“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Kaiyak asked, to which James replied that he didn’t think it was that important.
“Seems like that’s where the trouble started,” Kaiyak remarked.
Yona nodded at Kaiyak’s words. After all, she had been feeling something intense—something that seemed to draw her in—ever since earlier.
“Alex, you’re still watching ahead, right?”
“Of course. You keep your eyes peeled too!”
As they climbed the mountain path, Yona was panting heavily. It wasn’t a particularly tough trail, and even though her stamina was fading, it wasn’t enough to wear her out this easily. Yet, oddly enough, excitement was bubbling up inside her.
Trying to suppress her racing heart, Yona placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder as they walked the trail. Despite it being broad daylight, the dense trees cast shadows, making the mountain path feel as dark as twilight.
“How much farther do we have to go?”
With that massive build of his, walking that mountain path felt almost like a hindrance for Kaiyak. He brushed aside some branches obscuring his view and looked back at James.
“We have quite a ways to go.”
Lizardmen weren’t exactly fond of these kinds of mountain paths. They had no business being in places like this, and it was more peculiar for Kaiyak, who was living the adventurer life.
“Yona, you okay?”
Yona’s face was flushed red, and it seemed like something was off. At Kaiyak’s words, Alex, who had been walking in front of the party, turned to look back.
The sight of Yona in Alex’s eyes was quite concerning. Her face was flushed, and she was panting heavily.
It seemed like Yona was about to let out some heated breath from her red lips, and Alex thought something was definitely wrong.
“I’m… f-fine… huh… really… f-fine…”
“No way, you look completely not fine.”
It was an oddly sensual voice. James, who had been following along with the bow he used during his adventurer days, rushed over to check Yona’s face.
She definitely didn’t look fine.
“I’m really… h-huh… fine… I swear…”
Yona’s voice, mixed with her flushed face and strangely soft moans, was truly bizarre. Moreover, Alex could feel an unknown, peculiar heat spreading from his right hand, where it rested on her shoulder.
Only Yona was oblivious to it.
Alex was the first to realize what was happening, sensing the strange heat even through his leather armor, beyond the Sacred Barrier.
Just as he thought something was going wrong and that Yona’s condition was off…
– Thud.
The ground rumbled.
The vibrations spread outward. The first to notice it and catch on to what it could mean was James, who looked at Kaiyak.
“Is it coming out?”
“Probably.”
“Maybe.”
Kaiyak gripped the axe handle tightly.
James, with a tense expression, pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back and nocked it to his bow, looking around cautiously.
Alex stood, pointing as if to hide Yona behind him.
“…It’s coming.”
A very soft whisper.
Yona’s whisper tickled Alex’s ear.
“It’s coming!”
James shouted.
With his yell, there was a massive rumbling sound in front of them, followed by the loud crack of trees breaking.
As if the sun had completely vanished, a thick darkness descended on the already shadowy forest.
Darkness settled heavily above their heads.
“…Is that it?”
“Yeah.”
James barely nodded at Kaiyak’s restrained words.
“Weren’t you saying it was about twice your size?”
“It’s grown.”
What was supposed to be twice James’s size now loomed above them, a massive black bear looking down at them.
Its bright red eyes flashed, making it impossible to tell where it was looking.
“Alex, move forward.”
At Yona’s calm voice, Alex almost turned around.
“It’s a guard. Hurry up and go.”
Yona’s voice had returned to normal.
Though he couldn’t turn to look at Yona because of the bear right in front of them, Alex felt relieved that Yona’s hand resting on his shoulder didn’t leave him. He raised his shield and stepped forward, keeping an eye on the bear in case it attacked.
– Grawr——!
The bear roared.
The bellow was so loud that the surrounding trees shook.
“It’s coming!”
As Alex shouted, the bear swung its front paw.
There was no way to block it.
Human strength couldn’t overcome the bear’s might.
Alex held his shield at an angle.
– Thud!
With a loud sound, his arm tingled with pain.
It was an even greater impact than when he deflected a troll’s club.
Alex’s back foot sank into the ground.
In that moment, Kaiyak darted toward the side of the bear.
The axe sliced through the air and struck the bear’s thigh with force.
With a thunk, the axe got stuck in the leather, failing to sink deeper.
As the bear turned toward Kaiyak, Alex quickly positioned himself in front, and an arrow shot by James soared overhead.
– Grrrraaaah!
The bear, being a bear, wasn’t particularly smart and had a limited range of attacks.
