Chapter 215. Encounter (5)
The interior of the dense forest was damp, perhaps from recent rain. Leaves and soil everywhere were soaked and slick.
Roots larger than a person sprawled across the ground, and all the light from the sky fractured as it poured through the branches above.
As dawn broke, a pale, hazy light filtered between the trees and illuminated Enoch.
Fortunately, if such a word could be used, the towering trees here were of an unimaginable size. Each one stood tens of meters apart from the next.
Of course, there were still trees of normal size scattered throughout, but thanks to the giants, the path ahead was surprisingly wide.
Grateful at least for the fact that movement was not too difficult even for the injured, Enoch forced himself onward.
The experimental magical beasts that resembled hunting dogs might pursue him, but whether or not footprints were left was meaningless now that he was bleeding.
The best course was to widen the distance as much as possible, stop the bleeding at a minimum, and then move again.
To keep himself from losing consciousness due to blood loss, Enoch muttered quietly to himself.
“First, regroup with Alicia and Rien at the waterfall….”
At that moment, something very important flashed through his mind like lightning, and Enoch made a bitter face.
Come to think of it, the first time he had met Alicia, she had been lost while on patrol in the outsourcing district.
“…She is not going to get lost again, is she?”
Enoch tilted his head with a doubtful expression.
If she could lose her way even while patrolling the city, would she really be able to navigate this complicated forest?
Of course, it was a waterfall she herself had pointed out the moment she saw the forest map, so she must have been confident in finding it… but still.
“Hoo.”
Suddenly aware that his breathing had grown labored, Enoch leaned his back against a tree and slid down to the ground.
The slick sensation of blood beneath his hand pressed against his waist felt even worse. His condition was deteriorating.
As he collapsed onto the ground, the sword hilt tapped against his shoulder and naturally fell into his arms.
Though his skin grew cold in the night breeze, his body burned like fire in places.
This was far beyond what simple bandaging could stop. His condition was not good.
Still, judging that he had put enough distance between himself and the enemy to treat his wounds, Enoch reached inside the breast of his suit-like jacket and took out an ampoule.
Catching sight of the emblem of the Holy Church on the label, he was seized by a strange feeling.
“…….”
Emergency ampoules were manufactured directly by the Holy Church and were never easy to obtain.
And when the Saint herself prepared an ampoule for someone, its value was said to be literally incalculable.
As he tore open the packaging, Enoch smiled faintly, struck by the reality that he had taken such a person into his faction.
Honestly, thinking about it now, perhaps both he and the Saint had done something reckless.
No matter how high Enoch’s reputation had risen, there were still rumors and suspicions that he might be connected to Black Magic.
Amelia could not possibly have been unaware of those rumors, and yet she had chosen to ally herself with him.
If her motives had been purely political, she would never have entered a follower family, one considered a community of shared fate in the Empire.
If Enoch were ever revealed to be a Black Mage, the blow to her would be immense.
A vague thought crossed his mind.
If so, then perhaps Amelia, from the very first time they met…
Click.
Enoch bit the cap of the finger-length emergency ampoule and pulled it free, spitting it aside before tilting his head back and pouring the contents into his mouth.
The cool sensation of the liquid flowing down his throat dulled the pain, if only a little.
Then, as he lowered his head after finishing the ampoule, something caught his eye.
A small note was written on the inside of the packaging.
Slightly puzzled by the message, which bore neither sender nor recipient, Enoch opened it.
Written there, in a woman’s neat handwriting, was a single line.
[Enoch. Please hold on just a little longer.]
Enoch stared at the sentence.
He had a pretty good idea who had written it. The Saint’s calm voice seemed to echo in his ears from the short line.
Turning the paper over, he found another brief message written on the back.
[I will be there soon.]
Ah. So that was it.
Staring quietly at the message, clearly written by Amelia, it was not hard to guess the intent.
If Enoch were forced to use an emergency ampoule, it would mean his life was in immediate danger, or something close to it.
In such a situation, she had left him a message urging him to endure until she arrived.
Honestly, he had not expected such consideration. As expected of the Saint revered by all.
