I'm Coming to Rescue You Now (2)
I'm Coming to Rescue You Now (2)
Swish.
As I landed on a tree branch, it sank deeply under my weight.
Perhaps because of the demonic energy, though, the trees within the Seal Grounds were much tougher than those outside.
The branch snapped back up, and I used its recoil to launch myself toward another tree.
In a jungle-like forest, after all, the trees grew close together.
Until now, I'd stuck to the ground so I could travel alongside team members without physical enhancements. But traveling alone, there was no need to run along the ground.
Below me, monsters passed by as I darted forward.
In the past, I would have taken a long detour, but right now, I didn't have time for that.
Truth be told, moving through the treetops didn't mean I could avoid monsters entirely.
The trees were infested with monsters, too. Forearm-sized spider monsters sometimes lunged at me, and insect monsters that mimicked tree branches lurked among them as well.
On the ground, monsters charged with bodies larger than humans. In the trees, they launched sudden ambushes while keeping themselves concealed.
Had I been unable to sense mana, moving through the treetops like this would have been impossible.
Thanks to detecting ambushes through mana beforehand, I could slice down spider monsters falling from above with my dagger and dodge the monsters disguised as branches.
Various other monsters lunged at me, intent on taking my life, but I dodged the ones I could and dealt with the rest as I sped forward.
Fortunately, the sun hadn't set yet.
After moving through the treetops like that for about an hour, I sensed human mana far ahead.
Then Katrin's voice reached my ears.
"Just a little further! Hang in there, everyone!"
In the distance, between the trees, I caught sight of Katrin and the students.
I stared blankly as I watched Katrin fight.
She wasn't the pale Katrin, drained of a massive amount of blood. Our Knight Faculty professor was very much alive, moving with vigor.
Seeing Katrin alive felt as though the agony of death lingering deep in my chest had been completely washed away.
Other familiar faces came into view, too.
Piar's cousin, Mirisa, and Bria, who had survived to the very end, were there as well.
The Knight Faculty student and the Inherited Ability Faculty student who were said to have died were also fighting.
And behind them stood Ride.
The battle looked as though it would end easily, even without my help.
I forced myself to keep my body from springing forward.
Unfortunately, reason won out over instinct. I glared at my hand, gripping the tree.
'Damn it, should I just screw the plan and rejoin them?'
Things had gone according to plan so far, but there was no guarantee they'd continue to do so.
If even the smallest thing went wrong, I might fail to save Katrin.
But watching Ride deal with the monsters alongside the group made it impossible for me to act recklessly.
Though many reasons had piled up over time, the fundamental force that enabled me to endure the agony of repeating death was my desire for revenge against the one who killed me.
That was how I sent off my aunt, and in the end, I killed the mercenaries during the Marquis affair for the same reason.
Going back to kill the Baron was for exactly the same reason, and when I died this time, I swore I would kill Ride no matter what.
I desperately wanted to save Katrin, but I couldn't just leave Ride alone, either.
'Damn it!'
After punching the tree, I launched myself through the air once more.
Not toward Katrin and the students, but past them, farther ahead.
I didn't know the exact location, but the direction certainly wouldn't change.
Moving faster than Katrin's group, I climbed to a treetop and checked the mana ahead.
I was looking for a place where mana and demonic energy converged—the spot where monsters swarmed.
Fortunately, it was easy to spot.
Up ahead, mana and demonic energy gathered and swirled in a vortex.
It wasn't simply a place with lots of monsters; it was a spot where they had remained for a long time, allowing mana and demonic energy to accumulate.
"Is that the monster nest?"
I launched myself toward the place where the mana was concentrated.
I reached the monster nest in no time.
Concealing my mana, I tiptoed along the branches and surveyed the nest.
Six-legged lizard monsters with red tail-feathers swarmed inside.
"So the item Ride is looking for is somewhere in there?"
I infused mana into my eyes and scanned the area thoroughly, but unfortunately, I couldn't spot any such item.
"Did I come early for nothing?"
I'd thought that if I found it first, I could get Katrin's group to turn back along the way, but as expected, nothing came easily.
"Handling this alone looks tough... Guess I'll have to stick to the plan after all."
There were far too many monsters. Just looking at their numbers, it was no wonder Katrin had been overwhelmed back then.
In the end, I gave up on finding another way and waited for Katrin's group to arrive.
Time passed, and evening began to fall.
Katrin and the students appeared at the monster nest.
Even from afar, I could see the sunset tinting Katrin's face.
When she saw the monster nest, Katrin's expression twisted, and the students completely lost their minds.
"No way!"
"What on earth is this!"
Thankfully, Katrin quickly regained her composure.
"Everyone, fall back! Form up!"
Thanks to Katrin's shout, the students snapped out of it, but the monsters spotted them, too.
Screech!
The largest monster, sitting in the center, let out a monstrous screech.
Every single monster turned to face Katrin's group.
In the next instant, the monsters charged at Katrin and the students all at once.
Twitch.
Seeing the monsters move, I nearly dashed out on reflex.
