Jekain Again

Five years had passed since the last Forest of Hollows War. In those five years, Wien had risen step by step from a Low Rank Gillian to a Low Rank Adjuchas. The most perilous battle along the way had been his confrontation with the Lord of the Forest North. Still, it would be at least another five years before he encountered that giant sandworm from the Northern Forest again. Wien was in no hurry on that account. The most pressing matter was how to build up enough strength to stand against the Lord of the Forest North.

Wien had originally planned to advance in the Central Forest and then gradually build up his forces. The process was bound to be exceedingly slow, but he had not expected the Pseudo-Adjuchas in the Central Forest's Core Area to react so quickly and begin hunting him down. Still less had he expected his old friend Jekain to be in the Central Forest and to have become one of its lords.

That changed Wien's plan for building up his forces entirely. Since someone on his side had already made it inside the enemy's ranks, he might as well have Jekain go undercover and provide him with intelligence. Once Wien returned to the Central Forest, he could begin targeting the lords one by one and replace the entire leadership.

A few days later, Wien and Nel returned to the Central Forest.

"Phew..." As soon as he reached the outskirts of the forest, Wien took a long breath. "Just as I thought, the Reishi here is denser. Even breathing feels easier."

"I've heard that the Reishi in the Inner Circle is even more active than in the Forest of Menos," Nel replied. "My lord, once we've finished our business here, let's go to the Inner Circle and experience it for ourselves~"

"We have five years left. Before then, we have to cut out that malignant tumor." With that, Wien began concealing his Spiritual Pressure. "Nel, wait here for me. I'm going to find Jekain. According to the information he gave me before, there's a Hollow in the core lords' circle with an extremely powerful ability to detect Spiritual Power. I need to take care of him first."

"Lord Wien, don't you need my help?"

"No. The nature of my ability makes it well suited to this kind of assassination. Stay hidden here for now. Once I've killed that sensory-type Hollow, we can go to Jekain's territory together and start building up our own forces."

"Yes, my lord."

Wien then concealed himself and vanished into thin air. Nel tried to detect his Spiritual Pressure, but in that instant, his presence had disappeared completely from her side. She had intended to expand the range of her sensing, but she could not do that now. If she used wide-range sensing, the Pseudo-Adjuchas in the Forest of Menos's Core Area would sense her whereabouts. They could not afford to expose themselves yet.

"Ah... Lord Wien really is so strong after advancing." Nel was like a little fangirl, but she quickly shook her head, skipped over to a corner of the forest, and hid herself, suppressing her Spiritual Pressure. There, she waited for Wien to return.

Meanwhile, Wien concealed his Spiritual Pressure as he sped through the forest using Sonído. Sonído itself was a spatial movement technique, and the nature of Wien's second ability was space, so his Sonído was far faster than that of an ordinary Pseudo-Adjuchas, and it carried him farther as well. With his Spiritual Pressure hidden by his Concealment ability, Wien was like a ghost, slipping silently into the Forest of Menos.

Whenever he grew tired from traveling, Wien found isolated Gillians and landed soundlessly on their shoulders. With a swing of his right claw, he severed their heads and ate their masks. After that quick replenishment of Spiritual Power, he set out again. Within half a day, Wien reached the territory he and Jekain had agreed on before, a resource area belonging to Jekain himself.

Finding a lord within his territory was simple. All Wien had to do was make a little noise. He slowly raised his left hand, and a Pale Gold Cero swiftly took shape at the tip of his left index finger.

Hum!

The air around the Pale Gold Cero burst under its pressure. A large tree nearby was also blown to pieces by the blast.

Awooooo!

The roars of Menos Grande rang through the sky. The Gillians' cries were filled with fear as they all tried to flee the area as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Spiritual Pressures of several Adjuchas-class Menos Grande soared into the sky as they rushed toward Wien. Among them was a Spiritual Pressure that felt familiar to him: Jekain's.

Wien abruptly activated Sonído and headed toward Jekain. In just a few breaths, he appeared before him.

"Jekain." Wien's sudden appearance startled Jekain, but the familiar voice immediately told him who had come.

"My king? Is that you? Have you completed your advancement?" Seeing the Hollow suddenly appear out of thin air before him, Jekain hurriedly sought confirmation.

"Mm." Wien swung his arms. "This is what I became after advancing. Compared to before, I feel so much stronger." Wien briefly told Jekain about his current situation.

"I'm glad you're safe and sound," Jekain said respectfully.

"Yeah, everything went smoothly." Wien nodded, but then he sensed four more Pseudo-Adjuchas Spiritual Pressures rushing toward him. He instinctively prepared for battle.

"My king, it's all right. These four Adjuchas are my subordinates." Jekain gestured for Wien to relax. "While you were away, I also built up quite a force." As he finished speaking, four Pseudo-Adjuchas landed beside Wien and Jekain at the same time. All four pairs of hostile eyes, however, fell on Wien.

