Margrave Boyd had sent us to turn the entire viscounty upside down.
From my perspective, our mission was half-successful.
The commander and Squad One had gone missing, and our squad leader, along with several knights, had been injured.
But still, hadn’t the viscounty been completely overturned?
Boom…! Boom…!!
And quite spectacularly, at that.
At this rate, even a demon might emerge from the ground.
“Let’s leave at sunrise….”
“Yes, yes… let’s run as soon as the sun rises.”
I had no idea where the other knights were.
Seeing that the viscount had sided with the devil worshippers, the city was no longer safe.
We had done all we could, and the situation had spiraled out of control.
Getting out of the viscounty took priority now.
“We should head to the nearest county and get treated first.”
“That sounds like a good idea…”
The county was only a day’s journey away, and since we had already traveled this route, returning should be easy.
If we left it to Sienna, we could make it there.
“Rain? Are you okay?”
“Yes… I think my tension is just wearing off.”
After the devil worshipper was gone…
Being alone with Sienna in a warehouse like this…
My body relaxed quickly, and the strain from overexertion hit me all at once.
…Thinking back, I had been pushing myself too hard since yesterday morning.
We had set out in the morning and fought through the village all afternoon.
Then, during our second deployment, we infiltrated the underground facilities of the devil worshippers.
I sustained serious internal injuries fighting the viscount.
And just a while ago, I had lost too much blood while battling the devil worshippers who had rushed into the manufacturing facility.
So…
After pushing myself that hard…
Wouldn’t it be okay to rest until morning?
“Rain? You can’t close your eyes!”
“I’ll just sleep for a bit….”
Beyond the open warehouse door, sunlight gradually seeped through the trees in the forest.
Seeing that warm light made my eyes close naturally.
Sunbathing had been my favorite pastime for years, after all.
“Rain! Wake…! Don’t close your eyes… stay conscious…!”
“Understood….”
Sienna’s voice grew faint.
Before I knew it, I had surrendered to the warmth of the sunlight and closed my eyes.
Boom!!!
And when I opened them again—
The first thing I saw was a head of mixed green and black hair.
“Oh…”
“Y-You’re awake?”
And I was being shaken constantly.
Once I regained my senses, I realized I was moving, riding atop a beast covered in brown fur.
I was… in Sienna’s arms.
Well, considering she had to transport an unconscious person, there really wasn’t a better way.
“…What are we riding?”
“A n-new friend I made.”
A friend? To my eyes, it looked like a bear.
Grrr!
As if in response, the bear let out a low growl.
“What the….”
“The situation is really bad right now.”
“What kind of situation…?”
Looking up at the sky, it was already morning.
I could tell we had been moving for a while.
I was about to ask what was so dangerous when—
Boom!!!
The very ground beneath us trembled violently.
The bear carrying us stumbled from the shock.
“Damn! It’s gotten even bigger!”
“…Don’t tell me that shaking is—”
“Yes! It’s getting closer and closer!”
Sienna, despite her slightly trembling breath, forced herself to sound composed.
Yeah… something unnatural was definitely approaching.
…Well, I already knew the ritual had succeeded, so this was an expected future.
More importantly—
“Sienna, by the way….”
“…Don’t say anything. This was the best option.”
“Understood.”
This position was… quite compromising.
Probably to keep me from falling, but—
Sienna, sitting on the bear, was holding onto me tightly.
At least she was wearing armor, so there wasn’t any direct contact.
“Did you change my bandages?”
In fact, it seemed she had redone my bandages.
I was completely shirtless, wrapped in fresh gauze.
“Yes, you lost too much blood.”
“I see….”
Well, I had only done a rough first aid job, so by the time I passed out, blood was still flowing freely.
If I had been left like that, it could have been dangerous.
“Your coat was too damaged, so I had to leave it behind.”
“I was quite fond of that coat.”
“Do you want to go back for it?”
“…Well, it’s not more important than my life.”
I did feel a bit regretful about losing my buff coat, which I had worn for quite some time.
But in an urgent situation like this, there was no helping it.
“More importantly, you seem to have enough energy to talk.”
“After some sleep, I feel better.”
It didn’t feel like I had slept for long, but even a short rest helped a bit.
Of course, the accumulated damage to my body was still there, so I wasn’t sure if I could move properly yet.
Anyway.
I wasn’t sure how long we had been running.
After passing through the forest, we eventually reached a road where people frequently traveled and continued riding along it for quite some time.
Boom…!!! Boom!!
The vibrations that had been ongoing grew even stronger.
Grrr!!
The bear we were riding staggered.
