Chapter 36: It’s Not Me.
Leslie wiped the blood from her face and shot upwards, narrowly avoiding the claws of Eidolon. Twisting her body midair, she buried two daggers into its shoulders before landing lightly behind it.
The creature roared and swung around wildly, but Leslie had already closed the distance. She drove her knee into the back of its leg, forcing it onto one knee before dragging a dagger cleanly across its throat.
The final Eidolon barely had time to process what had happened. It let out a furious muffled growl and charged headfirst, trampling over the corpses of its companions.
Leslie calmly stepped aside at the last possible moment, seized one of the daggers lodged in the creature’s shoulder and yanked it free before driving it straight through the side of its skull. The Eidolon staggered forward another two steps before collapsing face-first into the snow.
Silence quickly reclaimed the frozen forest.
Damien quietly stepped out from behind the frozen tree, both hands resting leisurely on the back of his head.
His gaze sweeping across the battlefield littered with Eidolon corpses. Apart from the shallow scratch on Leslie’s back, the fight had been overwhelmingly one-sided.
He wasn’t sure whether he should be impressed by Leslie’s combat ability or concerned that the Round Table possessed yet another troublesome individual.
Leslie immediately got to work, shoveling snow over the corpses in an attempt to conceal both the bodies and the blood staining the ground.
Damien watched for a few seconds before clicking his tongue in mild curiosity.
"What are you doing?"
Leslie nearly snapped at him, but quickly remembered they were only a short distance from the Eidolon army. She lowered her voice through gritted teeth.
"What does it look like I’m doing? We need to cover the bodies and the blood before more Eidolons wander over here."
Damien nodded slowly, wearing an expression that clearly said, Oh... I get it now.
Yet he made no effort to help.
Leslie’s eyes twitched.
Just as she was about to completely lose her patience, Damien casually reached out and tapped one of the Eidolon’s antlers.
"Rise."
The Eidolon’s body suddenly twitched.
A moment later, its fingers curled into the snow before its massive frame lurched upright with stiff, unnatural movements. The twisted neck slowly straightened itself with a series of sickening cracks, while the blood spilling from its throat came to an abrupt halt.
Its once clouded eyes were now empty and lifeless, yet it remained standing in silent obedience, awaiting its master’s next command.
Leslie gasped and nearly stumbled backward.
Damien casually walked over to the remaining corpses, tapping each one in turn as he uttered the same command. One after another, the dead Eidolons convulsed before rising back to their feet. Before long, six black-furred undead stood motionless in the snow, silently awaiting their master’s command.
Leslie instinctively took several steps back, putting a comfortable distance between herself and Damien.
"We still need to hide them. We can’t exactly leave them wandering around this close to the Eidolon army."
Damien’s lips curled into a faint, ambiguous smirk.
The six undead suddenly dissolved into black miasma. The dark mist drifted across the snow before flowing into Damien’s body, disappearing without leaving the slightest trace behind.
Leslie shook her head.
"Well, that’s convenient".
"I know". Damien replied coldly.
... ...
After making sure the area was clear, Leslie gave Damien a quick hand signal before slipping into the encampment.
Damien followed close behind, the two silently weaving between the scattered tents while using the darkness to avoid the wandering Eidolons.
As they drew closer to the giant cloaked structure, both of them instinctively slowed down.
It wasn’t unguarded.
Dozens of Eidolons surrounded it, hauling wooden crates, dragging thick ropes and carrying heavy pieces of metal under the watchful eye of another Eidolon with a strip of crimson cloth wrapped tightly around its face. Every command it barked was immediately obeyed, the workers moving with surprising coordination.
Damien’s eyes narrowed. "Apprentice Priest, you got a promotion? Well that certainly explains the higher cohesion of the camp".
Damien knew it would be too difficult for the chief to control two thousand Eidolons by himself, even with the assistance of his new priest, these idiot Eidolons still laze around doing nothing or just spacing out and looking into space till they collapse.
At first Damien was terrified of how civilised they seemed, distributing roles and living in an encampment, even making sacrifices to their god.
Then later he learned that they behaved that way because of the priest that was stationed there, he commanded their intelligence. The moment Yuri killed him, they reverted to being brainless savages that couldn’t even think of a better plan other than to rush into the tunnel to try to kill them.
The chief’s sudden return somehow gave them intelligence again, and they started behaving like a properly functioning military force, at this point. Damien is convinced that killing the chief will give them the upper hand in this conflict.
Leslie frowned before quietly gesturing toward one of the nearby tents.
Damien nodded.
Charging through that many Eidolons was suicide.
The two quietly slipped inside the tent, disappearing beneath the flap before any of the workers noticed them.
Leslie let out a slow breath. The entire plan was beginning to fall apart, but it wasn’t over yet. She only needed to get a proper look at the equipment. Once she knew what the Eidolons were building, the mission would be a success.
She shook her head and turned toward Damien.
Whoosh.
Before Leslie could even register what was happening, the back of Damien’s black axe slammed into the side of her head.
The impact sent her body spinning before she crashed hard onto the ground.
A sharp sting spread across her forehead, she instinctively reached up and froze.
Her fingers came away stained with blood.
Leslie’s pupils shrank.
She slowly looked up at Damien, absolute terror spreading across her face.
"Wait... Damien..." Her voice trembled. "You’re clearly not thinking straight, you can’t kill me. Tell me, tell me, who put you up to this, is it Andrea, or that conniving bastard Vincent, my sister has a powerful dormant ability, she will kill you. You can’t possibly think you will get away with this".
Damien stopped inches away from her and shrugged ambiguously.
"It’s not you, of course it’s not me either. It’s your sister Naomi, she’s too much trouble, I need her to make a mistake, and the only way to do that is for you to die, unfortunate... I know".