“You said we were leaving tomorrow, but we’re leaving tonight instead. Doesn't that count as lying? Won't that affect you?”
As they distanced themselves from Hera City, Flora turned to Evelyn in confusion and asked.
“I hadn't decided to lie at the time. Besides, midnight has already passed.”
“Technically, it is already tomorrow.”
It did seem that way.
“Why did we have to leave in the dead of night? Did you notice something?”
Flora asked the question again.
“Throughout our investigation over the past few months, no matter how hard we searched, we couldn't find the leader of the Headhunter Cult.”
“At most, we only ever found some low-level management.”
“I suspect now that the Headhunter Cult isn't just colluding with the nobles of Hera City. Rather, the leader of the Headhunter Cult is a noble within Hera City's administration itself.”
“Therefore, not a single noble in Hera City can be trusted anymore.”
“Not even the most unlikely candidate, Sir Jaden.”
Evelyn explained her reasons for leaving in the middle of the night.
“The leader of the Headhunter Cult is a noble... even Sir Jaden? How is that possible?”
Evelyn's words shattered the values Flora had been raised with by her family.
However, she once had a little brother with a very peculiar way of thinking, who had somewhat influenced her outlook on life. Though her world had been turned upside down, reason ultimately won out, allowing her to accept Evelyn's deduction.
“I sensed the scent of a dragon on Sir Jaden.”
Evelyn's words made Flora's body stiffen.
“A dragon?”
“Is... is there something significant about that?”
It was a red dragon that had killed Flora's little brother, making her extremely sensitive to any information regarding dragons.
“You haven't been in Hera City for very long, so you might not know.”
“About half a year ago, during the Month of Fresh Green last year, an adult red dragon at the peak of the High-tier Monster rank attacked three adventurer parties in the eastern part of the Hera Plains.”
“It resulted in several deaths.”
“Generally speaking, such a powerful red dragon would never appear in the eastern regions of the Hera Plains.”
“I was drawn to Hera City to investigate that very incident, which eventually led me to uncover the Headhunter Cult.”
Flora felt an inexplicable ache in her heart as she listened to Evelyn.
“I've never heard you mention this... Are you saying that the red dragon was lured here by the Headhunter Cult?”
“Why didn't you tell me this sooner?”
Flora never expected there would be a hidden truth behind her brother's death.
The Headhunter Cult was behind it?
Those damn Headhunter Cultists!
“And that Jaden... you said he has the scent of a dragon on him!”
“Did he lure the red dragon here? Is he involved with the Headhunter Cult?!”
Anger flooded Flora's heart. She reached down and gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist, her knuckles turning white.
“The reason the red dragon attacked back then was because the Headhunter Cult stole its egg.”
“That was as far as my investigation went back then, and even now, I haven't been able to locate where the dragon egg ended up.”
Flora bit her lip, clutching her hair.
“Damn it.”
“In other words, the dragon's scent on Jaden is highly likely because he came into contact with that egg.”
“This put you on your guard, which is why we left in the middle of the night...”
Evelyn watched Flora and waited for her to calm down slightly before speaking.
“Was there someone you knew among the casualties?”
“Yes. My little brother, Zoe Sable.”
Flora took a long, deep breath.
She had thought she could finally face her brother's death calmly, but finding herself so close to a potential culprit instantly filled her with rage.
“I have to get to the bottom of this. If it really is Jaden, I'll kill him with my own hands to avenge my brother.”
“What do we do now? Keep heading to the Great Hera Forest?”
Flora looked at Evelyn. The Great Hera Forest was vast; searching blindly would likely yield no results.
They had hoped for the assistance of Sir Jaden's knight squad, but now that they couldn't trust him either, it was just the two of them...
“I have a monster friend in the Great Hera Forest. He lives there, so he might know about any unusual occurrences.”
Evelyn's words piqued Flora's curiosity.
“A monster friend?”
“Yes, a High Slime. I don't know if he's still living there, though.”
“And he's quite strong. He managed to defeat a mid-tier Headhunter Cult elemental mage all on his own.”
Flora's head was filled with question marks.
“A High Slime?”
Evelyn's circle of friends was surely too broad.
Besides, did a High Slime even possess the intelligence to understand human speech and make friends?
“That High Slime is very special. I suspect he might be a dragon hybrid, or perhaps he underwent some kind of atavism. He is highly intelligent.”
Evelyn explained, sensing Flora's doubt.
“It's my first time hearing of a hybrid between a dragon and a slime.”
Flora's mind involuntarily conjured up a rather R-rated image.
“Dragons have a very broad sense of aesthetics; they can appreciate the beauty in all kinds of creatures.”
...
“They're gone?”
