Chapter 164
Everyone stared at Allen with a dumbfounded look.
Then they looked at the Allen standing behind.
Our Allen was just as shocked.
"Who are you! I'm Allen!"
"Hey! That one's a fake! I'm the real one!"
"What are you talking about!"
Suddenly, another Allen appeared out of the blue.
He looked haggard, and his beard was scruffy. He wasn't a lookalike of Dran—he was definitely Allen.
"Who are you?"
"Who else would I be? I'm Allen. Listen carefully. More than half the people here are fakes."
"What are you talking about now?"
"Young lord. That guy is an imposter. He's trying to fool us. You must not trust him."
That was Donnie speaking.
But actually, the fakes were the Donnie and Allen on this side, not the bearded Allen over there.
"The fakes are trying to take you into the Poison Forest. It took me over a week just to get here. So you have to trust me. Understand?"
"The Poison Forest?"
"You've lost your sense of direction. This isn't the West, it's the East. You need to head for the center of the forest. Only there can you escape this spell."
"Who's the fake among us?"
"That, I honestly don't know."
Donnie spoke up again.
"Don't believe a word this guy says. We're definitely to the west."
That's when it happened.
A voice called out from the east.
"The bearded Allen is telling the truth. Young lord, you're with the fakes right now. You must head towards the center of the forest."
This time, another Donnie appeared.
Together with the squad member Mont.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I'm the real one. I'm not completely sure, but except for Lady Eilin, Yuri, and Tuji, everyone else is a fake."
"Are you certain?"
Our Allen spoke again.
"This is insane. Hey, think about it. We've been together all this time—could we really be fakes? Or would the ones who suddenly showed up be fakes? Besides, look at that beard."
Donnie's beard was stubbly, too.
"Mont, is Donnie telling the truth?"
"He is, sir. I wandered in the forest for three days before I finally found Captain Donnie."
"What happened?"
"We're not sure either. I was just going to relieve myself and when I turned around, the whole group had disappeared."
"You mean we disappeared?"
The bearded Allen spoke up.
"I saw your squad members disappear too. I thought it was strange and went to check, and found that you all had vanished as well. I spent ages wandering around after that."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Who can tell if it's day or night here? I had some jerky so I managed to survive. If not for that, I'd have starved to death."
I looked at the Allen standing behind me.
The guy was smirking.
"Are you going to believe that? They're bewitching us right now."
Bearded Donnie spoke.
"We have to get away from them quickly. They'll try to kill you when you fall asleep, young lord."
"What the heck are you talking about!"
"Don't trust them! They're the fakes!"
I looked at Eilin.
Sensing something, she quickly took Yuri's hand and came behind me. Tuji, too, stood behind me with his bow at the ready.
Tuji said,
"I thought something was odd. Captain Donnie and Uson felt like different people. Who are you guys really?"
The group looked at us with indignant expressions.
The bearded Donnie spoke up again.
"Young lord, there are dark knights wandering all over the forest right now. Some unknown creatures tried to trick us by turning into us, but they never transformed into dark knights."
Even at this moment, the number of dark knights was dwindling.
"You're saying you saw missing dark knights?"
"Yes. There are strange trap-like things throughout the forest. If you go inside, the people you're with just disappear."
Now I understood.
It was a dimensional trap, like the ones on Devil Island. If you fell in, it was very hard to get out.
"How long were you trapped, Donnie?"
"At least a week."
This forest had past, present, and future overlapping. It wasn't that time was layered—but that each region had a different time zone.
In other words, Allen and Donnie had kept crossing time zones—and only now had returned to the present. If you wandered recklessly, you never knew which era you'd end up in.
"Donnie, do you know the way to the center of the forest?"
"Yes. I met up with some squad members while wandering and finally found it. In fact, even finding this place was difficult."
"Because the time zones keep changing?"
"Something like that. I told the squad members I met to head for the center of the forest, even if it took a few days."
"Lead us. Let's go that way."
The fake Allen and Donnie moved quickly to take the lead.
