Chapter 21: Vol. 1 Part. 21: Inside the infected forest

Luna had vanished too quickly and didn't even allow Jannet to say goodbye. She knew that Jannet had formed a strong emotional bond with her. Maybe it was due to magical evolution that she was clinging to Luna like a burr. From her perspective, it wasn't a negative thing because she enjoyed Jannet's company. Still, she was astonished at how quickly she became emotional support for Jannet despite being responsible for the separation from her family.

It was already dark. The wall wasn't exceptionally high, so she climbed over it in seconds. The devilish smell greeted her as she reached the top. She had smelled a lot, but this one beat all the previous ones. Not even rotten eggs could match the terrible smell of the infection.

Luna grimaced, shook her body, jumped down the wall, and sprinted into the dark woods. She was barely a hundred meters into the forest when she noticed signs of the monster plague. Not only was it spreading, but it had stopped abruptly, as if at a border.

'Odd,' thought Luna. It was clear that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Monsters patrolled the wall at regular intervals. Most likely to ensure that no one dared to enter the forest. The forest provided natural protection from the soldiers' gaze. The infection had spread as far as it could, but it still tried to stay out of people's sight.

Luna carefully crossed the line that separated the living and dead forests.

The stench intensified many times over, and she paused as it became harder to walk. The floor was covered by a black mass that clung to the soles of her feet, making a loud, squishy sound that echoed through the forest with every step. 'A warning system was built into the ground; I guess I should be very cautious.'

She didn't know how connected the ground was to the plague of monsters or the queen, but for now, she assumed that it was only meant to carry sounds.

Unfortunately, the sound was not the only issue; with every step, the spot around Luna lit up slightly. She tested it by humming a low tone with her voice. Matching her voice, the floor pulsated with fluorescent lights. She cursed inwardly as it was almost impossible to get through the forest undetected.

Her eyes lit up purple again as she took a closer look at the area. She saw some large, but they were also covered in slime. Trees stood to one side of her, and since only the lower part of the trunk was covered by mud, she decided to dance over the trees for now. She jumped up the tree like a squirrel. Creaks made the surroundings glow and the air tremble. She knew that any trees in the area were dead, and the wood was rotten.

Luna knew she was taking a massive risk; if one of the thick branches couldn't hold her weight, she would fall to her doom. She probably wouldn't mind the fall, but the noise it would make could guide all the monsters to her surroundings.

When she reached the summit, Luna removed her shoes and cleaned them on the dried and charred bark. Every shockwave produced by the interaction between the bark and the shoe caused the slime under her feet to shine.

If she had not removed the Black Slime warning mechanism from her sole, she would have leaped as a beacon through the woods. A bit of black mass remained on her shoe. Luna tapped the shoes together twice and watched as the soles lit up slightly. Truly a masterful warning system. Luna admired the monsters' skills, although it was probably all down to the queen. They could multiply and spread so quickly while securing their entire territory.

At least Luna suspected the echo, and the lights would set off an alert. However, she did not want to test her hypothesis. As soon as she was discovered, the task was to leave the forest as quickly as possible.

She dared to fight monsters, but if a legion came rushing towards her, the only option was to flee. None of her standard spells would be able to do enough damage to stop such an avalanche. One of her greater spells could do that with no problem at all, but in an emergency, she wouldn't have the time to construct it. She'd spend her preparation time being torn to pieces by the monster.

Luna jumped smoothly through the treetops. The moons shone down upon the earth, revealing the landscape beneath her and obscuring it from the land dwellers' view. No slime lit up around her as she silently jumped from branch to branch. So far, Luna hasn't seen any monsters, but that could change at any moment.

Her eyes lit up at full speed. She tried to perceive any movement below her and avoid it if possible.

A screech in the distance made Luna stop her advance. Monsters could be seen forming a sideline and appearing to be traveling straight ahead like a highway. She was visibly confused by this. The monsters moved like machines in unison as they followed one direction. Their postures were the same, and even their breathing was in sync. It was fascinating but also scary to watch at the same time. They were all just soulless bodies bound to this world by some powerful spell. Their bodies had rotted so badly that one might think they would collapse at any moment.

Luna looked in the direction the monstrosities were marching. It was by no means the direction of the camp. Her eyes widened as she realized where the march was leading. Orchids Swamp, home to countless gigantic creatures, lay in that direction. Should the infection manage to infect them and integrate them into their army, then the chance of success of catapulting a siege or even invasion of the kingdom into the air.

Luna is confident that they cannot withstand a frontal attack from such a force, no matter how strong Athylia is. The line of monsters was wide and stretched farther than the eye could see. The number was impossible to count. Like a force of nature, they marched through the dark forest and trampled down everything that got in their way.

'Maybe I underestimated the whole thing. I'm not sure I can run away from that many monsters.' Among them, Luna also identified rose-like plant demons that she had encountered before with Jannet. The army not only had high mobility but also good long-range attackers. In the event of an escape, several factors would come together. Not only would she have to shake off the wolves and lizards, but she would also have to watch out for spikes that could be shot at her. In the state the monsters are in, they're unlikely to pay much attention to allies.

Luna's eyes wandered behind the rows of monsters; most of the trees had already been felled by the march. In order to get to the other side, she would have to make a long jump. 'What's the best way to get to the other side now?' Luna asked herself.

She didn't have a lot of options. She wouldn't be able to jump that distance, even with a strengthened body. This is not only due to being outside of their magic field but also due to the stability of the tree. It would splinter, leaving her unable to accumulate enough energy to cover the distance.

With elemental magic, she could probably fly over or at least generate enough propulsion for a jump. It was a tough nut to crack. 'It could work like this,' she thought. She unsheathed one of her daggers. Darkness gradually gathered in the other hand, pulsing like black smoke in her hand.

