Chapter 199

While Ivan was suffering from a headache because of his endless pondering, Anastasia looked around with an expression of interest.

“Hmmm.”

Hitume Ikar was definitely a country with unique characteristics.

Ivan only paid attention to their warriors, but Anastasia looked at the country from a much broader perspective.

‘They created a completely independent culture in 4,000 years.’

She was curious.

She wanted to spend a month just exploring the island and properly studying their culture. She was also interested in sorcery.

However, Anastasia put aside her selfish desires.

Meanwhile, their surroundings became quieter and quieter as they headed deeper into a forest.

It was a dark and ominous forest. In fact, it was as dark as if it was night, even though the sun was still high in the sky when they entered the forest.

Vajra, who was walking at the front, said.

“This is the ‘Dark Forest’. As outsiders, if you were to get lost here, you would never be able to escape, so don’t stray too far from me.”

This was said in a serious tone, and the group nodded.

‘I’m bored to death.’

Ivan shook his head after having this thought.

It hadn’t been long since they entered this forest, so he shouldn’t have had such thoughts already. But this forest was truly unpleasant.

The darkness in the forest seemed to strangely cling to the skin. And for some strange reason, he felt tired.

He had slept enough before they arrived, so he wondered why he was feeling this way now.

“Stop.”

It was Anastasia. The voice was clearly that of a young girl, but it carried a fierce hostility that couldn’t be hidden.

Vajra stopped moving and looked back.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you say we’d arrive at the palace before sunset?”

“Of course. We’re almost there. Just follow us a bit longer. I think we’ll arrive sooner than I expected. The sun is still high.”

Anastasia laughed at those words.

“You think we’re fools? The sun has already set. Did you think we wouldn’t realise that?”

Ivan’s expression changed, but Vajra remained calm and said.

“It’s not unreasonable to have this thought. Because this forest does not allow sunlight to…”

“Hmph.”

Anastasia snorted.

She felt that there was no need to listen to his nonsense any longer.

Bang!

The ground shook as Anastasia’s small body shot towards Vajra like a cannonball. Her fist then struck forwards, hitting him.

Crack!

“…”

Anastasia frowned.

She didn’t feel the sensation of hitting a person, and instead, a piece of wood broke under her fist.

Vajra had already moved.

What she’d stuck was an old grey tree. Vajra was already far away. (TL: substitution jutsu?!)

Ssss.

The darkness from the forest wrapped around his body as if it was alive.

Vajra’s expression was cold.

It seemed the expressions he’d displayed so far were all fake.

“You’re quite quick, girl. The sorcery in this place is not something that strangers could easily notice. How did you know?”

“You might be able to trick my senses, but my body clock is always accurate.”

Anastasia snorted again. There was no reason to reveal that she was a Golem.

“…hmm. Is that why you have such a strange presence?”

Ssss.

As he muttered those words, Vajra faded into the darkness.

‘We couldn’t lead them to the center of the forest, but it doesn’t matter. They can’t get out of here easily anyway. The only thing left is to slowly wear them down.’

A mysterious smile stretched across his lips. The time for a thrilling hunt had come.

<stop.></stop.>

Shortly after this voice sounded, the darkness that was spreading around Vajra’s body stopped. His expression also became one of shock.

Taking advantage of this, Ivan and Anastasia quickly narrowed the distance and took Vajra down. They had the ability to kill him right away, but they didn’t.

Capturing him was a much better option.

‘What happened…?’

His body still couldn’t move. Vajra could only move his eyes. He didn’t realise that he’d been bound by the power of Dragons, Dragontongue.

“That was amazing. Are you sure you’re not a real Dragon?”

Anastasia tapped Dro’s shoulder as she asked this.

Dro looked into the dark forest and said.

“The others ran away. I can track them for now, but… I feel something unsettling.”

“Their original intent was to bring us into this forest. They have already achieved that. But it might be dangerous to go deeper.”

Anastasia’s gaze turned to Vajra.

“There’s no need to rush. We captured the guy who knows the most. All we have to do is extract the information from him.”

“You’re going to torture him?”

“That’s too inefficient. I’m going to take control of his mind. Even if it’ll take longer, it’s the most effective…”

It was at that moment that something suddenly shot out from the dark forest.

Ivan and Anastasia evaded at the same time.

Puk.

This thing then stabbed into Vajra.

“What was that?”

“It was… a needle.”

Ivan looked at the nape of Vajra’s neck and clicked his tongue.

The needle was so thin that he had to look closely just to see its outline.

“Amazing. He died instantly. They managed to strike his vital spot perfectly.”

“Tch. I regret not bringing a weapon.”

If he had a blade, he would have struck the needle down. However, it was suicidal to block a hidden weapon without knowing what it was.

‘Couldn’t I have sacrificed an arm to stop it?’

Anastasia had regrets, but it was unavoidable. Her way of thinking was not yet that of a battle Golem; it was that of the Great Sage.

“Pull out the needle.”

“…why me?”

“Then should I do it?”

Ivan nodded at Anastasia’s words.

“Both of us are barehanded, so it doesn’t matter which one pulls it out.”

“You have the Tiger King’s Gloves.”

“…right.”

Ivan’s face twitched as he nodded.

Then, after putting on the Tiger King’s Gloves, he pulled the needle out of Vajra’s neck.

Jurk.

Blood condensed at the back of Vajra’s neck for a moment before it began flowing down his back. This blood was slightly purple.

