He cut through the thick hide.
SHHHRK!
He drove his sword into the opening.
CRUNCH!
Arden carved away at the Minotaur, forgetting even the passage of time.
Whenever his breath rose to his throat, he fell back....
Then, when the creature approached again, he wrapped his sword in light and fought it.
A battle of attrition.
Both Arden and the Minotaur were growing tired.
The light around Arden's sword eventually faded until it went out.
The Minotaur, which had attacked without pause, also slowed from exhaustion. Even its blood-red Battle Energy was no longer visible.
"Hoo."
When a brief lull came, Arden came to his senses and looked around.
... Darkness had descended upon the forest before he knew it.
Having moved a little farther back, Arden saw a waning crescent moon reflected in the river.
"Hm...."
Berua visited twice a month to teach him various things.
Books alone had felt insufficient, so Arden focused during each lesson and even took notes.
—There is one child concentrating. Good. Let us continue. On nights when a waning crescent moon rises, stronger lingering thoughts can inhabit poorly buried corpses than usual. It is also a period people avoid when waging war. Of course, the chance is not very high. Even if thousands die on a battlefield, there will be only one or two at most.
'But she said it would be different if a Black Mage was present.'
When combined with Necromancy, the probability increased exponentially.
NEIGH—!
The Minotaur, which had come right before Arden, snorted.
Arden awoke from his thoughts and looked ahead.
The Black Mage attached to its chest spoke with tired eyes.
"This is taking longer than I expected. How about giving up here?"
"No."
"I am not telling you to die. We can go our separate ways. I am saying there is no need for you to die here today."
"No."
"Tsk."
The reason the Black Mage acted that way was simple.
The Minotaur's recovery was slowing as well.
At first, it had regenerated severed parts in an instant.
But not now.
Even the vertical wound across its upper abdomen had not healed in time.
Despite so much time having passed.
"You really do not listen. You are more stubborn than those bastards. I almost miss my old friend, who stubbornly refused to learn. How frustrating. Frustrating."
Just as the Black Mage let out a deep sigh—
"Hm?"
The Minotaur's body suddenly turned toward the riverbank.
"Wolf corpses... To notice something like that only now. It truly was a close fight. I admit it."
The Black Mage grinned as he looked at the wolf corpses near the river.
With those alone, he could end this tedious battle.
"Good. It is time to end this."
Licking his lips, the Black Mage muttered in an unknown language.
GRRRRR....
AWOOOOOO!
The wolf corpses with sunken bellies rose one by one.
At the same time, their rotting flesh and muscles melted away.
Organs crawling with maggots stuck to the ground.
Black smoke flowed from the empty spaces where their melted eyes had been.
... An overwhelming stench covered the forest in an instant.
Arden frowned, looked at the wolves reduced to bones, then shifted his gaze away.
ROOOOOOAR!
The Minotaur before him threw a punch.
When Arden tried to fall back, the wolf pack spread out widely and blocked his way.
Seeing that, the Black Mage grinned.
"What do you intend to do now? It seems you cannot use that power similar to Divine Power anymore. Have you not been merely swinging your sword for a long time now?"
"......"
Arden did not answer and lowered his upper body.
Before the fist that had passed over his head could return, he kicked off the ground.
He moved toward the Minotaur's abdomen, which had yet to heal completely.
Gripping his sword tightly, he once again slashed upward across the half-healed area.
SHHHRK!
Its abdomen split wide open.
Even the Black Mage's chin was lightly cut.
At the same time, black blood splattered everywhere.
Arden carefully avoided getting that blood into his mouth and immediately widened the distance.
"Tsk. This creature's hide has softened too."
The Black Mage clicked his tongue as though displeased.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur reached out an arm to grab Arden.
The hand approached slowly.
Arden grinned and raised his sword.
FLARE—!
Pure-white light burst from the sword, which had been coated in congealed black blood.
He had gathered it whenever he rested, and it had finally become enough to use once.
The Black Mage looked on with disbelief.
"—!"
