Red’s hesitant response didn’t give the group much assurance.

Narcha looked over at the area he pointed out with a scowl. “You said this… thing appeared and disappeared instantly in your senses, right? Do you think it knows about the range of your powers?”

Red frowned. “I can’t imagine how it would know that.”

Even his companions only knew his range to be about 200 meters. In truth, the boy counted it to be a few meters higher than that and just rounded the number down. With that in mind, he didn't think anyone could be so precise as to enter and leave the edge of his detection range in an instant.

Something else was going on.

“Do you think we should investigate?” Allen asked the group.

“This seems too suspicious.” Rimold shook his head. “I say we just continue on our way and ignore it. We’re on a tight schedule too, so we can’t afford to lose time.”

Narcha was just about to speak before she caught herself.

She looked over at Eiwin with a frown. “You’re the leader. What do you think we should do?”

The younger woman seemed hesitant. “… It’s best if we look into it. I don’t want to risk having a stalker or some other danger following behind us during our trip. We will not be overly long, though, since we still need to worry about reaching the river in time.”

Narcha and Allen nodded in approval, while Rimold didn’t look too happy. Rog, on the other hand, had already taken out his bow.

The boy also agreed with Eiwin’s decision. If they willingly chose to ignore these strange signs, it’s quite possible it might come back to haunt them in the future.

Eiwin nodded towards Red. “Lead the way. We’ll be right behind you.”

Red did as much. He strayed from the road and walked into the sea of trees towards the direction he felt that fluctuation.

Narcha and Eiwin flanked the boy, ready to strike if anything popped out, while the others watched their backs. They used the lantern to illuminate their path, but Red’s dark vision allowed him to see just as clearly in the pitch black night.

They approached the area where Red felt the fluctuation, inspecting their surroundings. However, nothing stood out to them, and soon enough, they arrived around the spot where that fluctuation should have been.

Narcha looked around with caution. “Can you feel anything?”

Red shook his head. “Nothing…”

Eiwin looked back at Rog. “Can you discern anything?”

The hunter said nothing and approached them instead. He crouched down and beckoned Allen over to hold the lantern close while he inspected his surroundings for tracks.

Thirty seconds later, the hunter got up and shook his head. “No tracks or anything I can see.”

Rimold looked over at Red. “So there’s nothing here? Are you sure about what you felt, kid?”

Allen scowled at the man. “Red’s power was never mistaken before!”

The rogue threw his hands up. “I’m not saying he was wrong, but maybe it was just a coincidence! Maybe a flying monster could have dipped in and out of your detection range while it was gliding over, right?”

Red hesitated. “… I suppose that’s possible.”

Narcha frowned. “Yet, you don’t look too convinced. Is there something you’re not telling us?”

The boy shook his head. “It’s just a feeling. I felt like I recognized that presence, but it was too brief to make any conclusion.”

“Couldn’t it have been a monster you saw before, too?” Rimold asked.

Red nodded. “As I said, it’s possible. I just felt it was something worth investigating, but since there’s nothing to follow up on, there’s no point in lingering around.”

“You were right to speak up.” Eiwin assuaged his concerns. “Hector warned us many times to expect something to happen during our foray into the forest, so we should be attentive towards anything suspicious.”

Rog nodded in agreement. “I would prefer not to get ambushed by a demon or something else, so keep your eyes open, kid.”

The rest of the group shared similar feelings, and they got ready to return to the road. Red gave one last look at his surroundings, preparing to join companions.

That was when he felt it. The same fluctuation, a few meters behind him.

Red looked back in a hurry, and what he saw made his blood run cold

A decapitated head, floating in the air.

A familiar sight.

He froze.

His sudden stop didn’t go unnoticed by his companions.

Rog, in particular, was the first to pick up on it.

He looked over at Red. “What are you-”

“Stop! All of you, don’t look over!” Red howled at them and looked away from the head.

His warning brought great alarm to the rest of them. They all froze in their steps, not even moving their heads to look over. All except for one person.

Allen looked back at the boy. “What are you talking about, Red-”

The young master trailed off and his eyes suddenly widened. Red saw a mixture of terror and surprise appear on Allen’s face as he looked at something behind him.

At that moment, the boy knew that he saw it.

“Allen, look away!” Red charged at the young master.

Allen didn’t even seem to notice his presence up until he was pushed to the ground by Red.

Finally, he seemed to snap out of his daze and trembled. “Ah, R-Red, there is something…”

“I know!” Red shook his head. “Don’t look at it!”

“Kid, what is going on?!” Narcha stared at him with an unsettled expression.

The entire group seemed on edge, but none of them had disobeyed Red’s instructions to not look back. Rimold, in particular, seemed to be aware of what was happening.

