The morning arrived with the metallic noise of chains and boots.
The knights were escorting the detainees toward a temporary improvised jail on the outskirts of the city. Figaro walked among them with his hands tied and a pale face of contained rage. Around him, several of his collaborators were being pushed without mercy.
Queen Rosemary watched from an elevated terrace, with Sharon at her side.
"Various raids were carried out throughout the country," she explained in a calm voice. "Thanks to the information Figaro revealed last night, it was relatively easy to locate his contacts. Baron Olston acts as if he were intelligent… but he is not."
Razel, who was standing a little further back next to Zack and Gilbert, crossed his arms.
"Leonora heard that one of the festival participants is a member of the Phantom Troop," the queen added, turning toward them. "Be careful."
"For the first event… it was too eventful," Razel commented. "And now comes the second one."
Rosemary offered a small smile.
"I bid you farewell here. I look forward to seeing you again… surviving."
"That's a terrible joke," Razel growled.
"It is not. I enjoyed watching you fight against the tornado."
Razel looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You have a… peculiar personality."
The queen let out a soft laugh and turned to leave, closely followed by Sharon.
"Take care."
◇◇◇
From the window of a room in a discreet building, Jackpot watched the transfer of the prisoners with a furrowed brow.
"Damn it… the poison didn't take effect. And the queen didn't become stupid after all. They discovered our collaborators."
The door opened without a sound. Freaks entered with his usual clown-like smile.
"Don't worry so much. The leader commented that even if something like this happens, there is no important information they can get from them."
Jackpot turned, annoyed.
"What do you want?"
Freaks made a theatrical gesture toward the hallway. Behind him appeared two men. One was Zargan, the leader of the Four Celestial Kings of the Desert, still wearing the red single-horned mask. Walking beside him was a more robust man with a heavy gaze and bandages on both arms: Geruto.
"He wants revenge for his brothers," Freaks explained.
Jackpot immediately shook his head.
"I don't accept his help. This is my business."
"In view of the situation," Freaks insisted, "nothing matters more than killing him quickly. We will use this trial for that."
"I refuse."
"It is an order from the leader. Right now he is erasing our traces in the palace. We have no time for pride."
Jackpot clenched his teeth. Finally he let out a strong breath.
"…Fine. But I will not be humiliated a second time."
◇◇◇
The starting line had formed on the outskirts of an immense forest. The trees were so tall and dense that the sunlight barely penetrated between the canopies, creating a constant dimness.
Razel whistled low.
"I didn't think it would be this big…"
The participants prepared in silence. From a smaller balloon than the previous one, Pepe amplified his voice:
"The second event of the Festival of the Three Heroes is about to begin! Listen carefully!"
A few meters from Razel, Leila was sitting on the ground trying to tie her bootlaces with little skill. A man with black hair and a clearly cut lip from old wounds approached her.
"If you want… I can tie them for you."
Leila looked up, surprised.
"Really?"
The man knelt after hearing the answer and tied the laces with precise and orderly movements.
"I can't stand messy things."
Leila let out a little laugh.
"Then Leila is a problem. Because Leila is a mess."
The man did not answer, but one corner of his mouth curved slightly.
The starting whistle sounded. Everyone ran toward the interior of the forest. Leila separated from the mysterious man almost immediately, looking for Razel with her eyes.
◇◇◇
Inside the forest, already far from the starting line, Razel stopped and turned toward Zack and Gilbert with a furrowed brow.
"Why didn't you tell me about the plan?"
Zack shrugged.
"Because the dog girl would have shouted it to the four winds. And look… she followed us all the way here. She's trailing after you like a puppy."
Pepe, through several flying orbs that began to disperse among the trees, spoke again:
"From this moment on you must separate. This event is the final eliminations. The objective is for the public to see your individual abilities ahead of the last day. We don't want weaklings reaching the final."
"That's discriminatory," Razel protested.
"I don't care," Pepe answered with total indifference. "This is a festival. Festivals exist to entertain the public, and the public gets bored if they always see the same group together. Separate… or you will be disqualified."
Razel cursed under his breath. There was no choice.
He turned toward Leila, who was already sticking to his arm.
"Leila, go away."
"No!"
"If you don't leave, I won't give you any food."
Leila's wolf ears instantly drooped. Her eyes filled with tears.
"…It will only be two days," Razel added more softly. "From what I heard, the journey to the next city through the forest takes that long."
"Correct," confirmed Pepe's voice from a nearby orb. "Although there will also be a… little surprise. You will see it soon."
Finally they separated. Each one took a different path among the giant trees.
◇◇◇
Razel walked alone for a while, looking upward.
"Now I understand the name… Forest of the Moon. It's so dark it looks like night even during the day."
