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 times, 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 me 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 came from beyond the trees.
“You can’t just pop out like that. I thought you were an enemy.”
“I waved!”
“Don’t wave at me with that squid-like face. I might actually kill you next time.”
Emerging 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 me.
Banri flew over joyfully and hugged her.
“Good job.”
Fenry patted Banri and perched her back on her head, then looked at me.
“What took you so long?”
“The signal came late. And I had to travel far.”
“You think I wanted to go this far? Damn Kamel bastard…”
“I’ve got a lot of questions, but first—what’s the current situation? Where’s Kamel?”
Fenry briefly explained how she had tracked Kamel through the Ghost Forest.
Summed up, things were going more or less as I had predicted.
Kamel’s party had clashed with The Blood-Drinking Chalice.
The only difference from my expectations was—
“So Kamel 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 experimental combat units like the Black Butterflies, including many failed creations. But when referring to this particular group, “Black Butterfly” was more accurate.
“There were some 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 some kind of monster with them.”
“Well, Kamel 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 me, 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 Kamel 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 meant one thing—he hadn’t met up with Kamel yet.
Which explained why Kamel was being overwhelmed.
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 time to close in on them and wait for the right moment.
“Were you discovered?”
Fenry smirked at my question.
“What do you take me 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 time to ambush.”
“Lyon?”
“Yeah.”
She was quick to recognize the moment her target would be vulnerable.
Kamel was currently being chased by Gram, but the moment Lyon arrived, he’d unleash all that pent-up rage.
A large-scale battle is coming.
That would be the perfect moment for Hunt to move.
“Let’s hurry. We don’t know when the opportunity will come.”
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 time.
Karl, Elton, and the Ghosts quietly resumed tracking, and I followed behind them.
“Hey…”
“Yes?”
“You should tell me now. You came from Beneta, didn’t you?”
Fenry hadn’t said anything, but I knew she’d been dying to ask.
She’d seen traces of Kamel’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 Grimes’ downfall.
The ambush by Kamel’s main force.
The final battle led by the awakened Dorneth Gader.
The support of the anti-Kamel 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 came back to money.
“You’ve got a debt to collect from Kamel, 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 Kamel as good as dead.
With that weight off her chest, she ran alongside me with a lighter mood.
She must’ve been deeply worried about the Black Roses while chasing Kamel.
Now that the worry was gone, she turned toward the future.
“If Kamel 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, Kamel bit his lip and activated a protective artifact.
He crushed one of the beads he was holding, and a dome-like shield formed around him.
Kuaaaagh!
A scream burst in front of him.
Shaaah—
A personal guard was impaled by a long spear. Blood splattered across Kamel’s barrier.
Five different wounds pierced through chest, abdomen, thighs—Blood soaked the shield and trickled down.
He had only been splashed with blood, but Kamel had activated the barrier for a reason.
Zzzzk—
The blood that fell began pressing in on the barrier like it was alive.
Kamel broke another bead and retreated.
Rengua used a spell to clear the blood, and Kamel stood behind him, observing the battle.
“Black Butterflies…”
Clenching his fists, Kamel 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 somewhat 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 became 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.
Someone 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 Kamel’s forces.
The droplets burrowed in like parasites.
Some 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 seemed 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 momentarily rebalanced the battle.
But that balance wouldn’t last.
“The Blood-Drinking Chalice…”
Kamel 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.
Doomed 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 timeline?”
While the Chalice was weaker, Rengua’s strength had grown significantly.
He too wielded blood-based sorcery, and his current strength came 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, Kamel 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—something he couldn’t do before.
Through the settling dust of the explosion, the white mask came into view.
“Lord!”
One last chance to retreat.
But Kamel stood still and addressed the figure.
“From Demtor, are you?”
“Ever since I opened my eyes, I’ve always remembered you. I’ve always expected we’d meet again someday.”
The mask stayed silent.
Just like the first time.
Trying to hide their identity.
But Kamel no longer cared who they were.
“I didn’t expect you to be so… small. You looked enormous when you stood before me 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 emerged 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 moment.
Kamel’s eyes narrowed as he shouted a name—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.