"My lord, this is..." A Humanoid Hollow stepped forward and asked Jekain.

"He's my friend, Wien." Jekain did not reveal Wien's true identity. After all, if a king were suddenly imposed on them, those under him might not all accept it. They obeyed Jekain, after all, and only strength could win their acknowledgment and loyalty.

"Do you remember what I once told you? One day, we will end the High Lord Gatemont's rule and become kings ourselves. That day is almost upon us."

"We are willing to serve Lord Yinfeng forever." ×4

At Jekain's words, the four Hollows all dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. During the past year, while Wien had been advancing, Jekain had not been idle in the Forest of Menos. He had faithfully followed Wien's orders, investigating and learning the abilities and ranks of all the Pseudo-Adjuchas in the Central Forest. Although Jekain had not managed to gather intelligence on every Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande in that year, he had collected data on nearly sixty percent of them.

That included the abilities of the core Thirty-Six Lords and the High Lord. As for the remaining subordinates, it mattered little even if he knew nothing about them. And that was not all: Jekain had also been consolidating his own forces. Within the area he governed, he had taken four Low Rank Adjuchas as subordinates, and they could be said to be utterly loyal to him.

"Let's get straight to the point," Wien said. "The longer we wait, the more things could change. Right now, is that sensory-type Hollow beast you mentioned before, the one called Yisrute, the only Pseudo-Adjuchas who can survey the entire Forest of Menos?"

"Yes. Apart from him, the other Hollows aren't particularly strong at surveying Spiritual Pressure," Jekain replied. "Yisrute is a Mid Rank Adjuchas. He's a Humanoid Hollow with an elderly appearance. His body resembles a large tree, and his mask looks like its crown. His ability is wide-range Spiritual Pressure detection. At present, he can detect the entire Forest of Menos. But the farther away someone is, the more Spiritual Pressure they have to release for him to detect them. Otherwise, he can't sense them.

"Besides detecting Spiritual Pressure, he can also launch mental attacks, though they're not very effective. He should have detected the Spiritual Pressure from the Cero you just fired, but since the feel of your Spiritual Pressure has changed, he won't know who you are. And with the five of us Pseudo-Adjuchas around you, he might think a newly advanced Adjuchas has appeared in my territory, and that the five of us are trying to persuade him to join us."

"Does he have subordinates guarding him?"

"No. He lives on a lower level of the central tree, right beneath the High Lord's chamber. He doesn't need any subordinates of his own at all. Besides, there are another ten or so Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande living around the central tree. It won't be easy for us to get at him."

"How capable is he in battle?"

"He's very old. He's weak and moves slowly. Support-type Hollows like him need protection from other Hollows, after all. And he seems to have been stuck at this rank for a long time without making any progress. Perhaps..." Jekain's meaning was clear. Every Hollow had different potential, and Yisrute's potential probably only went that far.

"What about the High Lord?"

"A high-tier Adjuchas, only one step away from the peak." Jekain narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "His name is Gatemont. He's a Humanoid Hollow with a tail. He attacks with Spiritual Pressure cannons on his shoulders and a tail hammer. The Spiritual Pressure cannons fire Ceros from two barrels, with twice the power and speed of an ordinary Cero. The tail hammer is a melee weapon. His arms are thick and strong, with no claws." Jekain explained the High Lord's abilities and data one by one.

"It's said that Gatemont met Yisrute when he was still a Low Rank Pseudo-Adjuchas, and they've been together ever since. Thanks to their broad sensing range, the two of them escaped pursuit by their enemies many times in the Forest of Menos and made it to where they are today, step by step. The two Hollows have always been close."

"What about the Hollows on guard?"

"They're stationed around the central tree. They're mostly low- or mid-tier Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande. Their abilities aren't the kind suited to battle. They're more for raising alarms and tracking."

"Mm. I have a general idea now." After a moment, Wien nodded.

"It's precisely because their defenses are always so tight that we can't force our way in," Jekain said, shaking his head. He knew all too well that the living radar was the hardest thing to deal with in the entire forest. Otherwise, he would not have gathered only four Pseudo-Adjuchas to his side in a year. Without that detection ability, Jekain would not have needed to worry about his secret recruitment being discovered.

"It's fine. Leave him to me. You just need to wait here." With that, Wien concealed his form and Spiritual Pressure, vanishing before the Hollows' eyes. All five Pseudo-Adjuchas present froze on the spot. They could not detect a trace of his Spiritual Pressure. How had he done it?

Less than three hours later, however, the High Lord Gatemont's furious roar came from deep within the forest. His violent Spiritual Pressure shook the entire forest. Wien, meanwhile, returned to Jekain's side with ease, carrying Yisrute's head and mask.

"Done." Wien tossed Yisrute's head in front of Jekain and stuffed the mask into his mouth. "Have someone stand guard here. You should also get ready to answer the High Lord's summons. I'm going to bring Nel over."

"This... yes."