Chapter 24


    Kess finished packing his belongings and left the house.


    The vige was quiet in the early dawn. It was like the eye of a storm, silent.


    Kess walked along the peaceful street. Then, he found a figure sitting under the sunstone.


    "Kess, where are you going at this hour?"


    Under the sunstone, his gray hair shone faintly.


    "Elder..."


    Kess, who did not expect to meet him, clenched his fists nervously.


    "Where are you going out sote?"


    The elder scanned Kess with a serious eye and Kess answered firmly.


    "I have to see it for myself. The power of the Kyros Faith."


    "Are you saying you will betray Lord Diego?"


    "Betrayal... If that''s how you feel, elder, then maybe it is. But I... I want a god who cares for us, rather than a god who ignores us in danger."


    The elder had no answer to Kess'' words. The elder closed his eyes deeply once and opened them again.


    "I see. If that''s what you want, go ahead. You will have to bear the regret as well."


    "Thank you, elder."


    Kess bowed to the elder and moved his feet.


    He had probably lost a lot of distance from the people of the Kyros Faith by now, but Kess was not afraid.


    ''Maybe it''s dangerous.''


    He might lose his life. But, it was better to try something than being trapped here and waiting to die.


    A small spark of hope lit up inside Kess.


    Kess headed for the gate he always guarded. As he was about to open the door...


    He felt a gaze staring at him. He broke out in a cold sweat for some reason.


    Kess cautiously lifted his head.


    Then he saw yellow eyes.


    "...!"


    Kess couldn''t even breathe.


    The yellow eyes staring at him were not just one pair.


    Yellow eyes surrounded the entire vige.


    Kess unknowingly backed away.


    ''It''s okay. There''s the sunstone.''


    They were beings that couldn''t even enter the vige as long as there was a sunstone.


    So it should be fine.


    But then, the darkwolves moved. Two darkwolves that had been ring at Kess split to either side, and something appeared between them.


    It was a giant darkwolf that he had never seen near the vige before.


    Darkwolf leader.


    The darkwolf leader slowly approached and stopped in front of the fence.


    Kess, who had been backing away gradually, fell over without realizing it.


    ''It''s okay, it''ll be okay.''


    Although the darkwolf leader had a ck bead on his forehead unlike the other dark wolves, Kessforted himself that it would be okay.


    Grrr---


    But when the darkwolf leader lowly growled, Kess felt an indescribable fear.


    Soon after, something began to emerge from the ck bead on the dark wolf leader''s forehead.


    It was ck mist.


    The ck mist moved like a living thing and entered the vige.


    "Eek...!"


    Kess closed his eyes in fear that it would catch him. But the ck mist was heading for the center of the vige.


    The ck mist didn''t attack him, Kess realized and quickly opened his eyes to check where it was heading.


    The ck mist touched the sunstone.


    ''What is that...?''


    Below it was an elder who was no less surprised than Kess. Neither Kess nor the elder realized what the ck mist was doing.


    And then.


    Crack---


    The sunstone began to crack.<hr>


    The darkwolf''s hideout was a small clearing near the only cave in the Cartel Forest.


    He arrived at the hideout faster than expected. But for some reason, he saw nothing.


    -My child, are you sure this is the darkwolf''s hideout?


    ''Yes. It is.''


    -Then why is there nothing?


    How should I know?


    "Master, are you sure this is it? Could they be in that cave?"


    Alphius asked softly. I shook my head.


    "No. Darkwolves don''t live in caves."


    "I, I''ll go look around."


    Chester got up from his seat.


    "Okay, Chesi. Be careful."


    I patted Chester''s shoulder. Then Chester quickly searched around. He checked inside the cave and came back shaking his head.


    "N, nothing."


    "This is definitely their hideout."


    Zain muttered. He added that it was their hideout after seeing the darkwolf''s fur and teeth scattered around.


    "Why aren''t there any darkwolves?"


    Cyril tilted his head and wondered.


    That was what I wanted to ask.


    I came out of the bushes to look around the hideout myself. Then mypanions followed me. As they scanned the area, I was lost in thought.


    ''They lost so many of their kind, and the leader didn''t show up?''


    We had killed more than fifty darkwolves.


    It was practically wiping out most of the darkwolves.


    So, it was natural for the darkwolf leader to appear.


    We didn''t see the dark wolf leader from the vige to the hideout, so he must be here.


    ''...Did he move in a different direction than us?''


    But, the darkwolf leader couldn''t think that much.


    The intelligence of beast-type monsters like darkwolves was not very high.


    What the hell was going on?


    "You guys. You killed my cute dogs."


    A strange voice rang out at that moment.


    Someone wasing toward us from the direction of the cave.


    It was dark and there was no moonlight, so I couldn''t tell who it was.


    A tall man walked slowly and gradually approached us.


    And finally, under the moonlight, the man''s appearance was revealed.


    Long purple hair that reached his waist, bare upper body that exposed his muscles, and ck eyes that flickered with madness.


    Why is this guy here...?


    "That guy is...!"


    I wasn''t the only one who recognized him. Zain next to me was also as surprised as I was.


    -My child, I feel a strong snake-like energy from that guy. He''s very dangerous, no doubt.


    ''I know. I know very well.''


    I had no choice but to know.


    The guy in front of me was Diego Faith''s fifth apostle, Khalid.


