The End of the Chase

Before long, the Lord of the Forest North returned with his subordinates to the central lair where they lived, the Nest of the Forest North.

This was where the Lord of the Forest North lived, and also the central area of the entire forest.

The lair was a complex, interconnected underground space. Besides its numerous entrances and exits, it was connected to the underground regions throughout the Forest of Menos. Each small area had a hidden entrance and exit, guarded by a Pseudo-Adjuchas. There were as many separate areas as there were Pseudo-Adjuchas under the Sandworm Menos Grande's control.

This was also how the Lord of the Forest North controlled the entire forest. By stationing Pseudo-Adjuchas at scattered caves, he established rule over each territory and increased the power he held.

As soon as they returned, the Lord of the Forest North ordered his subordinates to continue searching for Riate.

Here, Yadelusi's sensory sound waves could travel continuously through the structure of the caves, eventually passing through the entrances and exits to gather feedback from each territory, allowing him to search for creatures throughout the forest.

Of course, he distinguished them by the different Spiritual Pressure fluctuations and scents of the Pseudo-Adjuchas. Those below Pseudo-Adjuchas-class could not be sensed, because there were so many of them and their feedback was so faint that it was almost nonexistent.

Feedback from Gillian Level Hollows produced a discernible waveform, which could be identified by the scent of their Spiritual Pressure. The waveforms of unconscious Gillians were nearly identical. Only Gillian Level Hollows with consciousness could actively use their own traits to produce different waveforms.

Adjuchas-class Hollows went without saying. Their waveforms were not only large, but also distinct from one another. Of course, Hollows with certain special abilities were exceptions.

Once this method lost the aid of the underground lair, it could operate at only half its strength. That was why the Sandworm Menos Grande had hurried back to the Nest of the Forest North.

Thus, with the caves carrying his sound waves, Yadelusi could detect all activity throughout the forest. However...

"M-my lord..." After searching for a while, Yadelusi's slightly trembling voice slowly rose from below the seat of honor in the lair. "I just searched the entire Forest of Menos, but I found no trace of Riate's Spiritual Pressure."

"What?" The Lord of the Forest North looked displeased. "What about that little crawler?"

"He... he's nowhere to be found either..." Yadelusi was the strongest sensor in the entire lair, yet the answer he gave now sent a chill through even him. He was terrified that the Lord of the Northern Forest would tear him apart for it.

"I searched every area, but I found no trace of that crawler's Spiritual Pressure. Even Riate's Spiritual Pressure has vanished without a trace."

Hiss...

For a moment, all the Pseudo-Adjuchas in the Nest of the Forest North voiced their doubts. They all knew that Riate was the Lord of the Forest North's most trusted subordinate. Now he had suddenly lost contact while chasing a Gillian Level nobody. They could not make sense of it, much less have anticipated it.

"..." The Lord of the Forest North was now too furious for words. His violent Spiritual Pressure surged straight up to the lair's ceiling, then tore through the air. "Find them!!!" His furious voice rang throughout the lair. "Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find Riate and that crawler!"

And so, at his command, all the Pseudo-Adjuchas poured out of the lair and headed for the cave openings scattered throughout the forest, hoping to find Riate before the lord flew into a rage.

However, the Forest of Menos was so vast that getting out of it in half a day was practically impossible.

They could not do it, Riate could not do it, and Wien was even less capable of it. So, as for the outcome of all this...

Either the two of them had stumbled into the sands and entered the Inner Circle during the chase, or they had killed each other. The Lord of the Forest North could find no other reasonable explanation.

Yet neither possibility quite made sense.

First, if sands leading to the Inner Circle had suddenly appeared along Wien's escape route, even if Wien, that little crawler, had been willing to jump in, Riate would have stopped at the edge and come back to report to him.

As for the latter possibility, the Lord of the Forest North dismissed it without a second thought. A Mid Rank Gillian simply could not kill a Mid Rank Adjuchas. There was an overwhelming disparity in class, level, Spiritual Pressure, and more.

But Riate still had not returned, and even his Spiritual Pressure could not be detected. Could there be someone in this vast forest whose Spiritual Pressure was comparable to his own, someone on the verge of advancing to Vasto Lorde-class, who had killed Riate in an instant?

