113. Subjugating the New Chimera Beasts (6)
"Found them."
The search party's tension thickened the moment Eunhyeon muttered those words while raising his hand to halt the line of scouts trailing behind him.
Eunhyeon glanced at one of the adventurers who had been sticking close behind him, giving a subtle nod. The man understood immediately and slipped silently toward the rear.
Riod soon approached from the front line, heading straight for Eunhyeon.
For the highest-ranking commander here to come down personally for a report would normally spark protests about crumbling hierarchies. But no one dared complain—not with the intimate camaraderie between Eunhyeon and Riod, nor after witnessing the man's prowess against the chimera beasts.
Instead, the scouts held their breath, scanning the empty surroundings in curiosity. No tracks, no signs—what had he found? They waited eagerly for him to speak.
"You found them?"
Eunhyeon pointed upward with his finger, toward the top of the massive cliff.
"There's a cave up there on the cliff—the bandits' hideout. Deep inside, it looks like they've stashed women they kidnapped while raiding villages for food. No proper guards in sight. The sun's up, morning's broken, but since it's a cave... they're probably still passed out. Their brains must be dumber than goblins."
The scouts stared at Eunhyeon in stunned silence as his report poured out.
Pinpointing the chimera beasts' approach and numbers had been impressive enough. But locating a bandit den hidden in an invisible cave atop a cliff—and deducing its interior? That bordered on the miraculous.
"Crazy... how the hell does he know that...?"
Even hardened veteran adventurers were left slack-jawed. Eunhyeon's detection ability was on another level.
It stemmed from his self-developed 'detection' technique, mimicking radar and echolocation principles—something no one else could replicate. It was as unique as a personal superpower.
He'd recently started teaching it to Erin, who was currently tearing her hair out over it. But Eunhyeon was confident she'd catch up eventually.
"Any black mage or alchemist?"
"...No. Looks like they ditched the bandits and bolted."
"Fled the moment they sensed yesterday's disturbance."
"Tch."
Eunhyeon clicked his tongue softly, displeased at letting the necromancer slip away.
He'd anticipated this possibility to some degree but hadn't pushed Riod for a nighttime pursuit squad last night.
After the chimera battle, forcing exhausted, injured expedition members into more action risked unnecessary casualties.
Logic aside, the frustration of missing the necromancer lingered.
"If you're right, that means survivors are still alive in the bandit den. Sorry, but we'll prioritize rescuing them and wiping out the bandits over chasing the necromancer."
"Nah, it's fine. You're the commander here. I won't interfere with your orders. Besides, grilling the bandits who supplied the corpses might yield better intel than blindly chasing escapees. Just... let me hunt those two alone. That okay?"
"Of course."
Riod nodded without hesitation, knowing Eunhyeon's capabilities.
The knights and adventurers in the search party had no complaints about his solo departure either.
They trusted his scouting and combat skills—he wouldn't go down easy. And leaving a necromancer and alchemist who could spawn deadly chimeras was too risky.
His proposal for role division made perfect sense.
With the plan set, action followed swiftly.
"Even if I miss them, I'll be back before sunset."
"Good luck."
"...Be careful."
Eunhyeon received brief words of encouragement—and Elenoa's unexpected concern caught him off guard. He nodded to her, then broke away from the expedition.
Racing through the mountains, he expanded his detection to its maximum range, sensing everything stirring in the forest.
'Sensing all his undead underlings wiped out in yesterday's battle. Hostile forces he can't match closing in.'
What would he do in that situation?
'The black mage decides to flee upon sensing the anomaly, abandons the bandits outright. But takes the alchemist—probably because she's key to bolstering his undead legions.'
They'd slipped out of the bandit den secretly while everyone slept.
So, where to?
'Where would I run?'
The best hiding spots were crowded places. And with his undead army decimated, he'd need corpses to rebuild—another reason for population centers.
'Closest village from here is Bram Village.'
Even leaving early under cover of night, it was too far for average human legs to cover in half a day.
Lacking other clues, Eunhyeon took off.
Time Acceleration
He sprinted toward the village at his maximum speed.
Spotting black smoke rising over the direction he was heading, Eunhyeon's grim hunch solidified.
"Damn it..."
Ruined crops trampled beyond recognition, buildings reduced to rubble stained with fresh crimson blood—Eunhyeon grimaced at the village's devastation.
The visible carnage told the tale plainly.
The entire village had been massacred unilaterally, yet not a single human corpse remained.
"As expected... the necromancer's handiwork."
For a necromancer crafting chimeras from human bodies infused with beast traits, fresh corpses were paramount.
Confirming every body had been swept clean, Eunhyeon deduced one of them wielded spatial teleportation magic.
"...? A survivor?"
