Volume 3 Chapter 210 Wandering In The Darkness ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The narrow path, flanked by thorny walls, soon came to an end, leading into a complex maze. The road twisted and turned, resembling the alleys of an old town hidden within a large city. Above them stretched a dark sky, utterly devoid of stars. Here and there, the thorny walls had collapsed under their own weight, leaning precariously against the ones opposite. There were no signs of insects or small animals. Instead, from somewhere far beyond the thorns, a terrifying sound echoed intermittently—something like a monster’s roar.
”Did you say you’re the Rose Garden Keeper? Who are you? Where is this place?” Kian asked, directing his question at the blue butterfly fluttering ahead.
The butterfly hovered for a moment before replying, its voice light.
”I’m the guide. This was once the wilderness on the outskirts of Moonshore…”
”Moonshore?” Kian echoed.
”Eek!?”
Linca, who had been clinging tightly to Kian’s waist like part of a party trick, let out a sudden squeak.
”Is something wrong?” Kian asked, glancing at her.
”I-I think I just saw something… It looked like a human face floating in those thorns.”
”Are you sure it wasn’t just your imagination?”
Kian turned toward the nearby wall of thorns. The thorny vines were thick—thicker than Kian’s own arm—and upon closer inspection, they seemed to spiral upward in pairs. Each vine emitted a wet, squelching sound as it writhed constantly, more like snakes than plants. If they were inside the body of some massive creature, these would surely be its blood vessels or muscle fibers.
”No! There it is again! A human face!”
”The thorns are alive,” the butterfly said. “They are restoring the records of the intelligence they once consumed.”
”What do you mean?” Kian asked.
”The Thorn Spirit’s powers are ‘record’ and ‘restore.’ It was summoned by contract to preserve the prosperity of the ‘Empire of Night,’ a nation once prophesied to fall. Since then, it has continued to ‘record.’ Now, within the faint reaches of the spirit’s consciousness, those ‘records’ may unintentionally be ‘restored.’”
Kian found the Rose Garden Keeper’s explanation difficult to follow. It was clear that to truly understand, he’d need some underlying knowledge, but she only ever responded with the bare minimum necessary to answer his questions.
”I’m starting to feel like I’m losing my mind…” he muttered.
”Don’t worry,” Kian said, still holding on tightly. “I’m here. If you go crazy, I’ll smack you to wake you up.”
”Hitting a woman is the lowest thing you can do!” Linca protested.
”Then I’ll just grope your breasts instead.”
”Sir Kian, how can you remain so calm in this situation?” Linca demanded, staring at him in disbelief.
Kian shrugged. “Who knows? I guess these kinds of mind-numbing labyrinths just don’t really get to me. I wonder why.”
”Don’t you feel fear or anxiety at all?”
”Do I seem completely unfazed to you?” he asked. “I’m definitely scared. If I wasn’t, there’d be something wrong with me. In a world of eat or be eaten, the ones who can’t feel fear or anxiety just end up as food for something else.”
”To enter the holy domain, you must cross the barrier. To cross the barrier, you must collect the ‘keys’ scattered across the Moonshore wilderness,” the butterfly said in a calm voice.
”Be careful. If you continue this way, you will encounter enemies. The regular bait we send in isn’t enough to satisfy them anymore, and they’re quite agitated.”
”Linca, prepare for battle,” Kian ordered. “It’s time to stop being timid. I need your strength.”
”…Is there no way to avoid this?” she asked quietly.
”No.”
With a sharp motion, Kian drew the Windsong Blade from his left hand.
”They’ve already noticed us.”
The narrow passage abruptly opened into a broad space. The path they had followed now intersected with a wide road—at least twenty meters across. The damp, heavy sensation of soil beneath Kian’s boots vanished, replaced by the crunch of countless small stones underfoot. The word riverbed came to his mind.
There was no water.
Only the dry, exposed riverbed remained.
”That’s Remi Cain,” Kian said. “And it’s an elder specimen.”
He sensed movement—something writhing behind a large rock lying on the riverbed. It was an advanced-rank Bloodsucking Kind, its body blending seamlessly into the dark, like part of the night itself, waiting to strike. Kian quickly stepped onto the riverbed, letting the vampire’s heightened senses take over. The narrow corridor had been too dangerous; he didn’t want to risk touching the thorns. Changing locations had been the right call.
