The Forest of Twin Disasters was calm with the occasional rustling of leaves as humans and creatures made their way through the various paths within the forest.
With the addition of six new humans to the Forest’s population, things were sure to get lively even a little bit but now was not the time.
“What were the king’s orders again?” The lady with pink hair asked, her eyes tracing the unseen contours of their own leader’s body. Even though she was asking an important question, her eyes told a different story.
She seemed more interested in prying open the black-haired figure’s armor.
“Amelia, if you keep looking at Gerald that way, you just might undo his armor.” The golden-haired lady nudged at the pink-haired one with a small smile on her face.
Amelia, as revealed by the second lady, took her eyes off Gerald, their leader, and turned to her female colleague. “That’s exactly what I intend to do, Liyah. Now, let me be.” She turned back, her eyes focused on Gerald once again.
“Besides, if the armor does come off, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t look away either,” Amelia muttered just loud enough for Liyah to hear.
“Tsk! You don’t know that.” Liyah said, turning her face away from Amelia who began to chuckle at Liyah’s action.
Gerald and the other cloaked figure were up ahead, a few meters apart from each other and the team behind as they attempted to deal with any threat that lay awaiting.
Gerald turned his head to the left just enough so his left eye could meet the ladies and then he focused it on Amelia. “He said to bring back the boy’s body. We don’t know if he’s still alive or dead but we’re supposed to bring the body regardless.”
“Also, if we fail to find the body within three days, we are required to return immediately. Staying an extra day might exponentially increase our encounter with the magic beasts and demons that roam this forest. They’re attracted to a huge gathering of magic essence after all.” Gerald explained to Amelia and then faced forward once again.
He’d told her the basics of the mission and he was certain she would understand the rest herself.
Humans like them who’d gathered a lot of magic essence within their essence cores were basically targets of the creatures within this forest. Especially the magic beasts that required large amounts of essence to further grow.
“Three days to search this massive place, huh?” This time, it was one of the two identical men that spoke up. There was a small paper map in his hand that detailed the entire Forest’s size.
“Hey, Darius. This place feels a little too calm, don’t you think?” The second man asked, his words directed at the other figure resembling him. Both figures took the rear with their large shields held in their hands. Their eyes scanned their surroundings, especially the sides. “I mean, for a place rumored to be full of magic beasts and even demons, there shouldn’t be a lack of activity at…”
“Shh! Don’t jinx it! Do you really want to get into a battle despite just arriving here? How about we scan the area a little more before encountering a battle? Huh, Garius?” Darius turned toward his twin brother, Garius. While Darius walked on the left wing, Garius took the right wing.
“Yes.” Garius’s response was exactly how his brother had anticipated. “I would like to go against the dwellers of this magnificent and terrifying forest so when we return, I can boast of having visited the Forest of Twin Disasters, fought the beasts in it, and then returned alive,” Garius answered, his neck elevated proudly as he imagined how he would narrate the tale to others.
Darius sighed at his brother’s delusion and once again, focused on his left, the angle he was watching over along with their backs.
Darius had just finished turning when he noticed something dark twisting and turning in the distance.
At first, it wasn’t that obvious but the more he looked, the clearer he could see. “Huh? What the hell is that?” he muttered to himself but he ended up speaking louder than he’d intended. His words drew the attention of the others but they didn’t know what he was referring to.
The dark figure was becoming larger by the second and then it occurred to Darius. It kept changing form because it wasn’t a creature. It was an attack. ‘Garius, you bastard! You jinxed it!’
“Incoming!” He shouted as he pulled his shield in the direction of the incoming attack. “Garius!!” He yelled, calling his brother for backup.
“On it!” Garius yelled back as he pulled his shield as well, positioning the large silver construct beside his brother’s.
“Now!” They roared in unison and immediately, a silver incorporeal shield formed in front of their shield, its size four times as large as their shields out together.
It covered all six of them from the incoming attack that happened to arrive just as the incorporeal shield finished forming.
Boom!!
The explosion rocked the entire area tearing trees from the roots. For a moment, even with the shield in front of them. All they could see was darkness.
There was a wild whirlwind as the attack reached its climax and seconds later, it died down, revealing a barren land for over fifteen meters in the direction from where the stack had come.
As brightness returned to their sights, they scanned the area for signs of whatever had sent such a devastating attack but found nothing.
“What the fuck was that?” Amelia asked with a shocked expression.
The attack was dreadful but that was the most dreadful fact. It was the fact that none of them had sensed it until it was too late. If it wasn’t for Darius, they would definitely have suffered damages.
Fwoosh!
They heard something like wind blow past and Gerald turned toward another direction. When he came in contact with the sound’s maker, he paused.
It was a demon. Charred skin, obsidian horns, and jagged teeth with terrifying claws.
They’d encountered a calamity from the start.
_____________________
A/N: Apologies for the past days without a release. I was admitted in the hospital but in back now. Thank you all for sticking around. I will return to regular updates from today.
Thank you all!!