As I ventured deeper into the Forest of the Demon Realm, the thick and stuffy air kept rising from within.
Since I put her down, Hayun had a hard time saying a word, and eventually, she quietly followed behind me, sealing her lips.
I turned my head slightly to check her complexion and couldn’t shake the thought that if we kept going like this, Hayun would tire out and collapse.
“Can’t have that; hop on.”
I turned my back to her again, but Hayun refused.
“No, I can’t just keep riding on you without getting used to it.”
“Trust me, you’ll pass out before you get used to it. There’s a resting spot nearby, so just ride until there.”
“…Sorry.”
Hayun, nearly collapsing onto my back, felt unusually light yet trembled slightly, so I quickly sprinted ahead.
‘As long as I reach the village of witches.’
The village of witches in the heart of the forest wasn’t that far, and with genuine effort, we could arrive quickly.
Of course, the witches noticed me rushing into their village and came out prepared for defense and confrontation.
After a quick glance from afar, they soon brought out the Grand Witch.
“Been a while.”
Despite it not being a particularly friendly face, she had no choice but to welcome me. After all, who wants their village wiped off the map?
“I just came to rest for a bit. Please provide a place for this child.”
“……Follow me.”
The Grand Witch frowned slightly at my nonchalant demand but ultimately turned without a single protest.
After all, I had clearly established the hierarchy when I entered the forest to wipe out the Tudogs.
“By the way, there was also a child looking for you.”
The Grand Witch’s words flowed out bitterly. I felt puzzled until I spotted a girl lying in the infirmary she led me to.
“Adriana?”
“Uh? Daniel? Hayun?”
Adriana, who had been reading a book in the hospital room, jumped up in surprise. She carefully laid Hayun, who had lost consciousness and was barely breathing, onto the bed and turned to me.
“Weren’t you supposed to go with Eris to the land of the Beastmen?”
“……Right. I was planning to come find you as soon as my body recovered, but this works out.”
Adriana set her book down at the foot of the bed. Since the Grand Witch was tending to Hayun, we naturally began to chat.
“We went to the land of the Beastmen chasing Horan, the last surviving Tudog. We should have arrived and finished the job long ago.”
“Should have?”
“Well, first of all, the issue was Horan’s lineage. Turns out she was the eldest daughter of the Ho clan. Because of that, we ended up tangled with the Ho clan, and it took some time.”
Hmm?
Is that what the Tudog leader meant when he told Horan to flee? The Ho clan was famous for being aggressive among the Beastmen.
But they must have ultimately triumphed.
No matter how formidable the clan, if I listed our names, they’d have to tip their hats.
“Anyway, we made it to the last laboratory, but we… met a rather violent being there.”
A violent being?
Adriana trembled as if it was too scary to even say out loud, wrapping her body tight. After a moment to gather herself, she took a deep breath and continued.
“There was a being, known as the Emperor among the Ancient Beasts, Kulika.”
“What?”
My voice accidentally rose. Even the Grand Witch, who was caring for Hayun, looked at me in shock.
But I had no time to think about that.
“Kulika appeared in the land of the Beastmen? Are you sure it’s not some misunderstanding?”
I had thought Kulika had shown up in Nirva, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. I wondered if Adriana was mistaking things, but she shook her head.
“No, he definitely came to the land of the Beastmen. He destroyed the Tudog laboratory there and killed Horan.”
“……”
Kulika being out in the open meant something that shouldn’t have been leaked had been smuggled out.
Given that the Tudog often used things taken from the Forest of the Demon Realm, it made sense that Kulika moving about could be understood.
‘Especially since messing around with Arianne’s Flower was crossing the line.’
A predator that devoured all the mana around it. Seeing that Kulika had copied Arianne’s Flower and was implanting it in his hands to use, it would have been odd if he remained still.
Wait a minute.
“Don’t tell me… did you fight him?”
With Kulika?
If I had to bet on my chances, it’d be under 50%. Normally, a fight with an Ancient Beast emitting such a deadly aura wouldn’t even cross my mind.
I desperately hoped that wasn’t the case, but Adriana crushed my wish mercilessly.
“Yeah… we fought.”
That sent chills down my spine.
“Eris! What about Eris?”
No matter how much of a Guardian of Yggdrasil Eris was, Kulika was something else entirely. In her past life, Eris had lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm and made significant growth, but…
She still wouldn’t stand a chance against Kulika.
Especially not Eris, who had only lived in Yggdrasil, barely making it through any fight.
“She wasn’t killed because she was recognized by Kulika, but her injuries are severe.”
