Chapter 413: Breaking Through the Druid’s Forest
But......
“Exactly what are you hoping to accomplish by saying all this?”
Her tone shifted abruptly. Hulim tilted her head, her gaze fixed on Aberrant with calm indifference.
“You’re not trying to stall for time, are you?”
“!”
Aberrant jolted in surprise, his eyes widening for a split second.
“Heh...... Heh heh heh.”
Then he let out a low, menacing chuckle, the sound sending a chill down the spine.
“So you’ve seen through my little ploy...... No matter. Before I answer your question, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Hulim Heyerar—”
Aberrant’s voice dropped several degrees, turning cold and venomous.
“You were involved in Lord Cassim’s downfall, weren’t you?”
“......?”
“Hmph! Deny it all you want—I’ve already done my homework! Hulim Heyerar, you were one of the ones who took part in that treacherous scheme!”
“Lord Cassim’s death is on your hands!”
“Uh...... Actually, I wasn’t—”
“Save your lies! I won’t listen to a word of your excuses!”
“......”
Hulim fell silent, a faint look of exasperation crossing her face.
I wasn’t even going to deny it. I just wanted to correct the details......
“The wisdom of Lord Cassim, his profound understanding of our noble cause—it has guided me for so long......”
Huh...... What’s going on now? Why is he suddenly getting sentimental?
“......I revered that man from the bottom of my heart. But—but—”
Aberrant’s emotions suddenly flared, his voice rising into a hysterical shout.
“That great Lord Cassim is dead! Killed by your underhanded ambush before our ideals could be realized!”
“......”
“From that day on, I’ve dedicated every waking moment to plotting his revenge. I had everything planned out, every step meticulously arranged...... But alas......”
Aberrant’s voice trailed off, his tone thick with bitter regret.
“I never got the chance to see my plan through. I’m going to die here, before I can avenge him......”
“But it doesn’t matter.”
Aberrant threw back his hood, revealing a face as pale and gaunt as a corpse, his eyes burning with fanatical madness.
He grinned, his expression twisted into something hideous.
“Even if it’s just you—even if this only avenges a fraction of Lord Cassim’s suffering—it will be enough! I’ll show him my loyalty! I’ll prove I would bet everything for his revenge! Come—let us die together——!”
Whoosh!
Aberrant tore off his outer robe in one swift motion, revealing the obsidian magic circles tattooed across his skin—circles that were already beginning to glow with a faint, ominous light.
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“Hulim! That’s—!”
Ignir let out a horrified squawk.
“Ritual self-detonation!”
“I know.”
Hulim nodded, her voice steady as a rock.
“I’ve known from the very beginning......”
Hum!
The magic circles on Aberrant’s body flared to life, blazing with a blinding black light. His veins bulged beneath his skin, glowing crimson like molten lava.
“Hahahaha! We’re all going to burn to ash together!”
Fizzle!
“Huh?”
The blinding light dimmed abruptly, the swelling surge of mana dissipating into nothingness. Aberrant stared in confusion, his eyes wide with bewilderment and disbelief.
He slowly lowered his head, his gaze fixed in numb shock on the gleaming sword piercing his chest.
“H-how...... Why...... Cough! Splutter!”
Blood gushed from his mouth, his vision growing darker and darker with each passing second.
A few seconds later,
his eyes glazed over, and his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
“......What just happened?”
Ignir gaped at the scene, completely dumbfounded.
“Nothing much.”
Hulim slowly pulled the Holy Sword Helkem out of Aberrant’s corpse, wiping the blood off its blade with a flick of her wrist.
“I just sliced the self-detonation spell apart before it could activate.”
“???!!”
......
“Hurry! Move faster!”
Deep within the forest, a group of surviving Gulos members fled for their lives, scrambling through the underbrush in a panic.
“Almost there! We’re almost out of the forest!”
The edge of the woods was within sight, and they instinctively picked up their pace, hope surging in their chests.
As the blinding sunlight washed over them once more, they stumbled out of the forest, gasping for breath.
“We made it! We’re safe! Now we retreat—”
The Gulos lieutenant’s triumphant shout died in his throat as a line of dark figures appeared atop the small hill ahead.
Clink! Clank! Clang......
The crisp, rhythmic sound of metal armor approaching echoed across the clearing, growing louder and louder with each passing moment.
In that instant, the color drained from the lieutenant’s face, his hard-won hope turning to cold, crushing despair.
“How...... How is this possible?! Why are the Indam Federation troops here?!”
He had never dreamed that a Federation army would be lying in wait for them at the forest’s exit.
“......So this really was your escape route.”
The line of soldiers parted, and Sylvia stepped forward, her expression cold and impassive.
The moment he saw her, the lieutenant realized with a sinking heart that their every move had been anticipated from the very start.
“Run! Run back into the forest! Now!”
He screamed in terror, turning on his heel.
The surviving Gulos members scattered, scrambling back toward the safety of the trees.
“It’s too late.”
Sylvia’s voice cut through their panic like a knife. She raised her command flag high above her head.
“Federation soldiers—attack——!”
Whoosh——!
The flag fell, and the soldiers surged forward.
“Charge! Kill them all!”
The Federation army descended on the fleeing Gulos members like a tidal wave, their swords and spears glinting in the sunlight.
The forest soon echoed with the desperate screams of the Gulos members, cut short by the clash of steel......
With the annihilation of the retreating Gulos forces, the prolonged Battle of the Druid’s Forest finally came to an end with a resounding victory for the Allied Forces.
That very night,
the long-blockaded Indam Federation army broke camp and marched out, taking the road through the Druid’s Forest as they resumed their advance toward the besieged city of Ilz......
At the site of their old camp, now dismantled.
Sandor the Bear King dug furiously at the ground with his bare hands, grunting and sweating with every shovelful of dirt. No one came to help him—hardly anyone even spared him a glance.
He worked tirelessly, his head bowed so low it was almost touching the earth. Even as the army marched past him in a steady stream, he never once looked up.
Nearby, a row of neat, empty graves yawned open, waiting to be filled.
“Irus—are we really going to leave him here alone?”
As they passed by, Hulim spoke up, her voice soft with concern.
“Please don’t worry, Lady Hulim.”
Sylvia stepped forward to explain before Irus could answer.
“Sandor is more than capable of taking care of himself. By the time we draw near to Ilz, he’ll have finished his penance and caught up with the army.”
“I see......”
Since this was his punishment, Hulim said nothing more, turning to follow the marching troops.
The Federation army passed through the Druid’s Forest without further incident.
On the empty wilderness behind them, Sandor continued to dig, alone beneath the setting sun.
......
......
Drip. Drip. Drip......
The night sky drizzled with a light rain, turning the dirt road into a muddy mess.
A small, slender figure cloaked in black walked alone in the rain, their hood pulled low to shield their face from the downpour.
Not far from the road stood a ramshackle campsite, consisting of a few tattered tents. Several armed men huddled beneath a large tree nearby, sheltering from the rain.
“Boss! Someone’s coming!”
A lookout spotted the lone figure trudging along the road, nudging his companion with an elbow.
“Hmph! We’ve been waiting all day for a score, and now business shows up in the middle of the night?”
A burly man with a massive sword slung over his shoulder stood up slowly, a cruel grin spreading across his face.
“Alright boys—grab your toys.”
At the burly man’s command, the men around him stood up, grabbing their weapons and cracking their knuckles eagerly.
Splash!
The small figure came to a halt, tilting their head slightly as they turned to glance toward the forest on their left.
End of Chapter
