Chapter 188: Nightfall Behemoth

Chapter 188: 188: Nightfall Behemoth

He glanced back at Puff.

The rabbit noticed and immediately hid inside Cedric’s coat.

Cedric laughed. "It still remembers what you tried to do."

"It should."

"Have you considered apologizing?"

"No."

Elowen looked at Lucard. "You could give it a carrot."

Lucard stared at her.

She smiled innocently. "It might forgive you."

"Then it can remain angry."

Puff stuck its head out and made a small sound.

Cedric laughed again.

Lucard turned forward, refusing to continue such a ridiculous conversation.

However, a little later, when Elowen found a patch of wild carrots growing beside the path, Lucard stopped without explaining why.

Cedric noticed the plants. "Are we stopping for food?"

Lucard pointed at the ground. "There are useful roots here."

Elowen crouched and carefully pulled out several carrots.

Puff immediately climbed out of Cedric’s coat.

Cedric looked at Lucard with a knowing smile.

Lucard’s expression turned cold. "If you say anything, I will leave you here."

Cedric raised both hands. "I was not going to say anything."

"You were thinking about it."

"That is not a crime."

Lucard walked away before the conversation became worse.

Behind him, Elowen whispered something to Cedric.

Both laughed quietly.

Lucard heard every word.

He pretended not to.

By the time they reached the hunter’s path, the rain had stopped completely.

The old road was almost gone. Grass and roots covered most of it, but a few stones placed by human hands remained visible. Elowen became excited when she found an old marker beside a tree.

"This matches the map."

Cedric examined it. "Then where does the path lead?"

"Toward an old hunting station near the western edge."

"How far?"

Elowen studied the markings. "I cannot tell exactly. The distance was measured using old travel days."

Lucard looked toward the west.

If the station still existed, they might find a safer place to rest or an old route out of the deeper forest.

But he would not trust an abandoned station without checking it first.

They followed the road until the light began to fade.

During the journey, they avoided two more dangerous beasts. One was sleeping beneath a large tree, while another moved through the branches above them.

The second beast was especially troublesome.

It was a long-bodied creature with four wings and a narrow head. Its scales changed color whenever it passed through a patch of light.

Cedric noticed it first and pulled Elowen behind a stone.

Lucard immediately covered their presence with Blood Concealment.

The winged beast passed overhead.

Its shadow crossed the ground and disappeared into the forest.

Elowen released the breath she had been holding.

"That was close."

Cedric looked at Lucard. "Your concealment is improving."

"Yes."

"Can you teach me?"

"No."

"You did not even think about it."

"I did."

"For how long?"

"Enough."

Cedric shook his head. "You really are difficult."

Elowen smiled. "He has been like that since I met him."

Lucard ignored them.

But their voices no longer bothered him as much as before.

That was the problem.

He was becoming used to having them nearby.

When Elowen walked too slowly, he adjusted his pace without thinking. When Cedric needed a moment to rest, Lucard chose a place with enough cover before the request was made.

He noticed their breathing and movements almost as naturally as his blood-sense noticed nearby creatures.

What am I doing?

Lucard felt anger rise inside him.

Not at them.

At himself.

He was the Blood God.

He had returned to this lower world for revenge, not to make friends with mortals. These people are useful now, but usefulness should not become attachment.

Attachment created weaknesses.

Weaknesses gave enemies weapons.

He had already learned that lesson through betrayal and death.

Yet another thought appeared before he could stop it.

They saved my life.

Lucard’s fingers tightened slightly.

Elowen had dragged him through the forest until her feet bled. She had offered her own blood when he could not wake. Cedric had stood in front of the bear’s attack despite knowing he might die from it.

They had done those things while having no reason to trust him completely.

The debt existed whether Lucard wanted to admit it or not.

And gratitude was an emotion he had not expected to feel again. He hated it. He hated the weakness it seemed to bring.

But no matter how many times he pushed it away, the feeling returned whenever he looked at the two people walking behind him.

Near evening, they found a small dry hollow under an old tree.

The place was protected from wind by two large stones. Lucard checked the nearby blood pulses and found nothing dangerous within his immediate sensing range.

"We rest here," he said.

Cedric sat down with a relieved sigh. "Finally. My legs were beginning to question my life choices."

Elowen sat beside him and stretched her feet.

Puff immediately climbed onto her lap.

Cedric looked offended. "That is my rabbit."

Elowen stroked Puff’s ears. "He likes me."

"He is supposed to like me more."

"You should give him more carrots."

"I have given him hundreds."

Lucard took out the remaining dried meat and passed it to them.

Cedric accepted his share. "You are becoming generous."

"It is old food."

"Still generous."

"Eat or return it."

Cedric immediately started eating.

Elowen looked at Lucard’s portion. "You are not eating?"