Suddenly he heard combat noises. He approached cautiously and came across a strange scene: the same hooded girl he had seen in the city was fighting against a group of forest monsters. Up to that point, nothing unusual.
Until from her back emerged an enormous black and shiny spider leg that impaled two monsters in a single movement.
Razel froze.
The girl finished off the rest of the creatures, cleaned the leg with a cloth, and then heard a creak. Razel, who had pressed himself against a tree barely breathing, felt her approaching. He could see the spider leg still stained with blood… and suddenly there was nothing. As if it had never existed.
The girl walked away.
Razel slowly released his breath.
"What the hell was that…? There are too many strange people here. Better if I leave."
He started to back away… but he heard a sound, and when he looked up, she was above him, clinging to the tree trunk with several spider legs driven into the bark. Her eyes shone in the dimness.
Razel screamed.
She attacked.
He fled.
"Spiders and insects in general disgust me!" he shouted while running among the trees. "That's why I was one of the few kids who never had a beetle as a pet!"
The chase continued amid shouts and the wet sound of legs driving into the wood.
◇◇◇
Leila wandered depressed among the trees, with her ears drooping and her tail low. Suddenly she ran into the same man with black hair and a cut lip. He was collecting berries with precise movements and putting them into a cloth bag.
He noticed her presence.
"You're the girl from before."
"Are you participating too?"
"Yes."
"Are you hungry?" he asked upon seeing how she couldn't stop staring at his food bag.
"Yes!"
"Have a little."
"You're a good man!"
"Thank you very much for the food!"
She took the food from the man and devoured it savagely.
The man looked up and spoke to her while putting away the leftovers.
"I don't like being called 'you.' Use my name. Kishinuma Tonma."
"Leila is Leila."
"A pleasure, Leila."
He resumed collecting.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm not hungry right now. I just collect food for when I am. I'm cautious."
"Leila doesn't do that. If she's hungry… she hunts."
Tonma looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You're the wildest demi-human I've ever seen."
Leila wagged her tail, taking it as a compliment.
"It's because Leila is from the Battle Wolf race. A combat clan… but it went extinct. Everyone died."
Tonma fell silent for a second.
"I'm sorry. Something similar happened to me. My home, Kamishiro, was destroyed. Now I live as a nomad."
"What's a nomad?"
Before he could explain, a gust of hot air cut through the space between them. Both jumped to opposite sides. A fireball shaped like a whip crashed against the tree where they had been.
A man wrapped in shining golden armor appeared among the trees, laughing.
"What a coincidence… finding two rats together."
◇◇◇
Further east in the forest, Gilbert and Zack were running among the trees while electric bolts fell around them, scorching the earth and splitting trunks.
"What is he doing here?!" Zack shouted.
"There's something strange," Gilbert answered without stopping dodging.
The pursuer stopped in a clearing. He was an imposing man with blond hair and golden armor with silver details. His voice resonated with authority:
"Dimitrie Noah Arcturus. I am the strongest knight in the kingdom."
Gilbert frowned.
"His way of speaking is strange… and also his movements."
At that moment one of Pepe's orbs floated up to them.
"That's right. We created a puppet based on Dimitrie's power to eliminate participants. Since he is the strongest man in the country, the puppet imitates his magic and will last exactly two days. Defeat it… or survive for two days."
Gilbert cursed him.
"Defeating it would be complicated. Even if we manage it, we'll be left too weak against any other enemy."
He looked at Zack, who was staring at the puppet with pure contained hatred.
"It's not the real one. Save that personal anger for the genuine article."
Zack clenched his teeth, but nodded. Both of them started running again. The Dimitrie puppet raised a hand and a massive bolt fell where they had been a second earlier.
◇◇◇
Razel was still fleeing.
The spider girl wouldn't give up. Every time he thought he had gained distance, a leg drove in near his head or cut off his path. To make things worse, the Dimitrie puppet had also appeared and now both were chasing him from different directions.
"I don't want any more of this!"
At that moment the ground trembled violently. An enormous crack opened under his feet. Razel fell into the void with a scream. The spider girl managed to cling to a tree and the Dimitrie puppet jumped to the other side of the crack without problem and now attacked her.
From the shadows of some nearby bushes, four figures observed the scene.
Freaks smiled with his usual clown expression.
Jackpot had his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Zargan and Geruto remained motionless, ready to attack.
"Let's go after him," Freaks said in a low voice.
The four moved in silence toward the edge of the crack where Razel had disappeared.
____________________
The fanservice for this occasion is Leila. There are few women in this volume, please understand.
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/11685811
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Download the PDF with illustration here: https://mega.nz/file/W0JDXTrb#1cWrkSgttaCR31mKp39S4UP4RBHJG3qnZX34j50n_rw