Chapter 65: Distortion (2)

"It seems the distortion hasn’t just occurred here. We were in the middle of a battle with a beast when we were suddenly transported here."

Darius nodded and examined the troops standing beyond.

Twenty regular soldiers and four knights.

If they included the cadets as well, it wasn’t a force that could be easily overpowered.

"Hmm. You said your name was Darius?"

"That’s correct."

"Do you remember me, by any chance?"

At the knight’s question, Darius turned his head to study the man’s face closely.

"Ah, could you be Sir Daon?"

"I only caught a glimpse of you before, but your memory is sharp."

Daon grinned and gave Darius a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Don’t worry. This is a region we’ve already passed through once."

"Was your unit also caught up in this near here, Sir Daon?"

"No. We got caught at the forest’s edge while on our way back. What about you?"

"We had just finished fighting Guibl when the surroundings suddenly changed."

"That means not only your group, but other cadets may have been caught up in this as well."

"That’s right. Have you managed to contact the outside?"

"Not yet. It seems our communications are cut as well. Even the coordinates became useless, so we were taking a short rest."

Daon took a crystal orb from his coat and showed it.

Headquarters, which should have responded immediately to the call, remained silent.

The artifact had been designed with situations like this in mind, yet it had gone dead. That meant things were more serious than expected.

"By the way, along the route we came from, we found the bodies of an Imperial army unit."

"…What?"

"It’s not far from here. I can lead the way. Please have your men wait here for a moment."

"Alright."

"Understood."

Darius then retraced his steps with Daon toward where the Imperial soldiers’ corpses lay.

In the meantime, several beasts, drawn by the scent of blood, were tearing at the flesh.

Daon swung his sword with a fierce motion, cutting them down.

"Hmm…"

A low growl escaped his lips.

"Can you help me collect their identification tags?"

"Understood."

Darius assisted Daon in retrieving every soldier’s tag.

While doing so, Daon narrowed his eyes and lifted his head.

"…They’re not here."

"What do you mean?"

"No knights. The smallest unit deployed for a subjugation mission is two knights and twenty soldiers. But this unit has no commanding knight."

"Hmm."

Now that it was mentioned, it was true.

Only soldiers lay here. There wasn’t a single corpse that appeared to belong to a knight.

They had either been captured and dragged away… or they had fled.

Daon dusted himself off and stood.

"Let’s head back for now. It seems there are beasts roaming around here that we shouldn’t be dealing with."

"Wouldn’t it be better if we joined forces with your unit, Sir Daon?"

"My side has taken losses as well. If we’re not careful, we could end up like the soldiers lying here. In a forest like this, it’s best not to act recklessly."

"…I see."

Darius nodded.

Even for a Bayern Academy graduate, it wasn’t as if he could match a seasoned knight.

So he took Daon’s warning to heart and followed him back.

When they rejoined the unit, Daon glanced at the suddenly increased headcount.

‘Two full knights, two novices, twenty Imperial regulars, and eleven Bayern cadets.’

They could handle normal beasts without trouble, but if something even slightly stronger appeared, things could get ugly.

"Let’s move. The sun sets quickly in the forest. Since we haven’t established a base, we should aim to be out of here before evening."

"Understood."

The Imperial soldiers took the lead, clearing the way, with the Bayern cadets following behind.

With their numbers grown to over thirty, everyone seemed a bit more at ease than before.

"…"

Carl, however, turned his head to peer beyond the forest.

Whether it was his imagination or not, the air around them felt colder.

Even though there was clearly nothing there, something seemed to be poking at his skin, and it was starting to irritate him.

‘Feels as if experts are lying in ambush nearby.’

Back when he had been the Unkillable, many had targeted him.

Sometimes they were fellow assassins, other times they were masters well-known in the martial world.

Some attacked head-on, while others concealed themselves entirely, waiting for the slightest opening to strike.

Especially when high-level masters set their minds on an ambush, even someone like him couldn’t help but feel a chill.

The problem was, he was now feeling that same sensation pressing in from all directions.

"Beasts ahead. Everyone, prepare for combat."

What appeared in front of them was a mutated orc called a Degatora.

Compared to the Black Orcs the cadets had fought at the forest’s edge, this one radiated an aura that made those seem like child’s play.

"Front line, forward."

Clack.

The soldiers with spears stepped to the front.

Individually, the soldiers’ skills were far below those of academy cadets.

In a one-on-one fight, they would inevitably lose due to inferior mana control.

But once they formed a group, they unleashed terrifying synergy.

‘Just like watching the old Imperial Guard.’

The way they formed a battle line to hunt masters was enough to make even martial artists wary.

They allowed no gaps to be exploited, steadily wearing down their target’s will while eating away from the outer edges.

The Imperial soldiers likewise responded perfectly to the Degatora’s reckless charge.

Crash!

As the beast lunged past the line of spears, a heavy mace came down on its skull.

When it came to fighting beasts, blunt weapons were more effective than swords, so most soldiers carried one.

The first battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the Imperial army.

The Bayern cadets didn’t even need to step in.

However, when the same thing happened a second and third time, Daon’s brow furrowed.

‘We’re running into this many beasts?’

Each beast had its own territory.

By instinct, they avoided trespassing into other beasts’ ranges.

However, to encounter beasts in quick succession so soon after defeating one in a single spot…

"Sir Daon, this seems…"

"Indeed. It appears the boundaries of their territories have become meaningless—whether due to the distortion phenomenon, or something else entirely."

Daon clicked his tongue and glanced toward his unit members.

The knights were still fine.

Having undergone grueling training, they could endure a day or two here without sleep without issue.