”It’s good at mimicry. It can slip past magical detection. But it can’t hide everything—its footprints, breathing, the sound of its steps, or the way it moves the air. Don’t rely on penetration. If the enemy has spirit blood, it might be fatal.”
The Linca who had been clinging to Kian just moments ago was no longer there. Though her face was pale with fear, she had already drawn her Misty Magic Sword and took up a stance behind Kian to cover his back. It was a defensive position—solid, but too cautious to be optimal.
(Don’t move!) Kian sent through their mental link.
He activated the Magic Eye of the Charm and fixed his gaze on the creature writhing between the rocks. It hesitated—just for a moment—before resuming its motion. Whether it possessed thorn seeds like the Cain species from the marshes or it was simply due to its high rank, it didn’t seem he could force it to self-destruct with charm.
(But, its speed is slowing.)
A grin played at the corners of Kian’s mouth. Like a beast pouncing on prey, he closed the distance in a flash, his body turning to mist as he darted beside the rock with the speed of his former Secret Technique, Pursuit of the Shadow.
Blades of wind howled behind him.
A shrill cry rang out from the darkness as a gaunt, monkey-like creature—its skin pitch black—collapsed, blood spraying from the gashes Kian had carved into its flesh.
”Pseudo-holy domain expansion. Blocking the path to the Spiritual Vein. Halting ‘restoration.’”
The blue butterfly fluttered overhead. A gentle haze of light emerged from the ground, expanding outward like ripples in a pond and forming a circular field—perhaps a kind of barrier.
Behind Kian, the dismembered Remi Cain still twitched, baring its fangs and claws even after the fatal blow. But the moment the blue haze passed over it, the creature fell utterly still, as if all its strength had drained away.
(Linca!?)
The enemies he had just slain no longer mattered.
The only thing that mattered now… was protecting her.
However, it seemed that such a need was unnecessary.
”────”
A monster, clear as day, lunged at Linca, slightly distorting the dark riverbed background. Four of them attacked her at once, even as she took up a defensive stance.
Kian confirmed that there were a total of seven Elder Remi Cain. That was all of them.
With the unique agility of a powerful, invisible monster, claws were swung—but Linca dodged the frontal assault and decapitated the attacker in a single strike. She then drew the Misty Magic Sword from her back, using it to parry an ambush from behind. The heavy blow—unbefitting her slender frame—made her body stagger. A delayed shockwave ran across the dark ground, sending small stones flying into the air as if they’d exploded.
Linca’s right foot sank into the earth. A small tear ran through the soil. She grimaced for a moment, but instantly redirected the force pressing against her back to the side while simultaneously beheading the enemy.
To an observer, it seemed as if her body had dropped for an instant, only to spring up beside the Remi Cain, striking at its neck. The monster lost its balance—and its head. It was a scene that passed like a series of quick flashes.
It felt reminiscent of when she had killed Juji, but there was no mistaking it. This was Linca.
It was as if a warrior already at the peak of skill had suddenly gained inhuman speed.
She activated her ‘threads’ next, filling her vision with them as they shot out to ensnare the remaining enemies. Invisible strands stretched in an instant, wrapping around two of the Remi Cain, twisting and binding their limbs.
The captured one was finished.
The other, instinctively retreating, was instantly turned into a pincushion by countless blades of penetrating energy—mysterious techniques reminiscent of the magic sword Heavenbreaker that Sarah had once used.
The battle was over.
Linca, still surrounded by the ‘threads,’ calmly passed by the Elder Remi Cain as it bled dark ichor from every inch of its body. Just as a breeze stirred the air, the creature’s head dropped to the ground behind her.
(So strong. I saw her fight Natra before, but this is…)
Linca’s combat ability had its strengths—powerful strikes and a wide variety of attack methods—but also its weaknesses: a lack of direct attack power beyond speed and penetration, and a tendency toward poor snap decisions.
But now, after her reaction and perception speeds had been drastically enhanced, it was as if all her weaknesses had vanished. Combined with the unassuming yet excellent attack power of the Misty Magic Sword, she was truly unstoppable.