"I do not need much normal food."

"But you should still eat something."

Lucard looked at her.

She did not look away.

After a moment, she broke a small piece from her portion and placed it beside him.

"You gave us yours. Take some back."

Lucard stared at the food. He could have refused.

He should have refused.

Instead, he picked it up and ate it without speaking.

Elowen smiled and returned to feeding Puff a carrot.

Cedric noticed everything but wisely kept his mouth shut.

For a while, they rested without speaking. The forest around them was quiet, and the last light of evening passed through the branches.

Lucard sat slightly apart from the others.

He watched Cedric lean against the stone while Puff slept against Elowen’s stomach. Elowen was telling Cedric about Stoneford, describing a small garden her mother had kept beside their home.

She spoke about flowers, a fountain, and the time she had fallen into the water while trying to catch a butterfly.

Cedric laughed.

Lucard listened.

Nothing about the story mattered.

There was no useful information about powerful families, secret magic, or hidden treasures.

It was only a memory about a girl falling into a fountain.

And somehow, Lucard did not want her to stop talking.

That realization made him close his eyes.

This is becoming troublesome.

He could feel himself changing in small ways, and he disliked every one of them.

But for the first time, he did not immediately try to force those feelings away.

He simply sat there and listened.

Then the ground trembled.

Lucard opened his eyes.

The tremble was so faint that Elowen did not notice it at first. Cedric was still listening to her story when Puff suddenly woke and stood upright.

Its ears trembled.

Then it jumped from Elowen’s lap and hid inside Cedric’s coat.

Lucard rose slowly.

A powerful blood pulse had appeared at the edge of his sensing range.

It was enormous.

The blood moved with such force that Lucard could feel each heartbeat through the ground. Even the nearby trees seemed to respond to its presence.

Cedric noticed Lucard’s expression and stood immediately.

"What is it?"

Lucard did not answer at once.

He extended his blood-sense farther.

The creature was moving through the forest. It was not running or hunting. It walked slowly, but its presence pushed weaker beasts away from its path.

Cedric felt the mana pressure a moment later.

His face changed.

"No."

Elowen looked between them. "What happened?"

Cedric swallowed.

"That pressure... it is not Fifth Rank or Sixth Rank."

Lucard’s eyes narrowed.

He had already reached the same conclusion.

A Seventh Rank beast.

Something that could kill even powerful mages.

Cedric looked toward the deeper forest, his face losing color.

"Lucard, it is coming this way."

Lucard watched the dark space between the trees.

The enormous blood pulse moved closer.

And with every heartbeat, it came directly toward their hiding place.

Several kilometers away, something enormous was moving through the oldest part of the Deep Maw Forest.

It was a Seventh Rank beast known as the Nightfall Behemoth, one of the most feared creatures living in the deepest parts of the mountain range.

Its body was nearly thirty meters long, and its shoulders stood higher than a two-story building. Four enormous legs supported its heavy body, each covered in thick black scales that looked like pieces of broken armor. Long bone spikes grew along its back, starting from its shoulders and continuing down its powerful tail. Some of those spikes were broken, and several old scars crossed its body, showing that the monster had survived battles against other powerful creatures.

Its head was even more frightening.

It had a wide, reptilian face with two backward-curving black horns. Its lower jaw was larger than its upper jaw, and rows of thick white teeth remained visible even when its mouth was closed. Two golden eyes watched the forest with an intelligence rarely found in ordinary beasts.

But its most dangerous feature was not its teeth, claws, or enormous body.

It was the black mist that escaped from its mouth with every breath.

The mist carried a powerful poison that slowly damaged mana inside living creatures. Even a Sixth Circle mage would struggle to defend against it for long. Ordinary beasts could die simply by remaining too close.

Despite its enormous size, the Nightfall Behemoth was not a mindless monster. It understood its territory, remembered enemies, and knew when to hunt or avoid unnecessary battles.

Tonight, it was not hunting.

It was simply moving through its territory.

Everywhere it passed, smaller beasts abandoned their hiding places. Some fled into underground tunnels, while others climbed trees and remained completely still. Even powerful Fifth Rank beasts lowered their heads and moved away rather than risk attracting its attention.

The Nightfall Behemoth continued walking without caring about them. Its heavy tail dragged across the ground, leaving a deep trail through the wet soil. Each step pressed the earth down and sent a faint tremor through the surrounding roots.

Then its enormous head slowly turned.

Its golden eyes looked toward a distant part of the forest.

Something unfamiliar had entered its territory.

The beast stopped for several breaths, lifted its head, and drew a long breath through its nostrils.

Then it changed direction.

Without making a sound, the Nightfall Behemoth began walking toward the small clearing where three young humans and a white rabbit were hiding.

And none of them knew what was truly approaching.