King of the Wild Hunt, Eredin

The wizards cast spells methodically, but the Wild Hunt seemed to have its brain burned out by fire, only knowing to stand still to defend against attacks and release fireballs.

Moreover, as time went on, fireballs were used less and less, and defense became the dominant strategy.

The flames that engulfed him were still raging, but they had changed from incandescent to the red glow of dying charcoal.

Ailin then knew that the Wild Hunt was nearing its end.

The wizard also noticed that the frequency of the lightning, gale, and Ice Spike began to slow down and become gentler, just as a hunter's arrow had struck the beast's vitals, making the beast's death inevitable. Preventing a final counterattack that would injure himself was the top priority.

Ailin stared at the Wild Hunt's waist, studying the structure of the armor.

Four experienced sorcerers stood at the Magic Ritual. Not only was killing Vilgefortz a pipe dream, but he even needed to think about how to use his advantages to steal the Object of Destiny as silently as possible.

Why was it so easy for Sadia to take the fragment of the Gate of Ade Gais from Shaer Lavhed, following the guidance of fate?

He, however, needed to endure eighty-one tribulations to obtain the true scriptures...

Ailin couldn't help but sigh, "If only the Wild Hunt could have given the Warlock a big one before he died..."

Just as he was reflecting on this, a change actually occurred on the battlefield.

In the camp, a third voice suddenly appeared from the direction of the two Wild Hunt.

It was a majestic and elegant voice, each word like a hymn, yet those who heard it seemed to simultaneously hear swords and the vivid yet foul smell of blood.

When that voice appeared, the Wild Hunt awoke from his madness.

The flames engulfing his body suddenly went out, revealing a charred, bloody face.

The wizards gradually stopped casting spells.

This is obviously foolish, but wizards are curious creatures, and when they have the upper hand, they find it hard to suppress their curiosity about the unknown.

Everything about the Wild Hunt is unknown, and they are so powerful that a single Wild Hunt can leave these male wizards, who stand at the pinnacle of humanity, in a sorry state. In the end, the advantage they gained was only due to their injuries and abnormal mental and physical state.

Any information obtained from him could become their achievement, leading to advancements in wealth and power.

Even Vilgefortz, who wasn't particularly interested in it, withdrew his attention from somewhere else.

Ailin couldn't understand the conversation between the Wild Hunt and the voice, but he saw it begin by replying with surprise and reverence, seemingly just as surprised as they were by the appearance of the voice.

Then, gradually, Wild Hunt fell silent. After listening for a few more sentences, he looked down at the corpse of the dead female elf and replied with a statement that sounded like an explanation.

Then...

That elegant and dignified voice suddenly rose in pitch, as if it were a reprimand.

Throughout the entire conversation, the voice seemed oblivious to everyone else, as if the whole world should fall silent while they were talking.

Only the Wild Hunt would occasionally look up, glaring fiercely and hatefully at the other side.

Suddenly, Wild Hunt and the voice began to argue... no, judging from the tone, it sounded more like a plea...

"It's trying to escape!" The lead wizard's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Watch out for that sound! Attack now!!!"

All the male wizards began chanting spells, and the brightness of the runes and incantations on the magic circle carpet suddenly decreased, as all the energy accumulated during the truce was absorbed by the male wizards standing on it.

And the results were astonishing.

In an instant, lightning, snow, and storms once again tilted toward the camp, surging in like a roaring tide.

The momentum was even more astonishing than before the ceasefire.

Then...

The authoritative voice suddenly stopped.

The entire forest seemed to fall silent in fear.

The Wolf Emblem throbbed violently within Ailin's breastplate with an unprecedented frequency and force.

"Neén!!!"

Wild Hunt screamed with all his might, ignoring the rapidly approaching spell, and abruptly turned his back to the attack.

"What happened?"

After a lot of listening practice, I finally understood "neén" in Elder Speech, which expresses a strong refusal of "no!"

Ailin stared wide-eyed in bewilderment at the sudden outbreak of the battlefield.

Then he saw...

The corpses on the ground stood up.

"What?!" Ailin was horrified.

But what happened next completely shattered his expectations.

The head, with its delicate features, flew naturally to the broken point.

