STM 055

“…Ardian.”

Zeon uttered his name, which he had never properly called before, in an unfamiliar way.

He, who had completely emerged from the shadows, smiled quietly with his golden eyes shining like those of a predator.

“Hello.”

Zeon did not let his guard down and glanced back and forth between his front and back.

Clearly, Ardian had seen that Balkan and spoken to him. You could tell just by the fact that Balkan had shown a small courtesy to his words.

This was a problem that should never be overlooked.

“Who the hell are you?”

Zeon, who tilted his head crookedly, asked outright. Depending on the answer, he would not be able to let Ardian go easily.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch a subversive element hover around his lord.

Ardian, who had been staring silently at Zeon with a face like a mineral, slowly parted his beautifully closed lips.

“You want to know my… identity? You want to know ‘what’ I am?”

Zeon simply stared back at him. Ardian, taking that as a yes, lowered his eyes once before blinking briefly and turning his gaze back to Zeon.

Then, the moment Ardian moved his lips.

“……!”

Zeon’s eyes widened at the words that came from his mouth. He had heard something utterly unbelievable.

But. It wasn’t entirely impossible.

“You….”

That was why Zeon was burning with rage.

He already disliked the being before him, but at this moment, he found him utterly detestable.

“Shameless bastard. If you lay a hand on my lord again…!”

It was at that moment.

Zeon saw a monster in Ardian. He witnessed thousands of murderous intents in the vast Mana being emitted from him, and he glimpsed a bottomless darkness in his gaze.

The pressure constricting his throat made it hard to breathe.

“Ray is not yours.”

Immediately, Zeon’s vision wavered unsteadily. He didn’t know why, but his sight began to twist chaotically.

“Ugh.”

A terrible fear, as if something were opening its jaws to swallow him whole, poured over him. He tried to hold onto his crumbling mind, but his spirit, as if drugged, had become limp and could no longer distinguish anything.

“Ah. Please forget what I said just now.”

Ardian’s voice cracked strangely. The pitch of his voice was a mess, making it hard to understand.

“It would be very troublesome if Ray found out. For me.”

Zeon, staggering and sweating like rain, grabbed a nearby tree for support.

“Now, finally… the obstacle is gone….”

He spat out words that Zeon couldn’t understand. Zeon couldn’t maintain his consciousness any longer and collapsed, unconscious.

Balkan, who had caught Zeon as he fell forward, gently laid him down, and the Seo-jok turned to look at Ardian.

They seemed to be waiting for his next command.

Ardian, with shadows deeply cast over his eyes, stared silently at the fallen men before slowly opening his mouth.

“Go and find Ray.”

☠

I suddenly turned around.

I felt a presence behind me, so I sharpened my senses, but thankfully, it seemed to be my imagination. There were no Fiends nearby.

‘Was it nothing?’

I turned away and headed back to the villa. Soon, as I approached the villa, I could feel a commotion from the entrance to the yard.

But, contrary to my expectations, there were only a few children at the villa, and Cloud was nowhere to be seen. Only Polargehen and the Assistant Hunters were gathered in one place.

‘Zeon… Herman isn’t here either.’

The only good thing was that Tom was well-blended into the small group.

He was a timid guy, so if he had been left alone somewhere, he wouldn’t have been able to run away properly and would have been helpless.

“Raymond!”

Tom, who had just discovered me, ran up to me with tears and snot streaming down his face and clung to my waist. He was shouting something earnestly, but I couldn’t understand most of it.

Ignoring him, I approached the group with Tom clinging to my waist.

Around that time, Polargehen, who had heard the commotion and found me, also came to greet me with a happy face.

“Are you alright?! Have you seen the other children by any chance?”

“I didn’t encounter anyone on the way.”

“I see. They say they can’t reach them through the temporary Video Orb either. I hope they’re safe, but where could they be?”

Polargehen sighed in frustration at my answer, as if worried. Then, he added that he was glad I was safe and unharmed.

I went to where the children were gathered.

Just by looking at the expressions of Melicsa and Newit, who were usually far from serious, I could feel the gravity of the situation.

“Raymond… Zeon and Herman, waah!”

“I get it, so let go already. You’re getting snot on me.”

I forcibly pulled Tom, who was clinging to my waist like a cicada on an old tree, away from me. I felt like his sobs had gotten louder, but there was something else I needed to focus on now.

