Chapter 71
Chapter 71
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Entrance to the Dark Forest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Tyrant moved while everyone's eyes were fixed on Ramatus. In truth, he had chances to flee even before that, but his belly had been torn open by the goat's horn, leaving him unable to move.
The Tyrant pawed at his spilled guts with his front paw, waiting for the wound to heal.
His recovery was astonishingly swift, even to himself. He had never been injured so gravely before, so this was his first time experiencing such healing.
As soon as he could move, the first thought that came to the Tyrant was revenge against Ruby. But after witnessing Goat King get utterly crushed, he didn't dare even consider it.
'No need to show loyalty to a goat that got beaten by some puny little thing like that.'
If their skills had been evenly matched, the Tyrant would have fought alongside Ramatus like the other beasts of the plains. But that was out of the question. He had no desire to end up like the other monsters slaughtered by Ruby's chains.
'Goat King never had what it takes to be king to begin with. And the difference between him and that guy? It's just who was born first. If I'd been born sooner, the power would have gone to me.'
Next, he considered attacking Jade or Saf while Ruby was distracted with the fight. But even as Ruby battled Ramatus, he kept checking on Jade and Saf's positions.
It had been the same underground. His words and actions seemed carefree, but his awareness was vast enough to detect even a child's breathing. There was no way he'd neglect his 'master' while engrossed in battle.
Even if he broke through Ruby's defenses and killed Saf or Jade, the Tyrant would obviously die in the end. There was no point in throwing away his chance at survival for revenge. No reason for it, either.
The Tyrant decided to focus on surviving.
By the time Ruby smashed Ramatus's head with his bare fist, the Tyrant had slithered away from the battlefield on his belly. When Ramatus died by Ruby's hand, he was already running.
'Jade made the Pig Chief vanish. Could Goat King do that? No, the very fact that he wields the light of annihilation is what's important. With this intel, I can bargain. Instead of Goat King—no, Ramatus—I could become the next king of the plains!'
The Tyrant ran across the plains bathed in morning sunlight. Blood poured from his belly, his head, his mouth. Still, he didn't stop.
He couldn't reach the speed he once had, racing like the wind across the plains. Even on hard ground, his hooves felt as heavy as if he were running through mud.
His belly wound had healed, but returning to full strength would take more time.
'Just make it to the Dark Forest. If I get there, I'll live! Cow King will take me in.'
"The Tyrant's gone."
Ruby said.
Jade, who had been bidding farewell to the Kun hunters, whipped around. He asked in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear.
"What do you mean?"
"Just to be sure, I checked..." Ruby pointed to the area littered with beast corpses.
"...and that guy's body is the only one missing."
"Did it vanish along with Ramatus when he died?"
"The other beasts left corpses behind. And more importantly, there are signs of escape."
"You're sure it's him?"
"Positive!"
Jade panicked.
The Tyrant wasn't just any plain beast that had fled.
"Of all things, the Tyrant...?"
"Yeah, of all things, that one!"
Their voices weren't loud, but Barshu overheard and approached.
"Does that mean the Tyrant is alive?"
"See for yourself."
Ruby showed Barshu the bloodstains he had found. The spots of blood trailed off sporadically toward the northeast.
"What do you make of it, with a hunter's eyes?"
Ruby asked Barshu.
"You're right. Unless there's another beast as huge as the Tyrant, these hoofprints and bloodstains are his."
"I've messed up. I've always just taken out the leader and called it done. So I let my guard down the moment Ramatus died."
Ruby said in a frustrated tone.
"If you saw his belly ripped open by that goat horn, guts spilling out, no one would think he could run."
At Barshu's words, Ruby spoke as if struck by realization.
"You're right! Anyway, he's taken a serious wound. He can't be fleeing at full speed like before. If we hurry now, we can catch up."
"I'll guide you!"
Barshu whistled in the direction where Hur was. Hur, who had been at a distance, mounted his horse and galloped over immediately.
Jade waved his hands.
"No. This is our problem now. With Ruby here, we can track him, and Ruby can handle finishing off the wounded Tyrant."
As Jade spoke while looking at him, Ruby shrugged.
"What kind of obvious talk is that?"
Barshu said worriedly.
"But this direction leads to the Dark Forest. If he's hiding there, how do you plan to track him?"
"The Dark Forest?"
Jade asked in surprise.
"If I were the Tyrant, that's what I'd do. I don't know if he's heading there deliberately or by coincidence, but wounded beasts always flee into the forest."