"You mustn't follow them!"
"Young lord, what they're saying is absurd. How can people just vanish into thin air?"
Suddenly, the bearded Allen shouted.
"Hey, fake! What's my family name?"
"Lembo! I'm Allen Lembo!"
"Wrong! They're fakes! Reveal yourselves, you damned bastards!"
"No! My surname is Lembo!"
"Ha! Roger knows my real surname!"
Allen's surname was Brembor. Lembo was a name he used to hide his connection to the Dran legendary hero's bloodline. Now the real and the fake were clear.
"Donnie! Lead the way!"
"Yes! This way!"
The fake Donnie shouted desperately.
"Young lord! You mustn't go that way!"
"Damn it! Are we really being fooled like this?"
I pulled back from the people I'd been with, my sword at the ready. The fakes slinked toward us, while even with the 'real' ones I kept my guard up, just in case.
"Eilin. Still no light?"
"No. They must not be evil spirits."
"For now, let's follow the real ones."
Donnie guided us.
The bearded Allen also joined us gingerly, careful not to inadvertently cross time again.
"The dark knights will hold off the fakes and follow us. If they attack, subdue them only."
― We follow the king's command.
The dark knight order moved in between us and the fakes. We formed a standoff and followed Donnie. Donnie had made marks on the trees and ground as he came this way.
Probably while we had been resting earlier.
It seemed the squad members had gone off to relieve themselves and all at once crossed into another time.
During the chaos,
the fakes had slipped in and pretended to be the real ones. Whatever their identity, I didn't know.
We entered deep into the forest.
The bearded Allen spoke.
"Got any food?"
"How did you manage for water?"
"I survived licking dew. Someone told me not to go to the center of the forest or I'd be tainted by darkness."
"Who?"
"Squad leader Hans."
So the squad members were safe.
Eilin handed over some hardtack.
"Here, at least eat this."
"Thanks."
"Wait, look at this."
Donnie stopped and pointed at empty air.
There was something like a transparent wall. The flow of air on this side and that was different, making it look like a wall was there.
"Just a single step apart, but the dust flows differently here. I only noticed recently. Spaces like this are regularly divided throughout."
That was it.
I'd sensed something unnatural in Nature itself—that was the odd sense of dissonance I'd felt.
"You can't tell if you're time-slipping yourself?"
"No. I realized only when I saw others disappearing. They probably think I'm the one who vanished."
People just trying to walk along find themselves crossing time without knowing it. So they keep slipping through time zones without realizing it themselves.
If you keep wandering, escape becomes nearly impossible. The skeletons of those who never made it out were scattered here and there.
To escape, you had to know the way exactly. And to rescue those trapped in time, you'd have to burn the sorcery devices in the forest. It seemed one was at the center of the forest.
"You mustn't go that way!"
"Hey! You're being deceived!"
A shout rang out from behind.
Allen snorted.
"Ugh! Thinking about all I suffered because of them, I want to tear those bastards apart! Damn it!"
"Don't go overboard. There might be real ones mixed in."
"That's why I'm holding back."
I looked at Allen.
Maybe it was all the suffering,
but he seemed a bit more mature now.
"This way. Even straying a bit, you can end up somewhere else entirely."
"Understood. Dark knights, line up in single file and follow! Stay off the side paths!"
The dark knights who'd been coming two abreast formed into a single file line behind us. The fakes did the same—they too must have been worried about jumping to another time.
That's when it happened.
Suddenly, the fakes attacked the dark knights.
They must've decided there was no other way.
Cha-chang—Kaka-kang—
The dark knights knocked aside the attacks of the fake members and quickly withdrew, careful not to stray from the path.
"You mustn't go that way! Listen to me! That way is the fake!"
"Strike the knights! We must stop them!"
"Stop them!"
The fakes rushed at us recklessly.
If you just heard them, they sounded genuine.
"There's poison that way, young lord!"
"That's right! You'll die if you go there!"
At those words, Allen laughed.
