“You again…”
When Lilith tried to stop Aaron once again, Evan whispered in her ear so that the others couldn’t hear.
“Lilith, step back just in case.”
Evan stepped forward on her behalf. For some reason, Lilith’s face turned red.
“Why would we do such a cowardly thing?”
This time, Evan retorted.
“If that isn’t the case, then what reason is there to bring this guy and me along? It’s obvious… You’re trying to use us as sacrifices so that only you young and skinny humans can survive.”
“Think about the fact that we’re not taking you because we want to. Look at your hand!”
Evan grabbed Aaron’s hand, which was turning black. Sacrifices. That’s really nonsense. It makes more sense that the other survivors would protect him as he’s dying.
“….”
But Aaron couldn’t accept that fact.
“You guys go by yourselves. I absolutely do not want to go with such low-class fellows.”
The survivors were standing on a narrow trail. From there, Aaron suddenly turned his body and fled into the forest.
Dash—!
“This crazy…”
Everyone except Havel entered the forest to find Aaron. Since he hid among the dense trees, finding him was quite a difficult task. As it was the middle of the night, the survivors’ vision would be dark. So in this situation, ghosts with bright vision had the advantage.
“Everyone, go back to the trail. Krius and I, who can pass through obstacles, will look for him. It’ll be more dangerous if we all go together.”
“…Got it.”
Lilith and Evan agreed with my words, then went back to where Havel was standing.
“Let’s go, Krius.”
I took Krius and flew up.
* * *
Among the skills I had, ‘Map’ was a skill that could only be used inside the Duke’s castle. It was impossible to use it outdoors.
‘It’s frustrating because I can’t use the map, so I don’t know where he is…’
Actually, I was confident that I could easily find Aaron. However, even though quite some time had passed, we still couldn’t find Aaron.
“Sob… Hoo…”
A sobbing sound could be heard in the forest. Krius, who was following me, felt fear and backed away.
“Um… Lady? It seems we’ve entered an area where banshees appear?”
“What is it with you. The passage last time is one thing, but don’t tell me you’re scared of monsters?”
“That’s because most of the monsters active in the Dark Forest are lunatics you can’t reason with!”
“Ah… Is that so?”
‘Even though the one saying that isn’t human himself…’
How did Krius ever think of becoming a knight when he’s such a coward? Anyway, I folded my distracting thoughts and started worrying about Aaron’s life or death.
“Krius. About that baldy. Do you think he has the mental fortitude to overcome a banshee’s threat?”
“Of course not. We’d be lucky if he doesn’t collapse foaming at the mouth.”
Hearing Krius’s answer, I fell deep into thought.
‘Hmm…’
Banshee. This monster with a feminine appearance and silver hair shines silver all over her body. Her floating form in the air was a monster reminiscent of a ghost at first glance. Actually, the banshee is a monster that has a clear countermeasure.
When playing as Mary, Lilith, or Evan out of the four survivors excluding Havel, the banshee was an extremely threatening existence. However, when playing as Havel, the banshee was not threatening at all. They covet the external beauty of living humans. So if they judge for themselves that someone is not beautiful enough, they usually won’t touch them.
“Maybe the banshee won’t even pay him any attention at all.”
“Is there a reason?”
“Banshees are monsters that value beauty.”
“….”
Sure enough, Aaron’s figure could be seen from afar.
“Oh, over there!”
“Did we finally find him?”
As Krius and I approached, Aaron greeted us with an arrogant attitude.
“Look! Even the monsters realize the greatness of this body and don’t touch me!”
Aaron strode toward the banshees floating slowly from afar.
“Hit me! I said hit me! You lowly creatures.”
However, the banshees didn’t even spare Aaron a glance and avoided the spot.
‘As expected.’
“Tsk…”
Krius clicked his tongue as if he found Aaron displeasing.
“Shh. Just leave him be. If we provoke him unnecessarily, we don’t know what kind of unexpected action he’ll take again.”
“…Ah, right. My Lady’s words are correct.”
“Even if he’s an annoying human, it can’t be helped.”
There was no need to emotionally confront Aaron.
“Anyway, our goal is to pass through the Dark Forest without anyone dying.”
“Understood. But persuading a human like that… I absolutely hate it.”
“I’ll do it.”
I approached Aaron, who was acting all high and mighty in front of the banshees.
“Yeah. The banshees must have been intimidated by your shiny halo too. We get it, so let’s go back now.”
‘Of course, that halo is probably the reflection from the crown of his head.’
Aaron stuck his nose high up in the air and nodded satisfyingly.
“Hmph, it’s a relief you finally realized it!”
“Even if the banshees are fine, there might be other monsters, so follow carefully.”
The situation was easily settled.
“The other riffraffs don’t know the greatness of this body!”
“Instead, we know.”
“Even though you’re an evil spirit, at least we can communicate?”
Actually, it was fortunate that Aaron wasn’t the type to intelligently make people angry. If it was just this much, we could just coax and soothe him like a baby and take him along.
‘Good grief. I’m not a nanny.’
I sighed and took the lead.
“Let’s go.”
We retraced our steps while keeping an eye on the boastful Aaron. But it felt strange. Unlike earlier, a very bloody aura could be felt.
“Krius. Doesn’t something feel strange?”
“Indeed. It also feels like we’re being watched…”
A chill ran down my spine at Krius’s answer, and I looked around.
‘….’
A forest so dense and thick that even the stars in the sky couldn’t be seen. In the darkness cast by the faint moonlight, I felt a gaze staring at us.
“Who’s there?”
I aimed my Death Scythe, relying on my intuition. Then, an unidentified entity swiftly ran away.
Rustle—.
Following the source of the sound, the trail from earlier appeared.
‘This is where we were standing earlier.’
The other survivors who were definitely supposed to be here had disappeared.
“What’s this? Where did everyone go?”
For fear that Aaron might run away again, we were even cautious about looking around.
“Lilith! Evan! Havel!”
Rustle—.
Evan appeared, pushing through the bushes. The place he revealed himself was the exact opposite direction of the sound I had followed.
“Pant… Pant… Evien.”
What on earth had happened, Evan gasped for breath.
“Havel disappeared…”
“What?”
From behind him, Lilith also shouted as she pushed through the bushes.
“The clockwork doll took him. I saw it!”
“Clockwork… doll?”
“Do you remember when the Duke of Ravenwood was almost consumed by the Flamberge?”
“Ah. That time when the castle almost collapsed?”
I recalled the time Basileon lost his mind to the mirror’s whispers and his mind was dominated by the Flamberge.
“You possessed Evan’s body. The one who helped you then was the clockwork doll. Remember the person wearing a robe who made him drop the Flamberge with awkward movements?”
Like lightning striking my head, the person wearing the robe from that time came to mind.
‘That unidentified human who remained a mystery…’
“No way. That was a clockwork doll?”
“Mary made it. The one controlling it is Mary too.”
“….”
Mary was a master of disguise. She was capable of high-level disguises to perfectly blend into the surrounding environment, which was a very useful ability in this escape game. Not only that, Mary possessed excellent dexterity and outstanding ideas. So as the game progressed, she was able to craft higher-level items.
‘Looking at her characteristics, it’s not impossible. However…’
“In conclusion, are you saying Mary kidnapped Havel?”
“Right. And that clockwork doll… It’s gotten even bigger than the one we saw last time.”
If that was true, we didn’t have time to space out like this.
“Where did they disappear to? We have to go after them quickly!”
“…Towards the Dark Lake.”
Of all places, dragging him to the gloomiest and most dangerous place in the Dark Forest.
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