Sensing a human presence via detection, he hurried over and entered a collapsed building's warehouse.
Inside the dusty space, he found a large chest. Despite the grime, its handle gleamed unusually clean. Pulling it open revealed a trembling girl curled up tight inside.
"Please spare me. Please... please don't kill me."
"..."
As light flooded the chest and Eunhyeon entered her view, she clasped her hands in desperate begging.
Silent for a long moment, Eunhyeon extended a hand toward her.
"Hic...!"
As his hand neared, she squeezed her eyes shut in terror. But when he lifted her effortlessly from the chest, she blinked up at him in bewilderment.
"What's wrong?"
"Y-You're... not going to kill me?"
"Why would you think I'd kill you?"
"Because..."
Unable to continue, the girl went limp in his arms as Eunhyeon carried her out of the warehouse, brushing dust from her clothes.
"Your parents?"
"They're all... dead."
"By whose hand?"
"I don't know. A huge beast like a cow appeared out of nowhere, smashing buildings and killing people... Then Mom and Dad, who died protecting me, suddenly stood up and started... biting people's throats. And the villagers bitten by them started changing too... Hic, sob, waaah!"
Unable to hold back, the girl burst into tears. Eunhyeon stroked her head, cradling her gently.
"It's okay. You're safe now."
"Sob... Everyone, all the people..."
He patted her back until her sobs quieted. Exhaustion overtook her soon after—she'd been hiding in that chest, too terrified to sleep properly.
Spreading a cloth on the ground, Eunhyeon laid her down carefully and checked her condition. Then he placed a finger to her forehead.
Snap!
With a flick, the surroundings shifted.
He'd delved into her latent memories, reconstructing the 'past' from her mind into the present.
The village blazed, screams mingling with roaring flames echoing everywhere.
At the center, a massive orc wielding a crude iron club demolished homes, crushing skulls and trampling bodies in a rampage.
The fallen villagers rose as zombies under the necromancer's necromancy, seizing and tearing into the living amid the chaos.
Screams for mercy, a boy's plea for aid, a mother's frantic search for her child.
In this crucible of despair and agony—horrific even to hear—Eunhyeon confronted an unwanted echo of his past.
"Damn it..."
A girl's resentful voice overlapped, stabbing into his chest.
'...I know.'
If his mind broke at something like this, he'd have gone mad long ago.
- Ahahaha! This is the best! The screams ringing in my ears... that thrill surging through my whole body!
- Marius, quit yapping and wrap it up. We kill 'em all and rest.
- Hey, I'm in the middle of enjoying this. Don't harsh my vibe, seriously.
A black-haired man grinned sadistically amid the carnage—people trampled, bodies torn apart—while a brown-haired woman scolded him with a sour expression.
He grumbled at her nagging, but she just glared silently.
- Those guys who wiped the chimeras might come after us. Process fast, erase traces—no slip-ups.
- Pfft, how'd they even know we're here? It's not a day's walk from the bandit den. And if time's short, we just Gate out again. Why so paranoid?
- ......
She shrugged at his nonchalance with a pitiful look but said nothing more.
- Huh? It's a kid.
- H-Hic!
The man—owner of this memory, now spotting the sleeping girl—sneered and approached her.
- Where're your folks, leaving you all alone?
- P-Please... spare me...
The girl instinctively knew this pair had massacred her village.
Her whimpering plea widened his eyes in surprise, then dissolved into laughter.
- Renat! Gotta kill this little one?
- She's not even ten. Boys might hold beast traits, but a girl this young? Her body's collapse in hours. Do what you want.
- Yeah?
With her go-ahead, Marius leered at the girl.
- Hear that? No need for your corpse. Scram.
- P-Please save the villagers too! My mom and dad... please, please!
- Can't. They're materials we need, kiddo.
- Ugh... eek...
Marius scoffed, pointing to a small warehouse.
- Wanna live? Hide in there. I'll let you go. Or...
His casual sadistic grin looked utterly inhuman to the girl—like a fairy-tale devil reveling in human torment.
Tears and snot streaming down her terrified face, she bolted to the warehouse and huddled inside.
- Sparing her on a whim? Fine. But why tell her to hide there specifically?
Renat frowned, baffled by his actions.
- It's fun.
- Fun?
- Think about it. Huddled inside, clueless when the beasts and zombies will rip her apart. Heart pounding in terror, every scream from friends, uncles, aunties she greeted daily piercing her ears raw.
- ......
- Hearing pleas for help, but fear paralyzes her. She plugs her ears, pretends not to hear, trapped in there. She survives, but those screams scar her for life. Imagining her like that... haa... exhilarating. Knowing I gave her that trauma? Can't get enough. Ahh, if she grows up... bet I won't resist killing her then.
- You sick fuck.