Black (7)
The act of walking through the mountains is an incredibly arduous one. And if it's a wild mountain without even a proper path, the difficulty level more than doubles. Treacherous slopes, uneven ground, thickets that not only hinder movement but will cut your skin the moment you let your guard down, swarms of insects that attack as if resurrecting no matter how many you kill, and demonic beasts that will physically crush your skull if you aren't paying attention. But they say humans are creatures of adaptation. The students, who had been forced to recklessly trample through places ordinary people would never set foot in their entire lives under the guise of missions, had each picked up their own tricks.
Some leaped lightly from tree to tree as if strolling across flat ground. Others surrounded themselves with barriers created through spells. Still others simply blasted the obstacles away physically. To ordinary people, these would all seem like absurd methods that could hardly be called "tricks," but thanks to them, reaching their first destination didn't take very long.
It was a good thing when considering their eventual return to the eastern army, but Lyla Everblaze Barhart's inner thoughts were far from at ease. The idea that she alone was taking the easy role refused to leave her mind.
"We'll secure the retreat route here. If the situation turns unfavorable, please return immediately. Everyone, take care of yourselves."
"What are you talking about? With this many human weapons around, what could possibly go wrong? As long as that blood-crazed Crow doesn't go berserk at the sight of blood, and as long as a certain someone who's been influenced by her doesn't start some stupid score competition, everyone should be fine."
She had spoken while carefully suppressing her discomfort, only to receive an exceedingly carefree reply.
"This bastard's talking about people like they're psychopaths? You wanna get tied to a pole again? Huh?"
"Hey, Midas. Surely that 'certain someone' you just mentioned doesn't refer to me, right?"
"I've already settled the score from the first time you got me, so there's nothing left for a second round. And I didn't specify who, so why are you the one getting all worked up, Eagle 'sir'?"
The two flared up, but thanks to Akasha and Hau Pendevig stepping in, they couldn't open their mouths any further. It made sense that Eagle would shrink back from his younger sister's icy glare, but as for Crow, she was physically silenced by a grip of monstrous strength.
"Actually, the weakest among those human weapons is my brother. Ligret, if things go south, please at least recover his head and torso. I'll handle the treatment."
"Wouldn't just the tongue be enough?"
"Even golems are a pain to restore with only their core, you know. No matter how crucial the part, you still need the rest of the components."
"You crazy bastards, you should be thinking about bringing him back with all his limbs intact. What the hell kind of horrifying things are you saying?"
For people about to charge into a dangerous area, their complete lack of tension caused the rearguard—who had been showing signs of unease—to visibly relax their shoulders. Was it too much of an overestimation to think he had planned for even this?
Looking back, that young man named Chrome had always been this way. He would seize control of the situation however he pleased, personally absorb all the complaints that poured out during the process, and then use that as leverage to set up an entirely new board. It was a method that would get him crushed with even the slightest misstep, yet whenever things truly seemed dangerous, he would slip behind his guards. Should this be called being skilled at hit-and-run tactics, or more bluntly, just plain shameless?
If he was going to breathe anyway, then rather—
Having thought that far, Lyla unconsciously shook her head. It was far too insincere a thought to be having in a situation like this.
"Alright, that's enough. It's time to set out. Hau, I'll leave the emergency signal to you."
"You may entrust it to me, Princess of the Lake."
Lyla watched the group move forward in their lighthearted mood for quite some time before finally turning her head. Now was the time to fulfill the role assigned to her.
"…She's just suffering alone inside like that. It's going to explode later."
The moment the stinging gaze she had felt on her back finally disappeared, Ligret muttered quietly. She had once heard Chrome describe Princess Lyla as a volcano. In her opinion, the term "underwater volcano" seemed far more accurate. For someone who was unmistakably fire-attributed to act all gentle and pretend to be water-attributed—it was exactly like that. The fact that the person herself had no awareness of it made it even more troublesome.
"Out of nowhere, what are you talking about?"