“It’s extremely poisonous. Other than that, I can sense traces of divine power on it. Was it Ananta’s poison on the needle?”

Anastasia couldn’t help but feel glad she didn’t hold it with her bare hands. She couldn’t let her guard down because she was now a Golem. She knew just how terrifying Ananta’s poison is.

“Is this the work of that guy named Jenta?”

“It’s possible.”

“That guy really doesn’t care about shedding blood.”

Ivan shook his head.

“First of all, shouldn’t we head out of the forest?”

“There is some sort of barrier here. It’s probably sorcery. It’ll take time for us to get out. Dro, what about your Dragontongue?”

“It can be destroyed, but sorcery is directly connected to the forest.”

“Hmm…”

Ivan turned to the pondering Anastasia with a frown.

“What’s the problem?”

“If we forcefully break it, most of the forest will be destroyed. That would make us criminals in this country. Worst case scenario, we will be hunted down and forcibly expelled.”

“They attacked us first. What we’re doing is self defense. They can go ahead and try to kick us out.”

When Ivan said those words, Anastasia’s gaze sharpened.

“Are you here for war? These people don’t represent the entirety of Hitume Ikar. The officials might not know the truth behind this situation. Maybe that guy named Jenta sent Vajra to intercept us.”

“What if that’s not the case? This whole country might be in the hands of the Demigods.”

“If that was the case, they wouldn’t have lured us to this Dark Forest before acting. They would have attacked us even before we could set foot on the dock. It’s just a feeling, but I don’t think Jenta wants us to meet the king.”

This caused Ivan to close his mouth.

He understood what Anastasia was trying to say. Hitume Ikar could also have had two factions.

Those who wanted to accept them as guests and those who wanted their lives.

“Dammit. Then are we supposed to stay here for a day?”

“A day or two. First, we will try to go around and find a way out. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll just have to destroy the forest.”

In other words, they would have had an excuse for destroying the forest rather than doing it from the start.

Just as Ivan was about to sigh, they all turned to look into the dark forest at the same time.

Someone was approaching.

They were headed directly to them.

“It’s not just one.”

“Right. It should be three or four.”

“Let’s do it right this time.”

However, when they saw these people come out of the darkness, the group relaxed their battle postures slightly.

This was because no matter how they looked at them, these people could never have been citizens of Hitume Ikar.

There were five people in the group that appeared. They were all men and had a variety of hair colors.

What they had in common was that they all looked like they could collapse at any time.

“…hmm.”

When Ivan frowned, Anastasia turned to look at him.

“Do you know these people?”

“I’ve seen the man on the left before. He’s probably Hart Lowmind, Circle Rounder of the Lucid Swords.”

“So this should be the first group of Circle members who came to Hitume Ikar.”

The moment Anastasia muttered this, the man at the front of the group opened his mouth.

“You guys…”

“We are Frey’s companions.”

“Rounder Frey’s companions…? Then what about the issue in Silkid?”

The Silkid incident was one of Ivan’s greatest disgraces. So naturally, his expression hardened.

“It’s already over.”

“I see.”

“Are you the Circle Master of the Lucid Swords?”

Jekid nodded.

“Right. I am Jekid Deosis.”

“Why are you here?”

“…we are being hunted by them.”

He said these words with a bitter smile.

Ivan’s brows furrowed.

“Hunted? A man like you?”

Jekid’s power was something that not even Ivan could take on easily. In terms of pure sword skill, the man might even have been able to rival Snow.

Even if one searched the entire continent, it would be difficult to find people who could match him in swordsmanship.

“I came too hastily. I should have prepared more.”

Jekid looked to the sky and muttered.

“This country is very dangerous.”

* * *

Frey looked around.

It was a damp, humid place with stone floors that had a layer of water on it.

‘This is beneath the island.’

It would have been better to call it an underwater cave. In the center of the cave, there was a small building.

This was probably the shrine that the Great Medium had mentioned to him before.

“This is a holy place that only successive Great Mediums have been allowed to enter.”

“Is it okay for outsiders to come to such a place?”

“…”

The Great Medium didn’t answer.

She knew that her actions this time were impulsive.

“Go to the shrine. If you are qualified, you will be able to meet Dauns.”

Frey calmly walked to the shrine.

The shrine was a building made entirely of wood.

It was quite strange.

If a wooden structure stayed in such a humid place, it wouldn’t be long before it was completely rotten. However, this wooden shrine was clean and sturdy as if it had been only a day since it had been built.

When he entered the building, candles that were placed at the sides, lit up on their own, illuminating the entire building.

In the center of the room was a statue. Perhaps this was Dauns.

“…”

Frey’s expression became firm as his eyes rested upon this statue.

It had a body that appeared similar to that of a human, but the face was without features or hair. There was not even a contour of muscle on its body. And even though it was just a statue, this figure seemed to be constantly exuding light.

It was very similar to something he knew.

‘Lord.’

At that moment, he suddenly felt as if the space he was in had disconnected from the world.

[Welcome.]

“…”

Frey looked back. A figure was now standing where the statue had been.

With a tense expression, Frey spoke.

“You are not Lord.”

The figure laughed, a mouth filled with bright teeth appearing on its otherwise featureless face.

[I am God.]

(TL: I honestly thought Jekid would be dead by now. Also… ‘God’ looks like Lord…. Can this get any stranger?)