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“My King, all obstacles have been cleared.” When Wayne led his Hollows back to the forest’s core, Jekain had already killed the three remaining High Hollows and was waiting there for Wayne’s return.
“Good.
Well done.” Wayne nodded.
“That final battle — you fought beautifully.” “My King, I…” Jekain’s words carried a note of guilt.
“There’s no need for self-reproach, Jekain.” Wayne shook his head.
“Becoming a Gillian, heading to the Forest of Menos — that is your destiny.
Don’t feel ashamed for leaving now.” “Yes…” Hearing Wayne’s understanding words, the heaviness in Jekain’s voice eased.
“Go.
I know you don’t have much time left here.
Take those three High Hollow corpses and devour them — recover the Reiatsu you spent.
On your way out, all Hollow Beasts along the road are yours to hunt.
But remember: once you reach the Forest of Menos, don’t throw yourself into a melee, and don’t approach an Adjuchas carelessly.
Always seek the greatest gain at the smallest cost.
“I believe we will meet again in the Inner Circle someday, as Adjuchas, or something even greater: Vasto Lorde.
So until that day comes, I order you: do not die.” “I obey my King’s command!” Jekain bowed deeply to Wayne, and the respect in that gesture came entirely from the heart.
If their early cooperation in devouring a Gillian had been nothing more than mutual survival, then the reverence Jekain now held for Wayne had long surpassed the bond forged through shared hardship.
This was something else: the true admiration of a subordinate for his leader.
“My King, I’m leaving.
Please take care of yourself.
I will survive in the Inner Circle.
No matter what it takes, I will be there waiting for your arrival.” With that, Jekain raised his head and let out a long howl toward the sky, then turned and left.
All along the road out, he poured his Reiatsu into unceasing roars, scattering the Hollow Beasts in his path — one last service he could offer to Wayne and the others.
For a long while, those roars carried through the trees.
Wayne stood still, expression calm, sensing Jekain’s Reiatsu grow gradually more distant.
Farther.
Farther.
Until it faded into silence at the edge of the forest.
Wayne turned around and faced the seven Hollows behind him.
“Gis, Shane, Inola, Fales, Fiselina, Chloe, Ellen.
Rest for a bit.
Eat those High Hollow corpses and restore your Reiatsu.
Once you’ve recovered, we start work.” “My King, what about you?” Inola asked.
“Shouldn’t you choose first from these kills?” “I didn’t expend much in this battle.
I don’t need to feed.” Wayne waved a hand.
“I want all of you advancing to Gillian as fast as possible.
Start building your strength now.
I need some time to think through what comes next.” With that, he dismissed them with a wave.
Sensing that Wayne needed quiet, the Hollows withdrew respectfully and scattered to various corners of the battlefield to clean up.
Several hours later, all seven returned to the high ground where Wayne waited.
They stood before him in silence.
Wayne looked down at them, and after a brief pause, he spoke.
“Fales.
You should have the highest Reiatsu among us now.” “Yes, My King.” Fales dipped his head respectfully.
“Then you advance first.” Wayne nodded.
“For the period ahead, the hunting plan will revolve around you, large quantities of prey delivered straight to you.
Advance as quickly as you can.” “But My King, I…” Fales started, then stopped.
“Fales.
Don’t worry about becoming an unconscious Gillian.
Even if that happens, I will lead everyone out safely, and I will make sure you leave this forest and reach the Forest of Menos.” “Yes…” Fales lowered his head.
That was exactly what he had been afraid of.
If he truly lost consciousness after advancing, the first thing he would do was turn on Wayne and the others, and that was the last thing he wanted.
But with Wayne’s words, some of that weight lifted.
“Good.
After Fales, the order will be Ellen, Shane, Chloe, then Gis.
Inola and Fiselina, I need you at my side to assist me, so you two go last.
Any objections?” “We obey our King’s every command.” Inola and Fiselina answered together.
“Good.
Now,” Wayne’s gaze swept across them.
“Gis and Shane, take to the air immediately and survey the Hollow Beast distribution across the entire forest.
Each of you identify several areas where they’re concentrated.
“Fales and Inola, find a large boulder and bring it back, the bigger the better.
Then gather rocks roughly the size of a person, as many as you can.
“Chloe, you’re good at digging.
Help me dig a pit here, more than fifteen meters deep, and carve out a gently sloping path leading up from the bottom.
“Ellen, use your Blade Armor to cut down several large trees and bring them back.
Fiselina, stay here with me to assist Chloe, and lay web traps with your Spider Silk wherever I indicate.” “Yes.” Everyone answered in unison.
“One more thing.” Wayne’s voice sharpened.
“The battle with Jekain has eliminated the greatest threat in this forest, but there are still other factions out there watching us.
Don’t get careless while you work.
Don’t walk into someone else’s trap.
That goes especially for you two in the air, Shane and Gis.
Understood?” “We obey our King’s command!” “We obey our King’s command!” “Dismissed!” At that single word, the Hollows scattered into the forest in every direction.
Chloe lingered.
“My King, where exactly should I dig?” “Right below me.” Wayne pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
“Along the edge of this hill.
Five meters across, fifteen meters deep.” “Yes.” The project took considerable time.
Not because the Hollows worked slowly, but because Wayne needed to walk each of them through the purpose behind every trap.
It served two things at once: it gave them knowledge, and it let them work independently without needing him to oversee every step.
Besides, as their leader, Wayne couldn’t simply stand there supervising the whole time.
After Gis and Shane returned from their aerial survey, he set out alone toward several locations where High Hollows were concentrated and began his own hunt.
He couldn’t challenge dozens of High Hollows at once, of course.
