Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Inside the Forest (2)

TL: Potato-tan

Proofreader: Asianpotato

 

In the gloomy and silent forest, vibrations and noises began to echo.

 

Kwaang!

 

A giant bear gouged the ground with a single blow, causing trees to snap and fall. Irrucil, who had dodged the attack with an agile movement, wiped the corner of her lips.

 

She noticed a faint trace of blood on the back of her hand. It wasn’t an internal injury, just a cut on her lips. If she hadn’t received a protective barrier and a blessing from Todd twenty minutes ago, she wouldn’t have escaped with just this minor injury.

 

“Hmm.”

 

Her body, bent at the knees and waist, slowly straightened. The demon beasts, emerging from the center of the forest, had scattered the party.

 

There were too many demon beasts. It was impossible to tell if all the beasts that inhabited this vast forest had gathered, but there were certainly more than a hundred.

 

“Uoooo. . .”

 

The bear that had struck the ground raised its forelegs. Even the bear’s forelegs, which had struck the ground with enough force to create a deep pit, were not unscathed. Unable to withstand the overflowing power, the torn skin revealed the muscles and pale bones beneath.

 

However, a crackling sound signaled the rapid restoration and regeneration of the damaged skin and muscles. A demon beast that had just awakened its magical power could not have such regenerative power.

 

“Is it because of the bug?”

 

Irrucil also knew that the demon beasts had a strange parasite inside their bodies, as Russell had told her. Although its exact purpose was still unknown, it was likely that the parasite was responsible for the regenerative power that went beyond the mere awakening of magical power.

 

“Groooar!”

 

The giant bear, which had completed its regeneration, charged again. The bear’s muscles swelled unnaturally, its skin couldn’t accommodate their size, its fur was sparse, and its mouth was dripping with drool. Its size was also between four and five meters.

 

It was clear that this was not a normal demon beast by any measure. At this rate, it appeared that it had not only eaten humans, but had also preyed on its own kind.

 

Irrucil raised her outstretched hand upward. The shape of the magical power connected to her fingertips instantly transformed into a solid iron chain and shot up from the ground.

 

Tatatatatang!

 

The attack aimed at its belly only met the sound of metal. The leather, which had become as hard as steel, deflected the chain. But it wasn’t a completely ineffective blow, as the demon beast’s speed slightly decreased.

 

Irrucil then drew the sword from her waist. Irrucil and the demon beast exchanged a glance. They had only turned their backs to each other for a moment when black blood suddenly burst from the demon beast’s shoulder.

 

Irrucil didn’t give the demon beast a chance to regenerate. She turned around and accelerated again. The dirt floor, unable to hold her momentum, exploded with a thud.

 

Her speed, propelled by magical power and the strength of her thigh muscles, momentarily surpassed that of an arrow. At that moment, the demon beast sensed Irrucil’s astonishing physical abilities and swung its unharmed left foreleg.

 

However, Irrucil was also a warrior, her life’s path marred by encounters with demon beasts.

 

Irrucil’s sword drew a diagonal line. Her light, seemingly flimsy movement pushed back the foreleg, which had extended towards her head, and peeled off the skin as if plucked.

 

Irrucil, who had rendered the demon beast incapable of using its two front paws with a simple move, was instantly inside the demon beast’s embrace. It was too short a distance to attack, but Irrucil didn’t care.

 

Her fists and knees, which were thin and slender compared to the demon beast’s, struck the demon beast’s torso in quick succession. Then, surprisingly, the thick, large bear’s body reverberated, and a shockwave spread backward. The transparent wave of magical power grazed the trees, causing them to tremble and shed their branches and leaves.

 

Meanwhile, the demon beast, which had regenerated its forelegs, raised its claws as if to embrace Irrucil. As she lowered her body, four sharp claws were drawn, creating a piercing sound as they crossed.

 

The demon beast felt a pain that made it gag as Irrucil’s lightning-fast kick shot through the gap between its crossed forelegs and lifted up its jaw.