    He didn''t appear in the original Cartel Forest quest. Khalid''s appearance was still far away. And yet, I had to meet him here of all ces.


    ''Is this also a hidden route and the difficulty has increased?''


    But this is...


    ''Too high, even though it''s the difficulty level!''


    As I cursed inwardly, Khalid''s lips slowly opened.


    "You all seem to know me, but you dare to look me in the eye..."


    Khalid''s lips curled up wickedly.


    Damn it. This guy is a psychopath!


    ''What should I do?''


    We''ll all die at this rate. It was no different from a final boss''s minion appearing in a tutorial area.


    In Khalid''s hand was a blood-red whip that appeared without my knowledge.


    -We have to run, my child! That guy is more dangerous than the one we metst time!


    The one we metst time that Kyros was talking about must have been Terdius.


    If Khalid''s power is stronger than Terdius'' now... Running is impossible.


    ''Chester won''t be able to hold him either. At least, should I send the kids to the subspace?''


    But Zain, Cyril, and I will lose our lives.


    Damn it, what should I do? I didn''t expect the difficulty to be this high!


    "Hmm?"


    It was a moment. Khalid, who had been approaching with a whip in his hand, opened his eyes wide. Then, the whip in his hand disappeared.


    ''...Huh?''


    In the blink of an eye, Khalid was right in front of my nose.


    "Back off!"


    "W-what are you doing!"


    Alphius and Chester came to my side to protect me, but Khalid didn''t care.


    Rather, Khalid smiled sweetly and narrowed his eyes. And he looked at me and said,


    "You''re pretty."


    Oh, right.


    Should I be thankful or unfortunate for this?


    "Your eyes are nice, and so are your pupils. I like your defiant attitude too."


    Khalid pped his hands and seemed happy.


    Yeah. I forgot about this.


    Khalid wasn''t an ordinary psycho. He was the craziest among Diego''s apostles, a lunatic.


    He didn''t hesitate to stain his hands with blood, and at the same time, he loved beautiful things the most.


    He didn''t care if the beautiful being was an enemy or an ally, a woman or a man.


    He just liked anything beautiful. He was a beauty-crazy guy.


    "Hmm, it''s a pity that my dogs died... But killing you would be much more regrettable. I''ll let you go this time."


    Should I be grateful for this?


    "But I''m only letting you go. The others..."


    Khalid scanned mypanions with an evaluative eye.


    "Some of them seem okay... Hmm."


    Khalid made a dissatisfied expression.


    Damn it, we''re all going to die at this rate.


    Even in HSAW, Terdius struggled against Khalid. And that was in the midte part of the original.


    That means Terdius faced Khalid after he got stronger.


    Come to think of it, Khalid liked Terdius'' beauty in the original as well.


    ''No, that''s not important right now.''


    I rolled my eyes and red at him.


    Sure enough. There was a gold bracelet on Khalid''s wrist. That meant his power was slightly reduced from the original... But if Kyros was right, he was still not someone we could beat.


    The moment we fight, we''ll all die here.


    ''Damn it... Why did I have to get involved with Khalid here?''


    I opened my mouth with difficulty as I watched him grow colder.


    "That won''t do."


    Then Khalid''s gaze fixed on me.


    "Hooh, your voice is pretty good too. You''re to my liking in many ways. But why won''t it do?"


    "Yes. It won''t d--- Ack!"


    In an instant, Khalid grabbed my neck with his hand. It was so hard to breathe that I couldn''t even swallow saliva.


    "Master!!"


    "This bastard!!"


    -My child!


    The kids and Zain were surprised and ran toward me.


    But at that moment, Khalid spread a red barrier around me and him.


    I felt a deep dark energy from the barrier. The kids and Zain, even Cyril, tried to break through the barrier with their attacks. The barrier seemed alive and tentacles sprang out and blocked their attacks. Zain and Cyril were hit by the attacks and fell back. The kids were also fighting back, but they were busy blocking the tentacles'' attacks. And it seemed to have soundproofing as well because I couldn''t hear anything around me.


    "Cough, ugh!"


    I looked around while trying to shake off Khalid''s hand, but his hand wouldn''t budge.


    -You snake bastard! How dare you!


    Kyros shouted something, but that didn''t reach me either.


    It was then.


    sh---


    A white light burst out of my body. For a moment, Khalid''s brow furrowed.


    "Ugh! This power...!"


    Khalid let go of me in pain and backed away.


    "Huff, cough!"


    I copsed on the ground and gasped for breath. I coughed and gagged, and it was hard to regain my senses.


    ''This, crazy bastard.''


    -My child! Are you okay? I squeezed out all my strength, but pushing him away was the limit. I''m sorry.


    Kyros has helped me.


    ''Thank you. Thank you, Kyros.''


    I wiped the saliva from my mouth and got up. I red at him.


    "You, that power... What are you doing? This is interesting."


    He seemed to be in pain just a moment ago...


    Thanks to Kyros'' power that pushed Khalid away for a moment, the barrier that was attacking mypanions stopped moving.


    Mypanions red at Khalid as if they wanted to kill him, and continued to attack as if they wanted to break the barrier.


    ''Thank you, guys.''


    I feel like crying.


    On the other hand, Khalid looked at me with interest in his eyes.


    I wanted to kill this guy, but I couldn''t show any unnecessary reaction here.


    If I provoke this guy, he''ll be more annoyingter.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Leviathan."


    "...Your name is not so good."


    This bastard?