“The on-site measurement result is grade 3.”

Xavier said as he touched the measuring device that Jill had stuck into the ground. The color of the gemstone attached to the measuring device was dark blue.

Perhaps there was a mistake in Elinia’s assessment They had been walking for a long time in Kunalgi’s territory, but the measurement grade was still 3.

“Are there even grade 3s that are this eerie?”

Patrick frowned as he looked up at the trees lined up along the forest path. He knew it was a place where many suicides occurred, but he didn’t know that there were still corpses left within the boundaries.

Not a single tree was without a hanging person. Like towels.

“Eugh, eugh!”

As a result, some knights were vomiting at the putrid smell of corpses. Even though they were members of the First Division who didn’t bat an eye in front of demons, they couldn’t withstand the smell of death chasing after them.

The meaningless march continued for almost three hours. During that time, dozens of plant monsters transformed into tentacles appeared, but they were all low-level species that could be easily eradicated with just one swing of a sword.

The dangerous demons were nowhere to be seen. But as they continued forward, there was only thick darkness.

They couldn’t distinguish whether it was day or night, dawn or dusk. Their sense of time gradually faded, and their minds became hazy.

“Xavier, try measuring again here.”

Emmett, who was leading the way, stopped walking. They should have encountered at least a couple of demons that had smelled the scent of humans by now. It was strange that it was so quiet.

Xavier fixed the measuring device into the ground once again. But at that moment, the ground shook as if there had been an earthquake.

“Form up, everyone!”

Emmett, who had drawn his sword, shouted. Xavier also let go of the measuring device and went back to the formation with his sword drawn.

Emmett and Raiden, who were in the first row, quickly scanned their surroundings. They saw the flapping wings of monsters frantically leaving their nests.

Emmett and Raiden exchanged glances. It was close. Emmett raised his right hand and sent a signal to everyone with his thumb and index finger.

“Something’s there.”

It was a slight difference, but the vibrations in the ground were getting faster. The faces of those who were tense were all swallowing their saliva at the same time.

Xavier, who was standing in the last row, looked at the measuring device stuck in the ground. The magic was still at grade 3.

Sweat dripped down Xavier’s eyelids as he breathed a sigh of relief. Blinking, he closed his eyes reflexively and opened them again.

The color of the measuring device had turned gray. A pale-faced Xavier shouted.

“It’s grade 2!”

Emmett checked the measuring device. It was as Xavier had said. The blue gemstone that had been shining had turned into a dark gray color. Sh*t! Emmett cursed and tightened his grip on his sword.

“I’ll go check it out!”

Then, Patrick stepped forward and took a step ahead. Emmett reached out his arm to stop him.

“Wait.”

“I can even take on someone with one arm. If it’s grade 2, then I can…!”

“Damn it, look at the measuring device!”

Patrick checked the measuring device again with Emmett. The blue gemstone that had been shining was now charred black.

“Captain! Up ahead, up ahead!”

Finn yelled in fear. Emmett belatedly lifted his head and looked ahead.

Through the hazy mist, a black silhouette appeared. Its arms and legs were abnormally long and thin, and it had a human form. But it was taller than a tree, and its face was pale white without eyes, nose, or mouth.

It was pulling a corpse that it had plucked from the tree. To be precise, it had grabbed the shoulders and spun them vigorously, separating the head and body.

It opened its mouth wide and swallowed the body of the corpse it had plucked like a fruit in one bite.

“It’s a Quamad.”

The Quamad was the owner of the boundary. It was a being that concentrated the source of magic that made up this place. All demons in the boundary moved according to the Quamad’s command.

If they killed the Quamad, the power of the demons would weaken, and eventually, the boundary would close. That’s why they had to get rid of it.

“It looks like a cannibal.”

Although Raiden tried to remain calm, in reality, his hands were shaking. Not all demons recognized humans as prey or enemies.

Most of them recognized them as prey or enemies and killed or tortured them. But there were rare types that hunted humans for food, which the Blue Knights called ‘cannibals.’ If he was a Quamad, the situation was serious.

The reason why there were many casualties in the Troden boundary was because of these cannibals.

They ate humans without getting tired even if their limbs were torn or their bones were broken. As if instinctively driven by hunger alone.

“We have to wait for backup, Chief.”

Finn’s legs trembled, almost falling backward. He remembered his colleague whose side was torn while they were in the Troden boundary.

He couldn’t do anything even with his screaming colleague in front of him. All he could do was run away. He came back to life so cowardly, but the nightmare was repeating again.

Even if they were Awakened Blue Knights with Hex, they were all injured. At the same time, even if they rushed in together, they would have no chance of winning.

