Chapter 54 (1/2)

(TL note: this chapter hasn't been edited. If you spot grammatical faux pas every now and then, please do forgive me.)

The overall atmosphere wasn't so good.

Quite some time had pa.s.sed since the expedition had come to a stop, yet Dylan was maintaining his silence. An expression of unhappiness was writ large on Samuel's face, too. Both them were simply glaring at the blameless ground. Since two Archers acknowledged by the others as experienced and excellent were displaying roughly the similar expressions, it was quite likely that something had gone terribly awry somewhere.

And when the waiting time extended even further, Ian had no choice but to step up, although he didn't want to do so originally.

”Is something the matter?” (Ian)

”….We found the traces of footprints that are definitely not human, but we can't figure out who they belong to yet.” (Dylan)

Dylan replied in a straightforward manner. Samuel too slowly shook his head. Now that the worst situation had come true, Ian was also displaying a crumpled expression.

”Hmm… If both of you are not sure, would you mind telling me if there is something of note? I can't give you any guarantees, but because I've been virtually living inside the royal library for a long time, I ended up memorising the unique characteristics of most monster species.” (Ian)

Samuel found Ian's suggestion reasonable, so he s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to the ground.

”First of all…. The length, and the width, of each footprint are quite large. The smallest is around 1.2 times bigger than an average human male, and the biggest is around 1.5 times.” (Samuel)

”A good chance it's a species with big physique, then. Anything else?” (Ian)

”The depths of each print are also substantial. It's not like the surface here is soft as it was back by the entrance of the forest, either… Ah, and we can also see several strands of earth-coloured fur as well.” (Samuel)

”Earth-coloured, you say?” (Ian)

Ian's brows quivered unsteadily.

”Are they light in colour? Or are they dark?” (Ian)

”They are light.” (Samuel)

Samuel swiped the ground with his index finger and nodded his head as if he was sure of it.

”And then….” (Samuel)

”By any chance, are their six toes, no, I mean, six claw marks as well?” (Ian)

Ian's question sounded rather urgent. The person who told them to stay calm couldn't keep his anxiety down at all.

”Pardon? Ahh, yes, that's correct. I was about to tell you that just now.” (Samuel)

”Also, are there small but deep grooves somewhere in the prints? Like, a sharp object pierced the ground then pulled out, something like that?” (Ian)

Samuel dazedly stared back at the Sorcerer. His face seemed to say Well, how did you know that?

Ian began biting his lips.

”D*mn it, they are Lioners!” (Ian)

”Excuse me?” (Dylan)

Quite unlike him, Dylan grandly flinched after hearing that.

”Lioners…. That Lioner?!” (Samuel)

Samuel belatedly began frowning as well.

”But, but…. But, that doesn't make sense. Why would Lioners be here at the Forest of Denial….?” (Samuel)

”I also know that Lioners don't live in the Forest of Denial, but call the mountain range on the other side their home. But that's not what's important, is it not? All the clues you've found match the description of a Lioner. And you actually discovered their trace right here, right now!” (Ian)

”Looks like this expedition is now over.” (Dylan)

Dylan turned around as if to indicate that there was no point in going further forward, but Samuel remained hesitant.

”Samuel, let it go. Those b*stards are well known for their wily smarts as hunters, never mind their expertise on cloaking their presence, too. Trying to fight them inside the Forest of Denial is a complete madness.” (Ian)

Even when Ian urged him with a desperate voice, Samuel continued to hesitate. Seol Ji-Hu wondered why he was wasting time like that when there was a clear danger waiting for them up ahead - then, the youth recalled the conversation of the night before. And that bitter smile on Samuel's face at the end of it, too.

Seol Ji-Hu was about to activate ‘Nine Eyes', but stopped himself. He needed to regulate his emotions, after all. He was not confident of maintaining his calm if he saw deep, deep red or jet-black colour. Since Ian was doing his best to persuade Samuel, Seol Ji-Hu decided to wait for a bit longer.

