Chapter 61. Death’s Veil
Lyra and her team had just finished a hunt of their own. Lyra stood over the fallen creature before her, a Mutated Deer, its body rotting and grotesque, its mouth lined with massive, vicious fangs, its head crowned with enormous antlers, and its two eyes a deep, burning red.
Only moments ago, those eyes had blazed with savage ferocity. Now they stared out, lifeless. Its head had been completely severed from its neck, and strange green blood poured from the wound.
Lyra glanced ahead. Elizabeth’s sword was drenched in that same green blood, some of it splattered across her own body as well, the result of a single, clean strike that had taken the mutated deer’s head clean off. Lyra walked toward her with a bright smile, clapping as she approached.
"Nice work, Elizabeth! That was beautiful. You took down a Rank Two monster all by yourself. That was magnificent."
Elizabeth turned toward the voice and returned Lyra’s smile. She sheathed her sword and began walking over.
"It wasn’t anything special. All of you helped me. That’s the only reason I could take it down." She turned to face the rest of her team. "Let’s rest here for now. Once we’ve recovered, we’ll head back out to hunt. After a few more kills, we’ll call it a day. We’ve already gathered a solid haul of monsters, so our odds of winning look good."
Joseph spoke up then, his tone a little sheepish.
"You mean second place, right, Princess? Because there’s no way we could ever take first. You know exactly why."
Both Elizabeth and Lyra heard him, and soft laughter escaped them both. Elizabeth answered.
"That might not be the case. He wouldn’t do something that puts other students at a disadvantage just to secure first place. It’s not impossible for another team to take first, but it won’t be easy for them either. They’d have to work just as hard as we have. And because of that, we still have a real chance of winning."
Joseph didn’t quite follow her reasoning. To even entertain the thought of Lord Necrotize’s team losing felt like heresy. He instinctively pressed his palms together in a small prayer.
"Princess Elizabeth, you shouldn’t say things like that about the gods. The Great One might get angry."
Elizabeth let out a faint, amused smile at that. In her mind flashed images from the past week, Necrotize, contentedly eating his meal, utterly indifferent to everything around him. She looked back at Joseph reassuringly.
"He won’t get angry. So there’s nothing for you to worry about."
Lyra chuckled, watching the exchange. Then, all at once, the air around them grew heavy. A strong wind swept through the forest.
Elizabeth and the others noticed it immediately. This wasn’t the ordinary wind of the forest. As they puzzled over it, Matthew’s gaze drifted upward. His mouth fell open. He quickly called out to the rest of the team.
"Everyone, look at the sky! Something’s surrounding the entire forest!"
The moment he said it, Elizabeth, Lyra, and the rest all turned their eyes skyward. And the instant they did, the lighthearted mood that had filled the group only moments before vanished completely. Beads of sweat rolled down Elizabeth’s forehead. Lyra was the same, if anything, worse. The Qi energy in the air around them was behaving strangely, in a way she had only witnessed once before: during a Heavenly Tribulation. Seeing that same phenomenon now filled her with even greater dread.
None of them could come up with an answer after seeing the barrier. Elizabeth had no idea what was happening. But among them, one person’s outward reaction and inner feelings were worlds apart. On the surface, he trembled with fear like everyone else, but inside, a very different kind of joy was stirring.
That person was Clain
***
Carlos, Arthur, and Simon’s group had just finished their battle. Every one of them was gasping for breath. The moment the fighting ended, Simon collapsed onto the ground, unable to stay on his feet any longer. Then he noticed a golden light shimmering across his body, and within moments, much of the exhaustion drained out of him.
Once the fatigue had eased, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. When he looked around at his teammates, what he saw left him stunned. Flora sat on the ground, still breathing hard. Beside her sat Lawrence, with a turtle made of water standing next to him, his summoned beast, whom Simon had heard him call Uriel. But that wasn’t what surprised him.
What truly caught his attention were his other two teammates, who were still standing. Carlos’s red hair drifted faintly in the breeze, a light sheen of sweat visible on his face, but otherwise, he looked completely unshaken, as if the massive battle they’d just fought through had cost him nothing at all. Beside him stood Arthur, his enormous spear still gripped in one hand, its blade coated in blood. He, too, showed barely any strain, just a faint trace of sweat on his brow, as though the fight had meant nothing to either of them.
Simon glanced around at their surroundings. He’d witnessed this scene many times by now, yet every time he saw it, a chill ran through him. The beautiful stretch of forest that had surrounded them only a short while ago now lay completely devastated. Scattered around them were the bodies of at least sixty Crimson Wolverines, each in a different state of ruin, some sliced clean through the middle, others punched through with gaping holes straight through their bodies.
Here and there, a few carcasses were burned and charred beyond recognition. Even now, remembering the fight left Simon a little in awe, because the two who had carried the heaviest share of the battle were Arthur and Carlos.
Arthur had fought like something feral, using his spear to reduce every monster that came near him to dust. Watching him fight had sent a shiver down Simon’s spine. And then there was Carlos. He always kept five or six fireballs hovering behind him, ready at all times. The instant he turned his gaze toward a monster, the fireballs would streak out one after another and slam into it, sometimes two or three striking together in a single burst. Whatever monster took the hit was reduced entirely to ash. And behind him, more fireballs would immediately form to replace the ones spent.
While Simon was still turning these thoughts over in his mind, the calm breeze drifting through the forest suddenly changed. That gentle wind shifted into a violent, howling gust. Simon had no idea what was causing it. His first thought was that some kind of storm might be forming, so he looked up at the sky to check.
But the moment his eyes reached the sky, what he saw made his eyelids freeze in place. His mouth fell open, and he simply stared upward, unable to look away.
Carlos, standing in front of him, had also turned his gaze skyward. His expression didn’t change, but beads of sweat began rolling down from behind his ears. A massive barrier was closing in around the entire forest, sealing all of them inside, and he had a very bad feeling about it.
He turned to look at Arthur, standing beside him. Arthur had planted the base of his spear into the ground and was staring up at the sky as well. Carlos couldn’t quite read the expression on his face, and he didn’t try to. He simply turned his own head back upward, toward the sky.
***
After finishing their hunt, Necrotize and his team decided to rest for a while. They sat together now, discussing everything they’d hunted down that day.
Necrotize stood a short distance away from the others, staring into the depths of the forest. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, a feeling that something was about to happen. But he couldn’t tell what. Still, he didn’t let it trouble him. Whatever it turned out to be, he was confident it wouldn’t be a problem for him.
Or so he thought.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a massive barrier spread across the sky above them. Necrotize kept his hands in his pockets and slowly tilted his head back to look up. Dominic and the others, who had been sitting on the ground, noticed the barrier overhead and scrambled to their feet.
Once standing, they stared up at the sky with unease written across their faces. None of them could make sense of what was happening, or why this enormous barrier had suddenly appeared. Dominic decided to ask Necrotize directly.
"Lord Necrotize, what is this barrier? Why has it appeared now?"
Necrotize kept his eyes fixed on the sky, and for the first time, his usually calm expression had shifted.
"I don’t know exactly what this barrier is for," he said. "But..."
He trailed off.
Dominic’s face twisted with confusion. "But...?"
"But I know the source of that barrier."
"What?" Dominic pressed eagerly.
Necrotize’s voice dropped, grave and low.
"Death."
The word hit Dominic like a slap. His eyes went wide, and he immediately turned back to stare at the barrier again. He swallowed hard. Just then, a bush ahead of them began to shake violently, as if something was about to burst out toward them.
The whole group tensed, eyes locked on the rustling bush. Moments later, something emerged from behind it, and when they saw what it was, they could hardly believe their eyes.