The Immortal Genius Spear Knight(25)
Damian recalled the time when he was in the Neo-Kalitz unit and mentioned that there were demons in the Bronzerian Forest.
When he first heard that, Damian scoffed.
As if demons could actually exist in the world.
But Dianal’s expression was quite serious.
There were monsters that deviated from the norm.
Monsters that were so fierce and extraordinarily powerful, they seemed to be possessed by demons.
—Would you believe it if a demon-possessed Orc killed a Steel Wolf with its bare hands?
Steel Wolves were monsters with sharp, steel-like teeth and claws.
Five orcs were barely able to match one.
But one, alone?
—If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. That’s why we had no choice but to abandon the place.
The Neo-Calitz unit ended up disbanded without a clear reason.
Thanks to that, he was able to meet Dianal.
—A demon……
Damian recalled that memory.
The atmosphere today felt even colder, or was it just his impression?
The Neo-Calitz unit, having entered the Bronzerian Forest, moved cautiously, searching their surroundings.
They had entered the restricted area.
“Stop. Search the area first. Move in teams of three, and do not go completely out of sight.”
They searched only within the range visible to them.
At Taron’s command, everyone nodded and quickly dispersed.
Then Taron looked at Damian and Kyle.
“You two follow me. Don’t fall behind.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Damian and Kyle replied and followed Taron’s search team.
Swish.
Damian lightly scanned the surroundings.
Nothing seemed special about the area.
But there was a heavy atmosphere that contrasted with the ordinary surroundings.
‘……What is this?’
It was just an ordinary forest.
‘Why does it feel like a battlefield?’
A place where life and death coexist.
Damian had spent five years in such an environment.
So his senses were telling him.
This place is dangerous.
Step, step…
Their footsteps became more cautious.
Damian’s eyes darkened as he scanned the surroundings.
There was nothing visible, but it felt like something was beyond it.
And then.
Peep!
A very short flute sound.
Taron stopped walking and turned his head toward the sound.
“Did you find something?”
Soon, the soldiers gathered at the place where the sound had come from.
The bodies of people who had died in a gruesome manner.
What was unusual was that the mercenaries’ belongings were still there.
“How desperate must those fox-like guys have been to just confirm and then flee?”
‘Fox’ refers to the search team of the Erkal Defense Forces.
Even if they don’t recover the bodies, they always take valuable items.
Taron looked at a sword and other equipment that had fallen next to the mercenaries.
They were quite useful.
“That means it was terrifying.”
Swish.
Taron looked at the dead bodies and then to the forest on the other side.
A large tree had been split vertically and fallen to either side.
What kind of monster could have done this?
“Could it be a bear-type monster?”
“There are no bear-types in the Bronzerian Forest that can do this.”
“Then…… maybe it’s an Ogre?”
The Ogre, known as the tyrant of the forest.
If there was one, it would be an emergency situation.
But then.
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“……?”
The soldiers’ gazes turned to one side.
A Red Bear’s corpse lay behind the bushes.
Five long scars were engraved on its back.
They were too evenly spaced to have been made by a sword.
Damian, who was looking at the Red Bear’s corpse, lifted his head.
“It seems like a bear-type monster, as the commander said. Otherwise, the spacing of these claws doesn’t make sense.”
The spacing between claws exceeds 5cm.
This means the size of the front paw when clenched is as big as a human head.
If such a creature swung its claws.
“……That makes sense.”
Damian looked at the tree that had been split vertically.
Upon closer inspection, there were marks where something had pierced through and ripped the sides.
“……”
Taron turned his gaze to Damian.
The analysis he provided.
None of it could be taken lightly.
Perfect evidence based on the traces.
It was almost as if the situation at that time was being painted in his mind.
“Where did you learn this?”
“My father was a hunter. Although I don’t know much about the forest, I learned a lot from what I picked up as a child.”
“Oh? I thought your father was in the military……”
Kyle stopped talking.
Because he made eye contact with Damian.
Soon, Kyle, who had closed his mouth, turned his head away, pretending not to know anything.
“……I see. You’ve learned well. Alright, let’s hurry and take care of the bodies. We should send them back to their families.”
The soldiers took out a large cloth they had brought with them and wrapped the bodies.
Unfortunately, there was no time to take the mercenaries’ bodies with them.
“We’ll sell these to buy herbs.”
They only took the mercenaries’ belongings.
As the cleanup ensued, Taron looked deeper into the forest.
There was definitely something there.
If there is a danger, it must be removed.
That was their job. But……
“……We’ll head back today.”
“Are we not going further in?”
“First, we’ll return the bodies and regroup, then we’ll come back.”
The feeling was off.
It felt strange.
Taron swallowed the remaining words.
There was no need to unnecessarily increase anxiety.
Damian agreed.
Although there were traces, they were far beyond ordinary expectations.
Entering deeper into the forest without either knowing who the opponent is or their level of power would be suicide.
‘He was a great commander.’
In his past life, Dianal occasionally spoke about the commander who was in charge when he was the youngest.
—Although gruff, he was a good person. He was also outstanding, and I learned a lot from him.
He was someone worth missing.
If only all commanders were like him.
Most considered it natural to push boundaries or sacrifice subordinates for personal gain.
It was expected.
Even if there was a sacrifice, it was just a bit of inconvenience. Or perhaps there were financial and positional losses.
Those people didn’t die from mistakes.
But this place is different.
Taron knew.
One wrong judgment could cost the lives of his subordinates.
That’s why he had to be even more cautious.
