Chapter 264: Forbidden Zone
———Lynda———
<12: 02 pm (20: 02 pm)>
“What the hell is this place?” I said as all of us walked out of the ship to look at the surrounding landscape through the darkness. Most of the area is completely charred black with scattered remains of what I think are large buildings.
“Be careful and make sure to use the emergency teleport option immediately if any of you run into trouble.” Elrik said before he walked back into the ship.
“Hey! He hasn’t even explained this place to us yet!” I complained with my arms crossed.
“Forbidden Zone is said to be an area filled with a lot of mana and negative emotions of the deceased. It’s a cursed area that spawns monsters and attracts demons. That’s what I remembered from reading about it.” Kroin explained. Good thing we have someone like him around to explain all these new terms. “It can be exorcised with the right technique… I don’t believe any of us know how to use those techniques.”
“...We’re not supposed to do that, right?” Histon said while scratching his head.
“I’m positive we’re not supposed to do so. It seems to be an elaborate process that there’s no way for us to realistically learn to perform by this point and time. I believe we’re simply supposed to get a feeling of what a Forbidden Zone is like. I’m sure you can all feel the pressure on your body the moment we stepped out of the ship. It’s as if the gravity has increased.” Kroin gave us his guess and pointed out the feeling I got once we touched the ground. So it’s not just something I am feeling by myself.
“Huh. No wonder I feel weird.” Histon remarked. “Is this an actual debilitating effect?”
“Indeed. The effect is varied but as a baseline it’s not going to cut your power in half or anything like that. It’s also not impossible to become accustomed to the environment, but that’s a can of worms I didn’t fully read up on.” He answered, but also made it clear he hadn’t read up on everything. I honestly would’ve been surprised if he really did read everything about this already. No one has ever mentioned the concept before if I didn’t misremembered anything.
“...Whatever. Let’s just get moving already.” Histon said as he began moving towards the unknown, or at least tried to before noticing something. “There’s also a haze? As if it being at night here doesn’t make it hard to see as is. Hope all of you specs into your vision, otherwise you’re gonna have a bad time coming back here even with the gadget.”
“...Hey. Aren’t those monsters stronger and more hostile during the night? Why are we even here right now?” Trener can’t help but say that.
“Not my problem. You can go holed up inside if you want. Remember that they can’t force you to not be a chicken.” Histon said before continuing his walk. He sure doesn’t fear the dark and the unknown. Guess it takes that kind of guts to challenge an enigmatic new teacher in the first place.
“Hey! Take that back!” Trener yelled out as he had already left all of us behind.
Luik then silently also walked in her own direction and left everyone else behind.
“I guess I’ll get going as well. Come on Glery. We gotta check it out for at least a while.” Both of us then walked in a different direction to those two and left the main group behind. Hopefully the people who actually feel scared of this place don’t force themselves. It’s gonna hamper their ability to survive I would've imagined, especially if there is a demon roaming the area.
…Did I ever encounter an aggressive demon before? I can’t seem to recall ever encountering one…
“How is your vision here?” I asked, just in case she got better visibility than I do.
“It’s pretty clear outside of the haze.” She answered. Guess I’ll have to rely on her to navigate this place then. I’m obviously not blinded. It’s not pitch dark and I think I am adapting to the low light environment pretty well, but it’d be good if I don’t accidentally trip or run into something I really shouldn’t.
“Guess I’ll be relying on you then. I want to be sure that we don’t run into a demon accidentally.” If memory serves, even a weak demon is much more dangerous than a monster with higher raw power. They have a level of mastery over their power closer to us humans and are able to fight more efficiently than a monster using their raw instincts.
*Growl* *Leap*
Speaking of monsters. One of them is lunging itself right at me.
*Swing* *Smash* *Crash*
“Hmph. That didn’t instantly kill it.” I remarked as the quadruped silhouette was sent flying. It probably didn’t expect me to suddenly pull out a giant axe and hit it before it could even get close. It flipped the role in the ambush.