As for the Elder variant of Remi Cain—it was a powerful monster that had served as the basis for Nightshade. Despite being a monster, it possessed considerable intelligence, enough to destroy an entire town or street if left unchecked. Ranked between Party Hunt Rank 2 and Rank 1, it should have been formidable—but it hadn’t stood a chance.
Linca jumped over a deep gouge in the ground caused by a claw swipe and hurried toward Kian, eyes scanning their surroundings.
”Any other enemies?” she asked.
”No. I can’t detect any Remi Cain through magic power. I’ll sharpen my other senses just in case,” Kian replied, narrowing his eyes.
”Not being able to detect them with magic power… that’s terrifying.”
Linca released waves of magic power two or three times.
But just as Kian had said, there was no response. No enemies.
”That was a close one,” she muttered, crouching next to the mangled corpse of Remi Cain.
Her long legs stretched from beneath the hem of her eastern-style dress, causing the fabric to flutter. The elegantly voluminous skirt—unlike Priscilla’s—made it impossible not to feel at least a little aroused, despite the incongruity of the situation.
”It didn’t look like it, though,” Kian said.
”I had no choice but to take the second attack.”
Linca cast a brief glance at the Misty Magic Sword, which she’d already sheathed without realizing it.
”It was too fast to dodge. And unexpectedly strong, so I panicked.”
”…Hey, are you the kind of person who says, ‘Crap, I didn’t study at all,’ before a test and then gets a perfect score?” Kian asked, raising an eyebrow.
”Where did that come from?” Linca tilted her head in confusion, then returned her gaze to the corpse.
”It should’ve been troublesome to deal with its regeneration… but it isn’t regenerating. Is it because of this domain?”
”I temporarily blocked the Spiritual Vein and their path,” came the calm explanation—from the blue butterfly, in Talia’s voice.
”If you hadn’t deployed a pseudo-holy domain, it would’ve regenerated endlessly.”
”That’s why the Wolfmen warriors can’t return,” Kian said grimly.
”They haven’t been confirmed dead yet. Though… their survival was already considered hopeless… Huh?”
The corpse at their feet began to dissolve into a pitch-black shadow, its form crumbling and being absorbed into the earth. Linca quickly stood, hand on the hilt of her magic sword.
Soon, the body vanished completely. A sensation spread through the circular domain the butterfly had deployed, as if something had just left it. On the opposite bank of the wide, barren river, the thorny thicket pulsed faintly—like it had a heartbeat.
”‘What has been restored has been broken. Everything has returned to thorns,’” the butterfly murmured.
”I don’t really get it, but thanks for the help,” Linca said simply.
Then, without hesitation, she grabbed onto Kian’s waist again.
”Which way are we going? Downstream or upstream?”
”Why don’t we just walk side by side like normal people?” he asked, exasperated.
”I don’t want to. It’s scary. I’ll use Sir Kian as a shield.”
”You really are something… sigh…”
”Upstream. Cain Castle is upstream.”
”Cain Castle… So this really is Count Cain’s territory.”
”If someone told me this was a completely different place from what we saw earlier, I think my heart would leap out of my mouth. Now, let’s go.”
Prompted by Linca, the two of them began to walk.
For a while, there were no more encounters with enemies.
Terrifying howls echoed intermittently from both sides of the dry riverbed, but none of the monsters dared approach the fresh meat that was Kian and Linca. They must have instinctively understood the difference in strength.
In that case, even if they were to face sporadic skirmishes, the risk of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers seemed low—for now. They could continue exploring like this until they reached their physical or mental limits. After that, the roles of hunter and hunted might reverse.
(It was a relief that Linca came along.)
Each time a howl rang out, Kian noticed Linca hopping slightly like a startled rabbit and thought to himself.
If it had been someone else—Natra, Sarah, or Rufna—they would have already been nearing their limits in terms of supplies like food, and the situation would have felt far more desperate.
They would’ve been better options, maybe. But if his companion had been Serena, he’d have had to protect her while moving forward. And if that had been the case, it was doubtful whether Elder Remi Cain would have been defeated so cleanly.
