Episode 254: Tail of the Tail (2)
Getting in contact with Fenry using Banri wasn’t particularly difficult.
Whenever Banri pointed in a direction, the Ghosts led the way.
At tis, they encountered wandering evil spirits in the forest, but upon seeing Karl, they either backed off or veered away.
“Why do they react like that?”
“If I activate Spectral Form, they either perceive as one of their own, or they sense my energy is stronger and back off.”
After passing through a swarm of evil spirits and quickly moving between withered trees, Banri—who had been perched near my head giving directions—suddenly reacted differently.
She tapped my head, then pointed toward a dense patch of rotted trees. When I sent Karl ahead to investigate—
Papack!
A rough sound echoed out as Karl flew back from the forest’s edge, brushing his hands and flinching.
“Damn it, I nearly lost my wrist! Are all Dark Elves this aggressive?!”
That’s when a familiar voice ca from beyond the trees.
“You can’t just pop out like that. I thought you were an enemy.”
“I waved!”
“Don’t wave at with that squid-like face. I might actually kill you next ti.”
Erging in front of the wounded Karl were two people—Fenry and Elton.
Elton approached Karl with a sheepish look, receiving a stream of scolding.
“You? Was it you?!”
“W-what are you talking about?”
While the two bickered noisily, Fenry brushed past them and walked straight to .
Banri flew over joyfully and hugged her.
“Good job.”
Fenry patted Banri and perched her back on her head, then looked at .
“What took you so long?”
“The signal ca late. And I had to travel far.”
“You think I wanted to go this far? Damn Kal bastard…”
“I’ve got a lot of questions, but first—what’s the current situation? Where’s Kal?”
Fenry briefly explained how she had tracked Kal through the Ghost Forest.
Sumd up, things were going more or less as I had predicted.
Kal’s party had clashed with The Blood-Drinking Chalice.
The only difference from my expectations was—
“So Kal is currently on the run from her?”
“More than thirty are dead already. His personal guards and shamans have turned into zombies and are wandering around. Haven’t you seen them?”
“I haven’t.”
“You’ll see them as you follow the trail.”
“What about the Black Butterflies?”
“Black Butterflies?”
The term “Irregular” was a broad designation for all experintal combat units like the Black Butterflies, including many failed creations. But when referring to this particular group, “Black Butterfly” was more accurate.
“There were so injuries on their side, but no deaths. Their losses are minimal.”
“That’s odd.”
“What is?”
“There’s no way they could have zero casualties.”
“I’m telling you, they’ve got so kind of monster with them.”
“Well, Kal has one too. A worse one.”
Lyon Martrein.
Though his power was still incomplete, Lyon had been strong enough to withstand the combined assault of , Lochter, and Karl.
And yet the Black Butterflies had suffered no significant damage?
There could only be one explanation—Lyon hadn’t joined up with Kal yet.
“Lyon?”
“Did you find any traces of cold aura in the battle sites?”
Fenry looked at Elton, and both shook their heads.
No signs of Lyon’s frost ant one thing—he hadn’t t up with Kal yet.
Which explained why Kal was being overwheld.
Karl scratched his chin and muttered,
“Didn’t that bastard enter the forest ahead of us? You think he’s lost in there?”
“That’s likely.”
Unlike us—who had reliable guides like Karl and Elton—Lyon had entered the Ghost Forest alone. There was a good chance he’d lost his way.
Now that I understood the flow of events, it was ti to close in on them and wait for the right mont.
“Were you discovered?”
Fenry smirked at my question.
“What do you take for? They’re busy exhausting each other. No need to throw cold water on that. I’m just tracking their traces.”
As expected from a seasoned assassin, she had an accurate grasp of the situation.
“And I’ve figured out the perfect ti to ambush.”
“Lyon?”
“Yeah.”
She was quick to recognize the mont her target would be vulnerable.
Kal was currently being chased by Gram, but the mont Lyon arrived, he’d unleash all that pent-up rage.
A large-scale battle is coming.
That would be the perfect mont for Hunt to move.
“Let’s hurry. We don’t know when the opportunity will co.”
I had the Ghosts continue tracking them.
I had many things I wanted to ask Elton about Demtor and Samuel, but this wasn’t the ti.
Karl, Elton, and the Ghosts quietly resud tracking, and I followed behind them.
“Hey…”
“Yes?”
“You should tell now. You ca from Beneta, didn’t you?”
Fenry hadn’t said anything, but I knew she’d been dying to ask.
She’d seen traces of Kal’s main force heading toward Beneta, and it involved the safety of the Black Roses—of course she’d be anxious.
I nodded and began explaining what had happened in Beneta.
Harkman Oleve and Wiley Gris’ downfall.
The ambush by Kal’s main force.
The final battle led by the awakened Dorneth Gader.
The support of the anti-Kal alliance.
And ultimately—victory.
“Beneta is safe now.”
“Haven’t heard such sweet words in a while.”
“In a while? When did I ever say sweet things?”
“When you said you’d hand over shares in the Dwarf mine?”
Ah, of course it ca back to money.
“You’ve got a debt to collect from Kal, don’t you? Didn’t he steal a lot of your gold?”
“I was thinking about that… but seems I won’t be collecting. Hard to get anything from a man about to die.”
Fenry already considered Kal as good as dead.