Even if it seemed a bit slow and frustrating.
“We’re going back, hurry!”
Having received the command, Aaron, the Vice-captain, shouted loudly.
The unit members quickly turned around, carrying the bodies wrapped in cloth and the items they had collected.
But at that moment.
“……!”
“Everyone, get out of the way!”
With Damian’s shout, something black fell from above.
Boom!
“Arghhh!”
“My leg! Aaargh!”
It was a massive boulder with a diameter of about 2 meters.
It was so enormous that it seemed unbelievable that such a thing could exist in a forest.
A unit member who was pinned by the falling boulder screamed in pain.
“Kyle!”
“Arghhh!”
At Damian’s call, Kyle tried to lift the boulder by putting his hands underneath it.
But it was so heavy that his strength alone was not enough.
“Ugh!”
Damian went to assist him.
The mana that had been stored in his mana core seeped into his entire body.
As Damian began to help.
Grggrggrg!
The boulder, which had been motionless, began to tilt slightly, creating a gap.
“Uh, hurry……!”
“Rescue the unit member!”
Other unit members pulled out the colleagues who had been pinned by the boulder.
Some members joined Damian and Kyle, helping to lift the boulder.
Although there were no handles to grip properly, with a dozen or so people working together, they managed to extract all the pinned unit members.
“……Damn it.”
Taron’s brow furrowed.
Two of them were severely injured.
One of them, in particular, seemed to have had his right leg completely crushed.
But then.
“Chew on this.”
Damian pulled out a red fruit that resembled a raspberry and Amancho from his bag.
“You need to chew it as much as possible to extract the juice. It will ease the pain a little.”
Damian tried to put the herbs and fruit into the injured people’s mouths. But, just as he was about to do so.
Thunk!
Taron grabbed Damian’s arm.
“Amancho has the effect of relieving pain, but it’s a toxic herb. If taken without an antidote, it can be dangerous.”
“That’s why we eat it with Neimoza.”
The red fruit was called Neimoza.
Specifically, it was the seed inside the Neimoza that was to be consumed.
“If you chew the seed of a Neimoza thoroughly and extract its juice, it can neutralize the toxicity of the Amancho.”
Damian immediately placed both the Amancho and Neimoza into the injured people’s mouths.
They needed to chew as much as they could while conscious.
Following Damian’s words, the two injured people chewed the herbs with all their might.
“Ugh……”
“Uuugh……”
Although they were still in pain, their expressions seemed to improve slightly.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“RAAAARGHH!”
It appeared.
Taron jumped up from his seat and shouted.
“Prepare for battle!”
Cha-cha-cha-ching!
The unit members quickly drew their swords and looked in one direction.
The black figure revealed itself.
It was definitely a bear-type monster, but…
“……Insane.”
“I’ve never seen one that big before.”
It was easily over 3 meters tall.
So tall that one had to lift their head up quite a bit to see its face.
Its size was so immense that the moment it appeared, a shadow was cast over the soldiers.
“RAAAAAAARGHH!”
“Dodge!”
Bwooong!
With a loud roar, the Black Bear swung its front paw.
Even though they dodged, the shockwave made their bodies stagger.
“Get the injured back, surround it! Attack its legs first!”
Its size was so massive that attacking its upper body wasn’t an option.
Following Taron’s command, the unit members quickly surrounded the Black Bear and began attacking.
“Huaap!”
A muscular member of the unit shouted loudly as he swung his axe.
Although the bent axe struck the Black Bear’s shin.
Thud!
“……!”
The wound barely tore through its hide.
‘My attack, that can even split an Orc’s thighs…….’
Couldn’t even cut through its shin?
The muscular soldier’s eyes wavered.
“What are you doing!”
“Ah!”
It was just a momentary hesitation, but.
In that brief lapse…
Thud!
The muscular soldier was knocked away by the Black Bear’s swinging paw.
Thud.
Although it wasn’t fatal, as the bear didn’t use its claws.
“Hellson!”
Perhaps because he lost consciousness, the unit member named Hellson didn’t get up.
“GRAAAAARRH!”
The Black Bear then lunged at the fallen Hellson.
It seemed to be seeking retribution for the injury inflicted on its shin.
Its massive front paw came crashing down on Hellson.
But at that moment.
Boom!
“Grrr……”
Taron blocked the Black Bear’s attack with his greatsword.
Drip.
Red blood trickled down from Taron’s forehead.
Though he managed to block it, he couldn’t completely avoid the shock.
“Damn monster……!”
Three subordinates were injured.
Taron’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
“Hyaaaa!”
“Attack now!”
While Taron held the monster, members of the Neo-Calitz unit targeted the Black Bear’s back and jabbed their weapons into its legs.
But the extremely tough hide prevented them from inflicting major wounds.
“Damn it! Keep stabbing until it breaks through!”
“This monstrous bastard!”
Numbers had their advantages.
Soon, blood began to flow from the Black Bear’s thighs and shins.
“RUAAAAAH!”
It roared loudly and staggered.
And at that moment.
“It’s just the beginning, you damn bastard……!”
Seeing the Black Bear step back, Taron stomped the ground forcefully.
Quickly closing in on the beast, Taron gripped his sword with both hands.
The greatsword, lowered to the ground, vibrated slightly.
Wuuung.
At that moment, Damian’s eyes sparkled.
‘……Aura?’
With a faint magical aura surrounding Taron’s sword.
“Die.”
Taron’s sword cleaved through the Black Bear’s body.