“Are you okay?”
Sienna soothed the bear and urged it forward again.
Boom!! Boom!!
But the tremors kept intensifying.
Before, they had sounded like a massive heartbeat, but now, it felt as if a giant was approaching with heavy steps.
…It reminded me of the Mutated Ogre incident.
But compared to back then, the sense of crisis now was on a completely different level.
Boom!! Boom!!!
“Can your body handle this?”
“…I can endure it.”
Even while sitting on the bear, leaning against Sienna, I could still feel the tremors running through my body.
Rumble—!
Before I realized it, the rhythm of the vibrations had sped up, and the ground was now shaking constantly.
“S-Should we run?”
“This is probably the safest place.”
Fortunately, we had reached an open plain along the road.
If we had been in the middle of the forest, we could have been crushed by falling trees.
And then—
KWA-AAAAANG!!!
A deafening explosion roared from the distance.
“What the….”
“It looks like it’s finally here.”
The one responsible for shaking the entire viscounty…
It was finally making its appearance.
Both Sienna and I turned our heads toward the source of the explosion.
The devil worshippers’ decades-long plan was now coming to fruition.
Just how would this devil look?
The descriptions of devils in myths were always vague— “Larger than the sky, greater than the earth.”—something like that.
So, even in the face of this crisis, I found myself filled with a small sense of curiosity.
Creak— Crackle!!
And from the direction we were staring at—
A long, thin branch emerged.
“…?”
“What is that…?”
What… was that?
Maybe it only seemed small because it was far away?
But just as that thought crossed my mind—
KWA-AAAAANG!!
The branch was just the beginning.
A colossal tree, so massive that its full size was impossible to grasp, burst through the ground and soared into the sky.
“T-That’s….”
“…What in the world….”
It was a tree—
But there was something utterly, profoundly wrong about it.
Normally, seeing a massive tree should inspire awe.
But this…
From deep within, an overwhelming sense of revulsion took hold of me.
It was the kind of unnatural horror one might feel upon encountering a bird with a human head in the depths of a dark forest.
And so, speechless, I could only stare.
The tree’s branches continued to stretch outward, sprawling across the sky as if cracks were forming in the heavens.
“That thing….”
“What is it trying to do…?”
I thought we were at a safe distance.
But was this place dangerous too?
“We should get farther away.”
Sienna gently stroked the bear’s neck, signaling it to move again.
Fortunately, ever since that tree emerged, the tremors had stopped, making it easier to travel.
But the way this bear remained calm in such a situation… something about it wasn’t normal.
Any ordinary wild animal would have bolted in blind panic, regardless of who was riding it.
“Is this thing a monster?”
“Yes, yes, it’s a Forest Bear, a mid-tier monster.”
“I see…”
How long had I been unconscious?
In that short time, Sienna had managed to tame a mid-tier monster and was now riding it.
…Wasn’t that an ability that could make Aura Masters look like amateurs?
It seemed this was her true talent.
“Let’s hurry and get out of the viscounty.”
“Ah, yes….”
At least now, we had a solid means of escape.
It wasn’t as fast as a horse, but much better than walking.
So we continued moving, watching as the branches spread like an intricate spiderweb across the sky.
Then, in the distance, something began rising into the air.
“Hmm?”
…What was that?
Something was floating up from beyond the forest, soaring toward the massive branches above.
I activated Track, enhancing my vision to see farther.
And then—
“…People?”
“What?”
“People are floating.”
“Huh?”
They were villagers.
Their bodies were being lifted off the ground, drifting through the sky toward the tree’s branches.
What the hell…?
As I was still processing this surreal sight—
“H-Huh?”
The bear, which had been running smoothly, came to an abrupt stop.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look ahead….”
Following Sienna’s trembling hand, I looked forward.
Across the path, just beyond the tree line—
An entire village was rising into the sky.
“S-Save me!!”
No— rather than rising, it was as if they were falling upward.
“Aaaaaahhh!!!”
“Kyaaaah—!!”
Screams filled the air as villagers were pulled skyward, their bodies flying toward the massive branches.
And then—
They latched onto the tree like fruit growing from its limbs.
“What the….”
Sienna was speechless.
I, too, was stunned into silence as I stared at the grotesque sight.
The people, now dangling from the branches like ripening fruit.
…Began to wither.
Just like how a tree absorbs nutrients to grow fruit,
Their bodies shriveled, their skin tightening and darkening, as if being drained dry.
Until finally—
They became one with the tree.
“Holy sh—.”
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Hell wasn’t a place where devils resided.
Wherever devils existed—
That place became hell.