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She began weaving the darkness into silk and tying it with her dagger. The air started to whistle as Luna spun the thin rope over her head like a propeller. With a soft pop, Luna loosened her grip on the rope. The dagger shot through the air like an arrow and wrapped itself around the trunk on the other side of the bank with a deep sound. She tied her side to the tree on which she was currently standing.

Carefully, she began to walk on the rope. It barely swung back and forth, and the spot her feet were standing on got bigger and smaller as she took steps. Luna was nervous, although to say she was nervous would be an understatement. One wrong step and she would fall into the abyss, which was literally made of monsters. Her whole body was tense, which made her drenched in sweat before long.

The further she progressed, the windier it got. She found herself in the middle of the abyss, where every tree lay uprooted, splintered, and trampled on the ground. If anything spotted her, there was no way she could flee.

A strong gust of wind hit her body and made her swing. Her feet stuck to the leash like glue. Luna exhaled when she finally regained her balance. She was able to calm down again. The wind had dropped for a moment, and she took the opportunity to cross the side. Arriving at the other end, Luna loosened her dagger from the tree and let the rope disappear.

It was a great pity that she couldn't keep the rope, but with all that might come her way, it would be too exhausting to maintain a nearly hundred-meter-long rope manifest all the time. She wished she could keep the rope tied to the tree, but she couldn't go too far, or else it would just vanish.

The trees were denser again, and she was able to jump over the treetops. Every tree around them seemed to be straight out of a horror movie. The slimy substance that covered the entire earth slowly crept up the trees. The deeper she ventured into the forest, the higher the alarm system went. Luna noticed more and more mushrooms growing on the trees. Dune Black veins grow up the tree like ivy. Her advance slowed down more and more as other unknown factors became obstacles.

She had to take a break more often because more and more monsters ran into her. Luckily, none of them picked up her scent.

'Happy too soon.' In the distance, her purple eyes spotted two white, nightmare-like creatures. They were about four meters tall and had an exoskeleton like a beetle. But what was the exoskeleton for if the front had a large V-neckline on the chest, which was covered by countless eyes? Several skulls sat where the head should usually be.

They had multiple arms on each side and spikes sharp enough to pierce any armor. The two specimens had no feet, only thousands and thousands of tentacles. It looked odd but not grotesque like other creatures Luna had seen before. Instinctively she knew to avoid these two at all costs. Not only did they look more dangerous, but they seemed to communicate with each other. They weren't remote-controlled dolls, so if she's caught, an alarm will go off immediately.

Luna immediately wrapped her body in a thin but dense layer of dark smoke. She jumped to the right side as fast as she could. No sound was heard as the darkness muffled it. The tentacles of the White Nightmares seemed to sense tremors nonetheless. Turning regularly, Luna watched as the creatures were drawn to her position. Yes, they were moving slowly, but they were on to her.

Luna pushed further and further into the forest.

Suddenly, she spotted something strange in the distance, a large open forest area. Not a single tree was there. Luna rubbed her eyes a couple of times. Only a big round stone was visible in the middle.

Luna knew she had arrived at her destination. This place reeked of malice. The pure moonlight was swallowed up in this area. It was pitch black, and without her enchanted eyes, she wouldn't even notice the rock in the center. Someone wanted to keep this place a secret from everyone. The darkness, which sucked in all light from the surrounding area, made spying from above impossible.

That is to say, even by day, this place would be shrouded in total darkness. Only a powerful light spell could break through it, but if Luna did that, she could give up her cover right away.

'The stone is probably the Nest of Kings,' Luna guessed. She knew the queen had to be gigantic, but if it were buried under the rock, it could be up to 20 meters tall! 'I don't even need a full look; small features would do.' Luna carefully climbed down from the tree. A dune-thick layer of darkness now surrounded the soles of her feet. Each step was slow and silent, preventing the floor from lighting up.

Luna frowned because, even after 20 minutes, she still hadn't found any tracks. Dragons, snakes, or other gigantic beasts would leave traces when looking for food. However, there was nothing here. Slowly but surely, she moved towards the rock, but unfortunately, she didn't see any cave entrance. According to her estimate, the stone had a diameter of almost 8 meters. Sadly, the spell prevented her from seeing the rock clearly.

Luna had long since lost track of time. She didn't even know when she entered the spell area. It had taken a long time to get here, and in this open space, thanks to the magic, she couldn't see whether the new day had already dawned. She had hoped to identify the species based on the tracks. Luna approached the rock step by step; it was almost spherical and unusually round for a natural rock. Every step made her hair stand on end; something wasn't right.

She stopped 15 meters before the stone. Her instincts screamed for her to flee, but Luna didn't understand why. The White Nightmares hadn't followed her anymore, and she hadn't seen any other beings either.

So only the queen or whatever was under the stone could be responsible. 'What the?' Just as Luna was about to take another step forward, without warning, the earth began to shake. Instinctively, she took a step back. The pressure that emanated from this stone was so tremendous that it made the entire area vibrate.

The air crackled with energy, and the earth cracked under earthquakes. Luna was having trouble staying on her feet. Rocks were pushed up by sheer pressure. Luna concentrated on jumping from stone to stone without losing her balance. She had to build up distance and flee as soon as possible.

When she was out of range, she turned back to see what kind of monster was emerging. Only the rock floated in the air.

She came close to being knocked off her feet when a massive mana wave erupted. "llaf ssenkrad lanrete dna ,nekorb eb etaf fo sniahc eht teL .dlrow siht fo nerdlihc ,em denekawa evah uoY." 

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