Chapter 17
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: In Search of Moonlight Grass (2)
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"Put more than just me in here. Companions are fine, or people you know."
The brown eyes gazing at Blanc curved like a crescent moon.
"Fill your heart with plenty to burn. Before the rage hollows you out."
Those brown eyes that had watched him.
They were gone now.
Melted away, leaving empty voids in the hollow darkness.
Blanc had pierced her heart.
When her heartbeat finally stopped, he heard Ulrich's sobs from behind him.
And at the same time, he felt his own chest grow hollow.
"......Now what do I have left to burn?"
The villagers nearby called the place the "White Claw."
About 150 years ago, a mage from the School of Flames had caused a massive explosion during an experiment, blasting away one side of the mountain.
The blast was so enormous that a third of the once-intact peak vanished, creating a sheer cliff where none had been before—all by the hand of a single man.
"That must be it."
"Looks like it to me too."
Rakshar's fingertip caught the moonlight, reflecting off the mountain's stark white face.
"Young master, it's already evening. Climbing the mountain at this hour is far too dangerous."
"Izrelin doesn't have time."
She had been nothing but a nuisance.
Yet when Blanc saw her lips turning blue, a blaze of fury ignited in his chest.
Even in his hollow heart, there was still fuel left to burn? Or had that girl carved a new place within him?
Blanc didn't know. That's why he had come for the Moonlight Grass.
Rakshar glimpsed the unyielding resolve in Blanc's eyes.
"......Understood. Let's go."
"Lead the way, Rakshar."
Even seasoned hunters avoided scaling mountains at night, but for Blanc, there was no choice.
Izrelin had only two days left.
Blanc and Rakshar moved toward the darkening forest entrance.
It wasn't overrun with monsters or bandits pitching camp.
This mountain was near the capital, Baltimer, so regular subjugation squads kept it in check.
Even village kids ventured to the foothills during the day to gather firewood or fruit.
The problem was the late hour, under a risen moon—when human influence waned.
And they weren't just strolling the base; they aimed for the summit area.
Hah.
Blanc took a short breath and lunged forward. At the end of his gaze stood a hulking black boar.
White lightning, akin to the moonlight above, flickered briefly along his sword.
Kweeeek!
The boar let out a death cry and collapsed with a thud.
"S-Sorry, young master. I must've taken a wrong turn."
"No helping it. I know we can't reach the goal without interruptions."
Even Rakshar, a peerless hunter with werewolf blood, couldn't avoid it entirely.
This wasn't his familiar terrain.
Still, his innate senses and experience guided them unerringly toward the White Claw, though clashes with territorial beasts and monsters were inevitable.
"Let's hurry."
"Yes, young master."
They'd arrived at the mountain in early evening, but dawn was breaking deep into the night by the time they reached the cliff called the White Claw.
Rakshar was a godsend.
With no prior knowledge on a first climb, the half-werewolf's beastly instincts had found the path to lead Blanc here.
Usually a dim-witted half-werewolf clueless about the world, he transformed in the wilds.
Without him, Blanc couldn't have scaled the mountain at midnight or arrived intact.
Exhausted and dazed, Blanc watched Rakshar tirelessly knot a long rope and secure it to a nearby rock.
Peering down the cliff with animal eyes to gauge the drop, Rakshar nodded—it was ready.
"Y-Young master, all set."
"Good work."
Though he could rest, Blanc grabbed the rope Rakshar handed him and cinched it tightly around his waist.
"B-But wouldn't it be better if I went down?"
"The lighter me makes more sense than your heavy self. You'd handle surprises better too."
Blanc's logic held up.
A mage like Ulrich could've used spells to enter the cliffside cave effortlessly, but Blanc had only his sturdy body—and the rope.
"B-Be careful, young master."
"Hold my lifeline tight, Rakshar."
The cliff's height was dizzying even to look at.
Descending by midnight moonlight, yet Blanc didn't hesitate.
Hoo.
Exhaling deeply, he gripped the rope and descended without a second thought.
Rakshar smiled at the fourteen-year-old's fearless poise—it was unbelievable.
His young master, once just a boy, now stood as a proper man.
This is tougher than I thought.