 

Enraged by Irrucil, who seemed to be both elusive and untouchable, the demon beast let out a thunderous roar. Its physical form, shaped like a hemispherical sphere, emitted a sound similar to that of the wild boar demon beast that had just attacked the village.

 

Irrucil, who had somersaulted in the air, thrust her sword forward. Simultaneously, the remaining faint blessing of Enlir flickered with its remaining strength.

 

Kwaang!

 

Piles of dirt and broken trees flew in all directions, scattering debris. Irrucil, feeling the blessing’s power completely disappear, rose from her kneeling position.

 

Right before her was a clearing about 10 meters in diameter, centered on the demon beast. The demon beast was panting, as if it had unleashed an attack that had drained its magical power.

 

Irrucil swallowed a small lump of blood that had risen to her esophagus, controlling her churning stomach. She had managed to deflect the shockwave with her magically imbued sword, but she hadn’t been able to deflect it completely.

 

“Kreeee!”

 

The demon beast, which had been writhing on the ground, suddenly leaped into the air and attacked. Its foreleg swing was noticeably larger than before, as if it had become impatient with her continued survival despite its attacks.

 

Irrucil fended off the attack by sidestepping and swinging her sword. She cut the shoulder again, spraying black blood.

 

Her sword did not stop. It began to move faster and faster, swinging more than once, twice, and three times. As Irrucil lightly deflected its attacks, the demon beast charged in with its heavy weight, cutting its skin and muscles together, thereby wasting its formidable regenerative and magical power.

 

At one point, Irrucil lifted her right foot and slammed it into the ground. The void created a white iron chain with a thud, piercing through the demon beast’s skin.

 

“Kreeee!”

 

The demon beast howled in agony and tried to turn around to pull out the chain, but countless chains quickly appeared and pierced its torso.

 

“Groooar!”

 

The demon beast’s immense strength pulled the chains out as it struggled, causing the ground to overturn. However, even more chains bound the demon beast, and it could no longer resist.

 

With a thud, the demon beast’s knees buckled. With its limbs bound by chains, Irrucil looked down at the demon beast and plunged her sword into its head.

 

The demon beast, its brain destroyed, twitched a few times and then died with its eyeballs rolled back. Irrucil didn’t stop there. She infused the sword with magical power and detonated it.

 

With a boom, the demon beast’s large body shook. Then, black blood gushed from the demon beast’s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. She had detonated the magical power inside its body, destroying its heart, internal organs, and the parasite that might still be alive.

 

Irrucil silently withdrew her blade and looked around. Countless other corpses she had slain, in addition to the bear demon beast, lay scattered around. She watched the carnage for a moment, then heard the sound of thunder and lightning not far away and flew in the direction of the sound.

 

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

 

Kwarururung!

 

A young woman, too young to be an adult but too mature to be a girl, unleashed a lightning bolt from her fingertips.

 

Lightning struck a large wolf, causing it to roll to the ground. However, the three other wolves that had been running from behind dodged the lightning and leaped towards Aellasis, who was floating in the air.

 

Aellasis dodged the wolves’ attacks with graceful flight, but they soon opened their muzzles and emitted a cold breath.

 

Puhwaaaak!

 

The icy breath from three directions enveloped Aellasis. However, the cold air did not freeze Aellasis into a block of ice.

 

“Who do these guys think they’re blowing cold air at? Huh? You little pups, want to get your tails kicked?”

 

With a cheerful voice, the three icy breaths swirled together. Centered on the white-haired girl who was floating in the air without any support, the cold air turned into three transparent ice spheres that spun around and around.

 

The ice spheres, which rotated like planets orbiting the sun, flew towards the wolves.

 

“Bam!”

 

The wolves were unable to dodge the ice spheres, which flew faster than arrows. The ice spheres, which had pierced their heads or torsos, shattered into tens of thousands of crystals as soon as they touched their fur, freezing the wolves solid.

 

The remaining wolf, knocked back by the lightning, clawed at the ground. Aellasis opened her huge mouth, which could swallow it in one bite.

 

Chak!

 

The wolf’s waist tore with the sound of torn flesh. The two halves of the wolf, making heavy thud, thud sounds, fell to the dirt ground. The fallen wolf corpse had a strange appearance.