After being reattached, he even twisted his pale neck.

The corpse that stood up violently shoved away the grieving and shouting Wild Hunt, and a powerful Mental Fluctuation swept through the entire camp like a tsunami.

This indiscriminate Mental Fluctuation alone was enough to force Ailin out of hiding.

The Oterrohp Sign LV7 is a divine wall attached to the spirit in the sea of consciousness, constantly shaking, as if it were truly undergoing the test of a tsunami.

"Complete your task, you coward!"

She... no, it should be him. He, who was not holding the staff, gave a stern rebuke amidst the Mental Fluctuation. Without even looking up, he waved his hand lightly, and the whistling lightning, blizzard, and whirlwind blades that had come at him vanished into thin air in an instant, as if they had never appeared at all.

"How is that possible!"

"What!"

"What the hell is he?!"

The wizards screamed in terror.

Vilgefortz's mouth dropped open in shock, and he quietly took a few steps back.

To make a master-level spell vanish into thin air is something even Demon Source Heng Gedimidis couldn't do...

To what extent must one have control over the elements and magic to achieve this?

Could Joffrey Monk, who is said to have captured Spirits several times, do it?

As Ailin crouched low, he noticed that the moment the voice possessed the body and waved its hand, the skin of Wild Hunt Sera's corpse suddenly became much shriveled, and this change did not stop even after the unfathomable defensive technique ended.

"It's not without its price," he thought.

Even with the cost, it's still incredibly absurd to have gone this far.

Moreover, he handled it with such ease.

"Who is he?" After thinking for a moment, Ailin silently took a few steps back, away from the battlefield.

Sera, who waved away the spell, still didn't look at the warlock, but instead turned her head and coldly looked at the Wild Hunt.

Only after the Wild Hunt gritted his teeth, staggered off the battlefield, and disappeared into the thick darkness did he turn back and coldly look at the Ban Ad wizards who were on high alert.

"Who... who are you?" Miguel's voice trembled as he pointed his mahogany staff to the sky, a thick white line connecting it to the azure magical barrier.

"Excuse me," Sera bowed apologetically, as if he were truly sorry. "My name is Eredin Brick Glass, and of course... you may also address me in your human language as..."

"The King of the Wild Hunt ..." Ailin paused, taken aback.

He certainly knew Eredin; he was the big boss in the game, the invincible knight in the original novel, and the leader of the world-destroying Red Riders of Ain El— the Wild Hunt.

As for its strength...

To put it simply, he was the true leader and conqueror of the Red Riders of Ain El, who had been involved in the destruction of various worlds all along.

Ailin never imagined she would meet him so soon; it was like encountering a world-destroying boss right after leaving the beginner's village.

Originally intending to sneak away and catch up with the fleeing Wild Hunt, I involuntarily stopped.

Guided by fate, the Wild Hunt, severely wounded, could not run far.

But he didn't want to face the game's ultimate boss, the background character from the original story, before he was fully developed.

Moreover.

Even just possessing a corpse, the tip of the iceberg that Eredin has revealed is already far more powerful than in the game and the original work.

Easily extinguishing high-intensity spells...

How did Geralt defeat this monster?

With just a silver sword?

A chilling smile curled at the corner of Eredin's lips, "Wild Hunt Lord..."

Um?

Not The King of the Wild Hunt?

Ailin paused for a moment before realizing what was happening.

Yes...

In the future, after Eredin uses Ciri to "accidentally" poison Oberon Mushitaki, the king of Ion El, he will become the true King of the Wild Hunt.

That was decades ago, after Ciri had grown up.

"The Wild Hunt Lord..." several male wizards murmured absentmindedly.

"Why did you destroy..."

"Shh-"

Eredin extended her index finger and gently placed it to her lips.

But what interrupted Miguel's emotional roar was not Eredin's actions, but the sudden, thick smell of rust that filled the entire battlefield.

It was a killing intent that had no temperature, yet was even more chilling and piercing than the snow that never melts on the Blue Mountain.

Ailin could hear the rattling sound of teeth chattering.

That's what the male wizards are afraid of, including the Source Vilgefortz.

Even though the distance between them had grown quite far, Ailin's teeth were trembling instinctively, as if it were the most primal and instinctive fear etched deep in his soul.