Even combining past-life memories, rappelling a cliff at night was new.
Feet slipping without footholds, nails tearing, forehead bleeding from impacts—he pressed on.
Rakshar fidgeted anxiously above.
Hah, hah. Here it is.
Sweat-soaked, Blanc reached the cave in the cliff.
Perfectly positioned to catch unfiltered moonlight, its interior was clear even in darkness.
Dangling from the rope, Blanc stepped inside, feet hitting solid ground. He sighed in relief unwittingly.
No wonder Ulrich picked this as a lab.
Scanning swiftly, Blanc saw why: flat floor, sturdy walls, dry enough for storage—an ideal hideout.
That must be...
In the cave's center, a single flower bathed in moonlight, emanating a silvery glow.
Just one bloom, yet it radiated sanctity. Even Blanc lost himself momentarily in its beauty.
So he didn't notice.
The ominous thing stirring in the moonless corner.
Not sighted, but instinct: chills on his nape, body shifting to defense.
Red glints emerging from the shadows beyond the Moonlight Grass.
What the hell is that?
Two blood-red spots.
A bear? No, impossible.
What bear lived atop such a sheer drop?
More red spots above the pair.
Four... six... eight... ten, twelve.
Endless spots, below them a yawning maw like hell's gate.
"Damn it!"
Shiiieeeeek!
Rakshar guarded the entrance unblinking after Blanc entered.
Then he saw Blanc bolting out in panic.
"F-Found it, I guess... Huh?"
Disheveled and frantic—not climbing, but grabbing the rope one-handed and leaping outward.
"Rakshar, pull!"
Blanc's urgent cry echoed in the quiet night.
Stunned briefly by the sudden move, Rakshar spotted the black sludge-like mass surging after him.
"Whoa! Whoaaa!"
He yanked the rope hard.
The black torrent poured from the cave, fully revealed in moonlight.
"It's a centipede!!"
"Huge one!!"
A colossal centipede, long as linked carriages.
Shiiieeeeek--!
Furious at the intruder, it thrashed countless legs and antennae.
Creepy as hell!
Blanc's rough past-life hadn't prepared him for instinctive revulsion at the writhing legs.
Rakshar's pulls hoisted him swiftly, but the centipede, irked by the fleeing pest, lunged closer with flailing limbs.
"Ugh!"
Blanc kicked off the wall, dodging via recoil.
Shiiieeeeek-!
The giant hissed in rage, evaded repeatedly as Blanc ascended.
Its six pairs of eyes fixed on the rope.
Cut that, and the human falls—target shifted.
Smart for a damn bug!
Hanging midair, evading strikes, Blanc gaped as it climbed to sever the line.
"Damn it!"
A toothpick to its jaws—the rope snapped before they closed.
Anticipating, Blanc wedged onto a foothold, avoiding the plunge. Rakshar, yanking full force, toppled backward.
Shiiiiaaaah.
The centipede gloated at the stranded Blanc.
It felt like mockery.
"I'm no easy prey."
Most would freeze in terror, but Blanc burned with fury at being underestimated.
Fear.
Past life.
Fighting the Void, Liberation Front needed fearlessness.
The Void spread via gaze, infecting through terror.
Some cultivated stoicism; others deadened emotions.
Blanc erased fear differently.
"You dare mock me, you mere bug!!!!"
To quell primal fear, a fiercer emotion: rage.
Burning the dying girl's image in his heart.
The centipede flinched at the lion-like roar, then dove.
Hoo, hoo.
Steadying breath, Blanc waited. As it neared, eyes locking on him, he surged upward with thigh power.
"Young master!"
Rakshar, nocking an arrow, saw Blanc scale the sheer wall solely on legs—like ignoring gravity, sprinting vertically.
He overtook the beast, gaining height.
The centipede's twelve eyes darted, seeking the vanished prey.
"Your eyes piss me off."
Drawing his arming sword, Blanc used gravity's pull.
Crackle, crackzzt.
He shot downward like an arrow at the dangling foe.
Kieeeek!
The Assansio Family's—no, now Cardmus Family's—White Lightning.
Brighter than moonlight, it plummeted like a meteor onto the White Claw cliff.