But Emmett raised his sword. Although he had asked Elinia to request reinforcements, he didn’t know when mercenaries would be recruited.

It would take time to select knights from the Red Knights and White Knights.

They didn’t have time to sit and wait. If the boundary spread to the village, thousands would die.

“I’ll take care of him. The rest of you…”

At that moment, Patrick interrupted Emmett’s words.

“Captain! Xavier!”

It was a short cry, but Emmett understood what he meant right away. Xavier, who had dropped his sword, walked forward suddenly. At first, he thought he was trying to retrieve the measuring device. But when he began to climb the tree closest to him, everyone realized what he was trying to do and gasped in horror.

It was when Raiden rushed to stop him.

“It’s hypnosis!”

Patrick, who had also dropped his sword, shouted with a panicked face. He tried to resist somehow by shaking his body, but he couldn’t do anything about the steps moving forward.

Emmett hurriedly grabbed him, but Patrick wasn’t completely hypnotized.

Meanwhile, Mason, Kalen, Bowie… a total of ten people stiffened like toy soldiers and began to walk stiffly towards the tree.

In the meantime, the Quamad was walking towards them, eating the corpses that had been hanging on seven trees.

Emmett looked up at the trees that the members were trying to climb. Something white, similar to the one used to strangle the corpses when they were hung on the thickest branch, was hanging there.

“Raiden!”

Emmett called out to Raiden, barely holding onto Patrick and Bowie. He and the other thirteen members were in a state where their magical resistance was high enough not to be hypnotized. But if the magic got any stronger, they were also in danger. They had to take care of it before then.

“Cut the rope. You know what I mean!”

Raiden nodded and raised his sword. He leaped quickly and tore apart the cloth hanging on the tree where Xavier was climbing.

Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Suddenly, a scream that seemed to tear his ears apart was heard. It was him. The moment the cloth was torn apart, it began to rampage.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

It ran quickly towards the tree where Raiden was.

“Damn it!”

There was no time to think about anything else. They had to divert their attention elsewhere before it spotted Raiden.

Emmett ran and stabbed its leg. But he didn’t feel the sensation of tearing flesh as if he had sliced through thin air.

Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Excitement made Emmett kick. In an instant, Emmett was bounced off and hit his back on the trunk of a nearby tree, falling to the ground.

“Ugh!”

It was a shock that would have killed an ordinary person without a Hex. It was foolish to aim for the legs.

Judging the way the Sword of Lanis bounced back, it was a high-level demon, they should have aimed for the vital points from the beginning, such as the chest, neck, or at least the head. But what kind of attack did he make on a tree-sized creature? In Emmett’s conflicted eyes, a long branch came into view. That one!

“Master! Be careful!”

Raiden shouted. He was running towards the fallen Emmett, making a thumping sound. It didn’t seem like he could avoid it because he was too fast.

Finally, Raiden chased after it. Her targeted its leg.

“Sh*t! Aaaah!”

Thump! He dug into its black calf. But he didn’t feel like he had stabbed it with a sword, just like Emmett had experienced before.

Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Raiden covered his ears and crouched down at the creepy scream.

What it was aiming for towards Emmett turned its body and looked back at Raiden. The distance was too close. If he lost sight of it even for a moment, he would be eaten alive.

Raiden quickly put up his shield and released Hex. His ability was muralization¹壁化 (bì huà); generally refers to the process of walling something off or partitioning it. He could condense Hex and build a defensive shield.

Clang!

It reached out its arm, but it bounced off the shield soon. Alright! Raiden’s face brightened up. But the relief was only temporary. It swung its leg towards Raiden’s shield.

Kwook!

The shield was pushed back. It was a tremendous force that he had never felt even at the grade 2 Troden border. Raiden had no choice but to concentrate all his Hex on the shield.

The first five minutes were bearable. But soon his arm started to falter. It kicked up its leg, aiming for the gap in the shield and raised its leg.

Chuk!

Finally, the defensive shield made by Hex broke. Its huge foot struck Raiden’s side.

“Kraaaack!”

He quickly sent the remaining Hex through his body to prevent a bigger disaster, but he couldn’t escape from the pain. He couldn’t stand up. All he could do was lie down.

Meanwhile, it walked through the bushes with a thump-thump sound. Its hand, shaped like a claw, glinted in Raiden’s enlarged eyes.

He tried to move his legs somehow to get up, but his waist was caught and he floated in the air helplessly.

“Aaaah!”

The knife he was holding twisted in his hand. He writhed in the air. His broken ribs made it hard to breathe.

He realized he couldn’t even scream. He was hanging from a tree.