”That’s exactly the ‘good choice,’” Kian said, nodding. “I’m not too sure about the pattern if Priscilla were to come along. I only knows her superficially, after all.”
”Haah, haah… haah, haah…”
They had likely been walking for about an hour.
By then, Linca’s breathing had grown noticeably heavier. Normally, she wouldn’t have tired from just an hour of walking, but being suddenly thrust into such an incomprehensible situation, with monster roars echoing from both sides, was clearly taking its toll on her mind. And once the mind was fatigued, the body would follow—even for someone with her exceptional constitution.
Kian stopped beside a large rock.
”Rose Garden Keeper. Is there any chance of flooding in this dried-up river?” he asked.
”No. This river ran dry three hundred years ago,” the voice responded. “You might get some groundwater if you dig, but that’s about it.”
”I see. We’d like to rest here for a while—is that okay?”
”…”
The blue butterfly circled silently once above Kian and the others.
Blue light descended, spreading into a circular domain. It was just about the right size for the two of them to set up camp.
Perched atop the large rock, the butterfly disappeared into the darkness as if it had been an illusion.
If you’re leaving, let me know.
Talia’s voice—or one very similar to it—echoed softly across the riverbed.
(It didn’t just stop flapping its wings—it vanished completely. Looks like we’re free to do as we like.)
”Sir Kian, we’ve only been walking for an hour,” Linca said, catching her breath.
”We’re camping here today. Can you set up a shelter and a place to sleep?”
”Camping right in the middle of the enemy’s lair!?” Linca’s eyes widened as she clung to Kian’s arm. “Let’s walk a little further! Somewhere safer!”
”But you’re more exhausted than I expected.”
”────! …I’m sorry…”
”It can’t be helped. It’s pitch-black, and we’ve had the enemy’s voices ringing in our ears this whole time. It’d be more suspicious if you were completely fine.”
”I’ll return the sentiment—you’re being too calm, Sir Kian.”
Kian offered a reassuring smile.
”I’m just putting on an act to seem calm. I’m just as exhausted as you are.”
”Liar!”
”…I’m not tired at all. But I can’t have Linca slowing me down, so we’re camping.”
”Please choose your words more carefully! It’s not like I want to be a burden! You’d rather have Ms. Sarah with you, wouldn’t you!?”
”No, I’m glad it’s you. There’s no one else.”
”R-Really?” Linca peered into his face, her eyes filled with disbelief.
”I’m being serious. I never lies.”
”That’s a lie.”
”Seriously, you never know when fatigue will catch up to you. It’s better to take plenty of breaks at the start. Who knows when we’ll get another chance to rest?”
”That’s true. Understood. Then… shall we take a break?”
Linca nodded, then activated her magic. The fine soil of the riverbed rose up, forming a square shelter in no time. Next, she summoned Mizuchi’s head from another dimension and began pulling out pots, knives, plates, sleeping bags, and more, one after another.
Despite her fear, this woman was incredibly powerful.
”Well then, shall I whip something up?” she asked cheerfully.
While Linca prepared a bath, Kian quickly threw together a pot-au-feu and grilled some fish. At one point, Linca returned to the fire and snuggled up beside him. It was a little distracting, but he understood the mood and occasionally patted her head.
”I wonder if we can meet up with the Wolfmen and Umar’s subordinates who should have gotten lost ahead of us,” he mused.
”We might be able to meet up with the corpses.”
”Please stop that…”
Linca hugged her knees and gently bumped her temple against his shoulder. Mixed with the sweet scent of incense was her natural fragrance. It was a scent he could only catch during their most intimate moments, and Kian couldn’t help recalling their recent five-hour endurance session, feeling a stir below the belt.
”Suuuu.”
”Sir Kian?”
”No, it’s nothing… About the Wolfmen—”
”I think we started from different points,” he continued. “I’ve been carefully checking the ground, but I haven’t found any traces of them at all.”
He handed Linca a plate of pot-au-feu and began drawing a rough map in the dirt with a stick he’d been using to stir the fire.
