Chapter 57
Before the fortress walls, where the excitement of the departure ceremony had yet to fade.
Before the march, I briefly stepped away from the formation.
"Big Brother……."
Gone was her usual liveliness; tears brimmed in Celine's large eyes.
They looked ready to spill over at any moment.
I spread my arms and pulled Celine into a tight embrace.
"Don't cry. Do you think I'm going off to die?"
A tremor traveled from the small back that fit snugly in my arms.
I lightly patted Celine's shoulders one last time, then pulled away.
"Go wait quietly. I'll finish up soon and come back."
Celine clenched her adorable little fists and sniffled.
"You must…… you must return safely."
I barely managed to hold back a laugh at her nasal voice.
Instead of answering, I vigorously ruffled her little head. Unaware that her hair had become a mess, Celine forced a smile.
Rumble-!
With the commanders' shouted orders, the expedition began to move.
The footsteps of ten thousand soldiers merged into one, sending clouds of dust billowing upward.
"Ueee—"
I gave her cheeks one last squish like lumps of clay, then turned away.
When I looked back, I saw Celine pressing the backs of her hands against both eyes.
Before long, I took the very front of the vanguard, with Lucia in uniform falling into step beside me.
The Ring Knights and veteran mercenaries forming the main force followed behind in layer upon layer of formation.
Ariel and the elves, serving as scouts, had set out one step ahead.
"I'm jealous. I wish I had a younger sibling who worried about me too……."
Lucia said with a faint smile.
She was an only child, and her only family was her father.
Lucia cherished her family.
I remembered hearing that she had cried bitterly when her one and only father died.
Her younger sister, who had become an Outer God's minion, killed her father and elder sister, and I killed that younger sister with my own hands.
The day Lucia learned my secret, she handed me a cigarette.
—So that bastard had been pretending to be fine all this time? Hey. Shut up and just smoke one today. Maybe you'll feel a little better.
It was Lucia's characteristic way of offering comfort while pretending she wasn't.
She felt a kinship with me—or perhaps pity.
As if you knew anything.
Back then, I threw the cigarette Lucia had offered onto the ground and crushed it beneath my shoe.
I remember the look on Lucia's face as she stood there stunned, then lowered her head.
That, too, was one of my sins.
'In this life, neither of us will have to lose our family. Not Lucia, not me.'
I will make sure of it, no matter what.
"Sister!"
Celine's voice came from behind me.
When Lucia and I turned around, Celine had clenched her fist in a cheering pose.
Glance-
I looked at Lucia's face. A faint smile had already spread across her lips.
'Sister, huh.'
I widened my view past Celine's shoulder.
Toward the distant, fading walls of Cardenos.
Was it because of her pride? Or had she never intended to join us in the first place?
Even right after we set out, Selena was nowhere to be seen.
In my first life, Selena chose death even though she could have killed Celine herself and saved the family.
Selena simply wasn't expressive; she truly loved her family.
Even though I had thought of myself as part of Selena's family, too.
"Young Master? Is something wrong?"
"No. Let's go."
I shook my head and turned my gaze back to the front.
I let go of the expectations I had secretly harbored.
***
The Ashen Forest was an unprecedented demonic realm created by the Demon King's remains.
Once the most splendid forest, it had previously been the elves' homeland.
Now the forest's soil, flora, and fauna had been reduced to this state after consuming the blood, flesh, demonic energy, and bone dust left behind by the Demon King.
The moment we crossed the forest boundary, the colors of the world died.
Not only the surroundings but even the sky was blanketed in ash, clouding our vision.
Thick fog crept in from all sides, while the shadows of gaunt branches, twisted from loss of moisture, stretched across the ground.
'Nothing out of the ordinary yet.'
I lowered the hand clutching the magical communication stone.
The first to break into the forest was the elven scouting party led by Ariel.
They advanced through the fog, preparing for unseen threats.
"Ugh, this already feels ominous……."
"How long have we even been here? Stop complaining."
"They won't suddenly leap out of the fog, will they? Please, I beg you."
Unease began spreading across the soldiers' faces, which had been buoyed by the lingering excitement of the departure ceremony.
The deeper one went into the Ashen Forest, the more lethal demonic energy, mixed with ash, drifted through the air.
Once we had advanced farther and the soldiers' coughing began to be heard, I took out the magical communication stone.
"Only those having trouble breathing, put on gas masks. Attach the oxygen tanks."
The shouts of the centurions who received the orders rang through the forest.
Some whose breathing had grown ragged donned gas masks in perfect unison and attached oxygen tanks.
I then issued orders to the main force.
"Clear-cut the forest. Cut down anything obstructing us."
The Ashen Forest was a sea of trees, densely packed with gaunt, skeletal trunks.
To swing weapons while maintaining formation, securing visibility and room to fight was essential.
Moreover, we needed to secure a wide-open route of advance to eliminate the possibility of ambushes at the source.
I knew the contents of the journal Lucia had written in my first life.
—The Ashen Forest must not be viewed merely as a campaign to exterminate demon beasts.
Open a route of advance, then use the felled trees to build palisades along the road.
We must approach it as a fortification campaign, expanding the terrain while pushing the fortress forward.
"Do we really have to cut down the entire forest?"
"The noise seems like it'll draw the demon beasts. It'll drain our stamina too much."
The mercenaries' doubts were reasonable.
That was exactly what I was aiming for.