His Reiatsu had reached a level comparable to a Gillian after devouring the Hollow Mask of the Menos Grande, but he hadn’t truly advanced yet.
Three to five at a time was his limit.
BOOM!
A single Shattering Slash severed the long horn of an Aberrant Hollow.
Wayne stepped back, tore the Hollow Masks from the ones he’d just killed, and withdrew without a second glance, he had no interest in prolonging the fight.
The Aberrant Hollow shrieked in pain and spat a stream of curses after him.
Wayne didn’t even look back.
He left behind a retreating silhouette and pulled back toward the forest’s core.
By now, he had staged three ambushes against separate small groups, never more than five targets at a time, and each time he left at least one alive.
He had to.
Wipe them all out, and the traps he’d laid at the core would have nothing to catch.
He had kept at it for nearly a week.
Dozens of small Hollow groups had fallen to him.
Roughly ten days later, the forest began to stir.
Wave after wave of agitated Reiatsu pulsed inward toward the core, carrying their grievances with it.
“It’s about time.” One day, Wayne and his Hollows had just finished eating the Hollow Masks from a fresh hunt and were resting when a chorus of screams rose from the forest’s edge.
Wayne felt the hostility woven into those cries and the Reiatsu behind them.
The corner of his mouth curved upward.
“Clean up.
Prepare for battle.” “Yes.” Seven voices answered as one.
They had been preparing for this day for a long time.
“My King, please take your seat.” Inola wrapped a tentacle around a chair and brought it forward, rough-carved from forest timber, crude in craft and entirely without elegance, but more than sufficient to mark Wayne’s standing as their leader.
Wayne was surprised.
But he accepted it without hesitation.
A chair was a far more commanding presence than perching on a dirt mound while issuing orders.
“Let’s begin.” He settled into it and waved his hand, like someone awaiting the opening of a performance.
SCREEEE!
At Wayne’s signal, all seven Hollows released their Reiatsu simultaneously, sending it surging outward against the enemies pressing in from every direction.
In the next instant, the Reiatsu from beyond the tree line shifted from probing to all-out assault.
Figure after figure came streaking through the forest, charging hard toward the core.
Why the sudden rush?
Because they had the numbers.
They’d judged that the Reiatsu at the core was no match for them, so they charged at what they believed was easy prey.
They didn’t know that surrounding that temptation were countless lethal traps.
“My King, ordinary Hollows are too numerous to count.
Elite Hollows number roughly several hundred.
Those at High Hollow level: twenty-two.” Inola reported from her position at Wayne’s side.
“Mm.
Close to what I expected.” Wayne nodded, tallying the survivors he’d left alive against the numbers converging now.
“Fiselina, trigger the first stage.” “Yes, My King.” A faint silver Reiatsu began to rise slowly from Fiselina’s body.
“Ready…” Wayne tracked the press of hostile Reiatsu closing in around them.
“Release!” Hmmm, BOOM!
Silver light flashed across Fiselina’s eyes.
Across several thousand meters in every direction, the ground erupted into clouds of dust and the agonized wails of countless Hollow Beasts tore through the air.
First stage: Pitfall Trap.
Dozens of pits, dug by Chloe on Wayne’s orders, each packed with sharp wooden stakes cut from trees outside the core and sharpened to points.
Once the pits were ready, Wayne had Fiselina spit her Spider Silk over them and reinforce it with Reiatsu to hold weight, then covered the whole surface with a thick layer of soil and wood.
An enemy stepping onto it wouldn’t fall through immediately.
But the moment Fiselina withdrew the Reiatsu from the Spiderweb, the fragile silk could no longer bear the weight of the ten, twenty, or more Hollow Beasts pressing down from above.
The traps collapsed all at once.
Sharp wooden stakes ran through every body that plummeted down.
Only a handful of Hollow Beasts with thick outer shells survived by luck.
“Ordinary Hollows and Elite Hollows, roughly half killed or wounded.
No change in the High Hollow Reiatsu signatures.” Inola reported.
“Mm.
As expected.” Wayne nodded.
“Let a few more through.” The survivors came surging forward again.
At roughly a thousand meters out, Wayne could already make out the silhouettes of massive Hollow Beasts through the trees.
“Second stage — prepare.” He watched the distance close.
“Release!” BOOM!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Heavy rushing sounds swept in from behind.
One boulder after another, each roughly the size of a person, came shooting out from Wayne’s rear and arced through the air.
Second stage: Stone Throw.
Using only what the forest provided, trees and rock, bound together with Fiselina’s Spider Silk, Wayne had built crude lever catapults.
Large boulders were positioned on raised ground, with the terrain below shaped by Chloe’s digging.
On command, each boulder was shoved off its high ground, crashing down onto one end of a wooden beam and flinging the rocks loaded on the other end skyward via the lever.
After rough calculations and positioning adjustments, the stones launched at the optimal angle and came down at roughly a thousand meters in front of Wayne.
The pivot points were bound with Fiselina’s Spider Silk, strong enough to survive one impact.
Though only one.
The boulders flew.
The Hollow Beasts that had survived the pit traps were struck again.
Some that took a direct hit were reduced to a bloody ruin on the spot.
“Ordinary Hollow and Elite Hollow groups, close to half casualties in total.
Three High Hollow Reiatsu signatures have gone silent.” “Tsk.” Wayne shook his head.
“The results aren’t that great.” With materials this crude, eliminating this many cannon fodder was already the maximum these devices could deliver.
He’d known that going in.
“Doesn’t matter.
We fall back!” He slapped the armrest.
The not-so-sturdy wooden chair beneath him shattered to pieces.
Wayne was already on his feet, leading his Hollows at a run toward the northern part of the forest.
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