Chapter 80 - Eighty ... The Ones Who Do Not Die

Chapter 80: Chapter Eighty ... The Ones Who Do Not Die

Chapter Eighty ... The Ones Who Do Not Die

At once, the forest seemed to shudder, and the atmosphere changed.

Somewhere overhead, crows cawed.

Unlike how it looked from outside, it was a gloomy forest inside. Now he understood why people feared it as cursed.

’I really am losing my sense of direction.’

Normally, when walking along a path, one had a sense of heading toward some point.

Here, that sense itself was cut off. He was certainly walking straight ahead, and yet he felt as though he kept going around in circles.

And why did no sunlight get through?

The already eerie forest scenery, together with the cold air that had settled over it, gave off a chilling feel.

"Can you find Franklin, Master Agphiel?"

"Hm. The mystery that hangs over this forest has hidden every trace of him. I can’t tell what it is. Still, I’d guess..."

Agphiel frowned with a stern look.

"So you can’t find him?"

Jan exclaimed in surprise at the sight.

If even Agphiel, the Great Sage of the Forest, couldn’t manage it, then this really was a dangerous forest. Agphiel answered as though Jan were being ridiculous.

"Don’t panic. Hear a man out. I was going to say, I’d guess I can still find him."

"Ah! I see. My apologies. If you couldn’t find him, I was going to pull the soldiers back right away."

"Pull them back? Then what about Franklin?"

"Aren’t the people I’ve formed a bond with more precious than some lord from next door?"

"Huh..."

This young noble really did give unexpected answers at unexpected moments. Agphiel was so moved that the corners of his mouth twitched before he knew it.

"Master Agphiel...?"

"Ahem. No, it’s nothing. Nothing at all."

Realizing he’d been caught out, Agphiel waved his hand and planted himself firmly on the ground.

Then he chanted something and brought the staff in his hand down with a sharp thud.

"Now, forest! Show me the truth!"

The earth shook, and vines began writhing up out of the ground. Then the trees that had formed a dense wall parted, and hidden paths began to appear.

"What is this?"

"Heaven help us."

The soldiers flinched and made the sign of the cross.

And no wonder. Corpses that hadn’t been there a moment ago suddenly came into view. Along the paths revealed by Agphiel’s magic lay the bodies of bandits and soldiers, one after another.

"It seems the fighting was fiercer than we thought."

"So it does. I didn’t expect even knights to die, let alone soldiers."

"We haven’t gotten caught up in something we don’t know about, have we, Master Agphiel?"

"Well, we’ll find out when we meet them, won’t we? Put your curiosity aside and let’s find them first. There’s a trail of blood here, so we can follow it."

For now, Jan and his army set their questions aside and hurried to follow the trail Franklin had left behind.

"Ugh..."

Before long, they found a group of stragglers. Every one of them was badly wounded, lying on the ground and groaning.

"My lord, a few of them are too badly hurt. They can’t be saved."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Fortunately, there’s a knight further in who looks like a commander, so we can ask him, my lord."

The soldier who had gone ahead to check on the group said so. Jan followed the soldier toward the knight, then suddenly sensed something strange.

"Master Agphiel, doesn’t this seem odd to you?"

"What does?"

"The soldiers’ wounds are too ragged. They weren’t cut. They feel as though they were torn apart by some great force."

"Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right."

"And this dark, murky aura on the slashed armor, no matter how I look at it..."

It wasn’t human.

A fight between men never left traces this foul.

’Could it be monsters?’

Judging by the dark aura on the torn armor, it seemed there was some truly wicked, evil being in here.

And the answer to that question came soon enough.

"Cough, cough."

"Here. Bring some healing medicine."

"N-no, my lord... I’m already finished."

"Nonsense. Take it first, then talk."

Jan fed the healing medicine to the struggling knight as he said it. The knight, who had been coughing up blood, seemed to calm down for a moment and looked up at Jan again.

"My lord, you must get out of this forest quickly."

"What are you talking about, get out? And where is Franklin?"

"M-monsters attacked us. Franklin’s army was scattered by them... Ahh!"

’So it was monsters?’

Jan frowned at the knight’s rambling. Somehow, what he had thought would be easy kept getting harder.

"The knight must be wounded and confused. Help him up quickly and let him rest."

Clicking his tongue at the sobbing knight, Jan got to his feet. At this rate, it would be hard to get any proper information out of him.

But then, from who knew where he found the strength, the knight suddenly sprang up and grabbed Jan’s arm.

"My lord... You must flee! They... they’re coming. The ones who don’t die!"

"They? The ones who don’t die? What on earth do you mean? Speak clearly."

Jan shouted in frustration.

But the answer came not from the knight, but from somewhere else.

A low growl answered him instead.

It came from between the trees, which at some point had closed the path again and now stood packed together like a wall.

There...

"Mortals...!"

"I smell fresh meat! Kya-ha-hak!"

Walking corpses of every shape and kind stood there, weapons in hand.

"The undead!"

"Heaven give me strength."

"The undead!"

He had sensed something wicked and strange hanging over the place, and now here were those who had come back from death.

"Well, well. So there really was a curse on this forest. That must be why people who went in never came back. Huh!"

"Master Agphiel! Stay back!"

Jan quickly grasped the situation and shouted. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t imagine those wicked dead would be friendly toward them.

"Battle stations! Keep your wits about you!"

The System’s messages appeared before Jan.

[A furious battle cry!]

[Trait effect activated: your presence in battle steadies your men.]

[Your men recover from their panic.]

[Your men’s morale rises.]

"Hold steady! The faith protects us!"

Jan shouted it as he gripped his sword tightly.

An army of the dead, dressed in every kind of garb. It was plain that this forest had swallowed a great many people over the years. If they died here, they would surely end up the same way.

"W-we have to run, my lord! We can’t beat them..."

"Quiet, knight!"

"I-it’s the truth."

Despite the knight’s words sapping the men’s spirit, Jan shouted without wavering.

"The faith is watching over us! Let’s give these poor corpses the eternal rest they’ve been denied! Hold steady!"

"Hooah!"

At Jan’s firm cry, the soldiers cheered and drew their weapons. The creeping fear that had settled over them had long since vanished.