”However…. We're almost there. We've definitely gone past the entrance of the forest. Give me one hour. No, 30 minutes. I am confident of locating the tomb. And besides, we should be able to handle three or four Lioners if it comes down to that.” (Samuel)

Samuel couldn't simply let it go. Ian was frustrated, but he kept his cool and continued on with his words.

”My friend. Indeed, there are a few occasions where a Lioner might act on its own, but most of the time they hunt in large packs. More importantly, an adult male Lioner is capable of overwhelming a level 3 Warrior, and it can fight on an even ground against a level 4, too.” (Ian)

”………”

”Is that all? The pack's most important priority, the female Lioner, might not necessarily partic.i.p.ate in the battle, but…. even then, it easily exceeds a level 4 Warrior. And the leader of the pack is a true, bona fide monster that can fight on equal footing against a level 5 Warrior. Kahn most likely died because of that thing!” (Ian)

As soon as Kahn was mentioned, Samuel sobered up. His inner conflict lasted only for a brief second. Samuel gritted his teeth and made an announcement.

”….This expedition is officially over. We are leaving the Forest of Denial right away, everyone.” (Samuel)

Ian nodded his head in relief after hearing Samuel's decision. Seol Ji-Hu also let off a sigh of relief as well. Now that the decision had been made, their movements were swift.

”We increase our pace! We will maintain this pace until we leave the forest, so do not fall behind!” (Samuel)

His expression was dark but still, Samuel shouted out energetically and turned around. But, it happened then.

THUD!

A weighty noise entered everyone's ears. Shortly after that, the sounds of the tall gra.s.ses rustling around, too. Everyone in the expedition froze on the spot.

”They were already waiting for us?!” (Ian)

Ian spat out a rueful groan after realising that it was already too late. Seol Ji-Hu instinctively activated his Nine Eyes, and saw a sea of red around him.

Immediate retreat.

Something that had been lying flat on the ground out in front slowly raised its body up. Seol Ji-Hu's line of sight rose upwards to match the creature even before he realised it.

The giant that silently rose up was a monster boasting the eyes of a predatory beast and the wild set of lion-like manes. Its height easily exceeded three metres, and the light earth-coloured fur covered its entire frame. The muscles on the upper torso was developed evenly like that of a human being, but the lower torso resembled more of an animal - lean, but taut and firm.

One eye-catching detail was a lengthy scar extending from its chest all the way down to its belly. It was more or less fully healed now, but still, it seemed fresh.

”It's the….. leader of the Lioners!” (Ian)

Ian spat out a long sigh.

The first Lioner to reveal itself kicked the ground. It ran as if it was flying and closed the distance in an instant, landing in front of the expedition with a loud boom.

One could sense that the Lioner in front of them was on a different level altogether from all the other monsters they had fought until now, simply from the aura it exuded.

Shortly after that….

*SFX for the Lioner growling*

Lioner's vividly yellow eyes seemed to gleam in a dangerous light, before its chest expanded and its mouth opened up wide.

SHWOOOOOOAAAARRR!!

A powerful roar so shrill that a spectre could have made it reverberated throughout the forest.

”Uwaahk!!”

Seol Ji-Hu fell down on his knees after his senses were a.s.saulted by the roar that tried to rip his flesh into pieces. It wasn't only him, however - there was no need to mention the two porters; Klara, Grace, and even Alex fell down as well. Not only that, even Samuel and Cho Hong faltered, too.

‘N, no…'

His eardrums were numb. His sight blurred and his consciousness became muddled. What drove him even more crazier was the fact that he so desperately wanted to deny ‘something'.

”Motus stabilitatem!!” (Ian)

It was then - along with Ian's shouts, Seol's blurred sights cleared up in an instant. His heart felt more comfortable, and his consciousness sharpened as well.

”That was….?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu muttered to himself and raised both of his hands. Some kind of s.h.i.+ning powder strewn from above landed on his palms and seeped under his skin.

”Tsk. I should have ‘memorised' at least one attack spell.” (Ian)

Ian lowered his staff and without a warning, got down on his knees. He then unfurled a scroll on the ground and opened his gown before pulling out a small potion bottle. He quickly poured blue salt-like powder on the paper.

