ISGW 08

Chapter 8

The Nightmare Forest, and Shuriel (3)

Harin and the others finished their preparations and stood at the entrance to the Nightmare Forest.

Taking the shortest route to Rosenford from here would take three days. Following Asbel’s insistence that they absolutely had to cross the forest within that time, they had prepared only three days’ worth of food.

They had no choice. Somehow, they had to get through the forest within those three days.

“Let me tell you what you need to be careful about before we go in.”

Shuriel turned toward the group at the entrance to the forest.

“As you walk through the Nightmare Forest, you’ll start experiencing confusion in your sight, hearing, and sense of touch. Whenever that happens, you need to drink the boiled Limphseia water regularly to keep your mind clear.”

Following his instructions, everyone had a leather pouch of the herbal water hanging from their waists.

The herb called Limphseia was said to help resist hallucinations.

“And Asbel… said we didn’t have time, so we couldn’t prepare the boiled Intra water. Since we don’t have Awakening Grass, if you lose consciousness because of a hallucination, there will be no way to wake you up. Whatever happens, you must not lose consciousness.”

Ever since their argument, the atmosphere between Shuriel and Asbel had been somewhat cold.

Even Harin, who was not particularly good at reading the mood, could tell that Shuriel did not seem to be in a good mood, probably because of their argument.

The group already had an uncomfortable atmosphere, and Harin thought things would probably remain awkward for a while.

Shuriel turned and looked at Leod.

“And Leod, you have the Aderas leaves, right?”

Leod held up a container filled with dried leaves.

“The Nightmare Forest is a place even animals have abandoned because they can’t keep their minds clear. But there is one creature we need to be especially careful about.”

“That is the Cyrus monster.”

“…There are monsters?”

Leod’s face suddenly went pale.

“They live in the fog-filled Nightmare Forest, so their eyesight has deteriorated. They mainly rely on their hearing and sense of smell to attack people. So, to avoid being attacked, we need to burn Aderas leaves to mask our scent and move without making any loud noises.”

Shuriel struck a spark against the flint and set fire to the dried Aderas leaves in the container.

A pungent smoke rose from the burning leaves and drifted away with the wind.

Leod stared at it with a dazed expression, as if he were watching incense being burned at his own funeral.

Shuriel looked at the group, who were standing tense at the mention of monsters, and spoke.

“Well then… Shall we go in?”

Despite being extremely nervous, Harin and the others made it through the first half-day in the forest without any major problems.

Harin had already passed through the Rosentina Forest not long ago, but after entering the Nightmare Forest, she realized that the Rosentina Forest had been nothing compared to this place.

Even though it was daytime, the forest was dark and gloomy. Thick fog surrounded the area, making it difficult to see very far.

From somewhere in the distance came a strange, mournful cry.

It sounded almost like a person’s voice, yet at the same time, it resembled the deep howl of the wind.

Shuriel said it was the cry of the Cyrus monsters.

The group moved as quietly as possible, burning Aderas leaves to erase their scent.

Yet no matter how far they walked, they never seemed to get any farther from those cries.

It was almost as if hungry monsters were wandering around them.

The gloomy atmosphere of the dark forest alone was eerie and frightening.

Harin could not help thinking that if they had not been drinking the boiled Limphseia water to block the hallucinations, it would not have been strange for them to lose their minds completely.

After walking through the forest all day, they spent the night in a cave.

The next morning, they began walking again.

Compared to the previous day, however, everyone’s condition was worse, probably because fatigue and tension had accumulated.

Asbel walked at the very front.

She looked somewhat sleepy, but there was also a confident expression on her face because they had made it through the entire previous day without any problems.

“We haven’t had any strange hallucinations, so this forest isn’t as frightening as its reputation makes it sound. Three days should be enough, just as I thought.”

She looked pleased at the thought that they had saved a great deal of time by crossing the Nightmare Forest instead of going around it.

Harin glanced at Shuriel.

He showed no particular reaction to Asbel’s words.

Despite there being four people in the group, they were surprisingly quiet.

It wasn’t simply because they were trying not to make noise and attract the forest’s monsters.

Shuriel barely spoke with Asbel, and he did not really talk with Harin either.

In truth, Harin did not particularly want to become closer to him.

She was also reluctant to talk because she was afraid he might ask her about herself again.

But even though she kept her distance, she could not help being curious about him.

She had asked many travelers in Britton, yet not one of them knew how to get through the forest.

So how did Shuriel know so much about the Nightmare Forest?

Perhaps she had been staring at him too obviously.

He noticed her gaze and looked at her.

Harin quickly turned her head so their eyes would not meet, staring deep into the darkness ahead as if she had been looking there all along.

Even as she tried to act calm, she could feel his gaze fixed on her, almost prickling against her skin.

“Ugh… But the smell of these burning herbs really stings my nose.”

At Leod’s words, Harin felt some relief from the suffocating silence.

Because of his beastfolk-enhanced hearing, Leod seemed particularly sensitive to the smell of the burning herbs. He wrinkled his nose and held the container as far away from himself as possible.

The smoke was becoming so pungent that his patience was reaching its limit.

Harin watched Leod from behind with slightly worried eyes as he followed Asbel while carrying the container in one hand.

Since this was not a forest people normally traveled through, bare, dry branches grew wildly around the path, sticking out in every direction.

The thick fog also severely limited their vision.

As Leod walked while holding the container away from himself, it caught on one of the surrounding branches.

He accidentally let go.

Clang! Crash!