“…Huh.”
Having thought that far, Enoch tilted his head.
He imagined the Saint sitting with her smooth legs crossed, chin propped on her hand, looking down and scolding someone.
After a moment of consideration, he shook his head.
No matter how she seemed, Amelia was still, at the end of the day, the Saint of the Church.
And regardless of her personality, for Enoch, who could receive medical support, Amelia was, quite literally, a Saint.
Enoch tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.
He had not expected her to think so deeply about his situation.
Perhaps because of that, he found it hard to put into words what he felt at the care packed into that small note.
“Certainly.”
Clenching the paper lightly in his hand, Enoch smiled faintly as his true thoughts slipped out.
“It is better than nothing.”
He should thank her properly the next time they met.
Thinking of Amelia, his mind drifted to Ixion as well, the one he had encountered together with her in Panghaion.
He had never imagined he would meet that man again here.
Of course, Enoch had suspected to some degree that Vendetta was involved in this war.
If Tantalus’s experimental beasts and reagents were being used on this scale, it was highly likely Vendetta was connected.
But he had never expected a Vendetta Annihilation Officer to be present.
More puzzling still were Ixion’s strange words.
[, Gnosis prophesied you, Enoch.]
What did that even mean?
He had heard of that mysterious prophet from Omen, the former lord of the underworld, and even from the Empire’s last Sword Saint.
But he could not begin to guess what Gnosis might have written about him in the Book of Gnosis.
Another mystery to uncover, then.
“…….”
Enoch cut off his thoughts and leaned back against the tree trunk, gasping for breath.
His thoughts grew hazy.
His head swam from blood loss, and perhaps from the sheer number of events happening at once.
When he reached down to feel his waist, the bleeding and pain had largely subsided.
Even through his clothes, he could feel the severe wound steadily closing.
It was the finest portable healing agent he could have obtained, something he would never have had without Amelia’s help.
Having thoroughly prepared for emergencies like this, Enoch now truly felt its worth as he lowered his head and checked his condition, clenching and unclenching his hand.
His stamina had not returned much yet.
Naturally, even if wounds healed rapidly, lost blood did not instantly replenish.
Still, without the emergency ampoule, he would have bled to death. Expecting a full recovery would be greedy.
“…!”
At that moment, Enoch caught a rustling sound from the forest behind him and glanced back.
Far away, there was a small but unmistakable movement. Acting on instinct, Enoch hurried forward and tightened his grip on his sword.
What he had feared had come to pass.
The experimental magical beasts’ pursuit team had caught up.
***
Not long after crossing the forest in haste, Enoch reached a high hill and spotted something.
A long river flowed several hundred meters away. If he followed it downstream, the waterfall would likely appear.
Enoch began moving toward it.
A large riverbank would be filled with the smell of water and countless other scents, an ideal place to mask the smell of blood.
And surely Alicia had chosen it for that very reason, confident she could find such a prominent landmark.
It seemed unnecessary to worry about her getting lost after all.
As he walked, Enoch lightly rested a hand on the sword hilt at his waist.
He had managed to recover the scabbard and cloth-wrapped sword he had dropped while fleeing, but until he reunited with his companions, the sword remained worn openly, with the cloth bag folded into his duffel.
Enoch glanced back.
The enemies were probably following from a distance. They might even already be close.
As he wondered when they would strike,
Suddenly, the sound of raging water reached his ears.
Enoch instinctively stopped short and widened his eyes.
A cliff lay before him.
Far below, at least twenty meters down, a river roared, swollen from recent rain, churning into violent whirlpools.
There was no path forward.
At that moment, a sharp, beastlike cry rang out behind him.
-KIRIRIRIRIRIK!!
The forest trembled as the magical beasts howled.
Just as the thought “this is bad” crossed his mind, Enoch was already sprinting, kicking off roots in rapid succession.
That thin, shrill cry was unmistakably an attack order to their pack.
Sure enough, countless footsteps thundered behind him, accompanied by harsh, metallic roars.
A quick glance back showed shadows pouring over the hill in pursuit.
