Rog froze in his tracks once his eyes settled on Allen. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?” the young master frowned. “Weren’t you guys meant to meet us here?”

“Were we?” the hunter scratched his beard. “I thought we were only waiting for Red.”

“Domeron said he talked to you about it.” Red said. “And you didn’t care.”

“Huh?” Rog looked amazed. “I think I wasn’t paying proper attention…”

“Nevermind that!” Rimold interjected. “What about the others? Weren’t they supposed to be with you?”

“Rimold!” the hunter’s eyes widened in surprise again. “You’re here? It’s been months since we last met!”

“Uh, right.” Rimold looked taken aback. “But more importantly-”

“Wow, you look different! Wait, why are you wearing bandit’s clothing?” Rog examined the man. “Ah, I get it! You were spying on the bandits, right? What a coincidence. I would never have expected-”

“Rog, that’s besides the point!” the man said, cutting him off. “Where are the others? Shouldn’t you be together?”

“Ah, right.” the hunter nodded, his expression becoming grim. “We got into a fight with some bandits that came out of nowhere while we were out looking for Red. If you’ve come from the west, you probably ran into some of their bodies, right?”

Allen’s face paled at the mention of the corpses, but Rog didn’t seem to have noticed it.

“Well, after investigating the area, we were sure we hadn’t missed any hidden camps, so we tried tracking them back to where they came from…” the hunter pointed behind himself. “That’s when we found a hidden tunnel.”

“Oh no…” Rimold face fell as he realize where Rog’s tale was heading.

“There were some pretty strong bandits there, though, and it took us a while to clear it. Still, some of them ended up escaping deeper into the tunnels in the end, and we decided to follow them.” the hunter looked over at Red. “However, we did not forget we had agreed to meet Red near this area, so we left someone behind to search for you while the others explored the tunnel.”

“How long ago was that?” Red asked.

“About an hour ago.”

“And how far is this tunnel?”

“A few kilometers back.”

The boy frowned. “It’s been an hour and you’ve only covered a few kilometers in your search for me?”

“Well, it’s not my fault!” Rog said in a defensive tone. “I had barely left the tunnel’s vicinity when people started appearing out of nowhere!”

“More people?” Rimold looked shocked. “Were they bandits?”

“No.” the hunter shook his head. “One of them was Rickard, I’m pretty sure. Behind him, though, there was a really strong red monster chasing after him.”

“The demon?!” Allen piped up.

“Hmm, now that you mention it, it fits the description.” Rog nodded.

“Where did they go?!” the young master asked.

“Well, that’s the whole problem.” the hunter frowned. “They also went into the tunnel.”

Red was starting to notice the issue with the situation.

“I had to make a judgement call.” Rog said, looking over at Red. “Either I went back to the tunnel and tried to help those two, or I continued searching for you. I thought you might have needed my help more.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’ve only covered so little ground in half-an-hour.” Red shook his head.

“Oh, right!” the hunter nodded, as if remembering something. “When I was just about to leave, that was when the zombies appeared.”

“Zombies too?!” Rimold’s shocked expression didn’t have the opportunity to leave his face.

“Yes. There were human and animal zombies mixed together, but this time they noticed me.” Rog said. “They chased me for kilometers, and more of them kept appearing. Until, all of a sudden, they gave up and turned around.”

“Wait, let me guess!” Rimold interjected. “Did they go into the tunnel too?”

“Wow, how did you know?!” the hunter looked at the rogue in amazement.

Rimold, however, seemed on the verge of vomiting blood.

He looked back at Red. “I bet this is all the work of your little necromancer friend!”

“Really? How did you guess?” the boy shrugged.

“Wait, necromancer?” Rog looked confused.

Rimold, Allen, and Red all recounted the events they had gone through over the last few hours to the hunter. All the way from being ambushed by zombies and meeting with Reinhart to their meeting with the necromancer.

By the end of it, Rog was looking at Red with a frown on his face.

“You see?!” Rimold nodded once he noticed the hunter’s gaze. “You guys should have been more careful when accepting new sect members! This brat is nothing but trouble!”

Rog didn’t respond to the man, still staring at the youth. “Is what he’s saying true, kid?”

Red hesitated, but still nodded.

All of a sudden, the hunter burst out into laughter. “I knew it! I knew you didn’t really notice me back then! It was all because of your nebulous power that you could detect me!”

This reaction shocked the others.

“Wait, is that what you’re worried about?!” Rimold looked angry. “What do you even mean by that?!”

“It means I haven’t lost a step in my skills!” Rog said with a smile. “That’s what it means!”

“Aren’t you worried about the fact this brat hid this kind of information from you and put all your lives at risk?!”

“Oh, right!” the hunter put on an exaggerated, severe expression and looked at Red. “You shouldn’t have done that, kid… Anyway, let’s be on our way!”