The rogue stumbled over his words. “I-Is it…”

“It’s the head.” Red nodded. “It’s right there on the tree.”

Rimold’s expression paled. “H-How is that possible? Hector threw it in the rive!”

The boy shook his head. “I don’t know, but we need to-”

“A-Allen…”

A hoarse, almost inaudible voice came from behind them. It was so low that it shouldn’t have been possible for them to hear it, and yet it sounded like it was spoken right next to their ear.

Red felt a shiver run down his spine.

Allen, who was still down on the ground, suddenly seized up.

An expression of recognition crossed his face. “… M-Mom?”

The voice spoke again, this time a bit louder and more feminine than before. “Yes… My dear Allen. How much you’ve grown, my dear, beloved son…”

Tears welled up in the young master’s eyes. “… B-But how? You’re supposed to be-”

“Be quiet!” Red put a hand over Allen’s mouth.

To his surprise, the young master started to struggle against him, and since Red had opened fewer veins than him, it took little effort for Allen to throw him off. The young master got up and looked towards the head again.

Red warned the others. “Hold him back!”

Eiwin was the first one to shoot forward towards Allen. However, before she reached him, he already laid eyes on the head again.

Renewed terror appeared in his expression. “M-Mother, what happened to you-”

“Allen, no!” Eiwin pulled him back.

However, at that point, they all felt something was wrong.

“Allen, my dear Allen… I’ve missed you so much! Please, come and give me a hug!” The voice now sounded completely substantial, and it was almost deafening to their ears.

Red felt through his crimson sense that this strange fluctuation was growing ever so close to them. He still didn’t dare to look back.

“It’s coming for us! Run!”

This was all the prompting his group needed. They shot forward as one back towards the way they came. Eiwin carried Allen under her arm, who was still struggling to get free.

“No! You don’t understand!” The young master squirmed in despair. “It’s her, I know it!”

“Allen, that is not your mother!” Eiwin tried to convince him as they ran.

“You’re wrong! It’s her, I know it!”

It was to no avail. Allen continued to repeat the same words as if he was struck by a spell, and according to what Red remembered of his own experience with this head, the young master might as well be.

The voice continued to speak as if it was right behind them. “Allen! Don’t let them take you away from me again!”

Red, however, could gauge its position with his crimson sense. “It’s catching up!”

Rimold looked at his companions in alarm. “What do we do?”

Narcha gritted her teeth. “Get ready to fight!”

The woman’s hand grabbed something inside of her pouch, revealing it to be a talisman. She seemed ready to activate it at any moment.

That was when Red felt the fluctuation disappear. “It disappeared! It-”

Before he could even complete his sentence, something manifested in front of them. The head appeared in front of the group out of nowhere, and they all couldn’t help but lay eyes on it.

Their steps slowed down, as they couldn’t help but feel themselves being drawn into its gaze. Eiwin also dropped Allen down in a daze, prompting the boy to get up and look towards the head.

“Mom! I’m going to save you!”

The young master dashed forward, the only one unaffected by this malaise. Red, however, was quickly able to snap out of his daze the same way he did when he first saw the head and looked away from it. At this point, however, he knew he couldn’t stop Allen.

‘I need to do something!’

Without much thought, the boy took out his bow from his back and shoot at the young master’s leg. His arrow struck true and impaled itself on his calf.

“Agh!” Allen screamed in pain as he stumbled to the ground.

Even then, the young master continued to crawl towards the head, which was gently floating in the air, waiting for him.

“Closer, my son…” the voice said. “You’re almost back to me.”

“Mom…” Allen cried as he crawled along. “I’m going to save you!”

“Yes, my son… Just a little bit clos-”

Before the head could finish speaking, a dark sword cleaved onto the side of its skull. Red, who had his eyes closed, felt his slash connect and dig into flesh and bones as he used his new weapon and his crimson sense to strike the floating head.

Surprisingly, the head didn’t go flying off as he thought it would against the force of his blow. Instead, the floating skull remained stationary even as his sword found purchase.

“No!” Allen screamed in anguish. “What have you done?!”

Red ignored the young master's pleas and pulled his sword free. He kept his eyes closed and made to hack down again, before he suddenly felt the fluctuation disappear.

He still didn’t dare open his eyes and kept his guard up, waiting for the head’s fluctuation to reappear. And reappear, it did, right behind him.

“I see you, moonspawn…”

An inhumane chorus of voice whispered into his ears. Red felt his mind be overwhelmed by an overwhelming force, and he felt his entire world go dark.

The last thing he heard before falling unconscious were the screams of alarm of his companions and the sound of weapons being drawn.