IDDYD 15

Chapter 15

A faint barrier had formed around the demon beast struck by her attack.

“A barrier? No, this can’t be……”

Alice’s magic, blocked by the barrier enveloping the demon beast, began to slowly fade away inside it. It looked as if the barrier was gradually absorbing the magic power within.

“Oh no…!”

Noticing this, Aiden swung his sword towards the barrier.

As he expected, that barrier must have been absorbing the magic power Alice had released to pour strength into the demon beast.

They had to destroy that barrier before the demon beast grew stronger.

But the demon beast’s barrier didn’t break with a single attack. Aiden infused his sword with aura and slammed it down onto the barrier again. His sword made a small crack in the barrier.

“Tch…!”

Aiden, putting more strength into his hand, drove his sword deep through the crack. Unable to withstand his power, the barrier shattered into pieces.

*Guh-ek?!*

As the barrier broke, the demon beast panicked and stepped back. Seizing the moment of its confusion, Aiden raised his brightly shining sword and slashed right into the center of the demon beast’s forehead. A fierce gust of wind accompanied the deep red wound that appeared on its forehead.

*Kue-ehk!*

The demon beast writhed in pain and roared. As it staggered, it moved precisely into the center of Alice’s line of sight.

Not missing that opening, Alice unleashed another attack towards the demon beast.

With a sizzling sensation of flowing current, a bright yellow bolt of lightning pierced into the wound Aiden had made on the demon beast.

*KWA-GWA-GWANG!*

A tremendous roar shook the spot where the demon beast had been. Struck squarely by Alice’s attack, the demon beast collapsed with half its head destroyed.

Aiden let out a dry laugh as he looked at the demon beast’s corpse, now barely recognizable. It seemed she had been quite offended by having her attack blocked earlier.

Whether his guess was right or not, Alice, who had jumped down from the tree, grumbled.

“Why didn’t you tell me this thing had an ability to absorb magic power?”

“I’ve never seen that ability before either. That type of individual wasn’t supposed to have such an ability in the first place.”

“Then what? Did it develop a new one?”

Alice voiced her doubt as she brushed the dirt off her pants with her hand. It seemed necessary to remember this information about the demon beast.

‘Still, it was our first battle together, and it ended cleanly.’

Alice thought, glancing briefly at Aiden. She knew about his skills, but this was the first time she had coordinated with him in combat. Strangely, it felt as comfortable as if they had been fighting together for a long time.

While Alice was mentally jotting down a simple post-battle review, Aiden wiped the blood off his sword, sheathed it, and said.

“Thanks to the smell of the demon beast’s blood, no other demon beasts will come this way for a while.”

No creature understood the hierarchy of strength and weakness better than demon beasts. Having seen such a large demon beast fall, any ordinary demon beast wouldn’t dare come near this area.

Aiden frowned as he looked at the barely recognizable corpse.

“But why did the demon beast only appear now? Your knight squad said they didn’t actually see one, right?”

“Yeah, they said they only found traces. But who knows. Maybe someone was hiding it all along and only released it after our knights left.”

“There shouldn’t be anyone who can control a demon beast so freely.”

“You could do it.”

“I… No, I told you I didn’t do it.”

“I know. I was just asking if demons are capable of controlling demon beasts.”

At her words, Aiden’s eyes widened. He thought she still suspected him. Seeing his expression, Alice answered lightly.

“I decided to trust you until the contract ends.”

The contract had a clause stating that if any danger arose to her or the Empire, the contract would be voided and Aiden would return to the demon world.

If Aiden were the culprit, he would have been chased back to the demon world the very day demon beasts appeared in the Empire.

She didn’t want to hinder the investigation by pointlessly suspecting Aiden, who was being cooperative in solving the disappearances.

“Anyway, so demons can control demon beasts?”

“Not necessarily. I told you before. Every demon has a different area of expertise.”

“That’s right… Huh?”

