“Do you know what happened to the others?” Red asked Eiwin.

“I don’t.” she shook her head. “When I woke up, they were all already gone. I could see some of their tracks, but I could only chase after one of them…”

‘So she chose Allen.’

It was the most sensible choice, even though Red got to the young master first. There was no way she could have known that was going to happen, though.

“Did you try using the communication talisman?” Red asked.

“I did.” Eiwin nodded. “I tried to contact everyone, including you, but I got no response.”

The boy shook his head. “I’m quite sure there was no message on my communication talisman.”

The woman frowned. “Then it is as I thought. There must be something blocking communication. It could be that being’s work.”

This guess made sense, but for some reason, Red didn’t think this was the work of the head. The necromancer mentioned back then that the possessed beings could be able to track him by his communication talisman, which might have been just a scare tactic to keep the boy from speaking with his companions. However, it was likely that a being like the necromancer would be able to tell communications were blocked, so why go through the trouble to warn Red against it either way?

Something else must be going on, and mysteries only kept accumulating for him to ponder upon..

‘… No, I need to focus on the matter at hand.’

Now, however, the boy was left with a troublesome question.

‘The necromancer mentioned there were three possessed individuals amidst my companions. Did this include Eiwin?’

Unfortunately for Red, there was no way to clarify this with the necromancer.

“We should go back to where the head attacked us!” Allen said in an urgent tone. “We can track them from there.”

“We can’t do that.” Red shook his head. “The Curse Breakers might have noticed the commotion and went to investigate the scene.”

“The Curse Breakers are here?” Eiwin frowned.

“I assume so.” the boy nodded. “They were pretty adamant about our encounters with the necromancers when we left the trial back then, so it’s likely they are still around.”

Actually, according to the necromancer, it was a certainty that the undead hunters were still around. However, Red was not sure if he could take the bear’s words at face value.

Red continued. “If they find out we were involved there, we won’t be able to reunite with our companions or cure them of their possession.”

“That’s not the only concern.” Eiwin looked worried. “They can also follow our tracks like anyone else. If the rest of our friends are also possessed and the Curse Breakers find them before us…”

She trailed off, but the implication behind her words was obvious. The Curse Breakers were ruthless undead hunters, and they wouldn’t suffer anything that came into contact with the corruption to live, even the very victims of possession.

Allen paled. “You mean they’re going to kill them? Then we need to hurry… But if we can’t go back to follow their tracks, how are we going to find them?”

Both Red and Eiwin fell silent.

‘If only that cursed bear were still here to locate them.’

A few seconds later, Red looked over at Eiwin. “Do you recall the direction of the tracks?”

The woman hesitated. “… I only did a brief examination, and I’m not as good as you or Rog in this matter. Allen’s tracks were the most obvious, so I followed them. The only other set of footprints I could discern were headed east towards the river. I think they were Miss Valt’s but I’m not sure…”

Red frowned. “Do you think she was possessed?”

“I don’t know.” Eiwin shook her head helplessly. “She might have gone after the others too, but it’s impossible to tell.”

The boy sighed. “In that case, we have no choice. We’ll head east too and hope to find traces of her.”

The woman nodded. “That is the only way.”

“B-But what if we come across one of those Curse Breaker knights?” Allen asked with some apprehension.

“That depends.” Eiwin said. “If they insist on getting involved, then we will have no choice but to fight. I won’t let them hurt one of our friends.”

Her steel expression spoke to how serious she was about the matter. Red also knew that the woman had the strength to back up her claims, although he wasn’t sure how much it would cost her this time.

…

They trekked east with Red on the lead. Blindly searching through the forest for someone else wasn’t a very efficient tracking method, though, and they spent hours walking with nothing to show for it.

“It’s already afternoon.” Allen said with some concern. “Isn’t this about the time you told us the horde would attack?”

Eiwin furrowed her brows and nodded. “Indeed.”

“… Do you think the town’s guard can deal with it?”

“Orvin and his men are very capable. They might have some trouble, but they should still be able to hold back the first wave.” The woman tried to assuage Allen’s fears.

“R-Right.” Allen nodded with some relief. “I wonder if Hector knows about what happened to us…”

Red couldn’t imagine the elder would. If things were going as expected, then the old man was probably in the process of risking his life trying to delay the alpha of the wolf pack. How would anyone be able to deliver a message to him in the middle of that?

As they continued walking, Red suddenly noticed something.

“Wait…” he put his hand up to stop the group’s march. “There’s something over there.”

Eiwin immediately tensed up. “What is it?”

“It’s tracks.” Red approached the spot where he saw the footprints.

