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For days, I had been unconscious, yet the forest still looked the same as always. A maze created by densely grown, twisting trees. We were making our way westward, led by a guide, trying to escape this chaotic forest.

“Stay alert. We never know when they’ll pop out.”

“Understood.”

“What’s the condition of the injured and the severely wounded?”

“Not too great. It would be wise to take another rest soon.”

“…This is troublesome.”

The unit maintained an extreme state of tension.

Especially since there were more severely injured than there were from Ianette.

Maybe it was because we were so close to Arielte’s forest guardians, who were dimly sensing the strange tension surrounding Ianette.

I could feel my mind tightening from the emotional fallout arising from their lowered spirits.

I heard that… Irine fought fiercely enough to sever one of the Half-Demon’s arms, but our side suffered too heavily and had to retreat. Consequently, the remaining enemy troops were tracking us down, intent on wiping us out completely.

I eventually turned to Shione, who had quietly resumed her original state after throwing a tantrum.

“Princess Shione.”

“Yeah?”

Despite her disheveled appearance from countless fierce battles, Shione’s bright blue eyes sparkled as they darted away.

“You mentioned earlier that you fought against the Half-Demon.”

“…That’s right.”

“May I ask how strong the enemy forces are that they are pursuing us so fiercely?”

This question had been on my mind since the withdrawal began.

I heard that they inflicted significant damage while we were able to take out a vast number of enemies, and Irine managed to establish a one-on-one contest against the Half-Demon. If that’s the case, their side must have suffered enough loss to make it difficult for them to chase us down.

So why were we pushing onward despite the exhausted and fallen?

Shione momentarily closed her mouth to contemplate my question but didn’t take long to respond.

“That’s—”

The dim forest made Shione’s pale skin appear even whiter.

The glow in her eyes, set against the dark backdrop, began to signal her growing displeasure.

“…An enemy appeared at the end.”

“Ah—”

As soon as Shione’s cold gaze shifted toward Irine, the corners of her mouth twisted up.

“Right before Irine could cut off the Half-Demon’s head, the demon leading its army intervened. As a result, we could only settle for the arm.”

“So the one chasing us now is—”

“Yes. It’s not the group of the Half-Demon with the severed arm; it’s the demon’s contingent that is after us.”

“…This is quite troubling.”

It was indeed troubling. Ridiculously so.

While the elves of Ianette were hard to trust, the fact that horned minions were crashing toward us from behind was alarming.

Now I finally understood why the majority of the elves, despite their injuries, were hastily trying to escape this place.

At the moment the unit fell into silence again, I began to organize my thoughts.

‘Our top priority is safe return.’

Avoiding or overcoming enemy pursuit and ambushing, escaping the forest and joining with the waiting squad of fairies.

Moreover… my physical condition wasn’t great right now.

‘It’s best to focus on our safe return, Shione and me.’

I needed to prioritize our safety and move while using others as shields.

Next on my list of concerns was.

‘Ianette. Never take your eyes off those fairy little bastards.’

This meant I couldn’t lower my guard against Ianette, the potential internal enemy.

What the forest guardians of Ianette had done was quietly maintain ongoing combat by hiding behind Arielte and Chelness, only to unleash their true intent when the two noble families had depleted their strength.

‘What’s the reason behind this?—’

Staying longer here would only see Ianette’s guardians slowly perish, and as their numbers dwindled, maintaining a presence would become difficult. Was there ever a reason for staying put in this demonic realm?

As I pondered this, a thought flickered through my mind.

‘…No way.’

No, even so, those little bastards couldn’t be that extreme.

Thanks to my studies on spirit magic and archery, along with various dungeon raids, I could say I knew quite a bit about the fairies. The existence and numbers of the formidable forest guardians significantly bolstered their family’s standing.

The forest guardians gathered here were undoubtedly the best personnel selected from their families.

Like that time when they didn’t want to attract the nearby enemies, they executed an overwhelming barrage without needing a long incantation by simply issuing a command to the spirits.

For forest guardians to fall to the extent of losing their lives or sustaining immense injuries would certainly tarnish their families’ reputation.

‘The face-saving guardians are no joke.’

The fairies’ families were broadly classified into two groups.

One was their long history, marked by unspeakable dedication and sacrifice devoted to the Great Forest and World Tree, which built the framework for their family’s renown and lofty status.

The second one was their distinguishing power compared to other families, sufficing to represent the Great Forest, with their strong forest guardians being the crucial reason for wielding considerable political and martial authority.

‘There is no way they would intentionally diminish the strength of other families… right?’

Wouldn’t it rather be true that what Ianette desired was not the death of the Half-Demon but greater losses among their allies?

As that thought struck me, I shook my head slightly.

“No way.”

No matter how untrustworthy those fairy little bastards were, they couldn’t be that reckless in this situation.

It was merely my over-exaggeration.

Shaking my head, I cleared my mind and focused my mana.

Questions remained just doubts. To clarify, I needed solid evidence.

I decided to summon another spirit I could call aside from Orna, who was napping above my head. Tania emerged.

Whoosh!

“Tania.”

“Come on, let’s try again… my rival is—”

“…What? My rival is?”

“Ugh, Park Shin-woo?”

Tania glanced around, quietly clicking her tongue.

“Tch… You called me when it was just getting interesting. No sense.”

Completely petulant with no explanation, Tania finally settled, ignoring her complaints and focusing on what was most important.

“Tania, have you met Elvis?”

“Hmph, of course. I went to see our Changsik right after I returned to the spirit realm. We’ve already had our chat.”

“So, what about Elvis—”

“He seemed really fond of him. I never knew Changsik’s eyes could get that big!”

As Tania floated in the air, giggling to herself, she suddenly flew over to Shione.

“Ah…!”

“I’m riding now.”

Tania startled Shione with her sudden appearance, patting her head to reassure.

“I’ll ride you. Can’t I?”

“You… want me to ride you?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Well, it’s not like that…”

“Then… I’ll excuse myself.”

Tania naturally hopped onto Shione’s back and began fixing her tousled hair.

Shione was busy bouncing her gaze back and forth between me and Diolia, with an expression mixed with astonishment and intrigue. Diolia looked somewhat envious of Shione’s situation, gazing at Tania with a hint of regret.

Tania, perched on Shione’s back with her hands placed delicately on Shione’s white hair, spoke.

“Changsik is all ready to come over here. He might just be intermediate, but… he’ll still manage to be useful.”

She said this with a sly grin.

“And… even though he’s intermediate, Changsik’s experience following us remains unchanged. So you don’t have to worry.”

“……”

“His unique abilities won’t be inferior to any high-ranking spirit. Shin-woo, you need that ability from Changsik most, right?”

Without hesitation, I nodded at Tania’s words.

“Exactly.”

Changsik’s specialty lies in scouting and various intelligence-gathering activities.

“Among all the spirits present here, he’s bound to excel at it.”

Gathering information on Ianette and detecting the enemy’s approach would be a piece of cake for our Changsik.

We needed to unravel whether Irine was truly our ally or an enemy and keep tabs on the demon’s minions chasing us.

With conditions changing regularly based on this information, we had to be ready for anything.

“I should call him right away if I can.”

This place had already turned into a battlefield exclusively for Elvis.

 

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