He hurriedly tried to widen the distance, but he hesitated as though his will conflicted with the Minotaur's.
In that time, Arden smashed through the wolves lunging to bite off his limbs and advanced.
CRUNCH!
CRRRAACK!
Normally, creatures revived through Necromancy had to have their skulls crushed and then be burned away with high-grade magic.
But wrapping his sword in Divine Power changed that.
Simply cutting them down cleanly made the Thoughtforms evaporate.
As far as Black Magic was concerned, it was the best possible match.
"I did not expect things to go this way."
The Black Mage's face twisted as he watched the wolves steadily decrease.
"This creature does not seem to be planning to run away either... It cannot be helped."
After assessing the situation, the Black Mage prepared magic.
As he muttered something, a violet magic circle appeared on the ground.
Then black, shadow-like hands crawled out and grabbed Arden's limbs.
SLITHER....
That was not the end.
They climbed up his body and twisted his neck.
His breath was choked off.
His consciousness grew dizzy.
However, it seemed that the Black Mage would not be able to maintain it for long.
Blood tears were streaming down his face as though he had reached his limit.
Grimacing in pain, he gritted his teeth.
ROOOOOOAR!
Meanwhile, the Minotaur reached out with both hands to kill Arden.
Arden also forced himself to move and followed their trajectories.
His eyes moved as he searched for an opening.
Then—
"—!"
The Minotaur's enormous hand grabbed Arden's left arm.
CRRRRAACK!
The immense grip crushed his arm.
But Arden did not stop.
Even as his eyes widened from pain, he swung his sword broadly.
It did not matter that it was out of reach.
SHHHRK!
A crescent-shaped wave of pure-white Sword Energy shot forward in a straight line.
Then a light so bright that it was impossible to open one's eyes split the forest in two.
Burning everything it touched, it rose into the sky.
When the gathered light exploded into a single point, a ringing filled Arden's ears.
BOOOOOOM!
Pure-white fragments adorned the black sky, where not even the stars could be seen.
Arden watched that light for a moment before closing and opening his eyes.
"......"
Had he suffered internal injuries?
Arden frowned at the sensation of his organs twisting and looked ahead.
The Minotaur, which had been crushing his arm, had stopped moving.
"Guh, guhhh...."
The Minotaur's upper body tilted diagonally as its mouth moved.
THUD—! It fell.
The Black Mage, trapped beneath it with his face crushed, let out a monstrous scream.
"KRAAAAAAGH!"
But Arden had no time to pay attention to him.
His crushed arm was dangling limply.
After steadying his breathing, Arden passed the Minotaur split in half and headed toward the Black Mage's cave.
The cave had already collapsed, but he could not be sure.
There might be something that could lessen his pain.
"Hoo."
Before long, Arden arrived where the Black Mage's cave had been.
A deep pit had formed there, seemingly caused by the Minotaur emerging from it and collapsing the cave.
It seemed that finding anything there would be difficult.
"Hm...?"
Just as Arden was lost in thought—
At the far end of the pit, near where the desk had been, he saw fluorescent liquid pooled on the ground.
Its color was identical to the liquid that had been inside the flask.
It seemed that when the flask had shattered, the liquid had risen to the surface rather than seeping into the ground.
"What is that?"
Arden tilted his head and climbed into the pit.
Then he carefully approached the fluorescent liquid.
He wanted to find out what it was.
Then—
GURGLE!
The fluorescent liquid shot toward him and clung to Arden's crushed arm.
SSSSIZZLE....
At the smell of something burning, Arden hurriedly tried to tear it off, but it was useless.
Instead, it clung even more tightly.
His left arm gradually grew warmer.
It seemed as though the pain was lessening.
"......?"
Arden blinked and came back outside.
For now, since his arm was not melting, he intended to leave it alone.
But he still did not understand.
"What on earth is it?"
The thought of what the Black Mage had created filled Arden's mind.
Still thinking about it, he reached where the Minotaur had fallen.
The creature's lower body had apparently been reduced to dust and scattered away, leaving only its upper body.