"Your specialty—nonsense."
"Have you all hit some late puberty or something? Why are everyone's tongues so sharp lately?"
Even as he grumbled, Chrome didn't press the matter any further. He must have realized that, unlike before, this wasn't a place where they could advance while trading banter. Thanks to Ligret's senses being sharp enough to distinguish every single snippet of conversation from passersby on the street, she could feel the changes approaching their target point even more clearly.
The most obvious change was the noise. People often speak of "quiet forests," but in reality, forests aren't that silent at all. The rustle of leaves in the wind, the cries of insects, the soft sounds of animals moving about. Yet at some point, all those constant sounds—except for the wind—had completely vanished.
And then there was the unidentified stench carried on the breeze. At first she had thought it was simply the smell of blood or animal musk, but this was on another level. No, more than that—this.
"Hold on. Stop."
The moment Ligret, who had been leading the way, suddenly halted, the others immediately tensed and scanned their surroundings, listening to her words. Chrome asked on their behalf.
"What is it? Something wrong?"
"The air is bad."
"What?"
At first Chrome wore an expression that said, What kind of nonsense is that? but he soon realized the meaning and his face hardened.
"Crow, Akasha—maintain your reinforcement. As for the other two—"
"Poison? I've already surrounded us with a wall of wind. Air drawn from above should be fine."
"Brother, I'll take over. Stop your spell. If you move around using magic so violently, we'll be detected immediately."
As if high-level spellcasting required at least this much quick thinking, the Pendevig siblings quickly assessed the situation and deployed their spells. The stinging sensation on their skin gradually began to subside.
Akasha asked, "Did they know we were coming and spread it in advance?"
"Even so, that would be far too inefficient. Still, we should stay alert just in case."
The farther they went, the stronger the unidentified stench became. The two from the combat department and Akasha, who had been enduring with their own reinforcement because being inside the air barrier would dull their reactions in an emergency, eventually gave up and took shelter within Hau's spell.
"Is that purplish smoke the cause?"
Whatever was responsible for the stench seemed to have a heavy property, as its concentration grew thicker the lower they went. Thankfully, its color was faint enough that while it obstructed their vision, it didn't completely block it.
What had at first only appeared in faint patches like a thin film covering the ground now rose up to their ankles. It was then that the group discovered "it" lying on the ground.
It had a head. It had limbs. It was wearing clothes. But that didn't mean they would mistake it for a person. More precisely, they wouldn't mistake it for a living person.
After all, someone whose stomach had been torn open and whose internal organs had been devoured by something wouldn't be alive.
"…A corpse? Attacked by a demonic beast?"
"For a hiker, the clothing seems a bit too shabby."
The clothes on the corpse consisted of nothing more than a single crude, one-piece cloth covering. It might be easier to think of it as a burlap sack with holes for the head and arms. To the members present—who were all superhumans far removed from normality—it was one thing, but it was highly inappropriate attire for an ordinary person climbing a mountain.
And there wasn't just one corpse. Some were missing heads. Others had their upper and lower bodies scattered in different places. Some had their intestines dangling out like ropes. The common points among these varied corpses were two.
First, their excessively simplistic clothing. And second, that they hadn't died instantly—they had been toyed with, tormented by something before being killed.
Eagle Pendevig muttered in disgust.
"……Did they offer ordinary people—no, slaves—as playthings for demonic beasts? What vulgar behavior."
"Ha, and it looks like they used them as bait while they were at it. The number of corpses is increasing the farther we go."
Just as Crow had said while clicking her tongue, the number of corpses kept growing, and their conditions grew increasingly less intact. It was as if demonic beasts that only ate internal organs had left the remains for other demonic beasts that preferred different parts to nibble on one bite at a time.
In a wild place like this, it would be natural for insects to swarm the corpses, yet thanks to that strange smoke, not even a single small maggot could be seen. It made the scene all the more grotesque.
With their expressions hardened by disgust and a sense of crisis, the group continued to press forward.