It could only swipe with its front paws or sometimes stomp down with its back feet.
Kaiyak darted around, wounding the bear as if peeling an apple.
As Alex fiercely dug in like a kid peeling an apple, he managed to land a hit on the bear.
Every time the bear swung its front paw, Alex, like a ghost, dodged and deflected the blow with his shield.
Meanwhile, every time Alex scraped by and got a scratch, Yona, who had been sticking close behind him like a shadow, quickly healed him.
“Trust me, Alex. It’s okay to move freely.”
Alex didn’t respond.
How could he trust any more than he already did? He implicitly believed in Yona.
– Kwuung!
The bear lowered its stance.
Kaiyak was already circling behind the bear, and just as Alex was getting ready to dart forward to join him—
The bear lunged with lightning speed.
And right in front of it was James.
“James!”
Before Alex could even react, the bear charged at James faster than a speeding bullet.
James, the archer, had kept a safe distance, but the bear quickly closed that gap and was practically on him the moment he hesitated.
“James!”
Kaiyak and Alex both raced toward the bear at the same time.
But the bear was much quicker, and with a loud smack, a thick arm holding a bow swung through the air.
“James!”
“James!”
Arriving a step too late, Kaiyak hammered down with his axe on the bear’s head.
James, having one arm sliced off and barely standing, was no longer able to fight.
“Yona!”
“Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine, hurry!”
Casting a quick glance at Alex, Yona broke free from him and grabbed the back of James’ neck, dragging him away.
This was the perfect moment, as the bear was distracted by Kaiyak and Alex and had lost sight of James.
“Please, please… don’t look this way…”
Yona pleaded desperately as she pulled James away.
Having dragged him a bit further, Yona then moved again, fiddling with James’ severed arm.
The blood from James’ arm gushed out, still warm, as Yona brought it to his shoulder.
“Hang in there, just a little longer.”
From Yona’s Sacred Barrier, a white light began to swell.
Everywhere her right hand touched, a gentle glow lingered and slowly started to mend the wounds.
‘What the hell is so hard…!’
Alex smashed the bear with his hammer, taking every chance he had.
But it felt like he was just hitting a rock—no feeling that he was actually dealing any damage.
At least Kaiyak was holding his own, and every time he brought down his axe, the bear sustained a few scratches.
“Be careful, Alex!”
Yona’s voice echoed from afar.
“It’s okay!”
“Alex, cover me!”
At Kaiyak’s shout, Alex sprinted towards him.
By then, the wounds Kaiyak had inflicted were quite considerable, and the axe was soaked in blood, signaling the nearing end of this tedious fight.
– Grrrraaaaah!
The bear, reeling from the struggle, stood on its hind legs and roared loudly.
Then it hesitated, stepped back, and soon began to flee in another direction.
“Come on, we have to catch it! We must!”
Now that he had some strength back in his limbs, James shouted, pointing at the bear.
“Chase it, we need to chase it down! We have to finish this!”
Kaiyak started to run ahead.
The bear ran fast, but in this forest, its path was all too clear, making it easy to follow.
“Huff, huff… Hah, haah…”
Kaiyak was running hard enough to feel his lungs bursting.
Without a doubt, Alex, Yona, and the injured James were gasping for breath, their faces as pale as ghosts.
“…This place is…”
“This was where the sacred tree used to stand. Over there, that’s… the new sacred tree we were going to plant.”
James pointed to a withered tree lying on its side.
It certainly didn’t look like it was ever going to be a new sacred tree.
“In just a few days, it’s come to this. It was supposed to be a mighty tree; it would’ve taken all the men in the village to move it.”
“Is there some connection with that bear?”
Catching his breath, Alex tightened his grip on his shield and stepped forward.
Even while exhausted from running, Yona continued healing Alex’s wounds, leading her own face to turn a shade paler, resembling a corpse.
“I think it’s not just the bear; this place itself is the problem.”
Yona said, fiddling with her right arm.
It was definitely true.
In the clearing where that massive bear lurked.
In the center of that clearing stood several branches of the sacred tree.
“That was the original sacred tree.”
James pointed at the tree.
“…If you can still call it a sacred tree.”
Yona responded to that remark.
It was clear that it could no longer be considered a sacred tree.
The entire tree had turned a dark red, with a viscous, muddy substance oozing down from it.
And surrounding it, wild beasts were greedily gulping that substance like a spring water.
The coats of those wild beasts were all pitch black.
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