“Okay, time to get out of here.”
“Right!”
After one last check, it was time to leave the cave. Much like on my way here, I didn’t sense anything—not the invisible monster and not any other signs of life. It was the same as before. But now that I knew the cause of it all, I had to be even more careful. If anything ambushed us, it would almost certainly be the monster. We had no choice but to push forward while keeping as alert as possible.
“It’s pretty creepy now that I think about it...” I muttered.
“It took quite a while for me to notice too,” Surena said. “We lost our seeker because there wasn’t anything at all to detect...”
“Makes sense...”
Seekers were adventurers who were responsible for securing their team’s safety by exploring and scouting the area. If I remembered right, the seeker for Porta’s team was Sarlikatz. Sarlikatz had the help of a magic tool that emitted light based on the number of presences around it. Would a tool like that even react to this monster, though? The monster clearly used magic too, so you could assume it had some way of escaping such a tool’s effects.
It was hard to believe that such a monster even existed. Any living being gave off a minuscule presence, no matter how hard they tried to hide it, and seekers understood this. Unfortunately, this notion had led to the downfall of the seeker in Surena’s party—this monster had been able to catch them off guard by exploiting that blind spot.
As for our current formation, I took the front while Surena watched the rear. Pisces was right between us, carrying Pauford. This was really the only formation we could take—the one who needed the most protection had to be in the middle.
“Pauford...hang in there...!”
Pisces shouted to the already unconscious Pauford every now and then. He’d used the potions I’d brought on Pauford too, but a potion on its own just wasn’t enough to mend a severe wound. Pauford seemed to be just barely clinging to life. If anything, he was impressive for hanging on for so long without any proper treatment. In terms of simple vitality, he was an excellent adventurer. We couldn’t afford to let him die.
“We’ll go back exactly the way I got here,” I said. “It’s still fresh in my mind, and I eliminated any noticeable threats on the way already.”
“Understood—lead on.”
In hindsight, defeating the small fry that had attacked me had been the right choice. Now, we didn’t have to spend time paying attention to additional enemies along the way.
The monster hadn’t attacked us at the cave’s exit, so I predicted it would strike the moment we were about to leave its territory. I had a certain feel for where that boundary lay, though it wasn’t visible to the eye, so we couldn’t just relax and assume we were safe. There was no telling what kind of irregularity awaited us—we couldn’t let down our guards for even a single moment.
“Just to ask,” I said, “do you know what the monster looks like?”
“It’s large and black,” Surena answered. “That’s about all we know.”
“Large and black, huh...”
That wasn’t much to go on, but its invisibility made it difficult to observe properly. If you only caught its silhouette right as it attacked, size and color were the only easily identifiable features.
Still, it being big was enough of a problem on its own. Say something evolved to be able to turn invisible—you would normally assume that adaptation was meant to help it hide from much stronger predators for the sake of survival. Being huge, strong, and having the ability to turn invisible was seriously cheating.
From what I could tell, the scenery in the Aflatta Mountain Range was the same everywhere. It wasn’t open enough to have the visibility of a field, nor was it as dense as a forest. The sun was on its way down, but it was still hanging in the sky, so if a large, black creature popped up, I would be able to spot it in an instant, even from far away. Since I can’t see it right now, it must really be invisible...
I knew Surena wasn’t lying, but until I made direct contact with the enemy, I was having problems getting a feel for it. Despite the casual thoughts going through my mind, my five senses were fortunately still in good health.
“Hm?! Pisces! Get down!” I yelled, sensing something intensely wrong.
“Gh?!”
The moment I turned around, Pisces was already moving. He’d reacted to my voice entirely on reflex. He really is a talented adventurer.
“Graaaaah!”
I brandished my sword toward that sense of dread I was feeling, and without the slightest visual premonition, a giant black monster suddenly blocked my view of the mountain scenery. My eyes managed to catch its incoming claw.
“Ugh!”
It was already mid-swing, coming at me horizontally. Naturally, I had no time to dodge, let alone counterattack. I only just managed to put my sword in the way. My brilliant blade definitely caught its blow, but my body couldn’t withstand the impact. I’d never thought I could best it in a contest of pure physical strength, but this attack was still far heavier than I’d expected—it easily lifted my body off the ground.
“Hup!”
I let the force carry me into the air, twisted my body, and managed to land on my feet. The moment my vision was level with the ground again, there was nothing at all—where the monster should’ve been, I saw empty space. Only the faintest vestige of its presence remained in the air to prove that the beast truly existed.
“It backed off after one attack...?” I muttered.
I’d been scrambling to decide what to do if it’d kept up the attack, but fortunately, it hadn’t come to that. Though I’d regained my balance as quickly as possible, the monster hadn’t followed up at all. The huge figure I’d spotted for just an instant the moment it’d attacked had completely vanished.
“I’m surprised you saw it coming...” Pisces said, getting up off the ground. “You really saved us.”
I hadn’t sensed a presence. I’d noticed it was there slightly before its presence had become apparent. You could call it instinct, I suppose.
“It made a sound,” I explained.
“It did...?”
I’d heard the sound of it kicking off the ground to attack. There was one thing I’d figured out from this: This monster was capable of erasing its image and presence. There was no mistaking that. As I said, I hadn’t sensed any presence until the moment of its attack. I didn’t claim to be the strongest swordsman in the world or anything, but if Surena and I were both incapable of sensing it, it was no exaggeration to say that the monster didn’t leave a trace of its presence.
However, it wasn’t like the monster vanished from the world itself. When it kicked off the ground, it created vibrations in the earth; if it walked through a meadow or forest, it would surely leave behind footprints. I was starting to see why it lived in the Aflatta Mountain Range. When it walked around on the hard stone of the mountain, it hardly left behind any tracks.
Also, it was pretty safe to assume that it couldn’t attack while invisible. If it could, it would basically be invincible. There must be some reason it can’t. I’d sensed the incoming attack due to the sound but had managed to fend it off because I’d managed to verify the attack by eye the moment before impact.
“Master, are you all right?” Surena asked, more just to check than out of any true concern.
“Yeah, this time. But...it might be hard to keep this up.”
We’d gotten out of this ambush unscathed. I didn’t know why exactly it hadn’t kept up the attack, even though I’d clearly lost my balance, but we’d definitely made it through. That said, combat wasn’t so simple—I couldn’t claim we’d be fine next time just because we’d managed it once. If our enemy were intelligent, it would be analyzing how I’d managed to block it. It might even have other means of attacking.
“Master?” Surena prompted as I remained deep in thought.
“O-Oh. Sorry, let’s pick up the pace.”
As I considered the enemy’s abilities, something started to bother me. However, we didn’t have the time to stop and think about it—we had to move.
The moment it had launched its attack, I’d clearly spotted its hulking form. Much like Surena had said, it was huge. It was approximately the same length as Zeno Grable but was significantly wider and far more muscular. And though it was mostly jet-black, that didn’t mean its entire body was a single color. Its claws and parts of its wings had a reddish tinge. The combination of black with red highlights was pretty sinister.
“There’s no way...right?” I muttered.
I’d only seen it for an instant. My eyes were good, but it was difficult to get a full picture of the monster in so little time. Still, something kept flickering through my mind. A bitter memory from my past resonated, a memory of the monster who’d just ambushed us.