Jade couldn't refuse Barshu's offer outright, so he asked Ruby.
"What do you think?"
Ruby shook his head.
"I'm not confident about the Dark Forest. I don't remember the paths well... Of course, when I say not confident here, I mean I'm not sure I can keep you two safe—not that I'd be in danger myself."
"See? We could've caught up halfway by now if we'd just started instead of debating!"
Barshu briefly explained the situation to the nearby Hur in the Kun tongue, then turned back to Jade.
"I respect Ruby's skills, but no one tracks faster or more accurately than us hunters on these plains. If he's gone into the Dark Forest, we can at least guide you to the entrance. Besides, I have a duty to see his end. I can't live with this uncertainty."
Jade didn't have time for long deliberation. As he said, it was better to hurry than argue.
"Then we'll accept your guidance."
The pursuit continued from morning through the entire day.
It wasn't as brutal as the desert sun, but racing across the undulating plains at midday took a toll on their stamina. Given the circumstances, though, Jade couldn't suggest a rest.
The two hunters' help was invaluable in following the Tyrant's blood trail. There were frequent gaps where the blood stopped, but Hur or Barshu quickly found the next mark.
"You're better at tracking than me?"
Ruby admitted readily, then added,
"Of course, I mean footprints. If I really put my nose to it, I could do it faster."
Jade and Saf rode their horses, following the two hunters, but Ruby still refused to mount up and ran instead. Even with his hands behind his back, he kept pace with the horses.
"The Tyrant's blood trail is heading straight for the entrance to the Dark Forest."
Hur, out in front, called back over his shoulder.
"So the Kun hunters do know the way to the Dark Forest entrance. It's true."
Jade said.
"Not everyone. Only some of us hunters."
At Barshu's words, Ruby said,
"The elves of the Dark Forest and the nomadic Kun have coexisted since the time of Batilan. Batilan learned strategy from the elves, and the elves learned horsemanship from Batilan. They both revere trees, so it was easy for them to understand each other."
Barshu asked in surprise.
"I've never heard that before. How do you know?"
"I barely remembered it."
"Remembered?"
"Yeah. It's a thing. Saf here would love to hear about it. Hahaha."
Ruby turned proudly to look at Saf. But Saf just tilted her head.
'To act like that toward someone who just showed tears moments ago... that's almost enviable.'
Seeing them, Jade smiled unwittingly. But as the forest filled with massive trees drew near, his smile faded naturally.
"This is the Dark Forest."
"Indeed. Looks like the Tyrant went in after all."
Barshu had followed with grim determination, but now that they stood before the forest, he showed hesitation.
"You can still turn back now."
Ruby said considerately, but it came off more like a taunt.
Barshu immediately spurred his horse toward the forest.
"This isn't quite the entrance yet. We need to go deeper."
The four horses and Ruby entered the forest together.
Jade instinctively looked back to check the path. They had come only ten paces, but the plains were already out of sight.
Saf said in a small voice.
"That stench is still here."
"Stench?"
Jade had been momentarily distracted by the forest and didn't catch what Saf meant.
"Oh, no. Nothing."
Jade decided to ask later and focused on staying on his horse. Strictly speaking, on not falling off.
The edge of the Dark Forest was only slightly denser with trees than an ordinary woods. But gradually, the trees grew thicker, taller, broader.
The fresh sunlight filtering through leaves turned eerie about half a mile in, and the air grew so humid that water droplets formed on their noses, despite no mist.
The horses could go no further.
"It's no wonder they say it repels human touch."
Jade said.
Barshu dismounted and replied.
"This is still just the 'entrance,' so it's this manageable. Other paths are practically mountaineering. We walk from here."
Jade dismounted as well and asked.
"We've already passed the entrance? I didn't see anything like one coming in. Silly thought, but I imagined some marker like a gate."
"The entrance isn't visible to the naked eye. You know it by feel and experience alone."
Barshu continued in a tense voice, not relaxing.
"We passed it long ago, of course. Take any other path, and all sense of direction fails. Sun and stars become useless. We think it's hallucinations from the pollen the plants release, but we don't know the details."
Jade looked down. Gnarled tree roots covered the ground, leaving scarcely any clear path. Barshu's notion of a "path" wasn't easy for Jade to grasp.
Jade glanced up at the sky and thought.
'Long ago, General Scipher of Rom marched into the Dark Forest vowing to bring the entire western continent under Rom's rule. Even if he failed, if he pressed on seeing terrain like this, I'd have to respect him.'
