Kurushimi followed behind, tailing the canisfangs whilst keeping a strict proximity away from them. Their ability to detect her was a nuisance that made sneaking up impossible. However, there was a range where they wouldn’t detect her. In the times she chose to sneak up on them, it wasn’t until a certain closeness that they would notice her presence. There wasn’t much to go on, so an estimated safe proximity was made with that in mind.

Kurushimi was actually more adept than her companions at judging this kind of measurement, being the kind of judgement which relied heavily on instinct to guess distance and how close she could get before raising suspicion. Although, Kurono did have to warn her multiple times over to play it safe and not attempt to challenge the proximity that had already been based on an estimate.

“Don’t forget they can also see you–!” Atelier pointed out. Kurushimi gasped and rushed to hide behind a tree. She had been too hyper-focused on staying out of their sensory range that she’d forgotten something as basic as staying out of sight. However, after peaking around the trunk, it turned out her hurry had been unfounded as they weren’t even looking in her direction. Atelier chuckled at the disruption of her composure. Kurushimi looked back at her in annoyance.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. After being teased for it, she herself could now realise she was being too nervous about this situation. Compared to her earlier attitude of running around and beating everything up, it was unlike her. To tell the truth, her composure had slowly been degrading ever since hearing that growl. The intention was clearly to scare her off and to say it wasn’t working at least a little would be a lie.

Normally, something so minute such as a growl wouldn’t bother her that much. But… it was so like… him. Karshak. She had already checked to see if it had given her a debuff and maybe that was the issue. There was no debuff to be found. So, everything she felt was real. Pure unbridled emotion. Kurushimi had encountered death many times since starting this journey. They all affected her to an extent. But Karshak’s encounter was different. It was traumatic in a sense.

To say the origin of that growl was Karshak – She didn’t think that. The growl was surely alike, but different in a way. A chill was sent running down her spine, but more in reminiscence of Karshak than anything. It lacked some crucial part of what made Karshak’s so distinct and terrifying; not that she understood what that was exactly.

Karshak’s race was that of a ‘greater canisfang’. The name didn’t scream any keen sense of individuality that would make it unique to him. So the thought it may be another greater canisfang wasn’t farfetched.... Kurushimi felt her heart beating like a drum just thinking. It was suffocating, but she was making progress. Reaching this point was evidence of that. Scraping her way up and up, climbing the food chain, she was nearing the status of that towering beast; so close, yet so far. To take back her lost heart, Kurushimi had to stay determined.

“Kurushimi, is something up?” Kurono asked.

Kurushimi paused, realising she hadn’t put any effort to mask her feelings. That meant their connection would've translated a good amount of it towards Kurono. She felt embarrassed for a second, but then put on a smile. She wasn’t faking it. After all, Kurono would be able to tell if that were the case. Kurushimi looked towards the canisfangs, who were beginning to gain distance on her: “Mm, I’m fine. Let’s go, they’re starting to get away-!”

It didn’t take long for Kurushimi to catch back up to them. They had a fairly hefty line of workers, carrying the carcasses of which were primarily living armours. Even with the bulky lifters, it still took a while for them to drag it all the way to wherever their destination was. Watching them was a mundane task to say the least. However, noticing their line was akin to an ant trail gave Kurushimi a small amount of amusement.

Normally, she wouldn’t be too bothered following something like this. Carrying carcasses was probably bringing back food for the pack. The main thing to attract Kurushimi’s attention was the strange number of living armour carcasses. There was a lot wrong with this spectacle. Living armours were rare to find, so where did they all come from? Also, they wouldn’t be very easy to eat as they are covered in armour that is literally attached to the meat inside. It didn’t make sense.

Her concern for the purpose of the living armour carcasses wasn’t actually that great. What she deduced was that, since they probably aren’t for eating, there’s a good chance they are being brought to the leader. Following this group could take her directly to their leader… It was all a hypothesis of course, but Kurushimi felt this was a better strategy than wandering around until she found them.

Before confronting their leader, Kurushimi wanted to get a quick look and appraisal. She cared not what happened after that. If she did care that much, she wouldn’t have made it such a point to reveal herself whilst finding the location of the camp.

She was rash, but not rash enough to run in blind. This would likely be one of her biggest opponents yet. If the leader hurrendiously outlevelled her and fighting would be pure suicide, Kurushimi decided that she would just leave it. She wasn’t that stupid.

This wasn’t her usual strong enemy encounter either. There was no world where she would be fighting one-on-one in this case. It was likely that she would have to fight their leader whilst fending off swarms of canisfangs. In general, an appraisal or even just a look at what the leader was like would help significantly.

‘Besides, this time, I don’t want to die for little reason…’ Kurushimi clenched her fist. Death had been gradually losing its meaning since a while back. With Kurono coming back with her every time, the greatest sense of loss she had felt when beginning a new run was losing her old weapons. This time she felt a lot more uneasy about dying. The reason being… How would returning react to Atelier’s presence?