That was even less likely. If a Hollow of that level existed, his subordinates would have detected him long ago. How could he have left him alone until now?

Or perhaps a Gillian had suddenly advanced to Adjuchas and defeated Riate?

How skilled in battle would a Hollow have to be to defeat a Mid Rank Pseudo-Adjuchas immediately after reaching Low Rank?

The Lord of the Forest North dared not dwell on it. He could only send all his subordinates out to search for the truth. But the fact was that the Lord of the Forest North searched the forest for days without finding anything. As for Wien, he had long since disappeared without a trace.

As for why things had turned out this way...

Going back in time, after Wien caused trouble for the Lord of the Forest North, he activated his innate Concealment and fled.

With Wien's current strength, it was impossible for him to turn completely invisible and escape Riate's pursuit. Lowering his Spiritual Pressure and making his figure indistinct, however, posed no problem. Combined with the precise calculations of his brain, this meant that throughout the chase, Riate could only barely keep up several hundred meters behind him, and the distance was gradually widening.

It was not that Riate did not want to catch up. The barely perceptible Spiritual Pressure was simply difficult for him to pick out. Moreover, there were many trees deep inside the forest, which greatly restricted his vision, so he could only advance bit by bit by sensing Spiritual Pressure.

Only when Wien accidentally exposed a large amount of Spiritual Pressure to recover could Riate determine his direction and rush after him at full speed.

The two continued their chase like this for a full hour. Two hours of running was not to be underestimated; a Menos Grande could already cover a great distance in that time.

Riate also began to tire of this game of hide-and-seek. He unleashed his Spiritual Pressure and gave chase with all his strength. There was already a world of difference between their Spiritual Pressure, and after a few breaths, Wien, who was already at the end of his strength, truly exhausted the Spiritual Power in his body. He slowed down. At last, he lost the protection of Concealment and was fully exposed to the open air.

Boom!!!

Finally, Riate crashed headfirst through the great tree concealing Wien, and Wien rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a blow that could have severely injured him.

"Stinking crawler, your class may be low, but you've got quite a few tricks." A hint of savagery appeared on Riate's mask as he found his prey. "Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"

"Huff... huff..." Wien showed no reaction to Riate's mockery. He merely breathed in the Reishi in the air in great gulps. Even recovering the slightest bit more Spiritual Power meant a glimmer of hope for him.

Riate, however, had no intention of giving Wien much time. His body suddenly vanished, and in the next instant he appeared behind Wien, a dark red Cero forming in an instant.

Sonído was a technique only Pseudo-Adjuchas could master. Against an opponent of the same class, it could only be described as a high-speed movement technique. But against a lower-class enemy, it became a terrifying killing move.

For a moment, a fear called death engulfed Wien. Seeing the enemy before him suddenly disappear, Wien instinctively jumped to his left.

But his speed was no match for an Adjuchas's Cero at such close range. The instant he leaped away, a blood-red beam accompanied by a tremendous surge of Spiritual Pressure grazed past him. His massive Gillian-class arm was instantly blasted into nothingness by the Cero.

Before blood could flow from the severed limb, the intense heat released by the Cero vaporized it into Reishi. His right shoulder was burned black as well. A wave of excruciating pain and a charred stench struck him at once.

"Ugh..." The impact of the Cero sent Wien flying. He rolled dozens of meters across the ground before crashing into a giant needle tree and coming to a stop. Fortunately, Wien had protected the mask on his face with his left hand in time, keeping it intact when it otherwise would have shattered. The price was that his left hand struck the tree, fracturing the bones in it.

"Hmph, stinking crawler, you don't know your own limits!" Riate scoffed. "Who on earth gave you the confidence to oppose my lord?"

"Heh, I may be weak, but I'm still not willing to bow to a real stinking crawler." Wien leaned against the great tree behind him and struggled to his feet. Knowing he might die here, he spoke freely and began to taunt Riate, while secretly gathering all the Spiritual Pressure he had left. Even if he died, he would drag the insect before him down with him!