He could see why it was called the Dark Forest. Impossibly tall trees blotted out the sky, sunlight never reaching the ground. Without the sun, directions blurred. Look up briefly then down, and you'd forget where you were headed.
Some spots were cave-dark. Even accounting for the late afternoon, the light was too scant.
They tied all the horses together in one spot and proceeded on foot. Ruby and Barshu led, followed by Jade and Saf, with Hur guarding the rear.
Jade walked briskly to keep up.
"With terrain this rough, tracking must be tough, right?"
Jade asked worriedly.
"No. The trail's even clearer now. That demon knew the forest entrance too."
Barshu pointed to hoofprints in the ground.
Sure enough, with a little focus, even Jade could spot freshly broken branches and trampled underbrush.
"He's not running straight from here on?"
Jade noticed and said.
"Right. He's wandering all over. Like he's searching for something. Or being chased."
Ruby said.
"Whatever's chasing him, it's you, isn't it?"
"Who knows."
Ruby's voice was uncharacteristically uncertain. Barshu started to say something but stopped. Instead, Saf spoke up.
"Why did the Tyrant flee to the Dark Forest? Just to hide in the woods?"
"From what I sensed earlier, there's someone of even higher rank than Ramatus. The Tyrant must have come seeking aid."
Jade replied, then asked Ruby ahead.
"So these meandering tracks are from searching for that demon to help him?"
"Who knows."
Ruby dodged again.
Barshu spoke while repeatedly stopping and starting.
"I think he's avoiding some other presence."
"Other presence?"
"I'm worried myself about entering the forest without permission. We only detour briefly while hunting, or come officially to trade with the elves. I'm not even sure this counts."
Jade narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Permission... you mean the sentinels?"
Saf asked.
"Sentinels, priestess?"
"The sentinels of the Dark Forest. Haven't you heard of them from Priest Danele?"
"First time."
As they walked, the trees suddenly thinned into a clearing with a grassy field.
Ruby strode right in as before. The tall grass reached Ruby's waist, nearly covering Jade's lower half.
As Jade hesitated at the grass, Barshu drew the sword at his waist and said.
"I'll take the lead."
As Barshu cut a path with his sword, Ruby shook his head.
"No time for that. Just follow my trail. Ground's firm, nothing dangerous. What's there to fear?"
Barshu nodded, sheathed his sword.
"Ruby's right. It's only about a hundred paces."
"Let's do that. It's not the rough path—it's my personal fear..."
Barshu followed Ruby's path, Jade behind him, Saf close.
"What fear?"
Saf asked with a face showing no fear at all.
Saf always had a blank expression, but her tone now was definitely unafraid.
"I went on a picnic from the cathedral as a kid."
Jade continued slowly.
"It was supposed to be a spiritual retreat to hear God's word, but for kid acolytes like us, it was just escaping the stuffy cathedral to play. One friend ran through grass like this and stepped on a huge snake that bit his ankle. Luckily not venomous, he didn't die, but the sight of it coiling around his lower body, squeezing... even now..."
Jade shuddered before finishing.
"Bigger than this one, huh?"
Ruby kicked away the hidden part in the grass. A snake twice the size of the one from his childhood flew up at his foot.
Jade froze in horror. The snake arced through the air and landed back in the grass, vanishing somewhere.
"Sn—snake, where'd it go?"
Jade asked.
"Gone."
Ruby replied.
"I mean, where to?"
"Somewhere."
"You're doing this on purpose, right?"
"Haha, come on, hurry up. We're almost there."
Ruby exited the grass and teased Jade, who was flailing around looking everywhere as he stumbled out.
"You're hilarious. You strutted all your bravado against that demon goat a thousand times scarier than that snake?"
"Shut up!"
Jade snapped, storming past Ruby. Ruby grabbed his collar, stopping him.
There was a pond ahead in the grass. Moss and tall weeds grew around the small pond; without Ruby's grip, he'd have plunged right in.
Jade collapsed gasping.
Barshu said belatedly in alarm.
"The Dark Forest isn't just trees. Watch for terrain like this."
Jade brushed off his rear and stood, asking.
"Anything else to watch for? Precautions I should know?"
"Probably not, but if you meet the forest elves, please don't provoke them."
"Elves... If we do, how should we respond?"
"Knowing their language would help, but even if not, don't panic. They don't scorn humans for ignorance or struggle to communicate. They just..."
As Barshu spoke, he pushed through the grass toward the pond and froze.
Ruby, Jade, Saf, and Hur following all stopped.
Elves stood by the pond.