"Time is running out," he said softly. "Please don't force me to kill you. I need some messengers to help me deliver my message."

Seeing the four people opposite him trembling in fear, Eredin nodded in satisfaction and withdrew her oppressive aura.

"The Red Riders is very 'satisfied' with your hospitality. We will definitely visit again after our souls have been reincarnated twice, bringing 'generous gifts' to reclaim our treasure."

This is a challenge!

Everyone present, including Ailin who was hiding in the darkness, realized this.

"A supreme treasure... what is a supreme treasure?"

Unable to contain his fear, Miguel instinctively asked.

"Oh~" Eredin squinted at the wizard, "You didn't know?"

Ailin instinctively tensed up.

Even if the King of the Wild Hunt were to utter the name of Ad Gais Gate, it would likely not affect him.

"It seems you're just minor characters..." Eredin shook her head helplessly.

A nobody?

The three classes—the highest-ranking star-robed archmages of Ade Academy, the five-person-ranked council members of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers in the entire Northern Continent, and a promising young magician—were stunned for a moment, but before they could even refute...

"It's alright," Eredin shook her head. "You're just messengers."

Then, as if realizing something, he paused for a second, moved his lips, sighed, and said something abruptly:

"Hopefully at least one person can deliver this message to your leader."

After speaking.

Those around him hadn't yet figured out the meaning behind his words.

"Pfft~"

Sera, possessed by Eredin, suddenly collapsed like a building block, her body split in two.

At the break, there was no trace of fresh red flesh and blood; instead, it resembled dry firewood.

The pitch-black battlefield remained silent for a long time.

Miguel waited carefully for a while longer, and only put away his staff when he saw that the corpse had not changed again.

The azure magical barrier disappeared.

"What...what does he mean?" Miguel looked at Vilgefortz.

Vilgefortz simply shook his head, then paused, pointing his index finger into the darkness behind the camp. "Should we still chase him? He... he hasn't gone far yet, we can catch him..."

The item hasn't been found yet, of course we have to keep chasing it... Miguel nodded. "Thank you for your help, Vigo..."

"Of course we won't chase them!" the other two male wizards interrupted in unison.

Miguel paused, muttering, "Andeni... Jared..."

"Are you insane, Miguel?" Andeni roared. "If we hadn't been tasked with delivering that message, we would all be dead by now!"

"But... we haven't gotten our target yet... that thing must be escaping..."

"Why do we need what was stolen?" Jared asked himself, answering, "To find out why the Wild Hunt is so powerful, and this..."

He jogged over to Sera's body in a few quick steps.

"We have the best material we have, a living... no... this is the only corpse left behind by the Wild Hunt, and she is even intact..."

"As long as bringing it back helps us get closer to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers... without taking any risks, Miguel, any risks!!!"

The only corpse... Ailin paused for a moment upon hearing this.

Did the wizards leave not a single corpse behind when the Wild Hunt attacked the day before yesterday?

How did they win?

He thought about it for a moment.

He seemed to know why the Wild Hunt roared in surprise at Sera's death after killing her.

"Is it because of the Witcher's Handbook? Or simply because I used [Demon Hunter]?"

He pondered this, quietly memorizing it, and then continued to carefully eavesdrop on the wizards' conversation.

Yes.

After Eredin left, Ailin did not immediately follow the guidance of fate to chase after her.

Because the Wild Hunt stopped moving not long before Eredin left.

The King of the Wild Hunt had only been gone a short while, and to be honest, he really didn't dare to chase after him.

He didn't believe that Eredin would leave without any preparation, simply having a few wizards deliver a message and then carelessly thinking everything was foolproof.

How could that be?

There must be something fishy about this.

The wizards were still arguing, or perhaps it wasn't really an argument, but rather two wizards trying to persuade one wizard, while Vilgefortz watched from the sidelines, seemingly unconcerned.

However, Ailin always felt that the source of the demon's gaze seemed to linger on Sera's corpse for far too short a time.

So he hid himself even deeper, waiting for things to develop further.

Just then...

"Careful!!!"

The nonchalant Vilgefortz and Miguel suddenly changed their expressions and pointed to Jared's back next to the corpse.