One wouldn’t be blamed for missing this kind of track in the middle of a forest. In the beginning, Red too couldn’t really tell apart anything amidst the leaf litter and foliage. However, Rog taught him what signs he should look for - crushed leaves, broken branches, disturbed earth - things one would ignore at first, but that held more information than one might think.

It just so happened that Red spotted a lot of them around this area.

“Someone was in a hurry.” he said. “They didn’t really bother covering their tracks.”

Allen’s eyes lit up. “Do you think it’s Narcha?”

“I don’t think so.” Red shook his head. “The footsteps seem to be pretty heavy, not something that fits with Narcha’s build.”

Even if she was possessed by a ghost, it didn’t mean she would suddenly gain weight.

Eiwin frowned. “So it’s someone else?”

Red nodded. “One person. They’re also headed east.”

“Wait… Could it be one of those Curse Breakers knights?” Allen asked with an expression of realization. “I mean, all that armor would make them pretty heavy, right? It would fit the tracks!”

Red and Eiwin looked at Allen with surprise. It was clear the two of them already considered the possibility, but the fact the young master arrived at the same conclusion so quickly came as a shock to them.

Allen smiled upon seeing their expression. “I’m right, am I not?…” The young master trailed off as if he suddenly realized something. “Wait, if that’s the case, could it be that…”

Red nodded. “They might be chasing Narcha.”

Allen paled. “Then we need to hurry!”

Red looked back at Eiwin with a questioning gaze. He wanted to know whether she was ready to use her powers to stop this individual, considering they were likely in the Lesser Ring Realm.

The woman seemed to understand the meaning behind his gaze and nodded. “Let’s be on our way.”

Satisfied with the answer, Red got up and patted himself. “Make sure to have your talismans ready. We might need any help we can get.”

The boy didn’t know if Eiwin’s power up would make her stronger than this Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, so he needed to be ready to help her in the fight.

Allen nodded in understanding. “I’ll be ready!”

With their brief plans settles, the group began to track the heavy footsteps. They moved at a brisk pace, hoping to catch this individual before he reached Narcha.

Red, however, didn’t stop observing his surroundings. He hoped to find some signs of a second set of tracks, this one belonging to Narcha, but he was unsuccessful. All he saw was the evident path made by the supposed knight.

This gave rise to an odd feeling in the boy.

Was the woman always this stealthy? Was this a result of her possession? Or did they have this whole situation wrong in the first place?

Just as Red was beginning to have some misgivings, they heard the sound of an explosion in the distance.

Eiwin’s expression changed. “Someone’s fighting!”

Both Allen and Red unsheathed their weapons, and the group broke out in a sprint. The sounds of explosion continued to echo through the forest as they rushed ahead until they abruptly quieted down.

Eiwin paled once this happened and she ran ahead of the two of them.

“Wait, Eiwin!” Allen called after her.

Red and the young master tried to keep up with the woman, to no avail. They thought they were about to lose track of her, but for some reason, Eiwin began to slow down, allowing them to catch up with her.

“E-Eiwin…” Allen tried to catch his breath as he ran up to her. “Why did you suddenly…”

The young master trailed off as he noticed what lay ahead of them. Red, too, could barely believe his eyes.

The scene of a battlefield.

Splintered wood and toppled trees lay everywhere, forcefully creating a clearing in the middle of the dense forest. An acrid smell pervaded the entire area, reaching Red’s group. And then, there was another smell, very familiar to the boy.

Blood.

At the center of it all stood two figures. Or better put, only one of them stood. The other, a knight sporting the dark armor of the Curse Breakers, was on their knees, unmoving. A large, dark saber was driven from their shoulder into their torso, carving a path through both flesh and metal into the knight’s chest, almost bisecting them in half. Fresh blood poured out of the recent wound, and yet Red felt no sign of life from the knight with his crimson sense.

Then, there was the other individual, holding onto the saber’s hilt firmly, standing tall over their opponent. Someone they all recognized.

“Miss Valt?” Eiwin asked in an uncertain voice.

Only now did the other woman seem to notice their presence. “Hmm? Oh, it’s you.”

She spoke in an impassive tone, unlike the Narcha they knew. In fact, Red could feel through her fluctuation that there was almost no emotion at all coursing through the woman. Only cold indifference.

The others didn’t even need his prompting to notice something was wrong.

“N-Narcha…” Allen looked frightened. “Is that you?”

The woman sighed. “Why ask questions you know the answer to, child?”

As if to punctuate her words, she pulled out her saber from the knight’s corpse, letting them tumble to the ground. Fresh blood pooled at her feet as she turned around to look at them.

Red felt a shiver run down his spine as a feeling of unprecedented danger came over him.

‘Narcha’, however, looked entirely unbothered. She smiled at them. “So you are her friends, then? Well, we have much to talk about.”