Azel and Grand Mage Luke made it through the bushes and into the forest.

'Now that I think about it… there's literally a forest everywhere,' Azel thought, brushing a branch away from his face.

Whether it was Lycas, or back in the Evil forest, or even here… He was always in a forest of some sort, hell even the Winter Region had a forest there.

Did the creators of the game have some kind of forest fetish?

This forest didn't look like much but it was very quiet, Azel took a step forward and his boot cracked a twig… It sounded as if someone had shot a bullet.

"Grand Mage Luke," he asked after a moment, "have you been in this forest before?"

"Honestly?" Luke ran a hand through his hair. "I don't come near the Meadow, so this is my first time."

His voice sounded a bit tired. "Let's just get this over with."

He took a slow step forward and raised a hand.

Instantly, a wave of golden magic pulsed outward… a powerful sensory sweep that covered the entire forest.

The mana spread like light through water, illuminating the air for an instant before fading.

Azel blinked. 'Spreading it this way is really something else…'

He couldn't even attempt magic like that.

The level of control needed to spread one's mana through an entire forest was beyond anything he could do right now.

But a frown crossed Luke's face.

"Hm?" He tried again. Another surge of mana spread out and then vanished, like it was being swallowed.

"I can use magic," he muttered, "but it isn't working."

"Magic on your level isn't working?" Azel's brows furrowed.

That didn't make sense.

A mage like Luke could shatter mountains. "You're on the same level as Stella Duvraine, right? You're saying something is blocking your sensory magic?"

Luke nodded grimly.

Azel tried spreading his own senses but the moment he reached outward, something distorted the flow.

The world blurred for a second and snapped back, leaving only static in his head.

He opened his eyes. "You're right. It's not just you. My detection's scrambled."

"It seems there's something strange about this forest," Luke said.

He rose slightly off the ground, hovering effortlessly. "Let's check it out. You'll be able to keep up?"

'Right. Grand Mages can fly freely.'

Azel sighed as two wings of holy light sprouted from his back, feathers glowing in the dark. "I think I'll manage."

"Nice." Luke's tone was approving.

Then his eyes hardened. "Let's move."

They shot forward, the forest blurring beneath them.

Azel kept pace easily but he was still behind Luke's flying speed… The Grand Mage had given him quite a gap.

'Normally I'd just blow up the forest and get this over with,' Luke thought, 'but there are Empire soldiers and mages back there. It's better not to make an incident when there's no need.'

And more than that he was curious.

What kind of force could block a Grand Mage's sensory field?

After several minutes, Luke descended.

Azel followed, folding his wings as they landed in a clearing. The moment they touched the ground, the smell hit them.

Azel grimaced. "What the hell…"

It wasn't just the copper scent of blood.

It was rot.

When they looked closer, they saw why.

A dozen skinned corpses hung from the trees.

Some were fresh, some blackened with decay.

Human, elf, dwarf… they were all stripped bare with their skin peeled away like paper.

The ground in this place was completely soaked red and a bit sticky under their boots.

And all around them… paw prints.

Hundreds of them, they were circling the area like a ritual.

"What a monster…" Luke whispered.

Even he who had seen war couldn't hide the disgust twisting his face. Sure humans did a lot during war but this… it wasn't even provoked… How had it even gotten these students under everyone's noses?

Azel didn't speak… It wasn't as much as the underground floor but it was still traumatizing.

Luke's eyes flicked upward suddenly.

His mana flared. "It seems we've found you."

Azel followed his gaze.

Perched high above on a thick branch was a figure… it was thin, long-limbed, and draped in something that looked wet.

At first glance it looked like armor, but then the smell hit him again, and he realized what it was.

It was wearing skin.

Human skin, elf skin, beast skin… they were all layered together, stitched crudely with black thread.

The only part uncovered was the mouth, which was inhumanly pale and was chewing lazily.

It didn't speak. It just kept eating… tearing a strip of flesh from a corpse beside it and stuffing it into its mouth.

The sound was criminal.

Azel's stomach twisted. "That's vile…"

And then he remembered something from the game…

"Don't use sight mag—" he started, but Luke had already acted.

The Grand Mage's eyes glowed gold as he activated a translucent-eye spell to pierce through illusions and flesh alike.

His gaze met the Skinbutcher's.

For a brief second, Azel saw confusion flicker across the Grand Mage's face.

Then horror.

There was no face beneath the skin… only darkness.

And then Luke groaned as blood sprayed from his eyes.

"Fuck!"

Azel stepped forward, catching him as the Grand Mage staggered.

His eyes were gone… completely popped like overripe fruit. Blood streamed down his cheeks, staining the grass.

But Luke was no ordinary man.

His mana flared again, golden light searing across his face as the wounds closed instantly.

In seconds, his eyes regenerated, though he breathed heavily.

He wiped his face, crimson smearing against his glove. "That… thing…"

Azel looked back up.

The creature had stopped eating. It was staring down at them now, empty black sockets where eyes should have been.

Then a blue tab appeared in front of Azel's vision.

[You have made contact with a fragment of the sky.]

He froze. 'Fragment of the sky? What does that mean?'

The term wasn't in the game. The Children of the sky weren't scheduled to come down for the next few years… What was a fragment of the sky? And why was the Skinbutcher labeled as one?

The figure stood slowly.

It drew two knives from its belt… they were ordinary kitchen knives, crusted with old and fresh blood.

"Skin…" it muttered in a deep dry voice.

Luke and Azel moved on instinct leaping in opposite directions just as the Butcher dropped.

The spot they had stood on exploded in a crater, dirt and blood spraying into the air.

The Skinbutcher's head turned sharply toward Azel.

Then it moved.

It was fast… too fast for something that size.

It dashed forward with it's blade flashing while Azel took a hold of his dagger just as it began slashing wildly.

Azel blocked one and ducked under another.

Sparks flew as steel met steel.

The Butcher's movements were unpredictable and not a problem for Azel… but with every miss, it seemed to grow faster.

Azel flipped backward. 'He wasn't this strong in the game. Did becoming a fragment really make him this strong?'

Luke was already floating above with his right hand glowing gold.

"Brace yourself," he warned.

Azel dove for cover as the Grand Mage snapped his fingers.

The world turned white.

A wave of destruction burst outward, light shredding through trees, soil, and corpses alike.

The explosion swallowed the clearing in golden fire, tearing through the forest and spilling out toward the meadow.

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