At a glance, there were far more of them, of many different types, far more than the beasts that had surrounded Ixion earlier.
And at the front, those familiar hunting-dog beasts raced through the shadows between the trees, leading the charge.
In that instant, Enoch realized it.
He had only hoped to reach the riverbank and dilute the scent of blood with the smell of water.
It seemed even that hope was in vain.
And leaping into a raging river in his current condition would be nothing short of suicide.
Fleeing from the beast-type magical beasts, Enoch cut through the forest where colossal trees stretched unevenly on either side.
He pounded across soft leaf litter, leapt over puddles, vaulted tangled roots, and ran and ran.
Before he knew it, the pursuing footsteps had spread into a fan-shaped formation, closing in around him.
Though he could not see them, the pressure of their terrifying agility was unmistakable.
Suddenly, rough breathing sounded directly ahead.
As Enoch turned his gaze, a gaping mouth lined with fangs filled his vision, lunging toward him.
He ducked reflexively, and a massive body snapped shut on empty air where his neck had been a moment earlier.
Enoch’s eyes flashed as he scanned his surroundings. When had it gotten in front of him?
At that moment, another shadow burst forth from the shade of a nearby tree.
He drew his sword like lightning and blocked the beast’s charge, but the world reeled as pain slammed into his brain.
“Kh…!”
Claws from a hunting dog raked across his waist as it bit down on his blade.
The vicious strike reopened the wound he had already suffered, and Enoch exhaled sharply.
After cutting the enemy down in a single stroke, he looked around to see hunting-dog beasts emerging from the darkness.
It was easy to see how they had tracked him this far by the scent of blood.
The other magical beasts had followed under their guidance.
As expected, their movements were coordinated.
This relentless pursuit, and its success, was no doubt due to Indiviltal, and to Ixion as well.
Truly, this was perilous enemy territory.
From behind him as well, he heard beasts growling as they tightened the encirclement.
To block attacks from the rear, Enoch slowly backed up against a nearby tree and raised his sword low toward the front.
With his injuries not yet fully healed, continuing combat was a heavy burden.
Setting aside the waste of another ampoule, if his wounds tore open again, the blood loss, already on a knife’s edge, might become irreversible.
At that point, there would be no certainty he could complete the mission on time.
No, more than that.
He might truly die.
Sensing the encroaching danger, Enoch slowly lowered his body and leveled his sword.
Just then, from the very back of the pack of magical beasts closing in on him, something massive stepped forward, shaking the ground with slow, heavy thuds.
Humanoid magical beasts as large as ten-meter-tall giants, five of them, emerged, each with massive carapaced spears hanging where their hands should have been.
The moment Enoch saw them, his spine went cold.
“Exceed-class….”
Among the five classes officially recognized by the Empire, they were only the second strongest from the bottom, but even so, they possessed combat power incomparable to ordinary beasts.
And these were not just any magical beasts. Crimson-black mana blazed fiercely from their eyes, Ixion’s mana.
And now, cornered like this, there were five Exceed-class beasts, each commanding dozens of lesser ones.
“After fleeing through this forest while injured, you have worked quite hard, Enoch.”
At that moment, as the giant beasts stepped out of the trees,
A man in a black tailcoat, riding atop one of their shoulders, came into view.
“Remarkably, these experimental beasts seem to be very good at finding your blood.”
“Ixion.”
“I was quite surprised myself.”
The Rank 9 Vendetta Annihilation Officer tilted his mask slightly, clearly amused.
He smiled at the experimental hunting dogs lined up below, their bodies tense.
“No matter how specialized their sense of smell, I did not expect them to track you so precisely even after you put so much distance between us. It surprised even their creator.”
Looking down at Enoch from his perch, he let out a cold laugh.
“So I called over some nearby specimens that looked somewhat useful. By Imperial standards, yes, they are called Exceed-class, I believe?”
BZZZT, !!
As if on the verge of rampaging, crimson sparks burst from the cracks in the Exceed-class beasts’ carapaces.
Enoch tightened his grip on the sweat-slick sword hilt and coolly surveyed his surroundings.