The metal container hit the rocks on the ground and bounced away with a loud noise.

Startled, everyone looked at Leod.

Looking mortified, Leod crouched down and hurriedly tried to gather the scattered herbs.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”

Asbel shouted angrily.

“I-I’m sorry, Asbel!”

Leod frantically tried to pick up the scattered Aderas leaves, but they had fallen onto the damp forest floor and were already too wet to burn again.

As Asbel angrily berated Leod, Shuriel, who had been staring into the forest with a slightly hardened expression, warned her.

“Asbel, be quiet.”

He raised a finger to his lips and spoke in a low voice.

Only then did Asbel realize how serious the situation was.

Her expression stiffened as she stared into the forest behind them.

When Asbel and the others fell silent, the surroundings became completely quiet.

No.

That was an illusion.

They suddenly realized that the gloomy cries they had been hearing in the distance were now coming from much closer.

And now, they could hear not only the cries but also the soft rustling of footsteps approaching them.

Asbel stood frozen, her face pale as she stared between the dimly visible trees.

Harin held her breath as she watched, feeling cold sweat run down her back.

When they noticed the black creatures moving between the dark trees and drawing rapidly closer, Asbel shouted with a pale face.

“Run—!!”

Asbel was the first to take off running, shouting with a face drained of color.

The others followed behind her, running desperately.

When Harin glanced back, she saw grotesque black monsters roughly twice the size of humans chasing after them.

At first glance, they looked somewhat human.

But they had sharp, beak-like mouths, black wings like those of bats on their backs, and enormous claws that were long and sharp like sickles.

The Aderas smoke that had been masking their scent was gone.

And now that they were making so much noise while running through the forest, the monsters had no trouble pinpointing their location and rushing toward them.

Kirik! Kiririk!

The Cyruses closest to them swung their black claws at Harin.

She barely dodged the attack, but she heard something tear with a sharp ripping sound.

She had no time to tell whether it had been her clothes or her belongings.

With a pale face, Harin kept running, only to trip over a nearby tree root and fall.

Kiririk!

One of the Cyruses swung its claws at her as if it intended to kill her.

Unable to dodge, Harin squeezed her eyes shut.

“…?!”

Harin suddenly felt someone grab and pull her.

She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at the person whose hand was holding her.

“What are you doing just standing there like that?”

A familiar pair of green eyes appeared close to Harin’s face.

Before Harin could even thank him, Shuriel pulled her to her feet.

“Can you hold the Cyruses off for a moment?”

“…?”

“Damn… They’re coming from every direction!”

After running for a while, Asbel heard the monsters’ cries coming from ahead as well.

She looked lost, unable to tell which direction she should run.

When a Cyrus suddenly charged at her, Asbel screamed in fright and knocked it away with her beastfolk claws.

Kiriririk!!

Flap!

With a tremendous beating of its wings, the monster came rushing back at Asbel, black blood dripping from its body as if it intended to bite her.

Its speed was terrifyingly fast.

Asbel’s face turned pale as she quickly rolled to the side to avoid it.

“How many of them are there…?”

Leod spoke in a dazed voice.

Even though the fog severely limited their vision, there seemed to be at least fifteen monsters nearby, judging only from the cries they could hear.

For a moment, Leod felt the fear of death wash over him, and his mind went completely blank.

Kirik! Kieeeek—!

“Ahhh…!!”

The monsters rushed at Leod and attacked him.

Unable to avoid all of them, Leod was cut in several places by their long, sharp claws.

“Kieee!!”

A large Cyrus bit down on Leod’s shoulder with its beak.

In an instant, Leod was lifted into the air, caught in the monster’s beak.

He desperately struggled to escape.

“Leod!!”

Harin had been knocking away the Cyruses’ claws with her spear.

She ran toward Leod to help him.

When she swung her spear, the Cyrus flapped its enormous wings threateningly while still holding Leod in its beak.

Harin’s spear struck one of its wings.

Black blood poured from the wound, and the monster released Leod and threw him aside as it screamed in pain.

“Kieeeek!!”

“Ah!”

Leod landed directly where Asbel was standing.

Asbel was knocked over when he collided with her, and she gritted her teeth and cursed.

“Leod, Asbel!!”

Harin shouted and ran toward them.

The monsters’ cries were becoming more vicious.

Just when she thought everything was over, she suddenly noticed that the area had filled with a pungent smell and thick smoke.

“…!!”

When Harin turned around, she saw Shuriel standing there with a container of burning herbs in his hands.

He must have burned an enormous amount of herbs.

The smell stung her nose, and thick smoke filled the area.

Kiriririk—!

The Cyruses suddenly became confused, apparently having lost their sense of smell.

Asbel and Leod swallowed their groans and quietly got back on their feet.

Shuriel gestured toward one side, signaling for them to follow.

They moved as quietly as possible.

But the Cyruses had extremely sensitive hearing.

When they heard the group’s footsteps, they immediately turned their heads toward the direction the group was moving.

“…!!”

The Cyruses stared toward them as if they were about to charge at any moment.

Harin swallowed a desperate scream behind her tightly closed lips.

Bang! Crash—

From the opposite direction of where the group was heading came a dull impact, followed by the loud sound of branches snapping.

The Cyruses immediately rushed toward the noise.

The group, who had been standing frozen in place, stared at Shuriel with wide eyes.

Only then did they realize that he had thrown a rock to lure the Cyruses in another direction.

As the sounds of the Cyruses grew more distant, Harin, who had been tense all this time, felt the strength drain from her legs.