But I forced myself to hold back. If I moved now, I'd only get swept away by the wave of monsters.
There was no way Katrin would be brought down so easily.
I'd heard that in my previous life, Katrin and the students ran for quite a while. They'd be able to hold out just fine this time, too.
Just before the monsters swarmed over them, I saw Katrin step forward.
"I'll cover the rear, so everyone, run!"
At Katrin's roar, the students sprinted away behind her.
'They certainly run fast enough at times like this.'
I'd heard they'd barely been able to move, but seeing it with my own eyes, they were running away just fine.
Slicing through the charging monsters and bashing them back with her shield, Katrin retreated after the students.
"Faster!"
"Block the ones coming from the sides!"
Katrin's voice gradually faded into the distance.
The monsters followed Katrin and the students out of the nest as well.
And then.
In the thicket where Katrin, the students, and the monsters had vanished, a human figure appeared.
Ride was lying flat inside the thicket.
Lying prone, he reached out a hand to keep the passing monsters from noticing him.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"What a perfect ability for thievery."
Eventually, all the monsters chased after the humans, leaving only the massive monster alone in the nest.
"What kind of confidence is that? Staying behind alone."
I didn't know whether it stayed behind because it was the boss, but it was hard to understand.
Just look at that. Because it had stayed behind alone, the thief had started creeping into motion.
Ride checked his ring as he gradually crept closer to the nest.
As he moved, I edged closer to the nest, too.
Once Ride got reasonably close, the lizard monster's red tail-feathers stuck straight up like antennae.
The monster turned its head toward Ride.
Ride spread his hand open again.
The monster shook its head.
Sweat dripped down Ride's face.
Moments later, the monster sat back down. Its tail-feathers relaxed and fell back to the ground.
'Impressive. To think it works on a monster of that caliber. But I wonder how it works. Is he just hiding his own existence, or is he making it misperceive its surroundings?'
Just in case, I decided to wait a short distance away.
Ride moved slowly past the side of the monster.
He came so close that even the slightest wrong move would have made him touch it.
After checking his ring one last time, he carefully inspected the ground.
'Damn it, how long is he going to search?'
He was moving way too slowly. I didn't know if Katrin would be all right.
I cursed Ride for moving so sluggishly, and myself for staring at him blankly.
Just as I was about to lose patience and move, Ride pulled a pouch out from beneath the ground.
Seeing the pouch, Ride smiled brightly.
And, wearing a bright smile of my own, I rushed toward Ride.
Then I slammed right into him with a body tackle!
Thud!
"Ack!"
Ride screamed as he went tumbling.
Growl.
Perhaps because Ride's ability had deactivated, the monster shook its head violently.
"W-what?"
Ride looked up at me, bewildered.
"What else? The Hero of Justice, here to deliver divine punishment."
Though my life had nothing to do with justice, justice was relative. To a villain like him, calling myself a Hero of Justice was perfectly valid.
"You bastard! Why are you... No, the pouch! That's my pouch!"
After staring at me in confusion, he shrieked when he saw the pouch clutched in my hand.
Hm, maybe calling myself a Hero of Justice was a stretch after all.
"In that case, let me drop the 'Hero of Justice' part. Since I'm short on time, I'll just deliver the divine punishment."
I wished I could give a detailed explanation of what was going on, like Ride had before my death, but right now I had to wrap things up as quickly as possible and catch up to Katrin.
"Damn it!"
Ride spread his hand toward me. In that instant, his figure vanished from sight.
Even so, I'd already noted his location beforehand, and even now, I was tracking him through his mana.
Snorting in derision, I hurled my dagger straight ahead.
Thud!
"Aaargh!"
Blood squirted through the air, and Ride reappeared.
The dagger was embedded deep in Ride's flank.
Ride shrieked relentlessly in agony.
You can't even endure a wound like that—don't you feel any remorse toward Katrin, who suffered an injury in that exact same spot?
I walked up to Ride and yanked the dagger out to the side.
Squelch.
As the dagger came free, the wound tore open even wider.
Ride gaped, trembling violently.
His terrified eyes were fixed past me, on something behind my back.
"Oops."
I hastily stepped backward.
Crunch!
The lizard-like monster opened its maw wide and pounced on Ride.
"No!"
With that final scream, Ride's voice was heard no more.
"That was far too brief a retribution, but since I don't have time, let's wrap it up here."
I unsheathed the greatsword resting on my back and channeled mana into it.
Then I swung it down at the monster eagerly devouring what used to be Ride.
Slash!
Blood gushed from the monster's shoulder.
As expected, it was no ordinary monster.
I'd intended to sever its arm completely, but the blade stopped after carving deeply into its shoulder.
Still, this was more than enough.
I had no intention of killing it anyway.
Roar!
The monster let out a horrific screech of pain.
Roar! Roar!
The screeches of other monsters answered from afar.
Now then, hurry back. Your nest and boss are in danger!
Hearing the sound of the monsters rushing back, I knew my work here was completely finished.
I waved goodbye to the monster spitting out the corpse that used to be Ride, turned around, and began to run.