In this forest, every magical beast could be ‘enhanced’ and controlled by Ixion at will.
Once again, he realized that this forest was essentially the heart of Ixion’s vast unique magic.
“Even including these leader-class beasts, the overall combat strength of the magical beasts here has been enhanced beyond comparison to before, Enoch.”
Ixion spoke as though savoring his leisure.
Even if Enoch somehow won while injured, he would only reopen his wounds and suffer further blood loss.
Gripping his sword tightly, Enoch wondered if his luck had finally run out.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed.
That was the only way to describe this situation.
In the midst of it, Enoch quietly raised his sword straight ahead.
A silver line crossed diagonally beside his eyes, aiming at the enemy.
Seeing that, Ixion shook his head with a low laugh, as if he had expected nothing less.
“You never tire of resisting, Enoch. Even though you are going to die.”
Enoch lowered his stance, sword still leveled, and stared at his enemy with dark blue eyes.
As Ixion said, he might truly die here.
But that did not mean he had any intention of yielding to despair.
, Besides, he knew.
“Then, farewell, Enoch.”
As Ixion slowly spread his arms, a crimson-black orb formed above his hand and exploded.
Splitting into countless rays of light, it swept through the air and plunged into the surrounding beasts, issuing the order to advance.
BOOOOOOM!!
The Exceed-class beast closest to Enoch slammed its carapaced spear into the ground and charged forward with its subordinates.
Dozens of magical beasts rushed toward Enoch, who stood trapped with no escape route.
-KIRIRIRIRIRIK!!
But at that moment,
“W-wait. What, ?!”
Ixion, who had been deploying his magic, suddenly froze and glanced sharply to the side.
As the charging beasts screamed and turned their heads in unison,
WHEEEEEENG!!
Silver metal threads surged forth, spreading like a net across Enoch’s front.
Each silver filament pierced through enemies like bullets, then coiled around tree trunks and the ground like serpents, pinning every foe in midair.
And from between the massive tree trunks soaring into the forest canopy, Rien appeared, running along them before changing direction and diving straight down.
She descended from the trunk of a towering tree at a speed rivaling free fall.
Realizing the anomaly, an Exceed-class beast halted its charge toward Enoch and lashed out, extending its arm to strike the white-haired girl head-on.
A sharp exhale rang out.
“, Get away from the young master.”
The air froze with a shrill sound as wires shot forth from Rien’s arm at lightning speed.
Countless wire trajectories filled the air as Rien and the Exceed-class beast crossed paths, so fast that it was impossible to tell what had happened.
Rien landed soundlessly with one knee bent and slowly rose, pulling her arm back to retrieve the wires.
In the next instant, the Exceed-class beast and the frozen magical beasts suspended in midair were all severed by silver arcs.
Their bodies fell apart into cube-like segments, scattering black ash as they rained down.
Carapace and severed bodies slammed into the ground with thunderous impacts, sending up clouds of dust.
Seeing this, the experimental beasts behind them instinctively lost their will to fight and staggered back step by step.
“Fortunately,”
Enoch said quietly as he glanced toward the direction from which the silver threads had come.
“You were not too late.”
A girl with long silver-white hair landed in front of him.
Watching the black-and-white skirt of her maid uniform flutter, Enoch quietly lowered the sword he had been holding at the ready.
After all, he had already known.
The maid who would appear before him the moment his life was threatened, without need for any reason.
A cry of shock burst from Ixion.
“That maid, again, you bitch!”
But Enoch ignored him and spoke softly to the silver-haired girl, who glanced back at him with an emotionless gaze.
“…Rien.”
At her slender white neck, a translucent silver light hovered like a choker.
She stared at him briefly, then glanced at the blood-soaked waist of his shirt and murmured,
“So deep a wound….”
Turning her gaze back to the magical beasts with transparent fury, Rien extended her wires once more.
Then she bowed her head. Her fallen bangs hid her expression.
“……!!”
The coldness of her presence made even the magical beasts and Ixion recoil instinctively, and Enoch himself took a step back.
The next moment, a voice cold as absolute zero echoed quietly through the forest.
“I will never forgive you.”