Thanks to Elia’s powerful lead, Aphrodite and Alice broke through the outer defenses ravaged by Demonic Beasts without much trouble, penetrating deep into the heart of Wolfgang Forest.
Contrary to the imagined scene of monsters running rampant and danger lurking everywhere, the forest’s depths instead presented an eerie silence.
Towering ancient trees twisted and coiled, almost blocking out all the daylight, and the air was heavy to the point of suffocation, even filled with a mist carrying a faint metallic stench.
However, Demonic Beasts were unusually scarce here.
Without the monsters’ obstruction, their pace was much faster than on the outskirts.
—This is going suspiciously smoothly!
Just as Aphrodite allowed herself a bit of relief, a greater unease pressed down on her.
The reason Demonic Beasts were rare was because another force filled the area: Corruption.
The concentration of Corruption here was ridiculously high, thick and sticky like an invisible swamp, with even the air carrying a cold, corrosive chill.
As a former Demon Officer, Aphrodite was all too familiar with this stuff.
It was one of the fundamental powers of the Demon Race, a deadly poison to other races—just a touch was enough to drive someone mad.
And precisely because of this, the Church developed Radiance, a power based on “Holy Radiance” specifically to combat Corruption.
“Strange… how can there be such concentrated Corruption here?” Aphrodite muttered quietly.
As far as she knew, there shouldn’t be any high-ranking Demon Race presence nearby.
Yet somehow, this Corruption gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
“Hey! Big liar, shoulder… let me lean on you for a bit.”
Alice’s voice came from beside her, noticeably weaker than before.
Aphrodite was stunned and turned just in time to see Alice unceremoniously lean against her, putting most of her weight on Aphrodite’s shoulder.
—What the heck? Didn’t this redhead act all “stay away from me” just a moment ago?
Just as Aphrodite was about to ask why, she suddenly sensed something wrong with Alice.
Alice was already permeated by dense Corruption, and the Holy Radiance within her was resisting on its own, but was clearly losing!
No way, I’m supposed to be escorting her, right? How come the guard is the first to fall?! If a Demonic Beast pops out now, aren’t we doomed?
Wait… the guard is incapacitated—
—Isn’t this the perfect excuse to run?
Without hesitation, Aphrodite prepared to support Alice and solemnly suggest, “For your safety, we must retreat immediately”…
But just as she opened her mouth—
The shadow on the right suddenly tore apart! A pitch-black figure, moving so fast it left only an afterimage, swept through with a biting, bloody wind aimed straight at the unsuspecting Aphrodite!
“Danger!”
Alice’s reaction was lightning-fast—almost at the same instant the beast lunged, she violently shoved Aphrodite aside!
Using the momentum, she spun around and swiftly drew the Short Sword at her waist to block the deadly strike!
However, the force of the attack still staggered Alice back a few steps.
After steadying herself, she immediately took a defensive stance.
But when she saw the thing coming—
“Waaahhh—!! What is that?! It looks disgusting!!”
Alice’s face instantly drained of color, her voice rising eight octaves as goosebumps broke out all over her body!
From a distance, it looked like some kind of quadruped, but a closer look was horrifying.
Its neck was hollow—its original head severed cleanly, with the open wound writhing with several long, slimy, dark purple tentacles, dripping with mucus and thrashing wildly like living creatures!
Near the severed neck on its torso, grotesque little mouths were twistedly growing—some grinning with rows of shark-like sharp teeth, others flicking forked tongues dripping slime, emitting silent hissing sounds!
If she could, Alice really didn’t want to fight it—her biggest fear was anything with a freakish appearance.
But with Aphrodite here, she wasn’t about to lose face in front of this “big liar.”
Suppressing her urge to vomit, she locked her sharp gaze on the Demonic Beast and swung her sword to block the slapping, slimy tentacles!
“Clang!”
“Smack!”
Blade and tentacle collided with a dull thud, splattering mucus everywhere.
Although she blocked the attack, the debilitating effects of Corruption—weakness and dizziness—hit Alice again, slowing her movements by half a beat.
“Squelch!”
A glob of slime from the tip of a tentacle splattered precisely onto the fabric of Alice’s arm!
“Eugh—!!” Alice let out a scream of extreme disgust!
The moment the slime touched her clothes, it hissed and steamed, releasing a pungent white smoke! It quickly spread, instantly melting through her outer garment and lining, from left shoulder to chest, leaving a large patch vanished in the blink of an eye—exposing the pure black fitted clothing and smooth skin beneath!
“My clothes!!” Alice shouted in shock and anger, instinctively trying to shake off the slime on her arm while flailing to cover the exposed skin.
But the next second—
An intense numbness burst from where the slime touched, instantly spreading throughout her body!
“Ugh! I… I can’t move?!” Alice felt her muscles stiffen as if all strength had been drained.
Her Short Sword clattered to the ground, and her arm froze mid-motion, unable to block the next attack.
Her entire body went limp like a marionette with its strings cut, falling backward hard to the ground.
Only her eyes rolled in terror; her body no longer obeyed her will!
“Roar—!” The headless monster emitted a strange, meaningless howl from somewhere.
The tentacles at its neck writhed excitedly, and the twisted mouths on its torso stretched even wider in what seemed like satisfaction with its prey’s condition.
Ignoring the fallen and immobilized Alice, it refocused its target on Aphrodite, lowering its body and preparing to pounce again!
Looking down at the red-haired figure lying motionless on the ground and then at the advancing monster with writhing things on its head, Aphrodite’s mind flashed with the thought: “This is the perfect chance to make a run for it.”
In her current state, dragging Alice along would be a certain death sentence!
She was forcibly dragged here as a conscript anyway.
If it weren’t for the threat to her life if she refused, she wouldn’t have come in here, nor would she want to handle this troublesome matter for the Church.
After all, the Church once took care of her, so why should she help solve their problems?
Not causing trouble for them was already more than enough!
But no matter what, Alice just saved her life! Even if she didn’t particularly like the redhead, she couldn’t just abandon her.
Aphrodite didn’t consider herself a good person, but being ungrateful… that she simply couldn’t do.
Tch!
What a nuisance!