*Dash* *Strike* *Smash* *Splat*
I ran towards it and quickly dismantled it into pieces before it could recover. It’s tougher than I thought but it still doesn’t hold a candle to me. If it was something that dangerous I would’ve detected it before it could even get close.
Maybe if this oppressive atmosphere doesn’t give us all a debuff it might’ve ended with just the first hit. Anyway, let's keep moving and see what else we’ll find.
“What does this place used to be anyway?” I said as we continued moving and seeing the remnants of the building that used to be here. Even if there were some writings left on the wall or a plaque or something we probably wouldn’t know, right? I don’t think any of us can read Russian. “...Is that a tank?”
I walked over to what looks like the remains of a tank. I never saw one of these things up close before. There’s that cannon attached to it and… Not a whole lot. Most of it seems to have disintegrated into nothing.
“There is surprisingly little to go off on, but I think we can at least clocked this as a former military base.” I said that while still looking at the remains of this particular tank.
“We do already know that most of these locations would be military bases.” Glery pointed out.
“Hmm… Still. It’s surprising how… post-apocalyptic this place feels. The heavy air and the haze really give off that vibe. Disturbing and melancholic.” I commented before we continued walking. I can think of a few shows and games that have this kind of aesthetic. Hard to believe that we’d find something so similar in detail. “I hope the heavy air isn’t actually toxic… Eh. I guess Kroin would’ve pointed that out already.”
We keep moving and not really seeing much outside the debris scattering around. Weird. I thought there’d be a bit more monsters roaming around, and a presence of a demon is not unlikely if Kroin bothered to mention them in the first place.
…The silence is deafening, and yet it feels like something could ambush us at any moment.
“...Ah!” I exclaimed in surprise as the two of us noticed the same thing. A giant bulky creature with a body similar to a massive caterpillar and four legs. A vaguely human-like face with a giant mouth sporting a vicious grin. A body that looked like it was charred black and no eyes visible in its gaping sockets. A definition of a horror genre monster.
*Crawl* *Crawl* *Crawl* *Crawl*
“Glery! Stay behind me!” I said to Glery as I pulled out my axe.
*Clash* *Strike*
“Ugh!” This thing has a lot more force behind it than the last monster. Its stubby body outside of its surprisingly long legs would make me think it’s going to be somewhat slow. Unfortunately that is not the case at all.
*Swing* *Swat* *Slash* *Slice*
It tried to grab me with one of its long limbs only for me to hit it away and follow it up with a few more attacks to cut it right off.
“SCREEE!!!” It screamed out as it retreated and then suddenly opened its mouth wide.
“Wha- Uugh!?” Suddenly a bunch of mini versions of the monster came out of its gaping mouth! Nope! Get me out of here! “Glery! Chain spell!”
“R-Right!” She responded before those tiny ugly things could get close.
“[Wave Crash]! | [Crash Zap]!” Both of us yelled out together as we quickly gathered up mana.
*Splash* *Crash* *Zap* *Blast*
Both of our spells came out simultaneously and blew away and destroyed those little things in only a second, and the range of it even reached the main monster that is recoiling from the force of the combined spell.
*Dash* *Smash* *Strike* *Slice* *Splat*
“Ew… Ugh…” Alright. It’s all over and done with. I quickly ran in to finish it off before it could recover and try any more weird shit like that. “At least it’s over. That shit was scary as all hell. You didn’t put too much mana into that, right?”
“No. I think we both know that that monster doesn’t require that much output.” She answered. “Unfortunately it seems like we won’t get much breathing room.”
Yeah. I can feel something happening a bit far away. I think I know who that power signature belongs to, but the other one has a murkiness to it I can’t quite pin down.
“Let’s go. We can’t leave him behind.” I said with Glery nodding in response before we got moving.
When we finally arrive at the scene Histon has already been pushed away and rolling on the ground. He’s not seriously injured but he’s certainly on the backfoot from the looks of it.