”If this is the starting point, then we’re camped here. Assuming the river runs north to south for simplicity, we’ve gone about six kilometers northwest in a straight line. That’s a decent distance. If we’d started from the same place, it’d be strange not to find any camps or signs of battle. Especially considering the group that included Captain Glen’s first wife, Hariette. They should’ve hit their limit way before you did.”
”…I’ve often thought while watching Mr. Jibril, ‘This person isn’t the same species as me,’ but I think you fall into that category too, Sir Kian…”
Linca gazed at the map with a distant look in her eyes as she sipped the pot-au-feu.
”It’s delicious… I feel like I’ve lost in terms of femininity,” she murmured, her expression clouded with self-doubt.
Kian offered a gentle prompt. “Is there something you want to do once we get back to the real world? What would you say to Sarah first?”
”I’ve decided to marry Sir Kian. Without a harem,” she declared dramatically. “And then I call for Nue and run off to elope with him.”
(T/N: Nue is a mythical Japanese beast, often used in fantasy as a summoned creature or mount.)
”Stop it.”
”Joking aside, shall we organize the information?”
Linca adjusted her posture and looked serious.
”First, the butterfly—the Rose Garden Keeper—is like Ms. Talia: a mysterious being with no physical body or spirit form. Like a loyal familiar, it answers our questions with the bare minimum, but sometimes it gives us useful hints about this world and the monsters’ true nature. So far, it hasn’t shown any hostile intent, and it hasn’t led us into obvious danger. ──Though honestly, everything here is so dangerous it’s hard to tell.”
”We’re being guided to the holy domain. To enter, we need to break the seal, right? You said we should follow the river upstream toward Cain’s castle. I don’t think this is a trap. If they wanted to kill us or tie us down, they could just abandon us. That way, we’d wander aimlessly, worn out and clueless.”
”Could it be… they plan to offer us fresh to the Thorn Spirit?”
”Well…”
Linca, now finished with her meal, set her plate on her thigh and rested a finger thoughtfully on her well-defined chin.
”I’m also curious about why the Rose Garden Keeper has a voice similar to Ms. Talia’s,” Linca said, narrowing her eyes in thought. “If that butterfly is some kind of familiar created by someone, why did it choose her voice? Can we assume it was just a coincidence?”
”If the butterfly’s master is the Thorn Spirit, that would make sense,” Kian replied.
He set his staff down and continued calmly.
”The Thorn Spirit fell in love with Talia. In exchange for reviving Count Cain’s vitality, it demanded Talia as its spiritual bride. Eventually, it cursed her so that whenever she was awake, all other beings would fall asleep—an attempt to monopolize her entirely. It’s an extremely obsessive kind of love. It wouldn’t be surprising if everything surrounding it was harmonized with Talia’s color and presence.”
Linca crossed her arms, considering the implications. “If that’s the case, then it seems we’ve been invited by the Thorn Spirit. ‘The king of the new world’ and ‘its attendant’… In terms of gender, Sir Kian is the ‘king,’ and I, as a Blood Servant, am the ‘attendant.’ But what exactly is this ‘new world’? You don’t mean we’re supposed to be king and attendant forever in this dark, eerie world, do you?”
”That would be the worst,” Kian muttered with a sigh. “I’d have no choice but to accept it and live a degenerate life, having sex with you until the end of the world.”
”Sir Kian,” Linca said sharply, frowning as if scolding him.
But then she tilted her head and murmured, “Huh? Maybe it’s Ali…”
”No way. Get a grip,” Kian shot back.
”Do you think you’d get bored after having s*x about twenty times?”
”At least I’m not getting bored…”
”But this place seems bad for children’s education. We need sunlight.”
”Stop expanding the conversation in that direction.”
”It’s important. Whether the sun rises or not… it affects our mental health too.”
”If it’s dark, you want to have s*x, right?”
”Could you please choose one: to be silly or to retort? It’s hard to interject,” Linca sighed, shrugging with exasperation.
Sometimes, she made him feel an uncontrollable urge to just ravage her. It was a different kind of irritation than being insulted while being serviced by Priscilla—in his imagination.
In frustration, he considered piling a mountain of green peas onto her plate—her least favorite food—when a sharp stench tickled his nose. He raised an eyebrow.
”──Wait.”
