hasty! We’re not here for conflict!” Klein pleaded, alarmed by the man’s clear hostility. None of them would survive a battle with him. Even if they do, it would just make him even more stubborn.

“Raise your weapons!” his voice boomed in their ears.

“Akira! What’s happening?! This isn’t what we talked about!” Nick shouted. “We’re not his match by a long shot!”

Sabrac flew up into the air with a flap of his wings and brandished his spear. “Feel the power of an Unrestrained with your body.”