NOVEL NEXT chapter 9
9 – The Best Leader (4)
The Devil Hunters arrived in the village, focusing their attention.
Immediately after, they decided to split into two groups to search the surroundings.
“If you find anything, send a signal immediately and gather here. Don’t act impulsively and start tracking.”
“Got it, leader. Then let’s go, Nico.”
“N… Yes. I understand.”
Nico followed Gabrielle, expressing deep tension in response to Gabrielle’s words.
Just after their figures disappeared from view,
Gellard, alone with Dan, smiled brightly and spoke up.
“Well then, should we also go, Master?”
“We didn’t come here to play. It’s good to be optimistic, but as I said, don’t let your guard down.”
“Don’t worry, there’s still no sign detected within the spread of magic we set up.”
“That’s the problem.”
“…Huh?”
Gellard said incomprehensible words.
At that moment, Jeanne, who was sensing all movements within a radius of 50m, felt a sudden curiosity and asked the ‘Master’ who was slowly walking ahead of her.
“What does that mean, Master?… That it’s a problem?”
In this moment, Jeanne was sensing the movements of Gabrielle and Nico, who were still relatively close, but she couldn’t sense any other presence.
However,
Geralt responded to her question with a cold voice.
“In short, there is no such thing as absolutes in the world.”
“…Sorry, but I don’t really understand. Could you explain it a bit more simply?”
“Among the demons, there are many guys more diverse than you think. I don’t know if they still exist, but for example, like now….!”
Geralt tried to explain something to Yennefer in this way.
However.
“Oh…”
“? Master?”
In the next moment, Geralt urgently started heading somewhere as if he had found something.
Seeing his actions, Yennefer felt a deep sense of doubt and started following him for the time being.
And then, what started appearing before her eyes.
It was… the bodies of people torn apart as if by something.
And the buildings that were similarly destroyed in appearance.
It seemed like those who resisted until the end had weapons in their hands,
And on the buildings, there were not just torn marks, but also marks burnt by explosives scattered all over.
At first glance, it may seem like a scene where they were attacked by the same demon.
However, at this moment,
Geralt, with a stiff expression as if he had seen something unimaginable, was looking at it seriously.
“Um… Master? What on earth is happening here?”
While watching the teacher, Jeanne asked carefully, as if possessed by something.
At that moment.
A short sentence spoken by Geralt came into her ears.
“…. damn it… how did those guys….”
Geralt stood up from his seat after finishing his sentence.
Then, he looked at Jeanne, who was captivated by confusion, and spoke in a cold voice.
“Raise the signal.”
“Huh…? What… what is that for…”
“Raise the signal immediately. This is an order….”
At that moment.
– Bang!
The sound of a gunshot echoed in Jeanne’s ears.
With the sound announcing the presence of something, Geralt said in a chilling voice.
“We need to hurry…”
“Why do we need to hurry… What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, it’s more urgent to join the others.”
“Ah… I understand, Master.”
Thus, the two hurriedly started to move according to Geralt’s instructions.
However, at that moment,
Unlike Jannes, who was still guiding the way without knowing English.
There was a deep sense of concern in Geralt’s face.
*
Numerous corpses sprawled before their eyes.
Men and women,
The elderly and young children.
As they saw them all, left unattended and decaying without even being properly handled,
Gabriel began to feel a profound sense of pity in his heart.
“I knew the situation in the province wasn’t good, but I never imagined it would be this bad…”
A horrific scene of such magnitude, already too late to turn back.
As he took it all in, deep within Gabriel, he began to feel a strong sense of responsibility and helplessness.
At that moment…
“Eek!”
“Why are you like this?”
“Ah…no, it’s nothing…I just stepped on a corpse…”
Nico spoke hesitantly, his voice wavering.
Seeing her like this, unable to calm down and trembling, Gabriel let out a small sigh.
“Anyway…He may lack mental strength, but he certainly has no shortage of skill…”
A character who requires a lot of attention.
As the youngest member of the group, one could argue that it suits him in that aspect, but from the perspective of his senior who had entrusted him with the map, it was a slightly disappointing point.
Leaving her behind, bewildered among the sprawled corpses,
Gabriel continued to emit magical energy, striving to detect something in his surroundings.
“But… even so, it’s too quiet. I could discount the demons, but not even the slightest trace of wild beasts? With so many bodies gathered, why…?”
Shaken from his sorrowful contemplation by Nico’s reaction, he began to carefully survey the surroundings with a growing sense of unease.
Decomposing bodies were scattered after a considerable time had passed, yet there was no sign of any beast or crow that might be scavenging them—a clear indication that something was amiss.
However, feeling frustrated by the inability to grasp its true nature,
Gabriel decided to concentrate on examining the visible corpses.
But then,
“…Ah!”
“? What’s wrong?”