Just as Alice was about to continue her train of thought after hearing him, something caught her eye.

“What is that?”

In the direction she looked, a thick purple haze hung densely, as if it would devour the world.

A haze in purple, virtually the symbolic color of the demon world. This was a very dangerous sign.

Following Alice’s gaze and discovering the haze, Aiden asked with a serious expression.

“Where is that?”

“It seems to be the Saint Forest.”

“Saint Forest?”

“Yeah, the forest right next to the Saint Mountains. But the Saint Forest is within the influence of the mountains, so such a haze shouldn’t form there……”

The Saint Forest, connected to the Saint Mountains, benefited greatly from the holy power of the mountain range.

Yet such an ominous haze hung there. Clearly, some problem had occurred in the Saint Forest as well, just like with the mountains. Alice’s face automatically contorted into a frown.

“Did the demon beast appearing in the Saint Mountains affect the forest too?”

“Maybe it’s the opposite. The demonic energy from the forest might have spread to the mountains.”

“……Let’s go.”

Alice and Aiden ran towards the Saint Forest. Since it was downhill, they could reach the forest entrance faster than when they climbed the mountains.

Alice took a deep breath and said with a determined expression.

“Let’s go in.”

“Are you sure? It looks… like we shouldn’t go in.”

“But we have to. I think the cause of all these incidents is inside that forest.”

The sudden appearance of an unknown type of demon beast in the Saint Mountains, the disappearance case in Sierre village… She had a预感 everything was connected to the strangely changed Saint Forest.

Hearing her words, Aiden, who had been pondering something, opened his mouth.

“Then I’ll go in first. It might be dangerous for a human.”

“Huh?”

Without giving Alice a chance to stop him, Aiden entered the haze. His unreserved action反而 left Alice blinking in surprise.

Perhaps because she was used to taking the lead and guiding others, this situation where someone else stepped forward to protect her felt awkward.

‘What is this?’

For some reason, a corner of her heart felt ticklish, and Alice stroked the area near her chest.

Meanwhile, Aiden, who had stepped into the dense purple haze, frowned.

“It seems like a thin layer of demonic energy is scattered throughout this entire forest. It’s a dangerous space for humans to be in. So……”

Before Aiden could finish speaking, Alice moved her steps into the haze. Then, looking at Aiden, who was taken aback by her action, she said.

“But I’m the one in charge. I can’t just leave the investigation to you alone.”

“……”

“It does feel a bit unpleasant… But I can withstand this level of demonic energy.”

Aiden, who was about to suggest it would be better for her to wait outside as it was dangerous, closed his mouth.

As she said, she couldn’t not investigate an incident that occurred in the Earldom of Erdine.

‘In the first place, she’s not the type to back out just because it looks dangerous when such a serious incident has occurred.’

Thinking of Alice, Aiden smiled slightly and opened his mouth again.

“Then tell me if your condition worsens. I can perform first aid.”

Alice nodded. He was, unexpectedly, seriously concerned about her physical condition.

Confirming her answer, Aiden took the lead and walked towards the center of the forest. Alice quickly followed him.

“What is this?”

Around the time they reached the edge of the forest, Aiden stopped. The starting point of a steep rocky cliff awaited them.

But the strange thing was that in the middle of the cliff, logs were piled up in layers, seemingly hiding something. As if someone had deliberately blocked something like a cave entrance.

Aiden drew his sword from its sheath and said.

“Shall I break it?”

“Without knowing what’s inside… No, wait!”

Alice urgently called out to Aiden, but he was already far ahead.

He swung his aura-glowing sword in a wide arc. Following the sword’s trajectory, a hole large enough for a person to enter appeared in the pile of logs.

“This should do it?”

“You can make something like this with aura too… Huh?”

As Alice walked towards the logs to observe the inside, she was startled.

Beyond the logs visible through the hole was, as expected, a cave, but it was completely filled with collapsed people.

Among them was Emma’s missing husband.