The idea of all the memories she shared disappearing for everyone but her was a scary thought. When she eventually leaves this forest, there would be more people to meet and forge memories with; and more people to forget it all. At the very least, she wasn’t alone. Kurono would always be around.

“Looks like the prize has come into view~!” Atelier said, posturing forward with a hand gesturing as if to block the sunlight. The action was doubly pointless, being that there was no sunlight under the canopy and she needn’t do such a thing with access to ‘farsight’. To be precise, it wasn’t even daytime... Kurushimi didn’t make a comment and instead gazed upon the vista ahead.

A single look told you it was the lowest and widest point of the camp, the dead-centre of it. The scenery was defeatingly beautiful. Light from the large crystals refracted across the area, the subtle luminescence emboldened by the darkness. It was as if the very stars had descended and merged with the land. If it wasn’t full of murderous canisfangs, it would undoubtedly be a tourist hit.

Kurushimi had been distracted for a moment, but there were more pressing matters at hand. A lot more could be seen from this position. Canisfangs stretched across the area doing all sorts of tasks. The attack units she tangoed with frequently were constantly moving from one point to another.

There was one spot in the centre where the canopy relinquished itself for the moonlight to shine down. In the base of a dead tree with a circumference large enough to tell stories of its lost grandeur, there was a figure sitting among the hollowed-out inside. A canisfang considerably larger than the rest. Kurushimi didn’t even need to appraise it to tell; a greater canisfang, of which undoubtedly had to be the leader.

“I’d say that’s our guy!” Standing at the forefront of the scenery, Atelier turned back to Kurushimi with her hands placed behind her back. The carefree way in which she ran ahead, standing just off to the side to show off the giant canisfang behind her, didn’t really fit the attitude Kurushimi felt last-minute preparations before a big battle should have.

“I don’t think there’s anything else here that could compete for the position…” Kurono commented. This one certainly differentiated itself from the others, not seeming to understand the meaning of subtlety. The way it presented itself was another thing in and of itself. In the dead centre of the camp, in the only place illuminated by any proper form of light, and sitting surrounded by the remains of a giant tree. It presented a foolhardy attitude that seemed to scream ‘Try me!’ or something like that. It was characteristic of the one to make that intimidating growl.

“They’re splitting up!” Kurushimi suddenly stated.

““Hm?”” Whilst Atelier and Kurono had been rightfully distracted by the showcase ahead, only Kurushimi’s mind would wander off and notice random details at such a time. The place Kurushimi changed focus to happened to be the line they were formerly tailing. When the group stopped to marvel at the scenery, the canisfangs obviously hadn’t halted in their advance and continued their jobs. Now the attention was back on them, it could be seen that they had split into two lines: One carrying the general carcasses and the other taking the living armours towards the greater canisfang.

“Ah, I knew they were for the boss!” Kurushimi shouted as she quickly descended the slope. With a lot more open space and less obstacles blocking her vision, she had more freedom to run around as long as she kept low. She had to be careful that she wasn’t spotted by sight, but canisfangs had naturally small eyes covered by their large fangs, so she wasn’t too worried about that for now.

After reaching a slightly closer position where it was easier to see, she hid on the backside of a small hill and watched. She had a much better view of the greater canisfang now. It looked a lot like Karshak to the point she had to confirm it wasn’t him and allow her heart-rate to settle back down.

This one was comparably more lean than Karshak and a size smaller, but would still easily tower over Kurushimi. It had a rough exterior with skin that almost looked like scales. In general, whilst Karshak’s appearance didn’t differ too far from that of the regular canisfang, its appearance was a lot more savage and unruly, looking more like a mix-match of races than anything. It even looked to have a tail, which no other canisfang actually had.

“Maybe it isn’t a greater canisfang after all…” Kurushimi pondered, keeping her voice more akin to a whisper now. She was a good few hundred metres away still, but it was better to be safe and keep relatively quiet. She didn’t want to get surprised by an unexpectedly powerful hearing.

Kurushimi noticed the line heading towards the leader getting closer. “So, what are you going to do with those living armours…?” She muttered. She was quite curious on what they intended to do with them. On closer inspection, it could be seen the living armours weren’t actually dead as previously thought. She could only commend their insane healing factor, but sadly it did nothing for incapacitation.

The sound of metal dropping echoed as the moment reached its peak. Finally, their leader stood up and revelled in its glory. The full self was beautiful and grotesque. As its jaw unhinged, revealing a sharp set of teeth and fang, it swept up the living armour allowing no resistance. Hard metal exterior and all, it chewed up and devoured the living armour in a carnivorous bloody rain.

Kurushimi finally appraised it.

[Rakshas, Lvl. 83]