novelraw Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162: The Black Forest
Unlike the bright sandy beach, the Black Forest was a place that could only be described as “gloomy.”
Sunlight filtered through the dense trees in fragmented patches, making it hard to tell one direction from another.
Compared to this, Hell’s Path would be considered a well-kept garden.
“This place is worse than Benner Island.”
Gaiard, the master of Hell’s Path, muttered with his arms crossed, looking reluctant to even touch the trees.
“It’s so creepy I’m afraid to touch anything.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with his words.
But Evan, leading the way, ignored their complaints and pressed forward.
“Is that guy really sure about where he’s going?”
Gaiard muttered quietly from behind, and Mei sighed, chiming in.
“I don’t know either. But he must know something to be heading this way, right? Don’t you think so?”
At Mei’s question, Jack and Jaina shrugged in lieu of an answer.
Anton, who had been walking silently until then, could no longer stand by and strode up to Evan’s side.
“Duke Evan Lafard.”
“You don’t have to call me Duke. It’s just us here.”
“Alright, Evan then.”
“Yes.”
“Are you really going the right way?”
As Anton asked, everyone’s eyes fixed on Evan.
In this dark forest, he was their only guide, and whether he was leading them correctly was their greatest concern.
“Yes. At least if you’re talking about the path to the Empire.”
Evan’s answer was half true, half false.
It was true that the direction he was heading would eventually lead to the Empire.
On a map, the Black Forest lay south of the Empire, and since they had washed up on a beach with the sea to the south,
going straight north would indeed lead to the Empire’s territory.
But Evan’s true destination wasn’t the Empire—
it was the village of the Zakarin Tribe, said to live somewhere in this forest.
‘It’s true we’re heading toward the Empire for now. But… once I change course, they’ll definitely start getting suspicious.’
He considered revealing his true purpose but shook his head.
Even saying they were heading to the Empire had caused this much grumbling;
if he revealed his real intentions, the group would likely try to drag him out of the forest.
‘For now, I’ll pretend I don’t know and keep going. The forest is vast. I can act like we got lost while searching for traces of the tribe.’
The problem wasn’t Evan’s intentions, but the real possibility that even he could get lost.
In this dense forest where the sky was barely visible, a single moment of carelessness could trap them forever.
“The sun… it’s hard to see, but we can follow its movement.”
Evan continued calmly.
“If we keep going north from the southern coast, the forest will end, and the Empire will be right there. Just don’t go in the direction of the sunrise or sunset.”
“Sounds plausible.”
Anton nodded but then furrowed his brow.
“But how are you so sure? Are you certain we’re on the southern coast?”
“Yes, I studied a bit of continental geography.”
“Oh… really?”
Jack, overhearing the conversation from behind, narrowed his eyes.
He had never seen Evan studying with a book, so the claim of knowing geography seemed suspicious.
But thinking there was no need to stir trouble now, he kept quiet and continued walking.
‘The young master must have a plan. He’s walking so confidently…’
Jack tried to trust Evan implicitly as he followed.
But even that trust wavered in the face of the Black Forest’s unsettling aura.
―Chirrr.
―Bzzz.
Insects swarmed everywhere, lizards slithered across the damp ground, and the musty humidity seeped into their clothes, grating on their nerves.
“Young master! How long do we have to keep walking like this?”
“Hey, Evan! You don’t actually not know where we’re going, do you??”
Evan tried to ignore Jack and Jaina’s sharp questions, but the situation was getting harder to brush off.
‘This is bad. There are no monsters, but the deeper we go, the worse the environment gets. I can’t turn back to the outskirts now.’
If the mysterious Zakarin Tribe was hiding deep in this forest, as was likely, pressing deeper was the best choice.
But that was only Evan’s perspective.
The others wanted nothing more than to escape this wretched forest as soon as possible.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
Unable to bear it, Gaiard stopped and unfurled wings made of blood.
―Flap.
The massive wings stirred the air, and he shot up above the forest in an instant.
The sky, visible through the gaps in the towering trees, briefly came into view.
“Don’t fly!”
But in that moment, the giant trees began to twist and writhe as if alive.
Their massive branches intertwined, sealing the sky, and a branch as thick as a human torso swung, pulling Gaiard down.
“What… what’s this?!”
Gaiard flailed in midair, wide-eyed, but the tree’s branch, like a giant hand, grabbed him and slammed him to the ground.
“These damned trees…!”
“Gaiard, no!!”
Pushed beyond his limit, Gaiard exploded.
He summoned a massive blood scythe and swung it with the intent to cut down every tree in sight.
―Whoosh!
Evan reached out to stop him, but the scythe had already sliced through the air.
Soon, the giant trees began to fall in a chain reaction.
―Boom! Boom! Boom!
Gaiard felt a refreshing release as the trees crashed with a thunderous roar.
As he prepared to fly toward the now-visible sky,
―Rumble!
The entire forest shook, and a chilling sound, like something massive writhing beneath the ground, spread out.
“Everyone, run!!”
Evan shouted, pushing the group forward.
“Why, what…?”
“Don’t talk, just go!!”
They hesitated, wondering why they had to run, but when massive vines burst through the ground, revealing sharp thorns and whipping toward them, they ran without delay.
‘Damn it! That idiot actually cut down the trees.’
Evan had warned against flying since entering the forest, but even he hadn’t anticipated things escalating this far.
He swung his sword, cutting through a few vines, but for every one he sliced, new ones doubled in number, surging to engulf him.
‘I have to escape. To somewhere not on this soil…!’
He didn’t know if such a place existed in the forest.
But there was no time to think; he had to move.
Evan sprinted after the group, who had run ahead.
―Thud, thud!
Matching their escape speed, vines erupted from all directions.
Like giant snakes, they coiled toward them, but Anton, Mei, and Jaina cut through them in their own ways, barely carving a path.
Yet, no matter how many they cut, the vines kept surging back.
“Young master! How far do we have to run?!”
“I don’t know! Just keep running! Until those things give up!!”
“What are they?!”
“What do you think? They’re the roots of living trees! We pissed them off by messing with them!”
Their breaths came in gasps, their bodies soaked in the forest’s sticky humidity.
―Thud!
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet changed.
Instead of the soft soil they’d been treading, a hard, rocky terrain appeared before them.
The vines could no longer break through the ground to chase them.
“…They stopped.”
“Huff… huff… what is this place?”
As the group caught their breath and looked around, Evan felt a subtle unease.
This wasn’t just a rocky terrain.
It was a massive circular clearing, as if intentionally carved out in the middle of the forest.
‘I found it…’
A lake shimmering with golden light.
The scene described by the author of Memories with the Zakarin Tribe.
But it wasn’t a real lake.
The minerals exposed on the ground reflected sunlight, creating a rippling golden glow.
Evan’s eyes gleamed sharply at the radiant sight.
‘…Then the Zakarin Tribe must be nearby.’
But beyond this rocky clearing, the dense forest still surrounded them.
In a situation where they couldn’t tell one direction from another, Evan opened his mouth to find a way forward.
“Gaiard, fly up just once and check if there’s anything around.”
Gaiard narrowed his eyes and replied.
“You told me not to fly earlier.”
“It’s fine now. There are no trees here to stop you.”
“Hmm… alright.”
Reluctantly nodding, Gaiard spread his massive wings.
―Flap!
The air swirled as his body shot into the sky.
He circled widely, scanning the surroundings.
“I don’t know what you want me to see, but all I see are these damned trees…”
Then it happened.
A massive boulder broke through the forest and flew toward him.
“Ugh…!”
Gaiard twisted his body to dodge the boulder.
He immediately hurled a blood spear toward the direction it came from.
―Thwoom!
The spear pierced into the forest,
but it was flung back with even greater force, aimed at Gaiard.
“Oh?”
Gaiard narrowly dodged the spear, frowning.
“Who’s there!”
In that moment, a warrior emerged from the darkness.
His body was covered in strange patterns, exuding a heavy, ferocious aura.
‘Could it be the Zakarin Tribe?’
As Evan assessed the situation inwardly, the warrior glared at Gaiard in the sky, growling lowly.
“Grrrr…”
‘…Wait. Something’s off.’
Evan’s gaze fixed on the warrior’s body.
At the same time, the warrior’s skin began to writhe, bones and muscles twisting beneath.
―Crack! Crack!
Something squirmed under his skin, swelling larger, until finally, it tore through, revealing a new form.
“What?”
“Ugh!”
The group stared in shock at the sight.
‘My God.’
The warrior had fully transformed.
His true form was a massive werewolf covered in silver fur.
“Grrrr.”
Gaiard’s face twisted as he witnessed it.
“Werewolf…? Why are these smelly bastards here?”
The werewolf bared its sharp fangs, growling.
“How dare a mosquito like you crawl into this place… Grrrr!”