Sir Jaden frowned as he listened to his subordinate's report.
“How ungrateful. To think she would suspect even you, my Lord!”
Sir Jaden waved his hand, signaling his subordinate to stop talking.
He then stood up, walked over to the bookshelf, took down a book, and slowly flipped it open.
But his eyes were not focused on the pages; he was deep in thought.
“Strengthen city security. The Month of Melting Snow is coming to an end, so we must be on high alert for monster attacks at all times.”
“Have the knight squad we prepared earlier continue into the Great Hera Forest to monitor the movements of the monsters. If there is any activity, report back immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
...
Shadow Slash!
A sharp, pitch-black strike sliced through the air with a piercing screech, hurtling toward Zoe.
Having unleashed the Shadow Slash, Dark Wolf did not bother to check its effect. It immediately dissolved into a black phantom and melted into the shadows of the nearby trees.
Zoe twisted his translucent body, narrowly evading the Shadow Slash in the nick of time.
Normal Hera shadow wolves could only lurk in the shadows to lower their presence, making them difficult to detect.
But the Shadow Wolf King—or Dark Wolf now—could truly shadow-ize its body, completely merging into the darkness.
Fighting in an environment filled with shadows was incredibly disadvantageous.
But that was exactly why combat training was so meaningful!
Watching his Experience steadily tick upward during the battle, Zoe quickly condensed his accumulated acid.
Acid Bullet Rain!
A dense volley of acid bullets rained down toward the shadows where Dark Wolf was hiding.
The shadows were instantly saturated by the dense rain of bullets, leaving horrific corrosive marks on the trees and soil, but Dark Wolf was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did it dodge? So fast.’
Zoe lowered his translucent body, pressing himself as close to the ground as possible.
This allowed him to use his High Slime perception to detect any vibrations in the ground.
Having ridden Dark Wolf before, Zoe knew exactly how fast it could move within the shadows of the forest.
Whoosh.
A faint vibration rippled through his body. Like a coiled spring, Zoe leaped into the air without a moment's hesitation.
A dark shadow flashed out a split second later, its sharp claws brushing past Zoe's body.
He had dodged?
No! Dark Wolf's black lupine eyes locked onto Zoe. A fully charged Shadow Slash was unleashed right in Zoe's face, completely unavoidable.
To unleash a charged slash immediately after an attack...
Was this guy charging his skill simultaneously while attacking earlier?!
Acid: Heart-Piercing Needle Rain!
Realizing he couldn't dodge, Zoe quickly opened his mouth and spat out steel needles wrapped in acid.
The steel needles gleamed coldly as they shot toward Dark Wolf.
Under normal circumstances, Dark Wolf could have ducked into its opponent's shadow, shadow-izing itself to evade a portion of the attack.
However, to counter its shadow-ization, Zoe had kept his body completely translucent since the start of the battle, leaving no shadow for Dark Wolf to hide in or use to cast Shadow Bind.
Both sides had no choice but to take the other's attack head-on.
Zoe's body was sliced open with a massive gash by the Shadow Slash, sending him flying into the air.
Meanwhile, the steel needles pierced through Dark Wolf's fur. The acid coating the needles relentlessly corroded its flesh.
It didn't dare linger. It quickly manipulated the shadows wrapping around its body to pull out the embedded steel needles, then darted toward the nearest shadow.
As Zoe's familiar, Dark Wolf knew all too well how outstanding the self-healing abilities of a High Slime were.
As long as he had enough mana, he was essentially immortal.
Landing on the ground, the wound on Zoe's body healed instantly. Rather than chasing Dark Wolf, he quickly opened his mouth and spat out a burst of accumulated corrosive gas.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
That move!
There was no way Dark Wolf could forget the very technique that had utterly defeated it in the past. It immediately abandoned its dash toward the shadow, endured the agonizing pain of its wounds, and dodged to the side at maximum speed.
Yet at that exact moment, Zoe activated his Level 5 Acid skill.
Acid: Sprout Thorns!
The acid left in Dark Wolf's wounds seemed to come alive, erupting from the inside out.
It was as if countless thorns had suddenly exploded inside its body. Fresh blood sprayed from the wounds that had only just stopped bleeding, and the intense agony made Dark Wolf freeze in place.
Seizing the opportunity, Zoe unhesitatingly ignited the Corrosive Gas Slash that Dark Wolf had dodged. A massive quantity of highly flammable corrosive gas exploded, engulfing Dark Wolf, before Zoe immediately spat out Dragon Flame.
Dragon Flame: Accumulative Corrosive Burn!
Boom!
The blazing Dragon Flame instantly swallowed Dark Wolf.
Rate on N.U.