 

Its fur seemed to have completely shriveled up, and all the blood appeared to have drained out.

 

“Thank you, Sister Calia.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

Calia, who had brought the long blade close, licked the blood with her tongue. She smacked her lips a few times and then spat out the blood.

 

“It doesn’t taste very good.”

 

“Why did you lick it?”

 

“I was just curious.”

 

Aellasis, who had descended from the air, inquired, leaving a few centimeters of space between them, and Calia shrugged.

 

“It’s strange that so many demon beasts are suddenly increasing in number, no matter how you look at it. What Irrucil said, too. Demon beasts are rare creatures, after all. Monsters are more common. The probability of ordinary beasts coming into contact with magical power and surviving is low in the first place, and to my knowledge, it is unprecedented for them to become so large or be able to handle magical power.”

 

“Well, I was a little surprised when they blew cold air earlier.”

 

Aellasis nodded her head in agreement.

 

Not only did they possess the peculiar quality of cold air, but they also managed to release it, surviving even after Aellasis’s lightning struck them directly.

 

In addition to the large wolf corpses around them, numerous demon beasts lay dead. All of them had grown three times, or even four to five times, their original size, and some had elongated legs or transformed their fur into scaly skin.

 

“It’s not uncommon for new body parts to grow or for mutations to occur due to rapid expansion of magic, but it’s also unusual for it to happen on such a large scale. Most importantly.”

 

Calia’s blade pierced the wolf’s corpse’s upper waist, leaving only the upper body. The spear’s tip held a shriveled and twisted parasite corpse.

 

“It appears that this strange parasite is accelerating such mutations. It’s not a monster from this intermediate world. Judging from the wavelength of the magical power I sense, it’s probably one of the monsters from the underworld or another realm.”

 

“So you’re saying that the monster that’s creating these demon beasts isn’t from our world?”

 

“Yes, smart girl, our Aella.”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Calia, who had thrown away the spear she was holding, hugged Aellasis tightly. Calia buried Aellasis’s face in her ample bosom.

 

“Ugh, don’t do this, I told you!”

 

“Oh, where are you touching?”

 

“Gyaaaa!”

 

Aellasis was yelling uncontrollably and attempting to flee, while Calia held her firmly and refused to let go.

 

“What are you guys doing?”

 

“Ah.”

 

At that moment, Irrucil appeared between the trees. Blood and flesh stained her clothes, indicating that she had fought another fierce battle on her way there.

 

“Where’s Russell?”

 

Calia and Aellasis shook their heads at her question.

 

“I don’t know. We were caught up with the demon beasts and ended up here.”

 

“Me too. The last thing I heard was that he told me to help Aella.”

 

They looked in one direction, as if they had made a promise. The thick fog had receded somewhat. However, it had not disappeared.

 

Instead, it had gathered towards the forest’s center.

 

“Do you feel anything?”

 

“. . .No. I don’t.”

 

Calia, who had released Aella, stood in front of a white wall-like thing that seemed to separate the boundary.

 

“Is there something wrong? This is the guy who defeated me.”

 

“I know it in my head, but there are a few things I can’t accept in my heart. For me, Russell is that kind of person.”

 

Irrucil thought of Russell. From the time he was a baby to the time he gradually grew up. She had been a family member with him all those years.

 

At the same time, there had also been times when she had resented him for being her family.

 

She knew that Russell’s existence was strange. She couldn’t help but know. Even if one ignored his brilliant mind or mature physique, which were superior to those of his peers, his speech and behavior were not appropriate for his age.

 

In addition, because of the innate ability he had been born with, Russell had even left his family because of his eyes. He, who had left, was now moving to return his older sister to her original place.

 

She wanted to stay with him forever, but. Irrucil shook her head.

 

“It’s been thirty minutes since we were scattered. This forest is already a demon realm.”

 

“That’s not wrong. Judging by the fact that the root cause of the demon beasts is a monster from another realm, even this fog may be something that has flowed over from another realm.”

 

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