Alex too had recovered his wits and rapidly pulled out his crucifix and began mouthing a chant.

”Hey, that - isn't that Kahn's weapon?” (Dylan)

Dylan spoke as he pointed with his crossbow loaded with a bolt.

Just as he said, the Lioner leader was holding a black halberd in one hand. As it was held by a giant of a monster, it looked a little like a toy, but from a human's perspective, it looked plenty threatening still.

Ttang!!

Along with the sound of explosion, the Lioner leader retreated while raising its arm. There were two bolts stuck in its forearm, but none of them had penetrated too deeply.

The black irises contained within the narrowly-opened eyes lowered slightly. The Lioner leader was staring deeply at the Sorcerer kneeling on the ground, not Dylan in front. (TL: Nope, I didn't make a mistake here; raw clearly said ‘black' irises….)

Because it was a creature that didn't possess a high enough intelligence and thus remained faithful to its instincts, it was able to sense it - that the one responsible for reviving the prey on the verge of collapsing was that human.

*SFX for a low growling*

As soon as it spat out growling noises, other Lioners hiding left and right revealed themselves one by one. Three on the left, and four on the right. They all carried human's weapons and slowly trudged closer to the expedition. They were all smaller than the leader, but none of them were shorter than two metres in height.

”F*ck me. Nine Lioners, huh…. Just what the h.e.l.l is wrong with this d*mn forest?”

The lamentation was kept to a minimum. Seol Ji-Hu realised that the combatants of the expedition had circled around him already.

”I'll take on the one in front. Hugo, Klara, take the left. Samuel and Grace, the right. We need to hold on until Master Ian is done with his spell.” (Dylan)

Dylan issued simple instructions and slowly stepped forward.

And as soon as the other four also pounced forward, the team's counterattack had begun for good. With loud battle cries, humans and monsters clashed.

Dylan fired his crossbow, and the leader of Lioners used an explosive turn of speed to close the gap and swung the black halberd down. It looked as if it'd cleave Dylan in two, but in the end, it simply slammed down on the ground, instead. Meanwhile, he had circled to the rear of the Lioner, pulled out a dagger sheathed in his belt, and slashed at the monster's muscular thigh.

Growl!!

The surprised monster angrily tried to swat him away. However, Dylan again vanished from the spot and reappeared to the creature's side.

Ttang!! Tttang!!

He rapidly fired five bolts in quick succession. All of them were accurately aimed at the vital spots of the monster, but the Lioner reflexively crouched and protected itself. Of course, it still couldn't avoid getting hit on the arms and the legs.

As if it got royally p*ssed off now, the Lioner leader began swinging the halberd indiscriminately.

Boom! Slam!! Bam! Kw.a.n.g!!

Each of the hit was heavy enough to rock the ground, but none of them found the mark. Dylan easily evaded them all, took some distance, and continued to fire his bolts.

‘Maybe we can….' (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu grew hopeful, thinking that, although Dylan was unable to damage the Lioner critically, wouldn't the big guy be able to win if he persisted in this fas.h.i.+on - only to end up flinching next.

Because, he just noticed the Lioner leader stealing glances in his general direction, that was why. It was as if it was being mindful of something.

‘Hang on a minute.' (Seol Ji-Hu)

What if that monster ignored Dylan and rushed over here?

The Lioner leader was actually going to do that, so it turned its body towards Seol Ji-Hu. But then, its expression crumpled rather unsightly after Cho Hong stood in its way.

Seol Ji-Hu spat out a sigh of relief. He was wondering why Cho Hong hadn't entered the fray, but as it turned out, she was their ‘Keeper'. Dylan could concentrate freely only because she was protecting this area.

”Hey.” (Cho Hong)

Cho Hong suddenly talked to him.

”Don't be scared and stick close by me. This noona will definitely protect you.” (Cho Hong)

Seol Ji-Hu thought about arguing the logic behind that statement, but s.h.i.+fted his gaze away after noticing Cho-Hong quickly alternating her gaze to her right and left.

Hugo was swinging that battle axe of his with everything he had. He was madly attacking the Lioners, but as he was surrounded by four of them, his wounds kept on piling up.