As for his opponent. Certainly humanoid and painted black all over with teeth and gum exposed. Horns and red eyes with black sclera. Looks like a demon, but I’m not too sure if that’s correct.
It took notice of us and the corner of its mouth lifted up as if delighted by the presence of new toys to play with.
“Hehehe…” It chuckled to itself. Just what in the world is this thing? It really does remind me of a demon…
“Hey asshole!” Histon yelled out before running towards the figure with his fist raised.
*Dash* *Punch*
Despite a clean hit to the cheek and being pushed back the figure doesn’t seem all too bothered by the attack, but it does shift its attention back to Histon who still seems quite calm despite the situation making it clear he ain’t winning this alone.
I pulled out my axe and observed the scene in front of me, looking for a good opportunity to join in.
*Dash* *Scrap* *Strike*
The two of them continue the earlier exchange of blows with the opponent keeping the advantage with Histon mostly trying to dodge and attack that humanoid thing trying to keep it on its toes.
*Crackle* *Strike*
“Auagh!” Histon screamed out as he got hit by a punch that was covered in electricity, sending him flying again.
*Dash* *Strike* *Crash*
Using that small window that this thing used to savor Histon’s pain, I ran in and hit it in the back with my axe and sent it flying as well.
*Crackle* *Zap* *Dash*
Glery followed that up with a bunch of lightning spells bombarding the thing while I ran towards it in order to not give it any room to recover.
*Swing* *Swat*
“Kuh!” It managed to parry my attack with just its bare hand, barely slowed down after the barrage of spells from Glery.
*Swing* *Slide*
It tried to hit me in response but I quickly slid out of the way even with my stance weakened from the initial counter.
*Dash* *Tackle*
Histon then ran towards it and tackled the thing before it could continue trying to attack me. He sure gets up from that pretty quickly despite taking a hit right to his gut.
*Grab* *Throw*
He then suddenly grabbed it by the horns and threw it up into the sky.
*Grab* *Throw*
“What the hell!?” I yelled out in protest as he also threw me right up towards it. Is he out of his mind!?
*Smash* *Crash*
I managed to not lose my composure and hit it while both of us were still in the air, sending it downward with a lot of force.
*Strike* *Punch*
As I descended down to the ground Histon caught it and started pummeling quickly and racking up as much damage as he could.
*Strike* *Dash* *Smash* *Crash*
He then landed a punch towards its chest and sent it flying, and I ran in to follow that up with a swing of my axe and sent it flying a second time.
“You at least could’ve warned me.” I complained before Histon continued to move.
*Dash* *Blast*
“Augh!” Histon yelled out in pain as he’s suddenly hit with an energy attack that stopped his movement and sent him flying back to us, rolling on the ground again. “Damn. What is this thing made out of?”
*Shine* *Dim* *Crackle*
It then started amassing a ton of energy to create a giant sphere of mana to throw at us before we could even make sense of what it’s trying to do. Damn it, was it just messing around until now? Do we make a run for it?
*Stab*
“GaHaHow!?” Its distorted voice rang out and the energy it gathered dissipates, showing an eastern blade piercing through its body.
*Slice*
The blade then moved up its body and split its head open, ending it for good.
“Phew! Thanks for the assist.” I said while walking towards our rescuer.
“Not going to complain about how I steal your kill?” Luik said while putting her blade back in its sheath.
“Come on. I’m not that petty.” I said while shrugging my shoulders. “Still. What in the hell was that?”
I want to take a look at the thing she just killed with a well-timed ambush, but its corpse already disappeared. I don’t think monsters do that, right?
“A demon, if I were to hazard a guess.” Histon said as he walked over alongside Glery. “I don’t think you all saw it. It was actually quite chatty when I first saw it before the fight started.”
“So that’s what one of them looked like.” Luik muttered. “I guess we should make a quick escape then.”
“Yeah.” I said while holding up my arm with the bracelet on. There’s a bunch of glowing red eyes staring at our group from a distance. Probably other demons of the same type as the one we just fought. “Let’s make a break for it.”