The white cloth around his neck slowly tightened. Raiden’s face turned purple.

Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

It screamed like it was waiting for the meal to be ready. Raiden’s body slowly stretched out. Even the attempt to tear the cloth had failed. His vision became dark.

Then.

Kwaaaaah!

The Sword of Lanis flew from behind and hit it in the shoulder. Unlike its leg, which went up in smoke upon impact, its shoulder oozed black blood.

Emmett, who threw the sword on the branch and retrieved it by riding on its back, jumped onto the tree where Raiden was hanging and cut the cloth with one blow.

“Ugh, Chief….”

Emmett supported Raiden. His breathing was getting weaker. The problem was the ribs that were pressing on his lungs.

Emmett brought his hand with Hex gathered to Raiden’s side. Blue light emitted, and Raiden’s wound, which was spurting blood, was closed. But the broken bones were still there, and all Emmett could do for now was to relieve the pain.

“Hang in there, Raiden.”

Emmett faced it as he turned his feet that couldn’t fall off. It discovered Emmett and roared.

Thump. Thump. Thump. It ran towards Emmett with a quick pace.

Emmett looked up at its shoulder. Its arms and legs couldn’t be grabbed or pierced, but its torso was different.

But there was no time to jump onto its body and jump off the tree like before. Then there was only one way to make its body crouch.

Emmett saw that the trees far away were falling on each other. There was a chance there.

Kiiiiiiiaaaah!

Chasing, it screeched after Emmett as he jumped into the trees.

Thump! Thump! Thump! It stopped in front of the tree where Emmett had entered. It was a low height that it had to bent over to enter.

Emmett waited for it in the darkness. The ground he was standing on vibrated.

It is approaching. He held the Sword of Lanis tightly with his sweaty hand and held his breath.

Its face appeared through the leaves. The Sword of Lanis, which sensed the magic, shone blue in the darkness.

It was now.

Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Emmett jumped onto the tree trunk and stabbed its face with his sword. Black blood flowed out of the small holes like pores that shrunk.

It started swinging its arms and legs wildly. As a result, the branches broke, and the bodies hanging from them were torn to pieces.

Emmett stepped on the severed arms and wrists of the corpses and climbed onto its back. Then he stabbed its neck with a knife and cut off its head in one motion.

Kkkkkk!

The Sword of Lanis, which responded to magic, turned black. It was proof that it had used up all its life force. When Emmett cut off the wriggling veins like worms, its scream stopped.

“Ugh, ugh….”

Emmett, who had turned over the black blood, breathed heavily. He avoided the fallen trees and corpses and went outside. But what he saw in front of him was a strange sight.

It was Xavier. She had climbed a tree in the chaos and was holding a white cloth around his neck.

“Xavier! Stop it!”

Emmett shouted, but the Xavier only smiled at him and fell.

It wasn’t just Xavier. Members who were hanging white cloths around their necks appeared belatedly.

He thought it was finally over. But what was at the end was hell. Raiden shouted with all his might to kill it.

“Captain! Look behind you!”

But when Emmett turned around, its face with no head was already staring at him.

Its heavy arm came close to his nose before he could reach for his sword. He was wrong. In front of his predetermined death, Emmett knelt on both knees.

But then,

Thump…!

It was the sound of a tree being uprooted. Startled by the thunderous sound, it began to step back. At the same time, a sharp voice of a woman was heard.

“Get out of the way!”

A woman?

At the moment of doubt, the tree was uprooted and flew towards it.

It was an accurate and swift aim. Who could it be? No, was this even possible?

Kwoong!

The tree trunk was driven directly into its heart. Red blood spurted out of the black bloodstained chest.

Emmett stood up with a bewildered look on his face. Was that tree from earlier, this woman’s doing?

“Excuse me, are you hurt?”

He looked at the woman who approached him. The magic was fading. It was evidence that the boundary between the demon world and the human world was closing.

The members who were climbing up the tree were also coming down one by one with puzzled faces.

He was wondering whether to express gratitude or to inquire about her identity, but the woman suddenly turned around.

He couldn’t let her go like this. Emmett, who had become uneasy, grabbed the end of the woman’s cloak.

“Wait, if you grab me like that!”

The woman screamed, Kyaaah! What had happened didn’t register in Emmett’s mind before the woman’s bare b*tt came into his view.

He took a deep breath. He turned his head belatedly, but the white b*tt still lingered in his head.

He wanted to ask why she wasn’t wearing anything under her cloak, but it wasn’t the right situation.

After a while of silence, Emmett opened his eyes and checked in front of him. But the woman had already disappeared.