But even the upper body lying on the ground was slowly dispersing, as though it did not have much time left.
"......"
Arden looked at the disappearing Minotaur and sat down on the ground nearby.
He had fought for half a day. It had been exhausting.
***
"This is the place. The message scroll said it was this forest."
Berua, who had been riding on Dylan's back, spoke.
Dylan nodded and answered.
"I can certainly feel something unpleasant."
"Yeah."
"It seems we should go inside first."
"Understood, Lady Berua."
"Wait, Captain. There's something here."
Just as Dylan put Berua down from his back, Kane, who had entered alone, found something.
It was a small mark on a tree.
It looked like an arrow pointing inward.
"Look at this. Isn't this something Arden left behind?"
"It seems so. Lady Berua, we will proceed in the direction the arrow indicates."
"All right."
Berua nodded and stood between the two men.
Kane was at the front, and Dylan was at the rear.
Since they did not know what might appear, they moved carefully.
"This way."
"There."
"Why is it here this time?"
"Wait, why are we moving forward while circling around the same place?"
Kane had spoken calmly at first, but as they seemed to move in circles around the same place, he frowned.
"Calm down."
"No, Captain. I think the kid might be lost—"
"No. That is not it."
Berua, who stood in the center, shook her head at Kane's words.
She stepped slightly to the side and created a magic circle in the air.
It was specialized magic for detecting Black Magic.
"It has disappeared now, but a high-grade perception-disrupting magic circle was here. It is impressive that Arden broke through it little by little."
"Is that so? Did you hear that, Kane? Work harder. Lady Berua said so."
"Captain, I was not going to say anything, but why are you speaking like that? Do not tell me...."
"Be quiet and walk."
Derek interrupted Kane.
At that, Kane's eyes widened.
"Ha. This is driving me insane. Is it real? Huh? Really? Did you start thinking that way after seeing her for over three weeks?"
"......"
"No?"
"Shut up. Hurry and do your best to help Arden."
At Dylan's words, Kane smirked and nodded.
"Yeah. That could happen. Understood! Yes! Three weeks, after all. A few hours every day... Ahem."
Kane stopped chuckling and began following the traces again.
Then he reached an empty clearing.
A deep pit could be seen ahead.
"I think it's around here."
"It seems so."
Dylan, who had moved to the front before they knew it, looked down at the pit and spoke.
Then he looked at Berua.
"I think it would be best to search around this area."
"Yes. Let's do that."
"Agreed."
Kane also nodded because he agreed with the suggestion, then added,
"I'll take the left. You two take the right. Does anyone have another opinion?"
"Yes, that would be best."
"If you find Arden, fire a signal flare, Captain."
"Understood. Let us go, Lady Berua."
Dylan nodded and headed right with Berua.
Kane quietly watched their backs, chuckled to himself, and began looking for Arden.
After searching around, he arrived near the riverbank.
"Hm...."
Just as he turned around, thinking there was nothing there, he saw a familiar silhouette beneath a tree.
"Huh? Arden?"
When Arden did not answer, Kane came closer.
"It is him. But are you sleeping?"
"......"
His eyes were closed.
"Hey. Hey."
Kane shook Arden's shoulder, but he did not wake up.
Then it happened.
Kane noticed the fluorescent liquid wrapped around Arden's left arm.
It was even bubbling, and Kane, thinking Arden's arm was melting, jumped in surprise and took a signal flare from inside his armor.
He fired it into the sky.
WHIIIIIISTLE—!
Red light brightened the dark forest.
There were many trees blocking the view, but it was bright enough that it did not matter.
Thanks to that, the other two approached from afar.
"Kane! Did you find Arden?"
"Yeah, Captain. But a problem came up."
At the words that there was a problem, Berua hurried over and looked at Arden lying on the ground.
"Th-This...."
Berua saw the liquid wrapped around Arden's arm and reacted exactly as Kane had.
"Q-Quickly, take it off! Take it off! His arm is melting!"
"A-All right, Lady Berua!"