"Ignorant ant, how dare you spout such nonsense! You cannot begin to imagine my lord's power!" Enraged by his words, Riate opened the beetle shell on his back and spread the translucent wings within. He rose into the air and charged straight at Wien.

"Roar!!!" Wien, who had been gathering strength for a long time, abruptly opened his mouth. A massive Cero burst forth, aimed straight at Riate's face.

What class was Riate? He was a Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande, a full stage above Wien. Faced with a Gillian's Cero, Riate did not panic in the slightest. He did not even dodge. He too opened his mouth and fired an even more powerful Cero against Wien's. The thunderous noise shook the forest.

The surrounding trees were also uprooted by the violent collision of the Ceros, leaving wreckage strewn across the ground.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the forest that had once surrounded them had become a wasteland, standing out starkly amid the vast forest.

Of the two who had created this wasteland, one stood unharmed at its center, while the other lay on the ground, grievously injured and covered in burns, his fate unknown.

"Hmph, the bearing of an ant." Riate could not help letting out a cold snort as he looked at Wien lying on the ground. At the same time, Spiritual Pressure gathered in his mouth once more, and a stream of dark red light began to take shape within it.

"The weak have only two choices: submit or die!" As though issuing a final declaration of death, Riate fired his final Cero at Wien the instant he finished speaking.

Watching Riate's blood-red Cero draw closer, Wien, lying on the ground, let out a helpless sigh and gradually relaxed his body.

His strength was completely exhausted. He could not dodge. Am I going to die just like this? Wien was unwilling to accept it, but there was nothing he could do.

At that moment, memories seemed to flash before Wien's eyes.

He thought of how he had lived in this dim world for more than a decade. Although he was still weak, Wien was at least fairly satisfied with how he had spent that time.

His extra life had not come easily. He had not always been oppressed, either. He had once been a ruler in his own right, and he had met a companion who could fight at his side. Of course, he had also encountered a flower as white as snow amid the darkness.

Though he had spent his entire life reaching no further than Gillian Level, he had enjoyed some good experiences.

In his previous life, he had possessed no such ability. In this life, he had experienced the feeling of what they called power.

In his previous life, he had wandered a dark world of deceit and intrigue. In this life, he had met someone utterly guileless.

In his previous life, he had always had to stay on edge. In this life, although he had been busy, he could find a tree hollow and sleep soundly whenever he was tired. That was because, at the time, he had a companion he could trust to stand guard at his side.

Though this life had been short, it had also been incredibly fulfilling. Even if he was about to die here, he did not consider it an untimely death.

I wonder how Nel is doing now. She should be close to evolving into an Adjuchas, right? Wien thought as death approached.

Once she reaches Pseudo-Adjuchas-class, Nel should be able to protect herself. It's a shame I couldn't go with Nel to see what reality here is like. What a terrible shame.

The last red light gradually faded from Wien's hollow Gillian eyes. He... closed them and waited for death to come.

Boom!!!

The massive Cero hit its target, and the surroundings were once again engulfed in dark red. Without opening his eyes, Wien knew how his surroundings had changed, and that searing energy was about to blast him to pieces.

"...Huh?"

One second, then two passed, and Wien still did not feel his life slipping away. He could not even feel the heat of the Cero. Wien opened his eyes again.

The sight that appeared before Wien gave him hope of survival once more.

It was a pink silhouette. Though small, it had firmly blocked the dark red Cero in front of it.

Within the light was a creature that looked half antelope, half human. An antelope-shaped mask completely concealed her face, and the Cero she had blocked was flowing steadily into her mouth.

The bright red Cero was continuously swallowed by that tiny body. In less than five seconds, the bright red glow had been devoured completely, leaving only a swollen figure standing before Wien.

Soon, the red glow gradually transformed within the tiny figure, and a pink Cero, thicker and faster than the one before, flew back at the enemy.

At that moment, the light of the Cero released by the tiny figure tinted the nearby trees pink, illuminating the once-barren land with a brilliant splash of color.

This is... Cero Doble!

Nel! It's Nel!

She came to save Wien! She... she advanced to Adjuchas!