“Ah…no… I just tripped…”
Nico, distracted by the corpses, had stumbled on a stone and fallen.
Although she scraped her leg and started bleeding, fortunately, it wasn’t severe enoug
“Haah… calm down. There’s no need to get angry. Anyway, why is someone with such good skills lacking confidence like this?”
At that moment,
Something suddenly entered Gabriel’s senses.
In the movements felt precariously at the position where the spread detection net was scattered, she began to be captivated by intense tension.
“Ga… Gabriel…?”
“There’s something. Judging from the movements, it’s a flying organism… no, it’s like a demon…”
The movements were so big and fast to the point of being excessive to consider it a bird-like creature.
Although it was not clear due to the detection range teetering on the edge, it was certain that it was not an ordinary animal.
“W… what should we do? Sh-Shall we track it?”
“No, for now, we had the leader’s orders, so we’ll send a signal and retreat.”
Honestly, Gabriel had a strong desire to accurately grasp the creature’s true form, but she decided to follow Gelard’s instructions for now.
-Tang!
After sending the signal, Gabriel and Nico started heading towards the predetermined rendezvous point.
And then.
“…Huh?”
“? Why is that?”
In the next moment, Nico started to suddenly feel a subtle sensation and stopped in their tracks.
And then.
-Kuawaaa!!!
“!! Hieee!!!!”
“!!”
A giant mouth suddenly sprang out.
Nico let out a scream as if she would be torn apart, and at the same time she swiftly dodged it with surprisingly quick movements.
Even Gabriel, who was watching her from the side, was amazed at her reflexes.
However,
Without even a moment to admire it, Gabriel quickly stepped back and immediately grabbed the gun in his hand, assuming a combat stance.
“That… that’s… a shark? But just a moment ago there was nothing…”
A demon with the form of a giant shark stained in black.
Gabriel couldn’t help but feel bewildered by its movements, which had gone completely undetected despite the fact that it had obviously unleashed its magic.
“hehehe… hehehehe… heheheheh!!!”
-Kuaaa!!!
Like a predator hunting its prey on the sea, the shark demon repeatedly appeared and disappeared from the ground, incessantly attacking Nico with its jaws.
Every time, Nico would let out a scream that seemed to shatter her vocal cords and skillfully dodge its attacks with movements that didn’t suit her at all.
While watching her, Gabriel quickly did what he could.
-Bang!
A shot fired from Gabriel’s gun.
It hit the demon’s head, which was charging directly at Nico, with precise aim.
However.
“Oh no…”
-Kuaaahhhhh!!!
“What… what is this guy, why won’t he die… hahahahaha!”
Rather than falling, the devil continued to rampage and attack more fiercely.
Feeling confused by the guy’s durability, which showed no signs of giving in even to silver bullets meant to vanquish demons, Nico quickly rolled his body to evade the attacks.
And then…
“What… why am I blocked here!!”
He belatedly noticed the wall behind him.
Realizing that there was nowhere else to escape, Nico’s face stiffened with a mixture of shock.
Following that, the giant fangs of the devil started to enter her field of vision.
Nico was captivated by the fear that made her whole body freeze, looking at the countless razor-sharp teeth growing inside its mouth.
“hahahahaha! Hieeek!”
– Crack!
In the midst of intense fear, Nico’s body was torn apart as she let out a scream and tightly closed her eyes.
But…
“Hie…?”
Even though time passed, the agonizing pain didn’t diminish.
With a heavy dose of fear, Nico cautiously began to open her eyes.
“Phew… That was close.”
The scene that started to appear in her eyes immediately after.
It was the sight of the shark demon with the ends of its body severed by Gabriel’s sword.
She stood over the corpse of the demon, holding the sword enveloped in blue flames.
With a deep sense of relief from that fact, Nico felt his legs go weak and sat back down in his place.
“Are you okay?”
“Heh… hahahaha… Y-yes. I’m… I’m fine…”
Nico half-heartedly laughed and answered.
Watching her in this state, Gabriel let out a small sigh and tried to examine the guy who had become a corpse for now.
“He’s someone who can avoid surveillance… What on earth is this guy’s identity?”
The guy was oozing black, oil-like blood.
Feeling repulsed by the strong stench of his blood to the point of disgust, Gabriel started to think that if he showed this guy to Gellerd, maybe he would have some idea.
“Anyway, let’s go back and report for now. As the leader, he might know something.”
“Yes… I… I want to do the same…”
With great difficulty, Nico stood up from his seat and began to move along with Gabriel, leaving the demon’s corpse behind.
However…
-Kikyaahhh!!!
“…Huh?”
“Eek!”
A loud noise came from behind.
Upon hearing it, Gabriel and Nico reflexively turned to look in that direction…
And their expressions stiffened.
“Oh no…”
“He…he….hic!”