Rog turned around and began to walk to the west.

“Wait!” Rimold called to him with a look of disbelief. “Is that it?!”

“Huh?” the hunter looked back at him, confused. “This is not the place to discuss this, Rimold! We still need to rescue our companions!”

“You!” the rogue didn’t know how to respond. “… Do you really want to go into that tunnel?!”

“Of course! What, do you intend on leaving Narcha and Eiwin behind?”

“I didn’t say that! But what about the young master? Isn’t it too dangerous to lead him in there?”

“Eh, he’ll be fine.” Rog shrugged. “It’s probably safer to take him with us than to split up and take him back to town… Unless, of course, you want to escort him there yourself and take your chances with the bandits and zombies.”

Rimold had an expression of fear, but before he could respond, Allen spoke up.

“No way!” the young master said. “I’m coming with you guys!”

“W-Well, if the young master insists on it…” the rogue nodded with an embarrassed look. “Then I guess I have no choice but to follow you lot into these tunnels.”

“Good, good!” Rog nodded and looked at Red. “I’ll be counting on your powers, kid. There’s little I can do when it comes to scouting in a dark tunnel.”

“I’ll do my best.” the boy nodded. Even if the hunter hadn’t mentioned anything, he would have still used his crimson sense to warn them of danger.

…

Eventually, the four of them started making their way over to the tunnel entrance. During the trip, though, Rog had a frown on his face as he looked around.

“What is it, Rog?” Rimold asked in alarm once he noticed the man’s weird expression.

“It’s nothing.” the hunter shook his head.

The rogue sighed in relief. “Oh, good.”

“It’s just…”

Rimold’s eyelids twitched in anger. “Spit it out!”

“I just remembered there being more corpses on the way over.”

The rogue shivered. “Do you mean…”

“I don’t know.” Rog shook his head. “Let’s just keep going.”

They continued to walk for a few minutes more. Although signs of battle started becoming more frequent, there were still no bodies to attest to casualties. Everyone in the group arrived at the same conclusion.

“The necromancer must have reanimated them.” Red said, giving voice to their thoughts.

“H-How many zombies can they control?” Allen trembled.

“We must have killed around 12 people on the way over.” Rog said. “There were way more bandits inside, though.”

This response didn’t assuage Allen’s fears.

“Here we are.” the hunter pointed ahead. “The entrance to the tunnel.”

On the ground of a clearing in the forest, a five meter wide, perfectly circular hole stood. Around here, the signs of battle reached a pinnacle, as marks of blades, arrows, and broken weapons could be seen. There was also plenty of blood, but no bodies to accompany it.

This wasn’t what attracted Red’s attention, though.

“You mean to say that no one ever noticed this giant hole in the middle of the forest before?” the boy asked with a frown.

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Rog shook his head. “This wasn’t here the last time I passed by the region.”

“It’s the formations that kept it hidden.” Rimold pointed out a few marking around the edge of the hole. “Look at it. It’s arcane script.”

Red frowned and walked over while keeping an eye out in his surroundings. Indeed, once he got close enough, he could detect a myriad of complex white drawings that surrounded the very edge of the hole. They were very faint, though, and one might miss them if they weren’t paying attention.

“Was this formation working once you got here?” Red asked Rog.

“No.” the hunter shook his head. “The hole was in no way hidden.”

The boy frowned, looking over at Rimold. “Is there a reason they would let the formation stop working?”

“I don’t know.” the rogue shook his head. “The formation creates an illusion and the bandits also use their own disguising techniques so people won’t accidentally wander into these holes. Even if people walk through the illusion, though, the formation keeps working, so there’s no reason for them to deactivate it.”

“Then was it damaged?” Allen asked.

Once more, the young master’s astute thinking surprised his companions. Not because of the idea, but because it came from Allen.

“It’s possible, but I don’t see any obvious damage.” Red nodded. “Does this formation use Spiritual Stones to work?”

“Not that I know.” Rimold shook his head. “It extracts Spiritual Energy from its surroundings, so its self sufficient as long as there is enough energy around.”

The boy frowned at these words. “Maybe something is absorbing Spiritual Energy from the surroundings, then.”

His question was met with silence. Even if Red’s theory was plausible, none of them had opened their Spiritual Sea, and thus they couldn’t check the energy density in the area. That is, unless they plopped down and practiced their vein opening technique on the spot. Of course, no one suggested such an idea, though.

“There’s no point in looking for clues here.” Rog said. “Whatever might be causing this, I’d be willing to bet it’s coming from deep in these tunnels.”

Red nodded and looked down at the hole. A staircase was carved into the rock surface, leading down into the darkness below. The boy couldn’t see the bottom, and his crimson sense didn’t detect anything either.

It gave him an eerie and foreboding feeling, which his companions also shared, judging from their expressions.

“Well then. Who’s going first?” Rog asked with a smile.