”Is it an enemy?” Linca asked, instantly alert, scanning their surroundings.
Kian shook his head, setting down his plate and spoon, then stood up.
”I smell a corpse. But there’s hardly any meat left.”
”So, it’s a skeleton? That’s the worst… just when we were about to enjoy a delicious meal.”
He sniffed the air and pointed.
”This way.”
”W-wait! Don’t leave me alone!” Linca hurried after him.
They stepped out of the butterfly-embellished holy domain and headed north. As they followed the river upstream, patches of disturbed ground began to appear. These weren’t battle scars—they were dug-out holes, about fifty centimeters square and roughly two meters deep.
Peering inside one, Kian caught the musty scent of damp earth.
”Sir Kian, over there!” Linca called out.
He looked up and saw her pointing toward a large rock surrounded by glowing yellow and red mushrooms. They were the same kind that had marked the starting point of their journey in this thorn-covered country.
Cautiously, the two approached the rock.
Scattered along the way were several dried, shriveled mushroom remains. As they neared the glowing cluster, Kian peeked behind the boulder. Linca followed, peeking around the other side.
”This is…!”
”A skeleton. And it’s a Wolfman.”
The remains had short hair, a small skull, and a slender, refined bone structure. All the flesh had long rotted away, leaving behind only the faint stench of decay clinging to bones and clothing. A dry silver tail extended from beneath a flattened skirt, curling into a hollow S-shape.
Linca circled the remains, carefully examining the pelvis and skull.
”Judging from the pelvic width, it’s a woman. And from the teeth, I’d estimate she was in her early twenties. No visible bone fractures… but mushrooms have sprouted here and there. Looks like they appeared post-mortem. Doesn’t seem like she was eaten by a monster.”
She glanced toward the campfire remnants nearby. The ashes were dry, the charcoal scattered.
”This fire’s been out for at least three weeks,” she noted.
”Next to the campfire, a totem. A barrier totem using mistletoe and the moon—a technique common in the northern regions. This woman must’ve been the Head Magician of the Wolfmen.”
”It doesn’t seem to be Lady Hariette.”
”That lady’s probably around seventy, right?”
”Then it must be a woman named Tersea who worked with Hariette.”
Kian picked up a neatly placed backpack beside the corpse. Inside, he found only empty bottles and bone fragments. No journal, no notes—nothing to explain what had happened.
”The world’s never that convenient, huh?”
”I suppose I should recover the Wolfmen’s staff,” he muttered.
As he reached out, a sharp pulse tugged at him from across the riverbank.
”Sir Kian.”
”Ah, the Rose Garden Keeper mentioned it. The Thorn Spirit’s powers are ‘record’ and ‘restoration,’” Kian murmured, unsheathing the Windsong Blade.
From the blackened shore, a thin human-like shadow approached, accompanied by several Sword Cains.
”A Wolfman woman. Countless thorn vines are jutting from her body.”
”Don’t touch those vines. If you do, your life force will be completely drained,” Kian warned.
”Understood,” Linca replied without hesitation.
Despite the threat, she calmly drew her magic sword and took a stance. Kian wrapped wind around the Windsong Blade.
”Magic won’t work. We’ve got no choice but to cut them down. ──Here we go!”
”Yes.”
As she nodded, Linca activated Pursuit of the Shadow.
She’s using it from this distance!? Kian thought, just as countless slashes raced across the Wolfman woman and the Sword Cains.
A blue butterfly of light flitted through the air.
After confirming that the monsters had turned to dust, Linca skipped back toward him.
”Sir Kian──! It’s over!” she called cheerfully.
(As expected, she’s too strong!)
Notes:
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Juji – Male. Leader of the Wolfmen’s ‘Jinsou’. A skilled warrior with sharp senses and combat abilities. Relationship: Part of the Beastmen Alliance’s delegation.
• Count Cain – Talia’s father.
• Serena – Wolfmen Girl
• Nue – A Shikigami summoned by Linca. It has the appearance of a monster with a tiger’s limbs and a monkey’s head. Nue is a powerful but dangerous creature that requires a skilled magician to control.
• Tersea – A shaman who assisted Barghest and is connected to the summoning ritual.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply