Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 60: West Zircon Expedition – Spooked by Slenderman.

Judging from how things are so far, the expedition to West Zircon of the Neveah church is a major success.

When they enter the territory, each team goes off in a direction, exploring the forest slowly and carefully under the guidance of the holy knights. The sight of unusually grey woods is foreign for most, but they quickly adapt to it, befitting the best talents in the empire.

''Three mutated boars at eleven, 70 meters, 17, 16, and 20.''

The knight accompanying the captain reports. He has a recon skill, which works similar to how a modern radar does—a rare talent in the whole branch of holy knights.

''Roger. We will execute them right away.'' The captain replies before turning back. ''Anybody wants to fight?''

''I'll go again.''

The boy with long white hair says and steps forward. Fighting is always Ryuji's top priority, and real-life experiences like this are rare, so he must grasp the opportunity to act, even if the opponents are quite weak to his liking.

As he kicks off and lands on the tree's branch, the knight with the recon skill follows. They jump through the trees swiftly and silently, and soon enough, they can see three giant boars wandering around cautiously. Without hesitation, Ryuji springs himself off the tree branch into the monsters.

He pulls his right fist back, condenses his mana around it, and turns his punch into an icy-cold one. The boars, unaware of the disaster befalling them, keep turning around, seemingly in confusion. 

BOOM—!!

Ryuji's fist smoothly smashes through a boar's head with a crisp bang and keeps traveling until it slams onto the ground. Then, a wave of ice bursts out from the point of contact, freezing the remaining two boars in place. Slowly retreating his fist while the monsters struggle, Ryuji winds up his shoulder and gets right to the next kill.

''...''

Watching the boy executing the monsters, the two class B students, aside from Scarlett, are impressed. Even though they pride themselves as the best of first-year, this level is simply out of reach, for now, at least. For everybody else, they all have a different thought.

'Something's strange.'

Both Luxia, Aaron, and Sierra have noticed something odd about these monsters that they're fighting. They seem... Distracted, to say the least. It is as though they are being put into an unfamiliar environment...

Luxia can confirm this further by reading the captain's mind. Since he has participated in an expedition like this before, and he also thinks the behavior of these monsters is strange, it is safe to assume something is not right in this one. 

Ultimately, influenced by Ryuji and Scarlett - The battle maniacs' nagging, the team decides to go further into the woods. Somewhere in the captain's mind, an uncomfortable feeling keeps popping up, but he reassures himself and advances on.

He has to demonstrate the goddess's might, and with how the team has been breezing through, surely nothing will happen...

''...?!''

—until it does.

''Hey, um... Anyone feeling kinda cold...?'' A class B student speaks up. ''And was it always this hard to see forward...?''

The atmosphere suddenly turns serious. From God knows when, a heavy mist has descended onto the scene around them, preventing the normal eyes from seeing beyond a certain point. Together with that, an uncanny chill runs down everybody's spine. 

Restless.

Even Luxia's usual grin disappears right when she realizes the anomaly.

''Captain, do we flee?!'' The knight hurriedly speaks up.

''Calm down! Scan the surrounding area first!''

''Roger! Let me... Huh?''

''What's wrong??''

''There's nothing in the vicinity, captain.''

''Are you saying this is a natural phenomenon...? I don't remember there being one like this.''

Trusting the knight scanner, everyone finally breathes out in relief. Right when it seems the mood has returned once again—

''Hyah?!''

A female student of class B screams, prompting everyone to turn to her.

''I-I just saw someone standing over there...!!'' She points at a tree in the distance.

When the team follows her gaze, there is nothing there.

''What are you talking about—huh?!'' Scarlett is about to refute her classmate, only for her to also see 'someone' standing in another direction. ''I also saw it! Everybody looks around!''

An eerie feeling creeps into the team's body and mind. By this point, the mist has gotten so thick it blocks most of the sunlight, rendering the area almost dark. Nevertheless, everyone begins to scan around while holding a battle stance.

''Eeek?!''

''...!!''

''It's real...!''

It is confirmed. There is 'someone' intentionally toying with them. Through multiple instances of brief sightings, they eventually unite their description of the creature.

''So an extremely tall man with bleach white skin...'' The captain says.

''And no facial feature, sir.'' The knight follows.

''Black suit, red necktie.'' Scarlett continues.

''I think I saw something on his back as well.'' Ryuji adds.

''Ah, me too.'' Luxia replies.

As per standard protocol, when dealing with situations where they can't perceive the enemy like this, the captain and the knight are preparing a large-scale attack each to unleash. When everybody is focusing on tracking this mysterious creature, the knight's voice sounds again.

''Do you, like, it?''

''What are you talking about?!'' The captain shouts back.

''That wasn't me, sir!'' The knight refutes.

''It knows how to imitate sound! Be careful!''

''Its voice is kinda crooked if you listen carefully...''

''Alright, pay attention to—''

''It's coming from behind you, captain!''

Hearing the knight's perfectly normal voice, the captain swiftly turns back and slams his claymore imbued with dense wind magic down.

''...!!''

Only for it to hit nothing. 

''Captain...!''

When the captain turns around, he and everybody else see the exact same creature they were trying to follow before. Tall, slender male, bleach white skin, no facial features, and most notably, dozens of wiggling tentacles.

THUD—!!

''Ugh...?!''

Before anyone can move, the creature throws a heavy punch at the captain. Dark blood is coughed out of the burly man's mouth as he grabs his abdomen in absolute pain. Subsequently, the tentacles quickly wrap themselves around his body, lifting the struggling man into the air.

''A-Attack!!'' 

Finally snapping out of his trance, the knight orders the students, when suddenly—

CREAK—!

The creature abruptly cracks its head, turning the faceless white head to them. Then, as if tearing out its own skin, the creature's mouth area rapidly gapes open with eerily sticky and slurpy ripping noises, revealing dozens of rows of sharp, blood-tainted teeth.

————————!!!

A screeching scream from the creature renders the team's hearing temporarily disabled. Their minds feel as though they are being fried, and their bodies have no strength. The only thing they can clearly perceive is their hearts thumping like an earthquake.

''Kghn...!!''

The knight grits his teeth. As a seasoned fighter, he has encountered this kind of attack before, so he is somehow able to squeeze out a lightning spell. He aims it right at the creature's open mouth.

''Die—!!''

Fire engulfs the creature, and it quickly disappears from sight, but the mist remains.

''Move!''

Now that everybody's strength has returned a bit, they quickly grab the collapsed team members—the captain and the two class B students—and run in a direction. From this point onward, the image of the nightmare-fueled creature is imprinted deep into their minds.

Luxia is especially disturbed. She has never seen something so tainted before...

'This is a big deal if that couple is really involved... Wait.'

''Your Highness, what are you doing there?!''

The team turns around to see the crown princess staring blankly at the mist behind them. When she eventually comes back to the team, they can see her smiling faintly.

At this moment, having read Sierra's thoughts, Luxia is nearly stunned.

'That psychopath...'

The saintess laughs internally. Not that she is much better.