With that weight off her chest, she ran alongside with a lighter mood.
She must’ve been deeply worried about the Black Roses while chasing Kal.
Now that the worry was gone, she turned toward the future.
“If Kal and Ordor Forest are dealt with, Tobaron will change a lot, won’t it?”
“Yes. It already is. And it will continue to change—a lot.”
The ruler of Tobaron was about to change.
The flow of the novel would shift drastically.
But I didn’t care.
As long as the change worked in favor of my survival.
***
“L-Lord!”
At Rengua’s urgent cry, Kal bit his lip and activated a protective artifact.
He crushed one of the beads he was holding, and a do-like shield ford around him.
Kuaaaagh!
A scream burst in front of him.
Shaaah—
A personal guard was impaled by a long spear. Blood splattered across Kal’s barrier.
Five different wounds pierced through chest, abdon, thighs—Blood soaked the shield and trickled down.
He had only been splashed with blood, but Kal had activated the barrier for a reason.
Zzzzk—
The blood that fell began pressing in on the barrier like it was alive.
Kal broke another bead and retreated.
Rengua used a spell to clear the blood, and Kal stood behind him, observing the battle.
“Black Butterflies…”
Clenching his fists, Kal glared at the enemy ahead.
Flap—
“They’re coming!”
As the black-robed figures moved, spells burst from their glowing gloves.
Shamans cast counter-spells while personal guards braced themselves.
This was the fourth clash already.
By now, the guards had sowhat adapted to the Black Butterflies’ combat style.
But not without cost—over forty casualties had been suffered.
“Block it!”
Kzaaaaaang—!
Spears rained down like thunderbolts—blindingly fast, brutally strong, razor-sharp.
Even 3-star guards staggered under the barrage.
When one beca the focus of an assault, there was no way to withstand it—even if they saw it coming.
In this clash too, a target was chosen.
Soone in the back of the Black Butterfly line gestured.
A red droplet-shaped mark appeared on one guard’s forehead.
Targeted, the guard gritted his teeth, then charged forward, trying to distance himself from allies.
“Kuaaagh! You sons of—kuhugh!”
He was torn to shreds by spears, his blood showering the field.
The tide of battle tilted with just one death.
Dozens—hundreds—of droplets suspended midair then fell upon Kal’s forces.
The droplets burrowed in like parasites.
So fell, pierced by the cursed blood—then spears followed.
More blood sprayed.
A storm of blood worse than before.
Sensing danger—
Chiiiiiii—
Rengua unleashed black sorcery that instantly rotted the airborne blood.
His staff emitted madness as it pointed forward.
“Kuaagh!”
“Kuaaaaah!”
“Kuaaaagh!”
Three guards with red eyes broke formation and charged behind the Black Butterflies.
Their target—a figure wearing a white mask, guarded by the Butterflies.
Only three.
Magic and spears rained down, but they seed immune to pain.
Even as they burned, bled, and were slashed, they hurled themselves toward the masked figure—
KABOOM!
A massive explosion engulfed the area.
Madness Explosion—followed by Corpse Detonation.
Rengua’s ambush montarily rebalanced the battle.
But that balance wouldn’t last.
“The Blood-Drinking Chalice…”
Kal stared at the white mask and grit his teeth.
The one who killed him in the past.
He hadn’t expected to face them again here.
The problem was—it felt just like before.
Hunted. Cornered.
Dood to die.
A cursed repeat of the past.
But at least now, things weren’t quite as bad as back then.
Back then, the Blood-Drinking Chalice had been overwhelmingly powerful.
But now—
“She’s weaker. Is it because it’s still early in the tiline?”
While the Chalice was weaker, Rengua’s strength had grown significantly.
He too wielded blood-based sorcery, and his current strength ca from awakening his Divine Relic.
In the past, he hadn’t had this power.
Even so, the situation was steadily deteriorating.
Their consumable artifacts—used to support their formation—were running out.
Their insurance was gone.
“L-Lord! We can’t hold on! We have to fall back!”
“No. We hold the line.”
“But if we suffer more losses, the next strike—”
“There won’t be a next strike.”
Back then, when he died at the Chalice’s hands, Kal had been crushed by her power and unable to learn anything about her.
But not now.
Though they were at a distance, he had seen her form, sensed her powers.
He could finally speculate on her identity—sothing he couldn’t do before.
Through the settling dust of the explosion, the white mask ca into view.
“Lord!”
One last chance to retreat.
But Kal stood still and addressed the figure.
“From Demtor, are you?”
“Ever since I opened my eyes, I’ve always rembered you. I’ve always expected we’d et again soday.”
The mask stayed silent.
Just like the first ti.
Trying to hide their identity.
But Kal no longer cared who they were.
“I didn’t expect you to be so… small. You looked enormous when you stood before back then. So much so that I froze. Today, I finally understand—that’s what presence is.”
“What a noisy bastard. And tough, too.”
A voice finally erged from behind the mask—magically altered, as expected.
As the Blood-Drinking Chalice raised both hands, Rengua stepped forward to block her.
A tense, explosive mont.
Kal’s eyes narrowed as he shouted a na—A familiar presence, felt through his Domination Link.
He had finally arrived.
“Lyon!!!”
Behind the Blood-Drinking Chalice, the forest began to freeze over in white.
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