Seras frowned when she noticed Damonâs gaze still remained there even when the lights had revealed nothing. Even she had a vague feeling something should have been there.
"What did you see," she asked calmly, her eyes gazing around the area with a sharpness like a sword.
Damon stood up slowly, his eyes narrowed.
"Something, thatâs for sure. But for the life of me, I couldnât tell you what."
She nodded slowly. That was unusual, but this was the Evil Forest after all.
"I see. I didnât expect weâd run into one of the abominations of the Evil Forest so soon. We let our guard down."
Still, anything was better than nothing. She turned her gaze back to the dark tree line, where even shadows seemed to be consumed by an unending darkness.
"What did it look like, from what youâve seen?"
Damon glanced at the man who was breathing heavily but still unconscious.
"It was one of those things that mess with your perception. It seemed tall, but hunched too. When I looked at it, I could feel its breath on my face. It was so close... and still it was far enough that my sword wouldnât reach it."
She nodded as Renata stepped into the defensive circle.
"Hm. It must be a creature with a conceptual-type attribute. Thatâs not rare at all in places like this. When dealing with these kinds of entities, they bend the rules of the world and operate under esoteric laws."
She sighed, crossing her arms.
"Iâve read several Academy reports on this forest, and I can say without a doubt, this whole thing is alive. The forest doesnât like us, and it will try to kill us at every turn."
Damon wasnât surprised by that. It was like the Whispering Forest, except unlike that place, the Evil Forest was constantly being explored.
"The Whispering Forest has rules, actually, a lot of them. But the most important one is never letting the forest know your name."
"Does the Evil Forest have such a rule," he muttered.
"No. Not really. The Evil Forest has many rules across different regions, and those rules change depending on the season. The forest also births different entities at different times, from the thoughts and fears of those who step inside. This place has quite the nasty collection."
She placed a hand on her waist.
"The farther you go, the lower your chances."
Damon gazed at the black soil of the Evil Forest, the oppressive darkness, the sense of something watching them, his own heartbeat syncing with the silence.
"If thatâs the case, doesnât that mean our own fears can birth monsters of unimaginable proportions?"
Renata nodded slowly.
"It can, but this place is ancient. Thereâs nothing we can imagine that hasnât already been imagined by someone else. That isnât something to worry about."
"For now, we should wait until morning, then keep moving," Seras added.
"The closer we get to the inner region, the more powerful they become, and the less time we have. At least half of our total number of units will die before we reach the ocean on the other side."
Her words were cold and merciless, making the expedition force visibly shaken with fear, but she knew exactly what she was doing.
"If you donât want that to be you," she continued, "then I suggest you keep your wits about you. Death is lurking everywhere."
Everyone saluted, and it was as if they became more vigilant instantly.
She glanced at a young woman examining the injured man.
"What did you learn," she asked.
The woman had green hair and brown eyes. She looked like an elf, but clearly wasnât native to the Verdant Continent, she was from one of the elven tribes of Soltheon.
"I think weâre dealing with a stalker."
When she said that, Serasâs eyes flickered with annoyance. Damon figured from her reaction that it was something troublesome.
"A stalker, huh." Kael walked toward them, wearing light armor and surrounded by a few knights he had taken scouting after the attack.
"Did you find anything," Seras asked.
Kael shook his head.
"If weâre dealing with a stalker, we wouldnât."
Damon turned to Seras.
"Whatâs a stalker?"
She held her temple, genuinely irritated.
"Something troublesome. Itâs a horror unique to the inner forest. Theyâre very few in number, but weâve had enough encounters to record them, just not enough to actually know how to kill them."
Kael glanced at Damon with the look of a professor correcting a wayward student.
"These entities are virtually unkillable as long as they are being observed. To that end, they are similar to Weeping Angels, another type of entity I hope we donât encounter. Though these are different. Unlike the angels, they can move even when observed."
Damon frowned, biting his lip.
"So they canât move if they arenât being observed by something. It doesnât even have to be human, right? How do we kill something we canât even observe?"
"If we observe them, we canât kill them. And we canât kill them without observing them. What a paradox," Renata muttered.
Damon glanced at the young elf woman.
"If you have records, that means someone survived one before, right?"
She shook her head, fear evident on her face.
"In most instances, the target of the stalker used instant teleportation scrolls or greater teleportation magic to escape. The best method I know of is sealing magic, seal it away."
Damon took a deep breath.
"Sealing magic... I doubt sealing something like that would be easy or permanent."
Seras nodded slowly.
"Yes. I agree. Weâd just have to kill it."
Damon agreed. He would have to figure out how to kill something that couldnât be killed while being observed.
There had to be a rule that allowed it to die.
"It already attacked, so it probably wonât attack anyone again tonight."
Plup.
Someone fell to the ground at the edge of the campsite. Something leapt off a branch and vanished.
Seras glanced at him, frowning.
"You were saying?"
Damonâs expression turned cold.
"Iâm definitely killing that thing."