“……”
A wave of complex emotions surged inside me as I clenched my fist tightly. Rage that Eris was hurt. Yet, at the same time, relief that she survived facing a powerhouse like Kulika.
‘Yeah, surviving a fight with Kulika is a miracle.’
Eris had never experienced the Forest of the Demon Realm, yet she gained Kulika’s recognition. I couldn’t even imagine how hard she must have struggled and fought back.
“Good job.”
I gently patted Adriana’s shoulder. She had felt responsible as the witch representative for the incident caused by the Tudogs and had accompanied us.
However, that wasn’t a reason to risk her life against Kulika.
Still, she fought for us.
That alone was enough to make me grateful.
“……Honestly, it seems a shame to turn her into a horse.”
“What?”
“No, never mind.”
It felt like she had just said something she shouldn’t have.
Adriana cleared her throat and continued explaining what happened afterward.
“So, we were defeated. Everyone suffered severe injuries and could only watch as Kulika destroyed the laboratory and left.”
That felt like a near-death blow, knowing there was now no way to restore my sister to her former self.
But the story wasn’t over yet.
“Then, a clan from the Ho clan, who were also chasing Horan, showed up. That’s where the misunderstanding began. They thought we had killed Horan and immediately restrained us.”
“……”
“Luckily, Regua, the Beast King, was there, so we weren’t executed on the spot, but now Eris, Hatsim Velok, and Regua are all imprisoned in the land of the Beastmen.”
Adriana slowly pointed to a wooden ring on her finger.
“The witches could warp back to their village thanks to the ring given by the Grand Witch, so I fled before I could be captured. I was going to tell you this news right away, but…”
“I stopped you. Adriana, you’re not in a position to move right now.”
The Grand Witch interrupted and snatched Adriana’s words.
While I thought she should’ve known sooner, seeing Adriana wrapped in bandages made me agree with the Grand Witch’s judgment and left me speechless.
“I’m sorry, Daniel. Knowing about Kulika, I should’ve spoken more strongly.”
No, Adriana did nothing wrong.
No matter how she said it, Eris would have fought for it—especially for our sister, who had turned into a Dragonkin.
“It must have been a tough mental struggle.”
After soothing Adriana with a gentle pat on the head, I couldn’t help but plunge into thought.
As much as I wanted to set out immediately to rescue Eris, I first needed to tackle the problems at hand.
I asked the Grand Witch.
“Strange phenomena have recently been occurring deep within the forest, right?”
“……What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I came here knowing everything already.”
Not only did I know, but I had also experienced it firsthand. Another Nirva that appeared in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
“It’s Sharcarl. That scoundrel created a city of magic.”
The Grand Witch lamented as she let it slip. It seemed she too had been investigating this matter thoroughly.
“I went directly to speak with him. Among the witches, I’m the only one who could meet Sharcarl face to face.”
So, someone as powerful as the Grand Witch could get recognized by Sharcarl?
I nodded as if urging her to continue.
“He was investigating something. After returning, Kulika had been active with someone else.”
“With someone else?”
Kulika?
Thinking back, Sharcarl had called me ‘Kulika’s servant.’
“It seems Sharcarl was also curious about Kulika’s intentions. After all, he was one of the pillars sustaining the Forest of the Demon Realm. Fearing he might change, he kidnapped one of the two people accompanying Kulika.”
“Uh?”
It felt like pieces of a puzzle slowly began to fit together. The Grand Witch’s explanation confirmed my suspicions.
“He was reading the experiences and memories of the kidnapped person. That city is part of that process.”
“Ahh!”
Now I understood.
That was why Nirva had emerged in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
Why Hayun’s late parents had been there, and why dismissed servants were pouring out in droves.
Why there had been a fake Priestess of Time.
It was a city from the memories of Heaven Len.
Therefore, Nirva mimicked that form precisely, with people who should not have been there taking residence.
A sense of accomplishment surged through me for solving that intricate problem, but a haunting hypothesis peeked out from the back of my mind.
‘But why was Heaven Len hanging out with Kulika?’
Did she also enter the Forest of the Demon Realm?
The Forest of the Demon Realm wasn’t a place one could simply access just because there were many strong individuals—especially not deep within the woods where Kulika resided.
Unless there was a Sherpa or prior experience…
“Wait.”
That meant she had.
Heaven Len, who worshiped like a zealot and, like me, had memories of the forest.
The woman who so easily acquired the essence of the Forest of the Demon Realm, which I had fought to gain.
Because her memories and mine had exchanged.
“The Priestess of Time is alive?”
