Others seemed to sense the overwhelming presence as well, their faces hardening as they stared in the same direction.
A monster capable of releasing such a powerful aura could only be...
The Master of the Forest.
Everyone swallowed nervously without a word.
Thud.
“Wait.”
Kainel grabbed Ceres just as she tried to move forward again. Even she couldn’t face the Master of the Forest alone.
Smack.
Ceres brushed his hand away with ease and clicked her tongue.
“Are you still going to stop me?!”
Her eyes flashed coldly.
“......”
...She wasn’t just reckless. She had completely lost her mind.
Kainel sighed and grabbed her hand again, as if telling her to calm down.
He had sensed it too. Not only the presence of the Master of the Forest, but also a faint presence nearby.
It seemed that sensing Julia’s presence had caused Ceres to lose the last bit of reason she had been clinging to.
“You save Julia.”
“......”
He repeated his words from earlier, reminding her of what she needed to do. While he drew the Master of the Forest’s attention, she would rescue the child. Ceres understood and quietly nodded.
The two moved forward again, and the others [N O V E L I G H T] followed behind them in silence.
...The smell of blood.
Ceres’s brows furrowed as she followed the source of the aura. The closer they got, the stronger the scent of blood became. Her steps quickened.
[Growl...]
The monster’s roar shook the entire forest, making everyone tense.
Before them was a pure white wolf, a creature with not a single speck of another color on its body. Its enormous size surpassed even several buildings combined.
As the wolf lay on the ground and let out a low growl, the air around them trembled as if reacting to its voice.
Gasp! What are those monster corpses?
Around the wolf lay piles of dead monsters. They had clearly been torn apart by the wolf, their bodies ripped to pieces.
Thud.
[Growl...]
The wolf lowered its growl when Kainel took a step closer. It was a warning to stay away, a clear declaration that it wouldn’t allow anyone near. Its blue eyes flashed sharply.
Shing.
Kainel immediately drew his sword, but he couldn’t attack carelessly. He could sense Julia’s presence coming from the wolf.
Was she trapped inside its curled-up body? Why was the wolf keeping her there?
“Wait.”
Just as Kainel raised his sword, Ceres grabbed his hand. From the moment she stepped into this place, she had felt something was wrong. Julia’s presence was far too quiet.
No, it was more than that. It was peaceful.
The child wasn’t crying, nor did she seem injured or unconscious. It was almost like...
.....Is she sleeping?
Ceres couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. From within the Forest Master’s curled-up body came the sound of steady breathing.
Why was Julia sleeping in the arms of a monster?
Could it be... The monster is protecting the child?
The way it kept everyone else from approaching made it seem that way.
[....]
“......”
For a moment, Ceres’s eyes met the wolf’s.
The wolf, which had been keeping watch over its surroundings while letting out a low growl, finally fell silent. Then, it slowly rose to its feet.
“Gasp!”
“Hk!”
Even while lying down, the wolf’s presence had been overwhelming. But once it stood tall, its sheer size and power were enough to leave everyone there frozen in place.
Rustle.
The wolf slowly moved away. That was when they finally saw Julia curled up on the ground, sleeping peacefully.
“Mm...”
As soon as the warmth that had protected her from the cold wind disappeared, Julia shivered in her sleep and let out a small whine.
[.....]
The wolf looked at the child before turning its gaze back to Ceres. Then, it stepped away once more as though telling her to take the child.
“Julia!”
Ceres reached her in an instant and carefully examined her from head to toe.
Was she hurt anywhere?
“Mm... Uh... Ceres?”
At last, Julia rubbed her eyes and woke up completely. She blinked several times, still dazed.
Where am I? Why is Ceres here?
Then, the memory of what had happened came rushing back. Her eyes widened.
“C-Ceres... Uwaaa!”
The moment she remembered being tied up with tree vines and dragged away to an unknown place, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
Ceres gently patted Julia’s back as she asked in a calm voice. She knew that if an adult panicked in front of a frightened child, it would only make the child’s emotions grow worse.
“Waaaaah!”
But in the end, Julia burst into tears. Ceres pulled her into her arms and sighed in relief.
It was better this way. At least she was able to cry.
Ceres looked up, once again certain that Julia had survived because something had protected her. But the white wolf was already gone. There was no trace of it left.
“Where’s Whitey?”
“Whitey?”
“Yes.”
Julia must have been talking about the Master of the Forest. Despite having been crying moments ago, she hurriedly looked around for the wolf.
“Whitey saved me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. When those monsters were about to attack me, Whitey helped me.”
Julia looked at the dead monsters scattered around them with fear in her eyes.
After stroking the child’s hair, Ceres looked back at the spot where the pure white wolf had been standing.
Why?
Why would an S-class monster, the Master of the Forest no less, go out of its way to protect Julia?
Ceres couldn’t understand it. But the only one who could answer that question had already vanished.
.
.
.
Side Story: The Master of the Ice Tree Forest
I was never ordinary, not from the moment I was born.
[How could something like that exist...]
[It’s unnatural.]
Among a pack of ordinary brown wolves, I was the only one born with pure white fur. That alone became a weakness, both for me and for the wolves around me.
[White fur makes us easy targets.]
[Exactly. If we stay with you, we’ll only end up dead.]
Simply because my fur was different, I was rejected by the others.
[Get out.]
[My mother told me not to play with you.]
Thud!
Thud!
Whine...
I was bullied and never accepted by the pack. That was when I first learned that being different was enough to make others hurt you.
Still, I endured. I had nowhere else to go.
When they hit me, I took it. When they left me hungry, I filled my stomach with water instead. I endured the cold gazes of my own kind and stayed by their side.
[Don’t follow us.]
[You are no longer part of our pack.]
But in the end, I was abandoned. When the pack left for another territory, they left me behind.
At only five months old, I was alone in the forest.
Whine...
There was nothing I could do. I didn’t know how to hunt or live among others.
[That thing... it’s strange.]
[Don’t come any closer!]
Thud!
Whine... Whine...
No pack would accept me. The moment I approached, I was driven away. All I could do was run.
Hunger became a part of my daily life, and the number of wounds covering my body only increased. Eventually, I became used to being alone.
I avoided other creatures before they could hurt me. It was the only way I knew how to survive.
If only my fur wasn’t this color.
If only I had been born with an ordinary coat...
Whenever I was abandoned, whenever others tore into me with their teeth, I cursed this white fur. Because I believed this color was the reason I had been abandoned and made to suffer.
Being born this way... I hated it. And it made me sad.
Growl!
A strange creature I had never seen before chased after me. It was huge and terrifying...
That thing... is it a monster?
A gray wolf I had met by chance once had warned me that if I ever encountered a creature like that, I had to run.
So I ran with every bit of strength I had left.
Roar!
But the monster was faster. The liquid it spat from its giant spider-like mouth struck my back.
Ahhh!
Pain unlike anything I had ever felt tore through my body. It felt as though my back was being burned alive.
But I couldn’t stop. If I was caught now, I would die. I pushed myself harder and forced my legs to keep moving, but the monster was faster.
Roar!
Another spray of liquid flew toward me.
So this is it... I’m going to die.
Well, maybe that wasn’t so bad. Was a life like this really worth continuing?
At that moment, everything felt meaningless.
Slash.
[......?]
Then, something impossible happened. The monster chasing me was split in two and collapsed right before my eyes.
“Monsters really are everywhere.”
A strange voice reached my ears. It was a human.
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