"Looks like they're desperate! How'd you bastards know there was poison there? If you're the real ones, would you know this forest better than me?"
Now it was certain.
Some might be real, but Donnie and Allen were fakes. If they were real, they wouldn't know where the poison was.
"Darkness is growing stronger."
"Donnie! Is it much further?"
"Just a bit more! Be careful! Monsters have appeared near here before!"
At that moment, Tuji fired an arrow.
Before Donnie could even finish speaking, monsters started swarming from all around.
"Yuri! Use Flame!"
"Okay!"
Yuri's body flared up in fire.
She could control fire freely now.
Khaaark—
Dozens of mysterious monsters rushed at us. Together with the real ones, we began to fend them off.
"You monstrous things! You're swarming because you think we'll destroy the cursed object!"
Puff-puff—Whoosh—
We pressed onward, hacking down monsters with swords and hammers. Eilin more than held her own.
"Allen! Why didn't you shave your beard?"
"I thought I was going to die—I had no time to worry about facial hair! Try being trapped forever and see how you cope!"
"Keep growing it out."
"Why? You think it looks good?"
"Makes you look older, which is nice."
"What the—?"
Laughing, we pressed deeper.
The monsters were tough, but compared to Guardian's monsters, they were a breeze.
"Stop the humans!"
"Kyaaahhh!"
Finally, the fakes dropped their disguises.
Such wicked things. How could anyone duplicate humans so perfectly?
Then, dropping their transformations, they flew at us. They were vile faeries. Their bodies were blue bugs with grotesque human faces. They even had wings of light.
"Khuoooot! Die!"
The yokai lunged at us, thrusting spears.
I was afraid I'd see their faces in my dreams, what with their sharp noses and clown-like, split mouths grinning.
I lopped off their heads without mercy.
They were deceivers whose heads could be chopped in half with one blow. Maybe they'd once served the lord of darkness here.
Kuweeek—
Kkuohhhh—
Their revolting, horrifying shrieks filled the air. Monsters kept swarming at us, but for us, they weren't monsters as they would be to ordinary people.
"We're almost there, young lady!"
"Cover the rear! Eilin! Run!"
Switching places with Mont, I carried Yuri on my back and ran. For the monsters blocking us, I simply barreled through them. Even as Donnie cleared the path, more monsters filled the space.
Beyond the forest, in a clearing, stood a huge tree. Under it, a single sword was driven into a rock, and dark energy surged from that sword.
We broke free of the forest and ran into the clearing.
Eilin's sword began pushing back the darkness filled in the woods. The force of darkness was really strong.
Unlike before, darkness didn't recede immediately but retreated little by little. The power was enough to infect not only ordinary people, but our squad members as well.
That's why Donnie and the squad members couldn't approach. Without divinity, removing that dark medium was impossible. The others were probably nearby.
Monsters attacked from all directions as we reached the clearing, desperate to stop us. Just then, as expected, the real squad members who had disappeared began to appear.
"Were you all waiting for us?"
"Yes! Deputy Hans gathered us!"
"You aren't tainted by darkness?"
"We're fine! Not sure why, though!"
Apparently they'd passed information back and forth, repeatedly getting lost and running into each other. I'd been worried that the squad members would be corrupted after so long in this place, but that hadn't happened.
Kuwereek—
Puf-puf-puf—
Even the missing dark knights suddenly rushed in. They, too, had been close to our squad all along, simply not acting independently.
Protecting Eilin, we pressed still deeper.
Divine light pushed even harder against the darkness. When the darkness stubbornly resisted,
I flew straight toward the sword stuck in the rock.
The resistance was immense. I cut through that resistance with my sword! I kicked at the dark blade of the sword.
Clang—with a ringing sound, the blade shattered and flew up into the air. Darkness vanished instantly. Divine light poured out in all directions.
At the same time, countless monsters turned to ash and scattered. They'd only resisted burning because the sword's darkness was so strong.
And so, we brought the Forest of Death to an end.
At last, blue sky began to appear.
It seemed the sun had already risen.