"Luring out the demon beasts is one of the objectives. Searching through the forest for them would be even more exhausting."
Apparently, the demon beasts waged guerrilla warfare, or something.
Lucia had joked that grinding up and eating the Demon King's bones even made squirrels more intelligent.
"We should fight in open ground with clear visibility. Everyone, take up an ax."
Only then did the mercenaries nod and draw their axes.
Clang-!
"Damn it, what are these trees made of, steel?"
"The blade's going to wear out!"
At a glance, the trees were gaunt, dried-out, and twisted. In reality, they had grown while absorbing demonic energy, and their durability rivaled steel.
The soldiers had no choice but to wrap their ax blades in aura.
The light of Solara and Luna illuminated the dark forest as furious chopping continued.
"Hey, use your hips. You're trying to drive it in with your arm strength alone, so the blade isn't biting."
"That ax work is pathetic. Tsk, tsk."
The veterans, including Hendrickson and Bagot, offered pointers.
Even after coming in here, those men were as relaxed as ever.
I rolled up my sleeves and picked up an ax as well.
"Young Mas— Commander, you're going to do it too?"
Lucia, who was walking beside me, asked.
"Well, yes. I have to lead by example."
People say mercenaries move only for money, but saying they care about nothing but money is a mischaracterization.
In my first life, after leaving the family, I spent every day alongside mercenaries. Because of that, I knew their habits well.
When an employer sleeps in the same place, eats the same food, and works just like them, mercenaries will go above and beyond their pay.
The mercenaries chopping wood cast sidelong glances at us, their eyes filled with surprise.
There was no group easier to handle than mercenaries.
"Then I'll do it too."
Lucia rolled up her sleeves as well and took hold of an ax handle.
Whooosh-!
The ax blade, wrapped in magic, left Lucia's hand like a boomerang.
Spinning with five-star magic, the ax flew through the air and swept across the forest.
Rumble-!!
Four or five trees in a straight line were severed all at once as easily as slicing tofu.
Chop!
After completing its rotation, the ax returned to Lucia's hand.
Only then did the trees begin toppling in a chain reaction. Thick dust and ash billowed up, and the view ahead opened in an instant.
"Whoa……."
"What the hell? What did I just see?"
Those watching the scene stood stunned, jaws hanging open.
I wasn't particularly surprised. That's our protagonist for you.
"I guess there's been no word from the scouts?"
Lucia casually asked.
"No news is good news."
There are almost no demon beasts near the forest's entrance.
If demon beasts had been swarming right from the entrance, the defenses around Cardenos's walls would have been several times more heavily guarded.
That said, it wasn't completely devoid of them.
Demon beasts pushed out of the food chain should have begun appearing around here by now.
'Could it be because our timing of entry is different?'
My nostrils twitched for an instant.
A faint scent of blood. It wasn't human blood.
The acrid stench of sulfur. A sour, acidic smell. A distinctive gamey odor mixed in as well.
"Everyone halt."
The scent of demon-beast blood carried on the wind.
"Arm yourselves immediately."
The soldiers stopped what they were doing and gripped their weapons. Their tense eyes showed above their gas masks.
I took the communication stone connected to the scouting party.
"Ariel. Do you hear me?"
Silence.
A sense of foreboding crept up my spine.
They were elves, the people most sensitive to the forest's presence.
The fact that they'd been wiped out without even leaving a warning—
The odds were low, but this was the Ashen Forest: a demonic realm beyond human understanding.
—
The Ashen Forest was not an ecosystem, but a predatory organ with a mind of its own. In this forest, 'common-sense judgment' and complacent thoughts of 'surely not' were merely the most horrific ways to commit suicide.
I held my breath and listened intently.
Crunch—
From beyond the fog came the wet sound of flesh being torn apart.
Without a word, Lucia and I exchanged glances. Her face was taut with tension.
Lucia was already gripping her sword.
Shing-
I, too, drew the sword from my waist with my other hand.
"First rank of the vanguard, take up your shields and maintain formation. First rank, follow behind me."
The vanguard headed straight ahead, each gripping a weapon.
The scent of blood grew stronger as we advanced through the ash-laced fog.
Crunch—
The sound of tendons snapping and bones twisting.
Something up ahead was killing something else.
Even the dry ash underfoot squelched like a swamp.
Whooo—
The gray fog obscuring our vision gradually began to clear. I tightened my grip on my sword hilt.
A shadowy figure appeared faintly through the fog. My steps forward came to an abrupt halt.
What came into view was the elven scouting party, including Ariel.
But what they were doing was strange.
"……Huh."
A sigh slipped between my teeth.
The carcasses of what looked like dozens of demon beasts
lay scattered across the ground like butchered chunks of meat, dark-green blood splattered everywhere.
I had been wondering why there had been no demon beasts until now, but the reason was right before my eyes.
The elves were dismembering the demon beasts.
But they had not been the ones to exterminate the demon beasts.
In the distance, a dozen or so knights in black-iron armor had gathered. And standing at their center was one woman.
Plop, drip-
Selena casually wiped the blood from her breastplate.
As I approached Selena silently, her cold silver eyes gave me a brief glance.
Eyes that concealed even the depths of her emotions.
Flick-flick-
Selena flicked her sword through the air at me.
"You said your sword would be the first to drink demon-beast blood."
Flesh and blood clinging to the blade dripped down.
Splatter-!
She flung the blood into the air, then pointed the tip of her sword at me.
"I was faster."