‘If the enemy’s aim is really the same as last time.’

There was a high possibility that they would target me directly or target those related to me first. And Zeon and Herman, who were not here and couldn’t be reached properly. Zeon was strong, so I didn’t have to worry about him, but I couldn’t help but worry about Herman’s safety.

‘Should I go down there and look for them myself?’

Even if he was an uncooperative guy, he was my servant.

I couldn’t just leave him.

I was thinking that when.

Suddenly, a thumping noise began to be heard from the forest. As I sharpened my senses, I could also hear the screams of Fiends.

The forest was shaking.

Polargehen and the tense Hunters protected the frightened children behind them and guarded the shaking forest.

‘Ramble, is it?’

The heavy sounds of the Fiends, which I could hear with my keen ears, were becoming clearer and clearer. Judging from the heavy sounds, it was Ramble.

And… several Ramble in a pack. The heavy sounds were creating irregular harmonies in off-beats, so I could tell that there were many of them.

Soon, a giant Ramble squeezed out over the dense trees. The Ramble, which appeared first, crushing nearby trees, was rolling its many eyeballs on its torso.

Several large and small Ramble followed behind it.

“Hic….”

Tom swallowed a small scream.

The eyeballs of the giant Ramble at the front, which had been rolling aimlessly, suddenly focused on one place. As the many eyeballs stared at us, Tom was almost about to faint, and the others held their breath.

“Don’t move, stay still.”

Then Polargehen, who had stepped forward, gestured.

Numerous Magic Circles were created in an instant. Dozens of spear tips appeared from the circles that were embroidered in the sky, aiming at the Fiends.

Screech!

Most of the Fiends failed to avoid the falling blades properly and gave up their cores, disappearing instantly.

Some Ramble instinctively ran away to survive, but the moment they showed their backs, their internal cores were destroyed.

They were overwhelmingly superior in both speed and power. The mere Ramble had no way to handle Polargehen, who had reached the 7-Star Achievement.

“…Is it over?”

Tom, who had been hiding behind me and trembling, raised his head as the atmosphere, which had been noisily intertwined with the sound of the wind cutting through the air and the screams of the Ramble, subsided.

The other children also glanced around to assess the situation.

In the midst of the suffocating silence.

I stared at the traces of the Fiends, which were disintegrating into Mana dust and scattering, and sharpened my senses. It would have been better if it was really over, as Tom had muttered….

“No. More are coming.”

Another group of Fiends was advancing, keeping their distance from the vanguard. Moreover, the number of this group was estimated to be much larger than before.

They were blatantly disciplined.

Ramble couldn’t be this orderly.

It was clear that there was a leader-class Balkan.

And they didn’t seem to be hiding that fact.

“There are many of them!”

The Hunters, who had been picking up the sounds with me, shouted at Polargehen. Of course, he would have already estimated the number of Fiends approaching.

Polargehen made a small noise.

When I glanced back, his expression was darkly shadowed.

It wasn’t that he felt threatened by the large number of Ramble, but from his point of view, he had too much to protect, so it wasn’t a problem that could be simply thought of as a difference in level.

“Please take care of the children so they don’t get hurt.”

Polargehen, who was watching the numerous Fiends that were slowly revealing themselves, repeatedly asked the Assistant Hunters.

The Assistant Hunters here were mainly focused on healing and had Achievements of about 4-Star to 5-Star, so they weren’t that reliable, but there was no one else to rely on right now.

Cloud wasn’t here.

I quietly stepped back and watched the situation as an observer. There were more Fiends attacking than I had expected because there was another group behind the first group.

Moreover, among the Ramble of various sizes and shapes, there were also Ramble that were particularly small and quick. Those guys kept dodging Polargehen’s attacks and flowing this way, so the Assistant Hunters were getting busy.

There was bound to be a gap.

“Ugh!”

An Assistant Hunter, hit by a poison needle fired by a Ramble, grabbed his arm and rolled around. In that moment of panic, one nimble Ramble turned its gaze towards the children.

“……!”

I felt someone pulling me back. Immediately after, there was a chilling sound of something being sliced, and the Ramble’s twisted body. The internal core hidden inside it was crushed with a crunch.

“What is all this commotion?”

When I turned around, Cloud was standing there.