But the soldiers had already completed their scheduled duties and were on their way back.

Unlike the knights, their recovery ability was not exceptional, so rest was an absolute necessity.

Then, just before returning to base, they had been swept up in a spatial distortion and dropped back into the middle of the forest. Even if they did not show it outwardly, their fatigue was surely accumulating.

"We’ll rest for now. Damn it, what sort of damned forest is this?"

Daon cursed under his breath and ordered the unit to take a break.

If they were to keep fighting for a fourth time in a row, casualties would be inevitable.

The moment the order came down, everyone sat heavily to the ground, breathing hard—it was clear they’d reached their limits.

"Cadet Darius, over here for a moment."

"Yes, sir."

While Darius went to Daon, Carl checked on the other cadets.

He wanted to make sure no one was injured, but aside from fatigue, most seemed fine…

…with the exception of Maximilian, who had seated himself alone in a shaded spot, occasionally narrowing one eye as if silently enduring something.

"Maxim."

"…Oh, Carl."

Carl quietly approached and sat beside him.

"Show me your left arm."

"My left arm? Why all of a sudden?"

Without answering, Carl reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Rolling up the sleeve and checking the inside, he found the forearm discolored to a deep purple.

"It’s nothing serious. I just didn’t want to worry anyone, so I kept quiet. I’ve already applied medicine, and it’s getting better."

Maximilian’s voice dropped as he hastily made excuses.

With everyone else already struggling, he had no intention of drawing concern by showing his pain.

‘Poisoning.’

Carl recognized it instantly.

It seemed he had either touched a poisonous plant or been affected by the blood of a beast carrying venom.

Judging by how he had bound the arm beneath his clothes, he had taken some measures, but the purpled muscle twitched as if screaming in silent agony.

Press.

When Carl pushed down on it, Maximilian flinched.

That meant there was not just paralysis, but also pain.

"Normal paralytic poison doesn’t cause pain. It usually dulls sensation even further. This will leave aftereffects no matter what."

"…I don’t think it’s that bad."

Maximilian scratched his cheek awkwardly at Carl’s warning.

"So bear with it. You should have something in your mouth to bite down on."

"Bite…?"

Maximilian tilted his head in confusion, but then his eyes widened as Carl drew a dagger from his coat.

"W-What are you planning to do with that?"

"I’m going to cut the wound open. So grit your teeth."

"…!"

Carl’s decisive slash across the forearm sent chills over Maximilian’s entire body.

Turning his head away, he twisted his face in agony, doing his best to endure the surging pain.

Skkrt.

Carl skillfully avoided sensitive areas as he worked the wound open.

An assassin inevitably had extensive knowledge of the human body—

Which spots were fatal, and where to strike to kill or disable in one blow.

It was an assassin’s basic training to study the body for all possible scenarios.

‘If I could, I’d excise the flesh entirely…’

But if he did, Maximilian’s left arm would become unusable.

So he performed only the minimum procedure to drain the poison before covering the wound.

Drip.

Then he carefully applied a potion diluted with water.

Using it undiluted might cause a reactive effect with the poison in the body and worsen the condition.

Diluted, it would have less potency, but it would at least help heal the wound for now.

Tap.

After sprinkling a coagulant and wrapping the arm in bandages, Carl finally released Maximilian’s arm.

"Unless it’s an emergency, it’s best not to use your left hand."

"So I can still use it if I have to, right?"

"Rather than doing something stupid, endure it for even an hour or two—it’ll heal faster."

"…Something stupid, huh."

Maximilian gave a bitter smile and rubbed the bandaged arm.

"Thanks. I guess I chose the right friend."

"Then be careful."

Carl gave his forearm a light slap and stood up.

At that moment, Luna, speaking quietly with another cadet nearby, sent him a whisper through sound transmission.

—Master, shall I move around a bit?

If she scouted on foot, she could get a read on the situation around them.

But Carl gave a faint shake of his head.

If Luna disappeared to survey the surroundings, that in itself could cause problems.

With knights and Imperial troops here, it would be fine for now.

—Understood.

At Carl’s will, Luna abandoned the thought.

In NOX, the master’s will was absolute.

"…Hmm."

A short distance away from them,

Yuria stood with her arms crossed, scowling deeply.

"What’s wrong? Do you need to use the restroom?"

"No, nothing like that."

Even at Laysis’s question, she didn’t relax her expression, still staring into the forest.

"Laysis, don’t you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"I can’t really explain it well, but something about this forest has been bothering me for a while."

"The forest?"

As a gifted mage, Yuria’s magical senses were naturally sharp.

Especially as the heir to the Gray Magic Tower Lord, she had honed her magic through rigorous training, making her exceptional even among mages.

And now, her senses were constantly picking up an alien energy.

Tap. Tat-tatat!

Then, faint footsteps carried on the wind reached them.

The first to notice were the knights gathered off to the side discussing their course.

Next, Darius jerked his head up, followed by others turning toward one part of the forest.

Thunk.

From among the shadowy trees, someone emerged, bracing against a trunk as they staggered forward.

"Haaah… haaah…"

Their hands were soaked in bright red blood.

Panting heavily, the figure seemed to notice the group ahead only then. Summoning the last of their strength, they took one more step and spoke.

"R-Run…!"

Thud!

With a heavy impact, the man’s words were cut short.

His head, torn away by something, rolled across the ground, and the headless body collapsed in a heap.

"…Everyone, prepare for battle."

Gripping his sword, Daon spoke slowly with a grim expression.

"If you can’t kill it, you’ll be killed. Steel yourselves."

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